Neo Tiew 17Sep23

From KH

Danny and I went to Neo Tiew Harvest Lane and got a male Greater Painted-Snipe, but no migrants.

Next, Turut Track. Still no migrants, but got Abbott's Babbler.

Back to Neo Tiew Harvest Lane. Finally, 2 Barn Swallows.

Marina East, Gardens by the Bay 02Jul22

From KH

Danny and I went to Marina East today. The waterlogged grassland was full of Neptunia plena.

A female Greater Painted-Snipe flushed as we walked along the fringe.

While a Purple Heron hid.

Little Egret and Medium Egret also performed their flight show; Medium Egret in front of the Flyer!

At the coast, Pacific Reef-Egret flushed as we walked along the elevated breakwater.

Unfazed, this female Malaysian Plover stood her ground!

Chestnut Munia: Should I eat from this green grass or should I eat from that white grass??

At Gardens by the Bay, we got a pair of Sunda Woodpecker and other common birds.

Also got alien species: Brown Anole from the Carribean and Zebra Tilapias from Africa.

Marina East 29Dec21

From KH

I continued today at Marina East from yesterday's search for Siberian House-Martin, but still no luck. Nice to see Watercock and Baillon's Crake.

Can you spot the shy Greater Painted-Snipe?

White-breasted Waterhen chick was much bolder!

Medium Egret caught a Garden Supple Skink.

Little Egret ready to strike.

A flock of 13 Masked Lapwings.

Tweeddale morph Oriental Honey-Buzzard looking for honey?

No martin, but got Eastern Red-rumped Swallow.

I was shooting this Dingy Bushbrown and didn't realize that there were Anoplodesmus saussurii millipedes on the left and an ant on the right until after reviewing the photo.

Similarly, too focused on shooting this Common Bluetail and did not see the ant at the bottom right.

The other insects caught on my sensors were Henosepilachna ladybird and Common Scarlet.

The common plants here: Broad-leaved Carpetgrass and Mimosa.

White Leadtree.

Water Dead-and-Awake.

Kranji Nature Trail, Lim Chu Kang Lane 3 26Jan19

From KH

Danny, JS, BJ and I went to the new Sungei Buloh (aka Kranji Nature Trail) today. Nothing much, but it was nice to see a Crow-billed Drongo.

1. Rock Pigeon (Feral Pigeon) 2
2. Spotted Dove 3
3. Pink-necked Pigeon 17
4. Little Bronze-Cuckoo 2
5. Banded Bay Cuckoo 1
6. swiftlet sp. 15
7. House Swift 1
8. White-breasted Waterhen 3
9. Common Sandpiper 2
10. Great Egret 11
11. Little Egret 22
12. Striated Heron 3
13. Changeable Hawk-Eagle 1
14. Brahminy Kite 1
15. Collared Kingfisher 5
16. Blue-throated Bee-eater 1
17. Lineated Barbet 2
18. Sunda Woodpecker 1
19. Rufous Woodpecker 1
20. Common Flameback 2
21. Laced Woodpecker 3
22. Rose-ringed Parakeet 2
23. Golden-bellied Gerygone 1
24. Common Iora 5
25. Ashy Minivet 4
26. Pied Triller 2
27. Black-naped Oriole 9
28. Crow-billed Drongo 1
29. Malaysian Pied-Fantail 2
30. House Crow 8
31. Barn Swallow 8
32. Pacific Swallow 2
33. Straw-headed Bulbul 1
34. Yellow-vented Bulbul 6
35. Olive-winged Bulbul 2
36. Arctic Warbler 5
37. Common Tailorbird 1
38. Ashy Tailorbird 5
39. Oriental White-eye 2
40. Asian Brown Flycatcher 4
41. Asian Glossy Starling 92
42. Daurian Starling 28
43. Javan Myna 9
44. Scarlet-backed Flowerpecker 1
45. Plain-throated Sunbird 8
46. Copper-throated Sunbird 2
47. Olive-backed Sunbird 2

At Lim Chu Kang Lane 3 canal, there were a couple of ocularis White Wagtails.

There was also a bunch of waterbirds: female Greater Painted-snipe, Common Sandpiper, Little Egret, non-breeding pond-herons and White-breasted Waterhen.

Female Greater Painted-snipe

White-breasted Waterhen

Halus 13Jan18

From KH

Asian Koel. White-bellied Sea-eagle chased by House Crow.

Barn Swallow undergoing moult.

Greater Painted-snipes (left female, right male).

Non-breeding pond-heron.

White-breasted Waterhen preening.

