Marina Grove, Branksome Road 24Jan26

From KH

Danny, JS and I went to Marina Grove today. The little pond continued to support the Little Grebe family. Here's a juvenile.

Lesser Whistling-Duck chilling.

Ruddy-breasted Crake foraging.

A shy Little Heron.

Juvenile Yellow Bittern.

Most of them were juveniles. Here's an adult male.

Humped Bladderwort, a carnivorous plant.

Taiga Flycatcher continuing in the wooded patch of the pond.

In the adjacent grassland, Zitting Cisticola singing its lungs out on Neptunia plena.

Asian Openbill flew overhead.

As Danny has not seen the Common Hoopoe, we went to Branksome Road and the bird was in a different private property further down the road.

Jurong Lake 10Jan26

From KH

I went with 3G Laus to Jurong Lake today.

First, a juv. OHB was harassed by 2 House Crows.

Then another 2 juv. OHBs were seen later hanging out together. No crows chasing them. Strength in numbers perhaps.

A pair of Square-tailed Drongo-Cuckoos were hanging out in a tree.

A pair of Lesser Whistling-Ducks were in one of the ponds.

A lone Yellow Bittern was strutting along on the grass patch.

Marina Grove, Marina East 20Dec25

From KH

Although Willow Warbler was gone for more than 2 weeks, Danny and I still made this trip to Marina Grove as Danny dipped at it.

Migrant Baillon's Crake was still around.

So were migrant Yellow Bitterns.

Resident Lesser Whistling-Ducks have made themselves comfortable here, preening themselves.

Little Grebe even managed to breed in this little pond. Juvenile was actively hunting.

No more warbler, time to make a move. As we were about to leave, a juvenile Oriental Honey-Buzzard flew past.

Next, Marina East.

The only migrant plover here was a Little Ringed Plover.

There were also 5 Malaysian Plovers (2 male, 3 female). This photo only managed to capture 4 of them in one.

Again, as we were about to leave, a juvenile Japanese Sparrowhawk zoomed past.

Here's a bug to round it up.

Marina Grove 01Dec25

From KH

A Willow Warbler was spotted at Marina Grove yesterday (30 Nov). It's not just the first for Singapore, but first in our region. I went today and the bird was high up on a Sea Almond. The bird stayed until 4 Dec, a 5-day bird.

A Lesser Whistling-Duck was swimming in the pond.

Counted 3 juvenile Yellow Bitterns hunting in the pond too.

Guess what's feeding in the pond as well? A plant! Humped Bladderwort (Utricularia gibba) is a carnivorous plant catching preys with bladder-like traps, hence the name. Amazing!

Tuas 29Jun24

From KH

Danny and I went to a wet field at Tuas to see the Black-winged Stilts and sure enough there were 8 of them.

Here's 1 of 9 Lesser Whistling-Ducks.

Sengkang Riverside Park 20May23

From KH

Morning at Sengkang Riverside Park turned up a surprising escapee: Black-headed Canary at the Floating Wetland.

A couple of Lesser Whistling-Ducks at the pond in the northern half.

Zebra Dove courting. Good luck, buddy!

After lunch, went back for a short afternoon session, no much. Only shutter count was Medium Egret.

Seletar West Farmway, Hampstead Wetland 31Jan21

From KH

At Seletar West Farmway, there was a little pond. Surprised to see a Lesser Whistling-Duck in it.

Then a Purple Heron flew across.

Intermediate Egret caught on a Garden Supple Skink.

These Eurasian Tree Sparrows were free to weave in and out of the chicken coop for the chicken feed.

Here's an andromorphic Sultan dragonfly.

