Chinese Garden, Mousedeer Trail, Sarimbun 18Nov06

We welcome Yamane back, albeit just for the weekend. He was back for work and he has slimmed down a lot! Beside our NSSG 'members' (Danny, Con, Peck Chan, Robert, Sree, I), Soo Yen and his colleagues were here to join in the fun. While getting ready at the carpark, 2 Pied Imperial Pigeons flew by - free-ranging birds from the bird park.

We met up with Sree at the Black Bittern spot. The bird was doing its stuff while all of us zoom in on it. After some time, it went hiding.

Black Bittern ©Con Foley

Black Bittern ©Danny Lau

Black Bittern ©Tan KH

Next, a Common Kingfisher was sighted by Danny. Then, we ran into Albert Low and while he was talking about his trip to India for the Bugun Liocichla, the rest of us were looking at Purple-backed and Asian Glossy Starlings, Pink-necked Green-pigeons, Scarlet-backed Flowerpeckers and Asian Brown Flycatchers in the trees.

Asian Brown Flycatcher ©Lau SY

Con brought Albert to see the bittern while the rest of us moved on to look for other birds. Arctic Warblers were flying about giving us no chance to take a shot. An adult WBSE was flying high.

Soon we reached Chinese Garden and Robert saw a nightjar flew into hiding. In the middle of Jurong Lake was a Grey Heron with a big red plastic bag in its beaks. Fortunately, it managed to shake it off. A Great Egret was standing close by for size comparison. At this point in time, someone suggested going to the old Tang Dynasty side. So the bunch of us backtracked. A big raptor in the tree overhanging the lake caught my attention but was blocked by the leaves. Luckily, an Oriental Honey Buzzard and a Black Baza thermalling high up gave me good views. Jimmy Chew was at the black bittern spot. Next on the radar of attention were 2 juvenile Yellow Bitterns.

Thanks to Yamane for the human photos. And hence, he was not in any of the photos.

By now, we were at the old Tang Dynasty side of the lake. At the 'jetty' near the roundabout was a Common Kingfisher. Asian Brown Flycatchers and Pied Fantails were calling. Then 3 raptors appeared in the sky. A Brahminy Kite was high in the sky, while a juvenile WBSE was circling lower together with its 'tiny' relative - a Japanese Sparrowhawk.

Japanese Sparrowhawk ©Lau SY

Next destination was right within the old Tang Dynasty. However, Yamane had to leave, so we bid him farewell. Danny spotted a Stork-billed Kingfisher roosting in the trees.

Further down after the main entrance into the fortress was a pond. Robert was the first to spot a bittern there. It turned out to be a Schrenck's Bittern! A lifer for almost all of us, except for Albert, who helped us to positively identify it. After discussion with Albert, we think it is a subadult male due to the male features on the underparts and the juvenile speckles on the upperparts.

Schrenck's Bittern ©Con Foley

Schrenck's Bittern ©Danny Lau

Another interesting bird here was an Indian Cuckoo. Peck Chan was the first to locate it.

Indian Cuckoo ©Tan KH

After about an hour or so stalking this uncommon bittern, our bunch started dispersing.

1 Striated heron
2 Grey heron 1
3 Cattle egret
4 Great egret 1
5 Yellow bittern 2
6 Black bittern 1
7 Schrenck's bittern 1
8 White-bellied sea eagle 2
9 Brahminy kite 2
10 Black baza 1
11 Oriental honey buzzard 1
12 Japanese sparrowhawk 1
13 Collared kingfisher
14 White-throated kingfisher
15 Common kingfisher 2
16 Stork-billed kingfisher 1
17 Blue-tailed bee-eater
18 Rock pigeon
19 Pink-necked green-pigeon
20 Pied imperial pigeon 2
21 Asian koel
22 Indian cuckoo 1
23 Large-tailed nightjar 1
24 White-breasted waterhen
25 House crow
26 Black-naped oriole
27 Pied fantail 1
28 Common iora 1
29 Asian brown flycatcher
30 Asian glossy starling
31 Purple-backed starling
32 Javan myna
33 Common myna
34 Pacific swallow
35 Yellow-vented bulbul
36 Ashy tailorbird
37 Arctic warbler
38 Scarlet-backed flowerpecker
39 Olive-backed sunbird
40 Plain-throated sunbird

In the afternoon, Albert and Sree showed Danny and me the Mousedeer Trail at Old Upper Thomson Road. Lamppost 122. Last evening, Chestnut-winged Cuckoo was photographed here. Today, it was amazingly quiet. Besides the GRT Drongos and Siberian Blue Robins calling, there were only Thick-billed Green-pigeons and bulbuls in the fruiting tree at the steep slope. Walking to the other end of the drain, we saw a few people fishing and no birds. On the way back, A few Crimson Sunbirds were all there was. Nevertheless, we now know where the Mousedeer Trail is.