1. 1 Little Grebe
2. 1 Yellow Bittern
3. 4 Gray Heron
4. 1 Little Egret
5. 6 Cattle Egret (Eastern)
6. 14 pond-heron sp.
7. 3 Striated Heron
8. 2 Black-shouldered Kite
9. 2 Brahminy Kite
10. 3 White-bellied Sea-Eagle - 2 adults, 1 juv
11. 1 Gray-headed Fish-Eagle
12. 5 White-breasted Waterhen
13. 2 Greater Painted-Snipe - A pair
14. 1 Common Sandpiper
15. 5 Rock Pigeon (Feral Pigeon)
16. 10 Spotted Dove
17. 10 Zebra Dove
18. 1 Pink-necked Pigeon
19. 3 Asian Koel
20. 5 Savanna Nightjar
21. 10 dark swiftlet sp.
22. 1 Common Kingfisher
23. 3 White-throated Kingfisher
24. 2 Collared Kingfisher
25. 1 Dollarbird
26. 1 Sunda Woodpecker - Heard
27. 1 Common Flameback
28. 6 Rose-ringed Parakeet
29. 1 Golden-bellied Gerygone - Heard
30. 2 Common Iora
31. 2 Black-naped Oriole
32. 3 Malaysian Pied-Fantail
33. 2 House Crow
34. 2 Barn Swallow
35. 2 Pacific Swallow
36. 3 Sooty-headed Bulbul
37. 8 Yellow-vented Bulbul
38. 1 Black-browed Reed Warbler
39. 1 Common Tailorbird
40. 2 shy Tailorbird
41. 1 Yellow-bellied Prinia - Heard
42. 1 Asian Brown Flycatcher - Heard
43. 1 Oriental Magpie-Robin - Heard
44. 1 Asian Glossy Starling
45. 8 Common Myna
46. 30 Javan Myna
47. 1 Scarlet-backed Flowerpecker - Heard
48. 1 Plain-throated Sunbird
49. 4 Olive-backed Sunbird

Poyan, Jurong West, Jurong Lake 2Jan12

From JS

Hill B52 (Western Catchment)
1) Brahminy Kite (>3)
2) White-bellied Sea-eagle (4)
3) Osprey (1)
4) Black Baza (2 calling birds)
5) Oriental Honey-buzzard (1)
6) Accipiter sp. (1)

Jurong West Street 22/23
1) Brahminy Kite (1)
2) Common Snipe (>5)
3) Swinhoe's/Pintail Snipe (>4)
4) Greater Painted-snipe (7: 2 chicks, 3 male and 2 female)
5) Snipe sp. (I spotted 1 larger snipe with pale, brownish forewing. It didn't call when flushed but the size really stood out. I thought that I had struck gold with an Eaurasian Woodcock outside of its habitat like Alan and Willie's Eurasian Woodcock sighting at Old Tanah Merah Marsh. Unfortunately, I was not able to pick out its distinctive crown pattern due to poor viewing condition.)
6) Cinnamon Bittern (2 adults)
7) Slaty-breasted Rail (1 adult)
8) Wood Sandpiper (1)
9) Intermediate Egret (>3: I have to mention this species for Con's sake.)

Japanese, Chinese Gardens and Jurong Lake
1) Accipiter sp. (1)
2) Oriental Honey-buzzard (2)
3) Brahminy Kite (>2)
4) White-bellied Sea-eagle (2)
5) Coppersmith Barbet (2, 1 was seen boring a nest hole.)

Greater Painted-snipe female.

Greater Painted-snipe chick.

Punggol, Halus, Seletar 03Jun06

It is so great to be back in Singapore. After 3 months of absence from the local birding scene, I realized I have missed quite a bit of rare sightings. Among these were the various cuckoos, the buffy fish owl and the greater painted-snipes. Fortunately today, we have JS and his daddy to show us how to locate the gps (the painted-snipes, not the global positioning system!). Apparently, they take the cue from waterhen before coming out into the open. As Danny and JS said, they use the waterhen as indicator. And a good way to see the birds is to use the car as a hide. No camouflaged vehicle required, just park your car by the canal, off the engine, keep awfully quiet, and wait. That was how Con got his approx. half an hour of privacy with the gps.

Greater painted-snipe is atypical of birds in that the female is the more colourful one ©Lau JS

So, we met at Punggol and went on our gps hunt. After tackling the slope into the grassland, Danny spotted our first gps of the day. And on closer inspection, there were 2 chicks following the parent gps! We are really blessed and we bless the gps chicks that they can grow up before the PUB comes to dredge the drain again... Further down the drain more gps were sighted. There were 2 pairs. Seems like they are paired up for the breeding season and hopefully all works out well for them.

While JS continued to stalk the gps, Con took PC and I for a ride to the canal. Here, we saw many herons and egrets. An egret caught our attention. Upon consulting the guide book, it turns out to be a white morph Pacific reef-egret. And there were a few little terns flying around. We rounded up Punggol with 32 species. Next destination, Lorong Halus.

