Singapore Strait 04May19

From JS

1. swiftlet sp. 5
2. Bridled Tern 35 - Migrating
3. Little Tern 5
4. White-winged Tern 2 - Migrating
5. Black-naped Tern 11 - Hunting
6. Lesser Crested Tern 1
7. Swinhoe's Storm-Petrel 13 - Migrating
8. Short-tailed Shearwater 5 - Migrating
9. Lesser Frigatebird 2 - Hunting
10. Gray Heron 1
11. White-bellied Sea-Eagle 1

Singapore Strait 28Apr19

From Con

A couple of Swinhoe's Storm-petrels, Short-tailed Shearwaters, Aleutian Terns, Bridled Terns and the usual terns. Numbers were rather low.

Singapore Strait 13Oct18

From KH

Danny, JS and I joined this pelagic trip organised by Martin. The tern numbers were still good, but the storm-petrel numbers have dropped significantly.

We counted 24 Aleutian Terns! Here are some of them:

Bridled Tern swallowing fish while in flight.

The one and only Common Tern on this trip - of the longipennis subspecies.

Yellow for Great Crested Tern and orange for Lesser Crested Tern.

Swinhoe's Storm-petrel resting on the sea.

1. 24 dark swiftlet sp.
2. 116 Bridled Tern
3. 24 Aleutian Tern
4. 1 Little Tern
5. 1 Common Tern
6. 54 Great Crested Tern
7. 20 Lesser Crested Tern
8. 16 Swinhoe's Storm-Petrel
9. 1 Little Egret
10. 15 white egret sp.
11. 1 Gray Heron
12. 2 Brahminy Kite
13. 2 White-bellied Sea-Eagle
14. 13 Barn Swallow

Singapore Strait 30Sep18

From KH

On the way to One Degree 15, I heard a Large-tailed Nightjar and a Sunda Scops-owl on Sentosa.

Out on sea, we got Swinhoe's Storm-petrels heading east, and Bridled Terns heading west.

As well as the usual cast of terns, like this Aleutian Tern,

and this Great Crested Tern.

The buoys, like this yellow buoy, is a good place to look for perched terns.

1. 10 dark swiftlet sp.
2. 82 Bridled Tern - East to West
3. 10 Aleutian Tern
4. 10 Little Tern
5. 1 White-winged Tern
6. 2 Black-naped Tern
7. 2 Common Tern - longipennis
8. 10 Great Crested Tern
9. 20 Lesser Crested Tern
10. 259 Swinhoe's Storm-Petrel - West to East
11. 2 Accipiter sp.
12. 1 Brahminy Kite
13. 2 Tanimbar Corella
14. 12 House Crow
15. 1 Pacific Swallow
16. 2 Asian Glossy Starling
17. 5 Javan Myna

Singapore Strait 22Sep18

From JS

1. 1 Zebra Dove
2. 70 Bridled Tern - Seen flying towards South China Sea
3. 10 Aleutian Tern - Seen flying towards west of Singapore
4. 1 Little Tern
5. 1 Whiskered Tern - Juvenile
6. 15 Great Crested Tern
7. 15 Lesser Crested Tern
8. 340 Swinhoe's Storm-Petrel - Seen flying towards Riau Archipelago
9. 3 Gray Heron
10. 3 Brahminy Kite
11. 1 White-bellied Sea-Eagle
12. 50 Barn Swallow
13. 2 Pacific Swallow

Singapore Strait 12May18

Con went pelagic birding with Martin K., Francis Yap, et al.

List from eBird:

1. 20 dark swiftlet sp.
2. 31 Bridled Tern
3. 14 Little Tern
4. 14 Black-naped Tern
5. 2 Great Crested Tern
6. 14 Lesser Crested Tern
7. 8 tern sp.
8. 1 Wilson's Storm-Petrel - not in Singapore water
9. 7 Swinhoe's Storm-Petrel
10. 1 Gray Heron
11. 1 Brahminy Kite
12. 2 White-bellied Sea-Eagle
13. 1 Collared Kingfisher

Singapore Strait 08Apr18

From KH

Seetoh organised this trip where we took one boat out. Today, there were only terns, like these Black-naped Terns on the red buoy and this Bridled Tern in flight.

On Pulau Jong, we had a pair of Great-billed Herons and White-bellied Sea-eagles.

