Marina East 07Dec24

From KH

Danny and I went to Marina East today and got an Oriental Pratincole, in addition to the usual plover.

Migrant raptor-wise, only got 6 Oriental Honey-Buzzards. Here're 2 of them.

Resident raptor-wise, just this dark morph Changeable Hawk-Eagle.

Other birds as usual, such as this Paddyfield Pipit.

Lorong Halus 02Nov24

From KH

Leading Singapore Raptor Watch at Lorong Halus today.

Total 22 Black Bazas. Here're a couple from a kettle of 9 late morning.

Here's a kettle of 10 in the afternoon.

2 of total 11 Oriental Honey-Buzzards.

Other than that, just the residents, like these adult Brahminy Kites.

And this adult White-bellied Sea-Eagle high up.

Great to record a flock of 8 migrating Oriental Pratincoles.

Only 1 Pacific Swift recorded.

Blue-tailed Bee-eater flew in front of Casuarina Trees.

Rose-ringed Parakeets with Earpod Wattle (back), Sea Almond (middle) and White Leadtree (front).

Male Oriental Pied-Hornbill fly-by.

Grey Herons flanking white egret sp. (Egretta/Ardea sp.), which are too faraway to ID, but fortunately ebird has this option.

A couple of Smooth Otters having a swim.

Rain came at about 2pm. Time to pack up.

Neo Tiew area 18Dec21

From KH

After Kranji Marsh in the morning and lunch, Danny and I went to Lim Chu Kang Lane 3.

Lots of Wood Sandpipers.

Nice to see a Grey Wagtail.

Other cast: Little Egret and White-breasted Waterhen.

Lots of grasshoppers in the grass: Javanese Grasshopper nymph and Short-winged Rice Grasshopper nymph.

Next up at Turut Track, we saw a family of Wild Pigs.

Last but not least, Neo Tiew Harvest Lane for the following birds.

Oriental Pratincole

Little Ringed Plover

Eastern Yellow Wagtail

Telok Blangah Hill 02Nov21

From KH

Another day of raptor watch at Telok Blangah Hill Park. Here are a couple of Oriental Honey-Buzzards - one super high up and one lower.

Nice to see a migrating Oriental Pratincole too.

One Dollarbird perched on Rain Tree.

Punggol Promenade, Seletar East, AMK TGW 17Dec19

From KH

I went to the west end of Punggol Promenade Nature Walk for a short walk.

Common Sandpiper was still hanging around at the same stretch.

Immature male Oriental Magpie-robin looking rather scruffy.

Plantain Squirrel carrying nesting material.

Punggol Promenade Nature Walk (West End)

1. Rock Pigeon (Feral Pigeon) 5
2. Spotted Dove 5
3. Asian Koel 1 - heard
4. dark swiftlet sp. 20
5. Common Sandpiper 1
6. Great Crested Tern 3
7. Gray Heron 2
8. Striated Heron 2
9. Common Kingfisher 1
10. White-throated Kingfisher 1
11. Collared Kingfisher 1
12. Common Iora 2
13. House Crow 5
14. Large-billed Crow 2
15. Common Tailorbird 2
16. Yellow-vented Bulbul 2
17. Asian Glossy Starling 2 - heard
18. Javan Myna 10
19. Asian Brown Flycatcher 1
20. Olive-backed Sunbird 2
21. Eurasian Tree Sparrow 10

Next, I headed to Seletar East and got an Oriental Pratincole.

Yellow Bittern was still at the same grass patch.

Seletar East
1. Rock Pigeon (Feral Pigeon) 10
2. Spotted Dove 2
3. dark swiftlet sp. 20
4. Oriental Pratincole 1
5. Yellow Bittern 1
6. Intermediate Egret 10
7. Cattle Egret 30
8. Blue-tailed Bee-eater 1
9. Sunda Woodpecker 1 - heard
10. Rose-ringed Parakeet 10
11. Blue-crowned Hanging-Parrot 1 - heard
12. Pied Triller 1 - male
13. Black-naped Oriole 1
14. Brown Shrike 1
15. Long-tailed Shrike 2
16. Zitting Cisticola 2 - heard
17. Barn Swallow 10
18. Common Myna 1
19. Javan Myna 20
20. Paddyfield Pipit 4

Last stop for today: Ang Mo Kio Town Garden West.

The best birds here were a group of about 8 Grey-rumped Treeswifts, which were flying over the AMK Central side. Here's one with overcast background.

A flock of Pink-necked Green-pigeons were enjoying their teabreak of fruits.

Lastly, a pair of Greater Racket-tailed Drongos, also with overcast background.