1. Lesser Whistling-Duck 1
2. Rock Pigeon (Feral Pigeon) 20
3. Spotted Dove 10
4. Zebra Dove 3
5. dark swiftlet sp. 20
6. White-breasted Waterhen 2
7. Purple Heron 1
8. Intermediate Egret 1
9. Changeable Hawk-Eagle 1
10. Collared Kingfisher 1
11. Dollarbird 1
12. Rose-ringed Parakeet 1 - Heard
13. Black-naped Oriole 2
14. House Crow 1
15. Zitting Cisticola 1 - Heard
16. Barn Swallow 1
17. Yellow-vented Bulbul 1 - Heard
18. Asian Glossy Starling 5 - Heard
19. Common Myna 1
20. Javan Myna 10
21. Olive-backed Sunbird 1 - Heard
22. Eurasian Tree Sparrow 20

Next, at Hampstead Wetland, Buffy Fish-Owl was taking a nap.

Lorong Halus 04Aug18

From KH

Con, Danny and I went Halus for today's birding.

It was nice to see a trio of Lesser Whistling-ducks flew by. 100% crop of two of them.

It was even nicer to know the Little Grebes are hanging on to their "stronghold" here, as can be seen by this breeding pair.

To our surprise, three pairs of introduced Asian Golden Weavers were nesting at the Old Grebe Pond.

Other introduced species here included:

Common Waxbill. Red-backed Munia


Golden-backed Weavers nesting at the New Grebe Pond

Glad that the local Baya Weavers are not too affected by all the alien species, as can be seen here in breeding plumage.

Other birds around included:

Oriental White-eye. Pied Triller


Red-breasted Parakeets


Slaty-breasted Rail

1. 3 Lesser Whistling-Duck
2. 2 Little Grebe - Breeding pair
3. 8 Spotted Dove
4. 8 Zebra Dove
5. 5 Pink-necked Pigeon
6. 2 Asian Koel - Heard
7. 2 Little Bronze-Cuckoo
8. 1 Banded Bay Cuckoo - Heard
9. 1 Brush Cuckoo (Rusty-breasted)
10. 1 Savanna Nightjar
11. 20 dark swiftlet sp.
12. 1 Slaty-breasted Rail
13. 5 White-breasted Waterhen
14. 11 Greater Painted-Snipe
15. 1 Common Sandpiper
16. 5 Little Tern
17. 1 Gray Heron
18. 1 Purple Heron
19. 1 Striated Heron
20. 1 Changeable Hawk-Eagle - Dark
21. 2 White-throated Kingfisher
22. 3 Collared Kingfisher
23. 3 Blue-throated Bee-eater
24. 2 Sunda Woodpecker
25. 2 Rufous Woodpecker - Heard
26. 2 Common Flameback
27. 3 Rose-ringed Parakeet
28. 10 Red-breasted Parakeet
29. 3 Long-tailed Parakeet
30. 1 Golden-bellied Gerygone - Heard
31. 8 Common Iora
32. 2 Pied Triller
33. 2 Long-tailed Shrike
34. 4 Black-naped Oriole
35. 2 Malaysian Pied-Fantail
36. 3 House Crow
37. 2 Large-billed Crow
38. 1 Barn Swallow
39. 1 Sooty-headed Bulbul
40. 10 Yellow-vented Bulbul
41. 2 Common Tailorbird
42. 4 Ashy Tailorbird
43. 4 Yellow-bellied Prinia
44. 8 Oriental White-eye
45. 1 Oriental Magpie-Robin - Heard
46. 20 Asian Glossy Starling
47. 8 Common Myna
48. 15 Javan Myna
49. 3 Scarlet-backed Flowerpecker
50. 1 Plain-throated Sunbird
51. 5 Olive-backed Sunbird
52. 1 Paddyfield Pipit
53. 30 Golden-backed Weaver - 30 nests
54. 10 Baya Weaver - Nesting
55. 6 Asian Golden Weaver - At least 3 pairs nesting
56. 10 Common Waxbill
57. 4 Black-and-white Mannikin (Red-backed) - 2 adults, 2 juvenile
58. 2 Scaly-breasted Munia
59. 1 Chestnut Munia