Tuas, BBNP, Mandai Mudflat 31Dec05

There were eight of us, Con, Danny, JS, Yamane, Geoffrey, Sree & his wife and I. Our rendezvous today was at the Tuas grassland. After a coffee session at the Raffles Marina, Danny, JS and I adjourned to BBNP and saw Sree and his friend there. When it started to rain, we parted with Sree and went on to Mandai mudflat, but were disappointed as no rare birds were seen.

For some of us, this was the first time we were in the Tuas area. Only Sree and Geoffrey have been here before. The first birds to show themselves were the typical grassland bird like the White-headed Munia, Black-winged Kite and the common birds like that Brown Shrike, White-breasted Waterhen and Paddyfield Pipit.

After we make a left turn into the grassland, we saw some sandpipers in the short grass on the right. These turned out to be the Wood Sandpipers.

Wood Sandpiper ©Con Foley

Just a short distance away, a whole flock of PG Plovers were seen. They were so well camouflaged against the sand that we weren't aware of them even though they were pretty near.

On the left was a wet grassland and JS flushed out some birds. Snipes! There were more than 10 birds in the tall grass. Once they landed, there was no way for us to see them. JS decided to take a closer look and by so doing flushed out some nightjars. Prominent white spots on the wings and the size tells us that these are Savanna Nightjars. Then two birds flew off with a teu-hu-hu call. These must be Common Redshanks. Con and Sree pointed into the sky and there were three Great Cormorants flying above us. There were also Black-headed Munias in the grass. As Con, Geoffrey, Sree and his wife moved on, the rest of us stayed awhile longer hoping to get clearer views of the snipes and nightjars.

Next four photos from Yamane:

Pacific Golden-plover

Paddyfield Pipit

Pitcher Plant

Yellow-vented Bulbul

Disappointed, we moved on and caught up with Con and company. At a distance, we could see Red-wattled Lapwings flying off making their characteristic noisy call. Too bad none stayed still for us to take photos. Then we startled a nightjar, which flew up and got caught in the branches... But it did manage to fly off shortly. As we bashed into the tall grass, we flushed out more snipes. There were Ashy Tailorbirds too. Seeing that the land was marshy ahead, we backtracked. And so we finished birding at Tuas and proceeded to Raffles Marina for a cup of coffee.

Raffles Marina is a nice place with a good view of the sea. While we had coffee, Marisol's Christmas goodies and Danny's kuehs, JS ate his nasi lemak and Con took his breakfast set. We talked about our 22 Jan Panti trip and birding in Malaysia in general. After we were done, the Srees bid us farewell. The rest of us took a walk around the yacht bay. It was now fish-watching instead. :) There were archerfish, rabbitfish, angelfish and many that we couldn't tell what they were, not to mention the soft coral and mussels. Then far away, Danny saw some terns flying around. We finished off Tuas with a Common Sandpiper, our 29^th bird.

Common Sandpiper ©Tan KH

After bidding the rest farewell, Danny, JS and I went on to BBNP for the afternoon birding session. Before that, we had wanton mee lunch at a coffee shop. When we reached BBNP, Sree and his friend were already there snapping away at a Jambu Fruit-dove.

Jambu Fruit-dove ©KH

The fruit-dove was nice, but our target here are the flowerpeckers. So we proceeded to the stairs and strained our neck looking up. After some effort, the Yellow-vented Flowerpecker was seen, with its diagnostic thick black stripes on the body and the prominent yellow vent. Then the Thick-billed Flowerpecker was also seen, a tiny bird swaying its tail sideways. Then Scarlet-backed Flowerpeckers were abundant and JS saw the Orange-bellied Flowerpecker. Then there were the Mugimaki Flycatchers. While waiting for the rarities, the Lineated Barbet and Laced and Banded Woodpeckers kept us entertained.

Male Laced Woodpecker ©Tan KH

Having got all the tiny birds we needed, we took the road on the right of the stairs hoping to see some rare birds. Straw-headed and Olive-winged Bulbuls were there to welcome us. high up in the sky were some raptors - Oriental Honey Buzzards. Another bird high up in the sky was a Glossy Swiftlet. We went back to the stairs and Sree's friend showed us the Oriental White-eye that he just photographed. Soon, it started drizzling and we again bid Sree farewell.

Olive-winged Bulbul. Straw-headed Bulbul ©Tan KH

We headed to Mandai mudflat hoping to see the gulls. Upon reaching, it was still drizzling slightly. A Black-crowned Night Heron flew overhead. Scanning the water edge, we could only see the common birds - Whimbrel, Greenshanks, PGPs, Common Sandpipers, Little Egrets, Little Herons and Grey Herons. There was a Common Kingfisher and an Intermediate Egret though. And far away at the kelong was a White-bellied Sea Eagle. We started the day at about 8 am and ended at 6 pm with 61 birds. Not bad considering that when asked by JS how many birds we got today, I was pessimistic and guessed less than 50. It was a happy New Year Eve birding!

Tuas
01 House crow
02 Javan myna
03 Common myna
04 Pacific swallow
05 Zebra dove
06 Spotted dove
07 Pink-necked green-pigeon
08 Brahminy kite
09 Black-winged kite
10 Common sandpiper (at Raffles Marina)
11 Wood sandpiper
12 Common redshank
13 Pacific golden plover
14 Snipe (pintail or common)
15 Red-wattled lapwing
16 Blue-tailed bee-eater
17 Paddyfield pipit
18 Great cormorant
19 Yellow-vented bulbul
20 Ashy tailorbird
21 Yellow bittern
22 Brown shrike
23 White-breasted waterhen
24 Greater coucal
25 Savanna nightjar
26 White-headed munia
27 Black-headed munia
28 Terns at Raffles Marina (too far away to ID)
29 Asian koel (heard)

BBNP
30 Yellow-vented flowerpecker
31 Thick-billed flowerpecker
32 Scarlet-backed flowerpecker
33 Orange-bellied flowerpecker
34 Jambu fruit-dove
35 Straw-headed bulbul
36 Olive-winged bulbul
37 Lineated barbet
38 Oriental honey-buzzard
39 Mugimaki flycatcher
40 Asian brown flycatcher
41 Laced woodpecker
42 Banded woodpecker
43 Glossy swiftlet
44 Black-naped oriole
45 Crimson sunbird
46 Asian glossy starling
47 Oriental white-eye

Mandai Mudflat
48 Cattle egret
49 Little egret
50 Intermediate egret
51 Grey heron
52 Little heron
53 Black-crowned night-heron
54 Whimbrel
55 Lesser sand-plover
56 Common greenshank
57 Collared kingfisher
58 White-throated kingfisher
59 Common kingfisher
60 White-bellied sea eagle
61 Rock pigeon