Pulau Punggol, Punggol East 04Feb17

From KH

Danny and I started today's birding at Pulau Punggol.

Birds of note include a pair of Black Drongos, a Great-billed Heron along the coast, and a flock of Daurian Starlings which were failed to turn a single bird into Chestnut-cheeked.

Black Drongo ©Danny Lau

Great-billed Heron ©Tan KH

Daurian Starling ©Danny Lau

Daurian Starlings ©Tan KH

1. Great-billed heron 1
2. Grey heron 1
3. Little egret 1
4. Black-winged kite 1
5. Changeable hawk-eagle 1 pale morph seen and very vocal
6. Brahminy kite 1
7. White-bellied sea-eagle 4
8. Grey-headed fish-eagle 1
9. White-breasted waterhen 2
10. Ruddy-breasted crake 3
11. Red-wattled lapwing 1 heard only
12. Common sandpiper 1
13. Red collared-dove >10
14. Spotted dove >10
15. Zebra dove >10
16. Pink-necked green-pigeon >5
17. Lesser coucal 1 heard only
18. Asian koel 1 heard only
19. Little bronze-cuckoo 1 male
20. swiftlet spp. >50
21. Oriental dollarbird 2
22. White-throated kingfisher 2
23. Collared kingfisher 2
24. Blue-tailed bee-eater >5
25. Sunda woodpecker 2
26. Laced woodpecker 1 pair
27. Common flameback 2
28. Rose-ringed parakeet >5
29. Red-breasted parakeet >5
30. Golden-bellied gerygone 1 heard only
31. Common iora >5
32. Pied triller 1 female
33. Black-naped oriole >5
34. Black drongo 2
35. Malaysian pied fantail 2
36. Red-whiskered bulbul 2
37. Yellow-vented bulbul >5
38. Arctic warbler 2
39. Yellow-bellied prinia 2 heard only
40. Ashy tailorbird 2 heard only
41. Asian glossy starling >20
42. Daurian starling >30
43. Javan myna >10
44. Oriental magpie-robin 1 pair
45. Asian brown flycatcher 3
46. Scarlet-backed flowerpecker 1
47. Olive-backed sunbird >2
48. Baya weaver >10
49. Scaly-breasted munia 1
50. Common waxbill >10
51. Yellow-fronted canary 4

After lunch, we headed to Punggol East and found at least 5 Jerdon's bazas.

Jerdon's Bazas (left adult, right immature) ©Danny Lau

There were also other migrant raptors: Black Bazas and Oriental Honey-buzzards.

1. Grey heron 3
2. Jerdon's baza 1 flock of 5
3. Black baza 14 (1 flock of 5 + 1 flock of 9)
4. Oriental honey-buzzard 2
5. Changeable hawk-eagle 2
6. Brahminy kite 2
7. White-bellied sea-eagle 2
8. Spotted dove >5
9. Zebra dove >5
10. Little bronze-cuckoo 1 heard only
11. swiftlet spp. >50
12. White-throated kingfisher 1 heard only
13. Rose-ringed parakeet 2
14. Golden-bellied gerygone 1 heard only
15. Long-tailed shrike 1 hunting
16. Black-naped oriole 2
17. Sooty-headed bulbul 5
18. Yellow-vented bulbul 5
19. Barn swallow >5
20. Yellow-bellied prinia 1 heard only
21. Common tailorbird 2 heard only
22. Javan myna >5
23. Oriental magpie-robin 1 heard only
24. Olive-backed sunbird 2
25. Paddyfield pipit 2

Changi, Halus 01May14

Danny and I started the day at Changi. Both airshow and LP149 were accessible.  Three Monk Parakeets can still be found here.

The purported Short-eared Owl was nowhere to be found, but we did see another migrant - a Black Drongo.

While tracking the drongo, a Large-tailed Nightjar flushed about 1 m from my feet!

Only local raptors (WBSE, Brahminy Kite, CHE, BWK) were to be found, the migrants seem to be gone. The only munia we saw were Black-headed Munias. Baya Weavers were building nests. Other then these, the usual birds were present.

