Bidadari, SBWR, Pulau Punggol, Coney Island 26Oct12

From KH

Following the Japanese Paradise Flycatcher sighting last Sun-Thu, I headed to Bidadari hoping to tick this bird off. Alas, only managed to get two of its cousin, Asian Paradise Flycatcher. The Black-backed Kingfisher we saw during the bird race was also gone, while the Brown-chested Jungle Flycatcher that we missed was present. In fact, there were two of them! How did we miss them during the race??

Other notables were an immature Chinese Goshawk, 6 OHBs, 5 Drongo Cuckoos, 1 Indian Cuckoo, 1 Crow-billed Drongo, Ashy Minivets, Flycatchers (Asian Brown, Yellow-rumped), Arctic Warblers.

Seetoh came and reported the Chinese Egret was still at SBWR. But by the time I reached SBWR, the bird was nowhere to be found... Nevertheless, it was nice to record 50 Red-necked Stints at Hide 2D. There was also a Broad-billed Sandpiper. Raptor-wise, there were only 1 dark morph Changeable Hawk Eagle and 2 adult White-bellied Sea Eagles.

How many stints can you see here? Hint: one of them is not a stint.

Red-necked Stints and Curlew Sandpiper in direct size comparison. Also note difference in bill length and shape.

Broad-billed Sandpiper showing upperwing and tail pattern. Also note the split supercilium and kink in bill.

At Pulau Punggol, a Japanese Sparrowhawk was roosting, an adult Brahminy Kite was thermalling and most importantly, the Booted Eagle is back! This sets the early date back by 11 days (from 6 Nov). The dark morph Booted Eagle was gliding with an avian prey in talon and with a bulging crop. It must be keeping the remains for dinner!

Dark morph Booted Eagle with avian prey.

Finally, at Coney Island, there were hardly any birds. Nevertheless, there was a roosting Chinese Goshawk, 1 Black Baza flying away, 3 Brahminy Kites (2 adults, 1 juv.) and 2 White-bellied Sea Eagles (1 adult, 1 juv.).

NTL2, SBWR, Pulau Punggol 21Aug10

From KH

It's been a "long time" since my local birding! Well, 1 month IS a long time. :) Today, Con, Danny and I went to NTL2 in the morning. NSS was also having one of its weekend outing at the Kranji Marsh. The most interesting bird here was a Rusty-breasted Cuckoo. There were also 2 CHEs (1 calling along NTL2 and 1 dark morph perched on the opposite side of the reservoir) and 1 BWK.

We dropped by NSRCC, but there were no wagtail or ringed plover yet. Next up: SBWR. JS was able to join us for this league of the trip. Right outside the entrance of SBWR, someone showed us an active Olive-backed Sunbird nest. There were 2 chicks in the nest and the parents were busy taking turn to feed them.

We found an Ashy Tailorbird sewing a nest while we were having lunch! We left Con with the SBWR nesting activities and headed to P. Punggol. The Brahminy Kites were no longer gathering over the tall trees, but seemed to prefer the precious sand piles now. Beside the Wild Pig that we flushed, the most interesting find here are about 5 Little Bronze-cuckoos, both male (1st photo) and female (2nd photo).

From Danny

Was at Sg. Buloh on Saturday morning. Main Hide and 1C were flooded, did not see as many waders as reported earlier in the week. Spotted 3 Curlew Sandpipers with one as in pic moulting into non-breeding plumage. The white supercilium is almost done with rufous patches evident at bill base, still some patches of rufous/brownish on scapulars and wing coverts with fresh greyish feathers coming through. On the breast and belly the whites are replacing the rufous plumage. Well, we don't get much time to view breeding plumages (moulting), very soon have to wait till next season.

The photo below shows a single Curlew Sandpiper among Common Redshanks.

For entertainment, refer to 2nd pic about a friendly Estuarine Crocodile and a brave Common Sandpiper. The sandpiper did jump over the croc when it first flew in and probably was thinking whether to wag over the open jaws??

SBWR 29Sep09

From SY

Marsh Sandpiper

Common Greenshank

Pacific Golden-plover

Whimbrel

Lesser Sand-plover

Curlew Sandpipers

NTL2, SBWR 26Sep09

From KH

We started the day at NTL2. Nothing spectacular, but it was nice to see a family of Slaty-breasted Rails (1 adult and 2 juveniles) along the path. Brown Shrikes were common. An Osprey perched on a tower. At the pond were 2 Purple Swamphens and 2 White-browed Crakes. We were looking out for terns and out of nowhere a group of people headed for the gate to the bund - they were Alan, Kenneth, Alfred and members of the public. NSS has a public tour today and we get to go onto the bund! A lucky day it was. We were able to get better views of the White-winged and Little Terns. There was also a Yellow Wagtail on the bund.