Ang Mo Kio Town Garden West

1. Red Junglefowl (Domestic type) 1 - heard
2. Pink-necked Green-Pigeon 20
3. dark swiftlet sp. 1
4. Gray-rumped Treeswift 8
5. Black-naped Oriole 1 - heard
6. Greater Racket-tailed Drongo 2
7. Yellow-vented Bulbul 2
8. Asian Glossy Starling 5
9. Javan Myna 20
10. Asian Brown Flycatcher 1
11. Scarlet-backed Flowerpecker 1 - heard
12. Olive-backed Sunbird 1 - heard

Nee Soon, Changi, Chinese Garden, Sime Forest 28Oct06

Con, Danny, Peck Chan, Robert and I went to Nee Soon Swamp hoping to see the blue-winged pitta, black-backed kingfisher and Siberian blue robin that James reported. Con did see the Siberian Blue Robin while stalking the Ferruginous Flycatcher, but no pitta or kingfisher were to be had.

First winter male Siberian Blue Robin ©Con Foley

Ferruginous Flycatcher ©Con Foley

Nevertheless, a troop of about 4 Banded Leaf Monkeys was a pleasant surprise. While picking up PC and Rob, Danny saw a female Indian Cuckoo (thanks to Kim Seng for the ID) flying in and perched on a tree. Con and I had left for Changi and did not see it.

Female Indian Cuckoo ©Danny Lau

Soon Danny caught up with us (after sending PC and Rob off). At Changi, the Oriental Pratincoles were still around, but the very rare Oriental Plover was nowhere to be seen. So far there has only been 4 sightings in Singapore, the last being in 1998.

Oriental Pratincole ©Con Foley

No harriers or buzzards either, but a Changeable Hawk Eagle was present.

Immature Changeable Hawk Eagle ©Con Foley

Con left, Danny and I went to pick up Jia Sheng and continue to Chinese Garden to look for the Ruddy Kingfisher. A Crested Serpent Eagle was reported here too. We had no luck with both though.

Moving on to Sime Forest, we saw another Indian Cuckoo. This time a male.

Male Indian Cuckoo ©Lau JS

At the same spot, 4 Black Bazas were present. Also of interest further down the trail were the resident Short-tailed Babbler and Red-crowned Barbets. At Jelutong Tower, the activity was low. Fortunately, a juvenile Rufous-bellied Eagle flew overhead. And a Brown-chested Jungle-flycatcher showed up to end the day. Finally, a Four-ridged Toad at the ranger station was a pleasant sighting. All in all, a good day with 70 species and a few lifers for each of us.

Nee Soon Swamp
1 Blue-tailed bee-eater
2 Indian cuckoo (1F)
3 Chestnut-bellied malkoha (2)
4 Pink-necked green pigeon
5 White-bellied sea eagle (1)
6 Greater green leafbird (2)
7 Greater racket-tailed drongo
8 Asian paradise flycatcher (1)
9 Ferruginous flycatcher (2)
10 Yellow-rumped flycatcher (3F)
11 Siberian blue robin (1 1st winter male)
12 Pacific swallow
13 Olive-winged bulbul (1)
14 Cream-vented bulbul (2)
15 Arctic warbler (5)
16 Eastern crowned warbler (1)
17 Orange-bellied flowerpecker
18 Plain-throated sunbird
19 Crimson sunbird
20 Forest wagtail (1)
21 Dark-necked tailorbird (heard)

Enroute to Changi Cove
22 Little egret

Changi Cove
23 White-throated kingfisher
24 Spotted dove
25 Red collared dove
26 Zebra dove
27 Common sandpiper (5)
28 Grey plover (1)
29 Little ringed plover (1)
30 Malaysian plover (4)
31 Lesser sand plover (1)
32 Oriental pratincole (30)
33 Black-winged kite (2)
34 Changeable hawk eagle (1)
35 Grey heron (1)
36 House crow
37 Common myna
38 Javan myna
39 Barn swallow
40 Zitting cisticola
41 Yellow wagtail (1)
42 Paddyfield pipit
43 Scaly-breasted munia

Enroute to Chinese Garden
44 Cattle egret

Chinese Garden
45 Common kingfisher (3)
46 Asian koel (1M1F)
47 Rainbow lorikeet (2)
48 Rock pigeon
49 White-breasted waterhen
50 Great egret (4)
51 Striated heron
52 Asian brown flycatcher
53 Oriental magpie robin (1)
54 Asian glossy starling
55 Red-whiskered bulbul (1)
56 Yellow-vented bulbul
57 Olive-backed sunbird

Sime Forest
58 Red-crowned barbet (2)
59 Dollarbird
60 House swift
61 Large-tailed nightjar
62 Black baza (4)
63 Rufous-bellied eagle (1)
64 Brown-chested jungle flycatcher (1)
65 Purple-backed starling
66 Hill myna
67 Short-tailed babbler (1)
68 Striped tit babbler
69 Banded woodpecker (heard)
70 White-rumped shama (heard)