Changeable Hawk-eagle taking flight at Halus ©Lau JS

Con's car reach Halus first. We strolled past the moorhen pond and headed towards the grebe pond. There were 4 grebes in this pond. It has been reported that there were only 2 adults and 2 chicks here. But of the 4 grebes we saw, one was still in breeding plumage, while the other 3 were juveniles. The other interesting birds here were the changeable hawk eagle and the little bronze-cuckoo. There were also some crakes hidden in the reeds, but we did not get a good look to ID them. While we were looking hard for the crakes to reappear, a blue-throated bee-eater flew in and landed on a perch right in front of us, allowing Con to snap a few close-up shots of it. By this time, Con had to leave, while the rest of us carried on birding here till lunchtime.

Blue-throated Bee-eater ©Con Foley

Female Little Bronze-cuckoo ©Con Foley

Next stop was Seletar. Today, we checked out Seletar East, Lower Seletar and Upper Seletar. Seletar East was in the news recently. The golf course and residential area (colonial houses) were in danger of being leveled for the airbase expansion. Hopefully, the camp will not be affected, for otherwise, the grey heron rookery of 200-strong nests will be history... A few of the nests could be seen from outside the camp gate. Also, outside the gate is a canteen. We took shade under the Bodhi tree (fig) and were enjoying the cold drinks when suddenly there were much activity in the tree. Looking up, we saw coppersmith barbets, a common flameback, a black-naped oriole, a common iora and some Asian glossy starlings. And on a tall tree in the campground were 2 brahminy kites. A white-bellied sea eagle was also flying across the camp.

After bidding farewell to PC, we headed to Lower Seletar. There were rusty-breasted cuckoos calling in the trees. Danny has spotted a crake here before, but no luck today. Nevertheless, we managed to add 3 more birds to today's list. As it was too hot, we did not get out of the car to explore the wooded areas. After getting lost in Sembawang, we finally reached Upper Seletar. When we reached, we saw some people clustering in the forest edge. Curious, I approached them asking what is interesting. Reluctantly, they told us that there is a red-crowned barbet nest. The reluctance is warranted because as birders, we are not supposed to reveal nesting sites. However, they were relieved after knowing we are birders too.

Left: Adult barbet bringing back food. Right: Chick poking its head out ©Tan KH

The parent barbet made many trips to the other side of the road and initially kept returning every 10 minutes or so with food for the chick. After some time, the frequency decreased and it became like 30-minutes intervals. It was a really laborious task for the parent bird, but I sure with such dedication, the chick is going to grow up strong and healthy. The birders were very dedicated too - they were here since 9 am in the morning! Their friend returned around this time (apparently, he was here in the morning too!). So he took over the shift and soon Sree arrived as well. In the meantime, JS and I went into the little forest trail but did not see any bird. Right now, Con has arrived too. As it was getting dark, we bid Sree and Con farewell and headed for our final destination - Poyan. The buffy was not home this evening, but the mosquitoes were all over the place. Maybe the buffy has gone fishing leaving us to feed its blood-sucking companions.

All in all, a tiring but pleasant birding trip today with some surprises and 56 species on the list.

Punggol
1. Greater painted-snipe - 5 adults, 2 chicks
2. Common sandpiper
3. Little tern
4. Little egret
5. Pacific reef-egret - 1 white morph
6. Grey heron
7. Purple heron
8. Striated heron
9. Yellow bittern
10. White-breasted waterhen
11. Black-winged kite
12. Brahminy kite
13. House swift
14. White-throated kingfisher
15. Collared kingfisher
16. Blue-throated bee-eater
17. Spotted dove
18. Zebra dove
19. Pink-necked green-pigeon
20. Asian koel
21. Lesser coucal
22. Brown shrike
23. House crow
24. Common myna
25. Javan myna
26. Pacific swallow
27. Asian glossy starling
28. Yellow-vented bulbul
29. Olive-backed sunbird
30. Eurasian tree sparrow
31. Paddyfield pipit
32. Scaly-breasted munia

Halus
33. Little grebe - 4
34. Common moorhen
35. Changeable hawk-eagle - 1
36. Rock pigeon
37. Little bronze-cuckoo
38. Pied fantail
39. Yellow-bellied prinia
40. Common tailorbird - heard
41. Baya weaver
42. White-headed munia
43. Black-headed munia

Seletar
Seletar East
44. White-bellied sea-eagle
45. Common iora
46. Common flameback
47. Coppersmith barbet
48. Black-naped oriole

Lower Seletar
49. Dark-necked tailorbird
50. Striped tit-babbler
51. Pied triller
52. Rusty-breasted cuckoo - heard

Enroute to Upper Seletar
53. Sunda woodpecker

Upper Seletar
54. Red-crowned barbet - adult with chick
55. Greater racquet-tailed drongo
56. Hill myna - heard