Pulau Ubin 31Dec16

From KH

Knowing that the Imperial eagle has been hanging around Pulau Sekudu (aka Frog Island), Con, Danny and I went to Pulau Ubin. JS was still in Korea, so he'll have to make another trip. We waited for a couple of hours at the jetty overlooking Pulau Sekudu, but the eagle didn't show... This bird had first been found on Frog Island by LKS on the 19 Dec 2016 and was since sighted at Changi too.

Nevertheless, it was good to see Grey Plovers, Whimbrels, Common Sandpipers, Great Crested Terns and Grey Herons roosting on the rocks of Pulau Sekudu. Brahminy Kites and White-bellied Sea-eagles also visited the rocks.

Mixed flock of Grey Plovers and Whimbrels

Con left for the female Black Hornbill. After a while, Danny and I left for the mangrove boardwalk, but there were nothing much here.

Soon it was lunchtime and we headed for the main jetty to meet up with Con. When we were reaching, Con informed us that LKS had spotted a Mountain Imperial Pigeon and the female Black Hornbill on the fruiting tree at the HSBC Hub at about 11 am!

Seeing that there were only Pink-necked Green-pigeons, Oriental Pied Hornbills and Asian Glossy Starlings around, we decided to fill our stomach first.

After lunch, I spotted the Mountain Imperial-pigeon and Danny and I quickly spread the news. Fortunately, Con and friend hadn't left the island. See Toh and friend weren't so fortunate as they were already back on the mainland by now, so they quickly took the boat back to Ubin.

After Con left, the female Black Hornbill showed up!

We also solve the mystery of the "Ubin squirrels". There were indeed squirrels on Ubin. Here's a Plantain Squirrel near the HSBC Hub.

Soon it was going to be low tide and time to head back for the imperial eagle. We reached the jetty overlooking Pulau Sekudu at about 4-something. As there were nothing much going on, I spent some time counting the number of Great crested terns. There were about 100 of them.

Then a Great-billed Heron flew past and landed on Pulau Sekudu.

The Eurasian Wild Pigs were also out for dinner.

At about 5:30 pm, the Imperial Eagle flew out from the Ubin mangrove! It has been hiding in the mangrove forest on the Ubin side all this while. After some time, it flew to Pulau Sekudu and that was the closest it got to us before flying back into the mangrove forest at about 6:30 pm. Game over and time to head back.

It's been awhile since I last wrote a list, so here it is:

1. Red junglefowl 5
2. Great egret 42
3. Grey heron 12
4. Great-billed heron 1
5. Imperial eagle 1 juvenile
6. Brahminy kite ~5
7. White-bellied sea-eagle ~5
8. Grey plover ~20
9. Whimbrel ~40
10. Common sandpiper ~5
11. Great crested tern 100
12. Mountain imperial-pigeon 1
13. Pink-necked green-pigeon ~10
14. Oriental pied hornbill ~10
15. Black hornbill 1 female
16. Large-billed crow 2
17. Straw-headed bulbul 5 heard
18. Olive-winged bulbul 2
19. White-rumped shama 5 heard
20. Asian glossy starling ~20
21. Crimson sunbird 2