1. 3 Gray Heron
2. 2 Great-billed Heron - A pair on P. Jong
3. 1 Changeable Hawk-Eagle
4. 1 Brahminy Kite
5. 2 White-bellied Sea-Eagle - A pair on P. Jong
6. 2 Bridled Tern
7. 3 Aleutian Tern
8. 1 White-winged Tern
9. 22 Black-naped Tern
10. 3 Pied Imperial-Pigeon
11. 20 dark swiftlet sp.
12. 1 House Swift - Off Sisters' Island
13. 2 Barn Swallow

When we landed on Pulau Hantu, we saw some fisherman with these pretty fish. For dinner?

Anchor Tuskfish (Choerodon anchorago)


Spanish Flag Snapper (Lutjanus carponotatus)

It was great to know the Mangrove Whistler was back on Pulau Hantu singing away!

1. 1 Great-billed Heron
2. 2 Brahminy Kite
3. 1 Asian Koel - Male
4. 2 Collared Kingfisher
5. 1 Golden-bellied Gerygone - Heard
6. 1 Mangrove Whistler - Singing
7. 1 Tiger Shrike
8. 1 Malaysian Pied-Fantail
9. 2 Large-billed Crow
10. 2 Yellow-vented Bulbul
11. 1 Ashy Tailorbird
12. 1 Oriental Magpie-Robin - Male
13. 2 Plain-throated Sunbird - A pair

Singapore Strait 03Mar18

From KH

20 of us went out in 2 boats and got 2 adult Arctic Skuas - 1 pale, 1 dark!

Here's a Black-naped Tern.

And a bunch of Great and Lesser Crested Terns, the former being larger and yellow-billed, compared to its smaller orange-billed cousin.

There were 2 Large-billed Crows flying from the Indonesian side to Singapore.

1. 5 Gray Heron - P. Bukom
2. 1 Purple Heron - flying from SG to Indon
3. 3 Brahminy Kite
4. 2 White-bellied Sea-Eagle
5. 2 Parasitic Jaeger - adults
6. 2 Black-naped Tern
7. 1 Great Crested Tern
8. 40 Lesser Crested Tern
9. 20 dark swiftlet sp. - flying from Indon to SG
10. 2 Large-billed Crow - flying from Indon to SG
11. 3 Barn Swallow

Then, we landed on Pulau Hantu for the Mangrove Whistler, but it was not home.

1. 1 Brahminy Kite
2. 1 Spotted Dove
3. 3 dark swiftlet sp.
4. 2 Collared Kingfisher
5. 1 Blue-tailed Bee-eater
6. 1 Sunda Woodpecker
7. 1 Golden-bellied Gerygone - heard
8. 1 Black-naped Oriole
9. 1 Malaysian Pied-Fantail
10. 1 Pacific Swallow
11. 1 Yellow-vented Bulbul
12. 2 Asian Brown Flycatcher
13. 1 Oriental Magpie-Robin
14. 1 Common Myna
15. 4 Plain-throated Sunbird

Singapore Strait 04Nov17

From KH

JS went pelagic birding and got skuas.

List reproduced from eBird:

1	Swinhoe's Storm-Petrel flying just above water
1	Gray Heron
1	Little Egret
2	Oriental Honey-buzzard
30	Black Baza
1	Changeable Hawk-Eagle
2	Gray-faced Buzzard 2 adults at Sisters' Islands
5	Japanese Sparrowhawk
2	Brahminy Kite
2	White-bellied Sea-Eagle
3	Parasitic Jaeger two floating on styrofoam and 1 flying
1	Bridled Tern
1	Aleutian Tern resting on styrofoam
24	Great Crested Tern flying and resting on 3 buoys
55	Lesser Crested Tern flying and resting on 3 buoys
1	Pacific Swift
9	Blue-tailed Bee-eater
X	Barn Swallow

Singapore Strait 14Oct17

From KH

Con, Danny, JS and I joined this pelagic organized by Seetoh and Francis.

A couple of Cattle Egrets accompanied us as we cleared customs off Sisters' Island.

The bird of the day - Arctic Skua.

It was terns galore. Here're some of them.

Aleutian Tern

Lesser and Great Crested Terns for comparison

Little Tern

The pelagic won't be complete at this time of the year without Swinhoe's Storm-petrels.

A panting Oriental Honey-buzzard crossing the Strait to go further south.

Glad to end the day with a mixed pod of dolphins - Indo-Pacific Bottlenose and Indo-Pacific Humpback.