At carpark 7, a huge WBSE nest on casuarina was clearly visible together with its residents.

After lunch at the usual Punggol foodcourt, we headed to Halus. There were many Little Terns, as well as many calling Cuckoos (Rusty-breasted, Plaintive, Banded Bay, Little Bronze). Reed Warblers (Oriental, Black-browed) were still around. Sharp-eyed Danny spotted two nests - one belonging to Common Iora

and the other to Sooty-headed Bulbul.

Changi 05Nov06

Con was at Changi too, but we didn't bump into each other. Here's his report.

The cove had a good mix of species today. All three species of doves. All three species of shrikes. Pipit of course. BSK's aplenty, too many to count.

A very tame Common Buzzard

Several Eastern Marsh Harriers. Yellow Wagtails. Of course Mynas & Crows. A few Brahmany Kites. A few Little Egrets. A purple heron. Plenty of Mongolian Plovers, a few Ruddy Turnstones, and a few Malaysian Plovers. A few common sandpipers. I didn't see any "rare" waders. About 40 Pratincoles.

The lapwing and the drongo

A couple of raptors that'll take some closer study of the pictures, may turn out to be one of the above. Pacific & Barn Swallows, although not nearly as many as we saw on Hari Raya, and I didn't see any red-rumped swallows.

Pied Triller

Changi 05Nov06

From KH

Attendees: Peck Chan, Dr Yap, Dr Hsu, Ali, Indi and I
Location: Changi Cove and Tanah Merah.

By the time we reached Changi Cove, it was 0800. We all loaded into Indi's landrover and started our roller coaster ride. :) The first interesting bird we encountered was a Common Buzzard.

After chasing it for a distance, we moved on and got really closed to a White-throated Kingfisher which Dr Yap could literally whack it with a long stick while standing right in front of it!

 
Meanwhile a Black Drongo perched high on a nearby tree.

 
Also present were Black-winged Kites and Paddyfield Pipits.

By this time, it was 0900. Indi suggested going to Tanah Merah. However, besides many abandoned weaver nests, there were pretty much nothing else to be had. Nevertheless, it was interesting to know that there are actually tracks in here. By 1000, Indi had to leave and we went back to Changi to carry on birding. Black-winged Kites were attempting to mate. However, they were probably too shy to continue with 5 pairs of eye staring at them!



Red collared Doves were everywhere.

While trying to get close to them for better shots, Ali spotted a Black-headed Munia amongst a flock of Scaly-breasted Munias. Heading for the sandy coast, a Purple Heron was flushed by our approaching car. However, as it was high tide, we could not locate any waders. Moreover, there were many fishermen along the coast. Finally, at the sandy canal, we had an Eastern Marsh-harrier, a flock of 11 Indian Silverbills and another Black Drongo. We could have gone to the rocky shore where the waders should be resting during high tide if not for the on going construction.

Indian Silverbills, escapees

It was a new and exciting birding experience with Indi's landrover, but Peck Chan seemed to enjoy it! In her words:
"Indiana has his share of fun and excitement in learning something about the birds and we got our experience of `raft' birding, concentrating in hanging onto our dear lives at the back of his landrover. Dr Hsu got his hand cut while holding on both ends of the back carriage and Ali was afraid that his head get smashed by the rock and roll."

1 House crow
2 Javan myna
3 Common myna
4 Barn swallow
5 Black-naped oriole
6 Paddyfield pipit
7 Zitting cisticola
8 White-throated kingfisher
9 Blue-tailed bee-eater
10 Dollarbird 1
11 Long-tailed parakeet 1
12 Indian silverbill 11
13 Purple heron 1
14 Scaly-breasted munia
15 Black-headed munia 1
16 Black drongo 2
17 Long-tailed shrike 1
18 Brown shrike 3
19 Red collared dove
20 Spotted dove
21 Black-winged kite
22 Common buzzard 2
23 Oriental honey-buzzard 1
24 Eastern marsh-harrier 1

More bird photos:

Barn Swallows

Oriental Honey-buzzard