Japan 02Mar13

From Yamane

I visited Kasai Rinkai Park with Keio University Bird Watching Club members as one of the alumni. It was fine, but very cold & strong wind all day. The place is near Tokyo Disney Land.

I report as follows:

1. Gadwall
2. Wigeon
3. Mallard
4. Spot-billed Duck
5. Northern Shoveler
6. Common Teal
7. Common Pochard
8. Tufted Duck
9. Greater Scaup
10. Little Grebe
11. Black-necked Grebe
12. Oriental Turtle Dove
13. Great Cormorant
14. Grey Heron
15. Great Egret
16. Little Egret
17. Eurasian Coot
18. Kentish Plover
19. Common Sandpiper
20. Dunlin
21. Black-headed Gull
22. Common Gull
23. Herring Gull
24. Slaty-backed Gull
25. Osprey
26. Eastern Marsh Harrier
27. Azure-winged Magpie
28. Carrion Crow
29. Jungle Crow
30. Goldcrest
31. Varied Tit
32. Coal Tit
33. Japanese Tit
34. Brown-eared Bulbul
35. Japanese Bush Warbler
36. Japanese White-eye
37. White-cheeked Starling
38. Pale Thrush
39. Dusky Thrush
40. Daurian Redstart
41. Eurasian Tree Sparrow
42. Japanese Pied Wagtail
43. Black-faced Bunting
44. Grey Bunting

We could not watch Red-flanked Bluetail, Bullfinch, & Common Kingfisher.

Pasir Ris Park, Changi, Seletar Dam, Pulau Punggol 31Dec11

From KH

I started off with the Bird Group folks mainly to show Dr Ho the CHE nests at Changi. Con, Danny and Jia Sheng started at Pasir Ris Park for the Mangrove Pitta and met up with us at Changi.

From JS

Changi

1. CHE 1
2. Common Buzzard 1 (dark morph - most probably the same grey-brown Steppe Buzzard that was seen previously.)
3. BWK 3
4. WBSE >2
5. Brahminy Kite 8
6. Black Baza 1
7. OHB 1
8. Peregrine Falcon 2 (1 chasing the other)
9. Jerdon's Baza 1
10. Chinese Sparrowhawk >1 (we saw one calling female adult(?) and heard some response.)
11. Chestnut-winged Cuckoo 1
12. Ashy Minivets >5

Seletar Dam

1. Black-headed Gull 1 1st winter
2. Oriental Honey Buzzard 1
3. Peregrine Falcon 1

Black-headed Gull ©Tan KH

Pulau Punggol

1. Osprey 1
2. Booted Eagle 2
3. Black Baza 14 flying from Punggol to Pulau Punggol
4. Chinese Sparrowhawk 2
5. WBSE 3
6. Brahminy Kite 3
7. Peregrine Falcon 1 japonensis on the same perch for >2 hrs!
8. Accipiter sp. (JS: Saw 1 very pale individual flying across the road while the Chinese Sparrowhawks were calling. Looks good for a Shikra if I am in other country but will leave it as unid.)
9. Juv Accipiter sp. 1
10. Hawk-cuckoo sp. 1
11. Bunting? (JS: The bird was skulking (walking) inside the mimosa by a puddle, behaving alot like a sparrow/pipit rather than the mouse-like reed warblers. Alarmed, it stretched its neck upright and gave a pipit-like pose. It was brownish and had a short, thick bill. I thought I had made out a "grey-fronted canary"-like head (supercilium and obvious ear-covert) and some streaks on the sides (like those of the red-throated pipit) as the bird flew its unbounded, direct flight (Looks more like a giant munia than a pipit) and gave a last-look before darting straight into the marsh vegetation. If it is not my imaginative thinking, it should be this bird - with no prior experience to a bunting, I can be wrong on the grounds of ignorance. No call though.)
12. Reed Warbler? 1
13. Suspected Rusty-rumped Warbler 1 (JS: I was more inclined to this id than the zitting cisticola. Kok Hui saw the bird and thought that the latter is a better call because of the size and the lighter-toned upperparts. The brownish appearance and white-tipped tail reasoned my inclination though none of them is useful for separating the 2 species.)

Peregrine Falcon japonensis ©Danny Lau

Dead Painted Bronzeback with $1 coin for size comparison. It was about 2-foot-long ©Tan KH

Japan 25Dec10

From Yamane

Have a Merry Christmas! Many thanks for you in this year. Wishing you and your family all the best for 2011. I'm looking forward to seeing you somewhere in Singapore, also in 2011.

Black-headed Gulls

Japan 16Dec09

From Yamane

All NSSS members!
Have a Merry Christmas!
Many thanks for you in this year.
Wishing you and your family all the best for 2010.
I hope to see you there also next year! :-) Have a nice birding!

Yamane with Black-headed Gulls & Greater Scaups from Yokohama, Japan

SBG, Poyan, CCK Cemeteries, SBWR 03Jan09

We started off at the drain beside Tyersall Avenue lot 33. The Botanic Gardens was pretty noisy with the morning crowd. Nevertheless, we could still see a juvenile Red-legged Crake dashing across the path and a Greater Coucal calling away.