Before heading to SBWR, we dropped by NSRCC and sure enough there were about 20 Yellow Wagtails there. However, Little Ringed Plovers were nowhere to be seen.

At SBWR, the first birds of interest were a family of Chicken (1 female and 4 chicks) foraging in the undergrowth at the boardwalk from the carpark to the entrance! ©Tan KH

Wader-wise, besides the usual suspects, there were also 1 Asian Dowitcher, 3 Red-necked Stints and 1 Ruddy Turnstone.

Photos of Curlew Sandpipers, Lesser Sand-plovers and Pacific Golden-plovers ©Danny Lau

Pontian 20Sep08

From SC

I think I found an alternate to Changi Cove at my hometown which is about 1.5 hour from Singapore at Pontian. I was there this morning when the tide coming in and saw quite a lot of waders at the seaside, when the tide start approaching the shore, these wader flew to a nearby construction site. Initially, I walked to the site and manage to photographed some plovers, later I decide to look for car entrance to the site and I found it!!

There are literally thousands of waders, but the most common are Lesser Sand-plovers and Common Redshanks. Also, I think there are at least 200 Little Terns.

1) Lesser Sand-plover female in breeding plumage

2) Terek Sandpiper

3) Curlew Sandpiper – Female in breeding plumage

4) Little Terns in flight

Halus, SBWR 20Sep08

From Danny

Not a particular good day for birding. First, was denied entry to CC via KT gate by guard stationed in the centre guard post - could be due to the belated time of 7.30 am. Decided to head for Halus. 1st stop at big drain, spotted 2 Long-tailed Shrikes, Common Sandpipers, egrets, swallows, PGP and an early Chinese Pond Heron. At the Grebe Pond, the heart sank when barricades were up along the side next to Sungei Punggol. There were more hard hats than birds. Not surprisingly not a single grebe in sight. At the valley where waders were common, there were bulldozers and the hillsides were bare earth. Keep those pics of Little Grebes - maybe they are historical.

Went for early lunch before heading for SBWR. No sign of the Knot but larger flocks of Whimbrels and Curlew Sandpipers (at least 30 compared with last week 7) with the usual red, greenshanks and Marsh Sandpipers. No sign of any Broad-billed Sandpiper.

At Hide 1C, found large flocks of Whimbrel and Lesser Sand-plovers (about 30-40). Search every sand plover but no sign of Greater. Found 2 slimmer Curlew Sandpipers among the sand plovers. Tried David Copperfield's will power magic to straighten the bills to turn them to Dunlins. Other than the 2 turnstones, there was a large flock of Little Egrets, numbering close to a hundred as what LKS reported on Census day.

Almost fooled by this squating wader taken last Saturday at SBWR as Great Knot.
The differences as follows:
1) thinner and sharper bill
2) the coverts and scapular fringes buff unlike the knot which are white
3) the uppertail covert barred
The wader was a Common Redshank.

Hopefully the Grebe will return at the end of the construction. It looked  like the Pond will be left as it is.

Sime Forest, SBWR, Kranji 03Nov07

From KH

The day started with me picking up an injured juvenile Schrenck's Bittern at the void deck of my multi-storey carpark at Sengkang.

Upon reaching Rifle Range at 7 am, I showed the bird to Danny and we decided to bring it to BTNR where Con was conducting his course. It was then that Danny thought of passing the injured bird to the ranger there. The poor bird had a missing right wing but when I picked it up, there was no blood. Moreover, it looked like it had a broken leg too. We looked at the plight of the bird in dismay...

Schrenck's Bittern ©Tan KH

By the time we arrived back at Rifle Range, it was 0740h. The first interesting birds were 2 cuckoos - the Drongo Cuckoo was confirmed, while a Violet Cuckoo was possible as it was hiding behind branches. Then, the first bird wave hit us. It consisted of Arctic Warblers, 1 Eastern Crowned Warbler and 1 Asian Paradise-flycatcher. A fruiting tree on the way to the Jelutong Tower attracted 4 Red-eyed Bulbuls and 1 Asian Brown Flycatcher. Along the track, we got to see the Arctic Warblers, Asian Paradise-flycatchers and Asian Brown Flycatchers a few times more. At the tower, a male Asian Fairy Bluebird flew across the canopy. Except for Arctic Warbler and Asian Brown Flycatcher, we missed all these birds during the race. Where were they hiding back then? At the reservoir, a pale morph Changeable Hawk-eagle perched high on a treetop. Other than these birds, a Green Crested Lizard, a Clouded Monitor and some Papilio butterflies made the quiet trail less disappointing.