Mr Thick-billed Green-pigeon ©Danny Lau

Mrs Thick-billed Green-pigeon ©Danny Lau

Soo Yen and his colleagues were at Sarimbun in the afternoon and they had their prized catch for the afternoon - Red-wattled Lapwing.

Red-wattled Lapwing ©Lau SY

They also photographed juvenile Brahminy Kites.

Juvenile Brahminy Kites ©Lau SY

Sarimbun 11Mar06

From Danny

Last Sat birding trip was a gathering of the Cantonese members of nss, namely Peck Chan, Kong & myself. Chee Wai did not make it. We started later than 7.30 am (my alarm didn't work). Interesting sighting was a gathering of Brahminy Kites (>6) on a dead tree and smaller groups of two around the pond. As per previous trip with Kok Hui, we heard clear duck quacks, but couldn't locate source around the pond. Construction works ongoing and I couldn't locate the main gate entrance where the Red-wattled Lapwing was spotted. Another high point was near a running drain when we flushed out what we thought a Blue-eared Kingfisher, it was silent (unlike the usual noisy Kingfishers) and darted straight into nearby wooded area without trace. No photo, so not listed. One wonderful aspect was throughout the birding trip no human was sighted. As the weather was hot, we did not attempt to head for Sarimbun reservoir, perhaps next time with Google map as guide.

Immature Brahminy Kite sunning

Immature pale morph Changeable Hawk Eagle

01. House Crow
02. Large-billed Crow
03. Common Myna
04. Javan Myna
05. Yellow-bellied Prinia
06. Paddyfield Pipit
07. Yellow Bittern
08. Grey Heron
09. Brahminy Kite - stopped counting after 6
10. Black-winged Kite
11. Changeable Hawk Eagle - Juvenile
12. Olive-backed Sunbird
13. Common Tailorbird
14. Yellow-vented Bulbul
15. Straw-headed Bulbul - >2 heard
16. Long-tailed Parakeet
17. Red-breasted Parakeet
18. Blue-tailed Bee-eater
19. Collared Kingfisher
20. White-throated Kingfisher
21. Eurasian Tree Sparrow
22. Spotted Dove
23. Zebra Dove
24. Pick-necked Green Pigeon
25. Pied Triller
26. Olive-winged Bulbul
27. Black-naped Oriole
28. Pacific Swallow
29. Asian Glossy Starling
30. Common Flameback
31. White-breasted Waterhen
32. White-crested Laughing Thrush - heard
33. Common Iora

Sarimbun, Changi 17Sep05

From KH

It was a lovely day as we started our day (just Danny and I). It has been nearly a month since I did a write-up. The last few trips were an NSS trip to Ubin on 28 Aug, Woodcutters' trail on 3 Sep, and Dairy Farm on 10 Sep.

The star on Ubin was a Blue-eared Kingfisher, which was too shy to show itself again after having been spotted by Sutari. I only had a split-second peep at it... All in all, it was a good trip with 40 species seen and heard (including at Changi jetty).

The Woodcutters' Trail offered a modest 28 species, with the Tiger Shrike and the Banded Woodpecker being the treats. Con, Robert, Peck Chan, Danny and I were there. Danny reminded me to post a shot of the small stick insect that we found blended into a long thin wire at Dairy Farm. On the same day in the afternoon, Danny and I (and later Jia Sheng) went round LCK to carry on the race, we managed another 12 birds, making a total of 40 for the day. The treats at LCK are the chickens in the chicken farm! Just kidding. Actually, we saw 3 species of Munias there (Javan, White-headed and Scaly-breasted). We were missing the Black-headed and the White-rumped to complete all 5 species of munias.

For the Black-headed Munias, I did not have to wait long. During my bridal shoot at Ubin on the 8 Sep, I saw them. The bird of the day though was the Red Junglefowl. 20 species for a bridal shoot (with only my naked eyes) was not too bad. The Chestnut-bellied Malkoha was taken by Jia Sheng when he and his daddy were exploring the Woodcutters' Trail earlier on.

Chestnut-bellied Malkoha ©Lau JS

Stick Insect (the head is on the right!) ©Tan KH

Kong, Danny, Peck Chan and I were at the Dairy Farm trip. PC brought along a friend, Benjamin Ho. Actually, I have met him 2 years ago at an NSS outing at BBNP led by Ding Li. Thanks to him for pointing out that the raptor we had so much problem identifying back then was actually confirmed to be a Rufous-bellied Eagle. Thanks Ben, that is another rare bird ticked! The Oriental Reed Warbler was the most priced bird today, although the Straw-headed Bulbul standing in full view, the Little Spiderhunter fretting around, and the Laced Woodpecker and Lineated Barbet offered us some real treats too.