Next up was Poyan. We came looking for the Chestnut-winged Cuckoo that Danny saw on 1Jan09, but not a single cuckoo was in sight. However, a pair of Blossom-headed Parakeets were sighted. If they breed successfully, we could have another bird added to the checklist! The male has a pinkish head, while the female a purplish one. They are really pretty birds indeed.

Male and female Blossom-headed Parakeet ©Danny Lau

Other parakeets present were 4 Rose-ringed Parakeets and >20 Red-breasted Parakeets.

The most exciting moment of the day was when a pale morph Booted Eagle flew across Lim Chu Kang Road <1m above Danny's car. It must have been perching in the cemetery area before our encounter. It then thermaled up and disappeared into the sky. This was the first time we saw the 'spotlights' on the shoulders of the Booted Eagle.

Booted Eagle ©Tan KH

Other raptors present in the vicinity were:
Oriental Honey-buzzard 2
Black Baza 3
White-bellied Sea-eagle 1 adult
Brahmny Kite 1 adult, 1 juv

Oriental Honey-buzzards ©Tan KH

The afternoon session was at SBWR. On the boardwalk from the carpark to the SBWR entrance, Danny spotted a large dragonfly (Epophthalmia vittigera). It's more than 7-8 cm long.

Epophthalmia vittigera ©Tan KH

Within SBWR, there wasn't anything special, just the usual waders. We tried the mangrove boardwalk near the SBWR entrance for the Mangrove Blue Flycatcher, but it was totally quiet. However, we did see the bird that we only heard in the morning - a Greater Coucal.

Final stop of the day was at the KNT boardwalk. We are glad to announce the arrival of the Black-headed Gull for this season. There was only 1 gull among the >10 Great Crested Terns.

Black-headed Gull ©Danny Lau

Great Crested Tern ©Danny Lau

Poyan, KNT, West Coast 6Jan07

I went to look for the Jerdon's Baza at Poyan with Sree, Albert, Danny, JS, Kong, PC, but none was seen.

After that, we proceeded to Kranji Nature Trail to look for Black-headed Gulls since it was high tide and they were expected to be at the kelong. Sure enough they were there with the Lesser Crested Terns.

In the afternoon, we went to West Coast to look for Blue-winged & Hooded Pittas and Orange-headed Thrush, but found >10 Lesser Whistling-ducks instead. Con, Horst, James and a few others were here and they reported someone has made a sighting early in the morning but none since. So they decided to adjourned to the Muslim cemetery where the Jerdon's Baza had been sighted on Thu, while PC and I had to leave.

Later on Danny told me they did not manage to see the baza.

Juvenile Oriental Honey-buzzard ©Sree

Mandai Mudflat 2, 6Jan07

From Danny

Black-headed Gulls and Lesser Crested Terns at the kelong off Mandai Mudflat on 2 Jan.

More shots from 6 Jan. Black-headed Gull and Common Greenshank.

Japan 02Jan07

From Yamane

Happy New Year! I send pictures of Japanese birds in winter. They're my presents of New Year to you.

Black-headed Gull (Winter Type (It's no black head!))

Panorama of the pond

Shoveler (Male). It's a kind of "Marsh Duck".

Spot-billed Duck. It's a kind of "Marsh Duck". It's a resident. Others are migrants in winter.

Tufted Duck (Male). It's a kind of "Bay Duck".

Tufted Duck (Female)

Europe 26Nov-10Dec06
I went to Europe from 26 Nov - 10 Dec and saw 36 species of birds, featuring only the common birds.

1. Little grebe (Rhine Falls, Switzerland)
2. Great crested grebe (Amsterdam, Netherland)
3. Great cormorant (common)
4. Grey heron (common)
5. Great egret (Amsterdam, Netherland)
6. White stork (Germany)
7. Common pheasant (common)
8. Mute swan (common)
9. Mallard (common)
10. Common goldeneye (Salzburg, Austria & Amsterdam, Netherland)
11. Red-crested pochard (Lucerne, Switzerland)
12. Common pochard (Lucerne, Switzerland)
13. Tufted duck (Lucerne, Switzerland)
14. Common buzzard (common)
15. Red kite (Germany)
16. Kestrel (common)
17. Common moorhen (Rhine Falls, Switzerland & Amsterdam, Netherland)
18. Common coot (common)
19. Black-headed gull (common)
20. Herring gull (common)
21. Yellow-legged gull (Venice, Italy)
22. Lesser black-backed gull (Rome, Italy)
23. Great black-backed gull (Amsterdam, Netherland)
24. Rock pigeon (common)
25. Wood pigeon (Germany)
26. Willow tit (Germany)
27. Magpie (common)
28. Jackdaw (Italy)
29. Alpine chough (Mount Titlis, Switzerland)
30. Hooded crow (Italy)
31. Carrion crow (common)
32. Starling (common)
33. Italian sparrow (Vatican City)
34. House sparrow (common)
35. Blackbird (common)
36. Wren (Lucerne, Switzerland)

Common birds of Italy

Mute Swan. Juvenile left, adult right

Tufted Ducks. Female left, male right

Red-headed Pochard. Common Pochard

Mallard pair. Common Goldeneye pair

Great Crested Grebe. Little Grebe

Juvenile Common Moorhen. Common Coot

Black-headed Gull. Lesser Black-backed Gull.

Yellow-legged Gulls.

Great Cormorant. Grey Heron

Common Pigeons. Female Italian Sparrow

Hooded Crow. Alpine Chough