Lunch was nasi lemak at Sungei Buloh again. There were mostly redshanks at the main hide, but it was nice to see a pair of Magpie Robins, which we missed during the race. Most of the waders were at Hide 1C. Sieving through the Whimbrels for the Bar-tailed Godwits gave us our a stunning curlew instead. It was a big guy compared to the whimbrels. The only birds which could push it around here were the Little Egrets. Later, it was confirmed to be a Far Eastern Curlew! A global lifer for both of us!

Far Eastern Curlew ©Danny Lau

The godwits were present as well. Shifting attention to the sand-plovers, we tried to sieve through them for the Greater Sand Plover, but to no avail.

Lesser Sand-plover ©Danny Lau

Next, through the curlew sandpipers, we hoped to get a broad-billed sandpiper. No sign of the latter, but we picked out a petite little guy, which had slightly shorter bill and slightly different plumage. This was later confirmed by David Bakewell to be a 1st winter curlew sandpiper moulting out of its juvenile plumage while retaining its juvenile wing covert.

Curlew Sandpiper ©Danny Lau

We were at 1C for more than an hour, maybe two, until the dog started barking at the waders scaring the curlew and whimbrels away. The whimbrels came back after circling a few rounds above, but the curlew was gone...

And so we left Buloh for NTL2 hoping to get the sand martin and crested goshawk. Bad luck, the gantry was down... The decision then was to take Kranji Nature Trail and see what we could get. We did see the two common woodpeckers that we missed during the race - Sunda Pygmy and Laced. The former was on the wooden stilt at the boardwalk, exactly the same place we saw it 1 week before the race! Where was it hiding on Race Day??

The day ended with 72 birds heard and seen. The Far Eastern Curlew being the bird of the day.

Sengkang
1 Schrenck's bittern, juv, injured

Sime Forest
2 Oriental dollarbird
3 Common goldenback, heard
4 Banded woodpecker, heard
5 Blue-tailed bee-eater
6 Drongo cuckoo, 1
7 Violet cuckoo, 1 possible
8 Long-tailed parakeet, big flocks
9 Swiftlet spp.
10 Pink-necked green-pigeon
11 Changeable hawk-eagle, 1 pale morph
12 Oriental honey-buzzard, 1 in flight
13 Asian fairy-bluebird, 1 male
14 Greater racket-tailed drongo
15 Common hill myna
16 Barn swallow
17 Pacific swallow
18 Asian paradise-flycatcher, 3
19 Asian brown flycatcher, 3
20 Arctic warbler, many
21 Eastern crowned warbler, 1
22 Dark-necked tailorbird
23 Common tailorbird
24 Striped tit babbler
25 Red-eyed bulbul, 4
26 Olive-winged bulbul
27 Yellow-vented bulbul
28 Orange-bellied flowerpecker
29 Scarlet-backed flowerpecker
30 Brown-throated sunbird

En-route to SBWR
31 Common pigeon
32 White-vented myna
33 Common myna
34 House crow
35 Brown shrike

Drain outside SBWR
36 Wood sandpiper
37 White-breasted waterhen
38 Scaly-breasted munia

SBWR
39 Collared kingfisher
40 White-throated kingfisher
41 Asian koel, heard
42 Zebra dove
43 Far Eastern curlew, 1
44 Bar-tailed godwit, 2
45 Whimbrel
46 Common sandpiper
47 Marsh sandpiper
48 Curlew sandpiper
49 Common redshank
50 Common greenshank
51 Pacific golden-plover
52 Lesser sand-plover
53 Striated heron
54 Little egret
55 Asian glossy starling
56 Ashy tailorbird
57 Oriental magpie robin
58 Crimson sunbird

Kranji
59 Fork-tailed swift
60 Osprey, 1
61 White-bellied sea-eagle, 1
62 Spotted dove

NTL2 entrance
63 Black-winged kite, 1

Kranji Nature Trail
64 Sunda pygmy woodpecker
65 Laced woodpecker
66 Lesser crested tern
67 Great crested tern
68 Grey heron
69 Great egret
70 Golden-bellied gerygone, heard
71 Black-naped oriole
72 Paddyfield pipit

Punggol, SBWR, NTL2; MacRitchie; Bt Brown, SBG; Fort Canning 26-27Nov05

I had to give this weekend a miss, but Con, Danny and JS were birding on Sat at Punggol, Sungei Buloh and NTL2. Con was back at the Punggol drain on Sun to pick up the White Wagtails. Peck Chan gave it a miss too, but she was having a night walk at MacRitchie. Robert was also in action on Sun at Botanic Gardens. Yamane was helping us monitor the White-bellied Sea Eagle nesting situation at Fort Canning.