1. Swinhoe's Storm-petrel 8
2. Grey Heron 1
3. Cattle Egret 2
4. Oriental Honey-buzzard 1
5. Japanese Sparrowhawk 2
6. Brahminy Kite 3
7. Oriental Pratincole 48
8. Parasitic Jaeger 1
9. Bridled Tern 15
10. Aleutian Tern 2
11. Little Tern 8
12. Black-naped Tern 5
13. Great Crested Tern 40
14. Lesser Crested Tern 20
15. Pacific Swift 8
16. Barn Swallow 25
17. swiftlet spp. 25

Singapore Strait 17Sep17

Con joined the NSS pelagic today.

From Con

About 12 Swinhoe's Storm-petrels, 40 or more Aleutian Terns, dozen or so Bridled Terns, great & lesser crested terns, little tern, 1 male Japanese Sparrowhawk, 1 Pacific Golden Plover.

Singapore Strait 06May17

From JS

Facing stormy weather from the west, we headed out into the Straits of Singapore. Unlike last Saturday's outing, we had a mission to find a Swinhoe's Storm-petrel for Subaraj's client. Of course, the mission is only binding to Subaraj. We were just interested to find any birds that are passing through our waters.

We had a great start when Frank spotted an all-dark bird flying in the distance. Photos captured revealed a Short-tailed/Sooty Shearwater.

Next, we saw feeding Little Terns everywhere we go.

Just when things was starting to get quiet, we spotted four dark blobs on the water aka sitting ducks. It must a relief for Subaraj when the birds turned out to be Swinhoe's Storm-petrels. Great! A new tick for the diehard birder. Honestly, Singapore's waters are really good for this species - much to the boredom of the residents... Nevertheless, we have learnt to find joy in the subtle behaviors and one individual even went to the extent of feeding right before our eyes. It was tiptoeing on the water as it repeatedly bowed its head to scavenge floating "food". Alas, its "food" was the plastic waste strewn all over the waters. *:(( crying

Besides the four storm-petrels, we encountered a further dozen more and another single Short-tailed Shearwater.

That was the end of the five minutes of excitement. We floated around for another two hours without any notable sightings. Again, when things had gotten too quiet, eight terns flew passed our boat, heading westwards. Frank got a bit skeptical about their preliminary identity, Bridled Terns. Thanks to his skepticism, we found two greyer individuals among the eight and they were Common Terns of the longipennis race in breeding plumage, sporting an all-black cap and white tail streamers. Lovely!

Since it was past noon, we decided to head home. Facing St John's island, we spotted another all-dark bird, gliding above the surface of the water. The flight was rather slow with more gliding than flapping. My preliminary id of the bird was Short-Tailed Shearwater while Frank was leaning towards a Storm-Petrel. We were both wrong. It was none other than the area's third sighting of the Bulwer's Petrel.

The appearance of the Bulwer's Petrel brought life to the boat. Yes, the bird has been seen a week ago. But, who would believe that a pelagic bird would linger for a week? The id of the bird was cast in stone and the only questions in our heads were "was it in Singapore's waters?" and "are Bulwer's Petrels passing through our waters regularly?" Such trivial questions make the aftermath of seeing a bird more fun. The experience lingers longer when there is some reflection. Amazingly, the Bulwer's Petrel, a bird not recorded in our last couple of dozens of boat trips, was to be our last bird of this memorable trip. What a great closure!

1. Bulwer's Petrel (Bulweria bulwerii) 1
2. Short-tailed Shearwater (Ardenna tenuirostris) 1
3. Sooty/Short-tailed Shearwater (Ardenna grisea/tenuirostris) 1
4. Swinhoe's Storm-Petrel (Oceanodroma monorhis) 14
5. Grey Heron (Ardea cinerea) 4
6. White-bellied Sea-Eagle (Haliaeetus leucogaster) 1
7. Brahminy Kite (Haliastur indus) 2
8. Bridled Tern (Onychoprion anaethetus) 6
9. Little Tern (Sternula albifrons) 31
10. Black-naped Tern (Sterna sumatrana) 3
11. Common Tern (longipennis) (Sterna hirundo longipennis) 2
12. Lesser Crested Tern (Thalasseus bengalensis) 7
13. tern sp. (Sterninae sp.) 10
14. swiftlet sp. (Aerodramus sp.) 10
15. Barn Swallow (Hirundo rustica) 1