Ok, so much for a 'short' recap. Back to the event of the day. We were not sure where to start, so we headed to the end of the road at Camp Christine. The first interesting birds to greet us were the Long-tailed Parakeets. We took the trails to the coast where we could see Pulau Sarimbun. The only waders we saw here were the Common Sandpipers and there were no raptors, probably got to wait till afternoon or evening time. Nothing interesting happened until we passed the MOE Adventure Centre. As we continue back on the trail, we hit into a forest and there were hungry mosquitoes everywhere. Fortunately, Danny had the trusted army insect repellent with him. After clearing the forest, we hit a deserted road and on the road were 2 reptiles, a Skink and a Changeable Lizard. They seemed to be fighting. Before I could take a shot, they split off. Then we heard some loud calls, which turned out to be from White-crested Laughing Thrushes. Looks like they have infiltrated many of our forested areas. Then there were more Long-tailed Parakeets and some Red-breasted Parakeets too.

Next, we reached an open gate. Before entering through the gate, we spotted something on the track. It turned out to be a Red-wattled Lapwing! This area is pretty close to Neo Tiew Lane, where it was last spotted by other NSS members. Another rare bird ticked! As we entered through the gate, we found that this area is really pristine. It was a pretty big area with a river running through it and some tall trees in a grassland habitat. Outside this area was a big pond. We saw Black-winged Kites and White-bellied Sea Eagles, as well as some 'black' raptors which zoomed pass too quickly for us to ID. There were ioras, prinias, weavers, munias and a Purple Heron. A Straw-headed Bulbul was heard singing in a distance.

This was the Sarimbun area. There was a pond, some tall trees and grassland.

The Black-winged Kite was taken at Changi, while the swallow was taken at Sarimbun. Finally, the Barn Swallows have arrived from their migratory flight.

Left: Black-winged Kite. Right: Barn Swallow ©Tan KH

After lunch, we headed towards Changi for the next round of birding. The area covered includes the TMFT, the SAF Yacht Club, the Changi coast between these two places and the reclaimed land accessed from lamp post 150 along Changi Coast Road. At TMFT itself, there wasn't anything interesting because it's all fenced up. So we decided to go to the Yacht Club to recce. Here the main attraction was a flock of (easily 50) Black-naped Terns feeding at the sea. There were some fishermen around, and one of them even walked into the sea to fish! Reminded us of the Fedex advertisement. Then we went to the Changi coast, nothing interesting here, except for some illegal immigrants. Fortunately, the men were not around, only 2 women there. After bashing through the thicket to get to the main road, we headed back to Danny's car, and there's where we spotted the Black-winged Kite which was very co-operative in letting me get some close-up shots. The last birding destination for the day was the reclaimed land. The most interesting bird we observed here were the Zitting Cisticolas. These birds are common but usually not seen as they like to hide in the bushes.

Fisherman standing at the centre of the sea!

Brown Shrike (left) & Yellow-vented Bulbul (right) at Changi

Besides the few birds listed below under Changi, there were others seen at Changi, like the Black-winged Kite, White-bellied Sea Eagle, Brown Shrike, White-throated Kingfisher, Collared Kingfisher, Common Sandpiper.

The best bird of the day was the lone Red-wattled Lapwing which caught us by surprise and gave us ample time to enjoy it and take a few snapshots. Too bad Con was not around to help us take a beautiful photo of this beautiful bird.

Red-wattled Lapwing ©Tan KH

Including the Cattle Egret seen en-route to Sarimbun, we have a total of 42 birds seen today. Alas, we did not go into SBWR when picking up Jia Sheng, else would have increase our count further.

Sarimbun
01. House crow
02. Javan myna
03. Barn swallow
04. Yellow-vented bulbul
05. Straw-headed bulbul (heard)
06. Spotted dove
07. Olive-backed sunbird
08. Golden-bellied gerygone (heard)
09. Asian koel
10. Rock pigeon
11. Zebra dove
12. Red-wattled lapwing
13. Common iora
14. Pink-necked green pigeon
15. Eurasian tree sparrow
16. Asian glossy starling
17. Black-naped oriole
18. Purple heron
19. Collared kingfisher
20. Red-breasted parakeet
21. Long-tailed parakeet
22. White-throated kingfisher
23. Yellow-bellied prinia
24. White-bellied sea eagle
25. Black-winged kite
26. Common myna
27. Common sandpiper
28. White-breasted waterhen
29. Plain-throated sunbird
30. Baya weaver
31. Scaly-breasted munia
32. White-crested laughing thrush
33. Brown shrike
34. Scarlet-backed flowerpecker
35. Swiftlet spp.

Changi
36. Little egret
37. Black-naped tern
38. Blue-throated bee-eater
39. Zitting cisticola
40. House swift
41. Pacific swallow