From JS (Sat)

Today, my father, Con and I went to Punggol and Sungei Buloh. At 12 noon, Con left while my father and I continued the day at Neo Tiew lane 2.

Unlike the previous trip at Punggol, we did not see the Rufous Woodpecker. Instead, we saw an abundance of Long-tailed Shrike, about seven of them, and a flock of White-shouldered Starlings. There was no vegetation in the drain, so the snipes were not there to feed. As I have a guided walk to guide in Sungei Buloh at 9 am, we left Punggol at 8:30 am.

At Sungei Buloh, there was nothing special. No cuckoos, knots, Broad-billed Sandpiper, Grey Plover, except a small flock which had a mixture of greenshanks, redshanks, Marsh Sandpipers, Whimbrels, Bar-tailed Godwits and three Curlew Sandpipers. Not a very fruitful trip. :( My father and Con saw a Green Iguana which was an escapee. Other than the iguana, there was nothing much at SBWR.

At 12 noon, Con left. My father and I planned to explore the Mandai Mudflat and the canal's mudflat but had to call off the plan as it started to rain. Rather than waiting for the rain to stop, my father went to explore the drain that connects to Sungei Mandai and discovered a heron and egret paradise. I am not sure about the species of egret and herons seen but he spent 15 mins in the heavy rain, this shows that the place had many birds.

After a trip to Bukit Timah to refuel the car's petrol tank, the rain stopped and we went home to get the cameras for usage during the second half of today's birding trip. Due to high tide, nothing much could be see at the canal's mudflat, so we went to Neo Tiew Lane 2. We caught a glimpse of the Black Baza, thinking that it was the Black Magpie, and a Crested Goshawk attacking a Collared Kingfisher not once but three times. Sadly, the bird of prey was not very successful, so are we. The scope was good but some how the camera was not able to capture the raptors with great quality. :(

Photos from Con:

Long-tailed Shrike. White-shouldered Starling

Curlew Sandpipers and a Pacific Golden-plover

Punggol Drain/Grassland
1) Common Sandpiper
2) White-shouldered Starling
3) Long-tailed Shrike
4) Large-billed Crow
5) House Crow
6) Common Myna
7) Javan Myna
8) Pacific Swallow
9) Barn Swallow
10) Yellow-vented Bulbul
11) Pink-necked Green-pigeon
12) Grey Heron
13) Collared Kingfisher
14) Spotted Dove
15) Zitting Cisticola
16) Baya Weaver
17) Scaly-breasted Munia
18) Asian Koel
19) Black-winged Kite

SBWR
20) Curlew Sandpiper
21) Marsh Sandpiper
22) Bar-tailed Godwit
23) Little Egret
24) Intermediate Egret
25) Common Redshank
26) Common Greenshank
27) Pacific Golden-plover
28) Ashy Tailorbird (heard)
29) Copper-throated Sunbird
30) Pied Fantail
31) Brahminy Kite
32) Stork-billed Kingfisher

Neo Tiew Lane 2
33) Black Baza
34) Brown Shrike
35) White-throated Kingfisher
36) Crested Goshawk
37) Blue-tailed Bee-eater
38) White-winged/Little Tern
39) Yellow Bittern
40) Ruddy-breasted/Red-legged Crake
41) Cattle Egret
42) Black-naped Oriole

From Con

The 'catch of the day' certainly has to be the large Iguana that Danny spotted at Sungei Buloh. I heard that this fellow has been spotted in several locations in Singapore, not sure if it's the same individual.

Con was at the Punggol drain again on Sun and coincidentally, Kim Seng and gang was there too. Kim Seng heard the call of the wagtails and pointed them out. Con managed to get both Mr and Mrs White Wagtail.

White Wagtail - left female, right male

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Peck Chan's MacRitchie night walk

We (only 2 of us) were at MacRitchie Prunus Trail tonight. Saw 3 species of spiders, Field Frog (camouflaged in the mud), a pair of Wood Scorpions in a dead wood. Highlight was a 3 m long, diameter 10 cm Python swimming in the reservoir. It retreated when we shone the torchlight on it.

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Robert's Bt Brown & SBG sightings

I ventured out by bike this morning to Bukit Brown and the Ecolake at Botanic Gardens. I sighted:

Bukit Brown
Long-tailed Parakeet
Asian Glossy Starling
White-throated Kingfisher
Banded Woodpecker
Straw-headed Bulbul (audio only)

Ecolake
Magpie Robin
White Wagtail
Yellow Bittern
White-breasted Waterhen
Ashy Tailorbird

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Yamane's White-bellied Sea-eagle at Fort Canning