Upper Peirce 25Jul21

From KH

Sonotrella typica

Upper Peirce 11Apr21

From KH

A spider carried off by Yellow Crazy Ants.

A dead Giant Honey Bee.

Lower Peirce, Upper Peirce 28Mar21

From KH

Banded Leaf Monkeys at Lower Peirce, right at the Casuarina carpark!

At Upper Peirce, a friendly Arctic Warbler played with me.

A couple of dragonflies: Dancing Dropwing and male Common Scarlet.

LCK3, Upper Peirce, AMK St 53 07Mar21

From KH

Having missed the Green Sandpiper yesterday, it's back to Lim Chu Kang Lane 3 for another try. Alas, still unable to connect with it.

Next, went to Upper Peirce to look-see. Nothing much of note, except a Paddyfield Pipit collecting nesting material.

Lastly, went to Ang Mo Kio St 35 for lunch and escapee/released Vinous-breasted Starling was still around.

Upper Peirce 01Jul17

From JS

A Little Green-pigeon and a White-rumped Munia here.

Upper Peirce 09Aug16

From Danny

We recorded a rare butterfly, Great Imperial, during the Butterfly Walk at Rifle Range last week. Enthusiasts were heading to Jelutong Tower where it was photographed. It was still around today. We photographed the Grand Imperial, another rare sibling today at Upper Peirce.

Poyan, Upper Peirce 8Aug13

From KH

Today, Con, Danny and I set out to find Horsfield's Bronze Cuckoo and Blue-winged Pitta at Poyan. Our mission was in jeopardy right from the start due to thundery shower. Fortunately, with Northvale strategically situated within Poyan, we were in safe hands!

Danny and I heard the Blue-winged Pitta, but only briefly and it refused to show. We hypothesized that it must be incubating, but we'll never know until we find the other pieces of this jigsaw puzzle.
After that we heard/saw many "trash" cuckoos (Banded Bay, Asian Drongo, Plaintive and Rusty-breasted) but not our treasured one. If only we could turn back the hands of time to 9 July 2005, Con would be there to point out this bird to us.

Over lunch, Con issue a new mission to us - locate the Black-nest Swiftlet nests on the water tank of Upper Peirce Reservoir. Apparently, I had exchanged comments with Boon Leong on his wikipedia flight shot years ago, but it completely slipped my mind! Danny and I gladly took the mission only to find no trace of any nest... Upon reaching home, a quick check on the internet revealed we were almost 5 years late!

Nevertheless, it was a fruitful trip as we set a new early date for Whiskered Tern, with not one, but six birds! They were quite actively feeding at the reservoir, but always on the opposite end. When we were at the water tank end, they were at the carpark end; and when we reached the carpark, they hung out at the water tank end!

Previous early and late dates respectively: 15 Sep - 15 Feb.

Also of note were half a dozen Blue-rumped Parrots flying by and calling overhead as we were tern-watching.  

Peirce Area 21May11

From KH

Danny, JS and I started off at Changi, but the rain caused us to retreat to other areas. The recent spate of releasees at Tampines Eco Trail led us to head there instead. However, when we reached, it was still drizzling.

We then moved on to Upper Peirce. At the carpark, a fruiting tree attracted a couple of forest Bulbuls: Cream-vented, Olive-winged and Red-eyed. Then a Pink-necked Green Pigeon chick caught Danny's attention. Through the bino, we could see that it still has its egg tooth, but before we can take any photo, we had to hop into our ride before it disappeared (we were hitching a ride).

At the pipeline, there was nothing noteworthy except for a flock of 3 Chestnut-bellied Malkohas. Soon it is time for lunch.

After lunch, while Danny was sending JS to the nearest MRT, I waited for him at the nearby Lower Peirce. Meanwhile, a confiding Short-tailed Babbler, a young Spiny Hill Terrapin and a displaying Common Flying Lizard kept me company. When Danny returned, I was trying to locate the calling Blue-eared Kingfisher, but to no avail. Soon the rain caught up with us again, so it was time to end the day's birding.

Upper Peirce 27Jan08

From GC

Apart from the Purple-thorated and Olive-back Sunbirds, there are also Brown-throated and Crimson Sunbirds. One of the Olive-backed Sunbirds only has a thin strip of dark colour down the throat - it's probably a juvenile coming into adulthood.

If anyone is wondering - the tree that is a magnet for the sunbirds is a Yellow Saraca.

Male Purple-throated Sunbird

Upper Peirce 18Jun06

Kim Chuah led this NSS birding trip. We met at the Casuarina carpark. Within our group, Con, Robert, Yamane and Peck Chan were present. While gathering at the Casuarina carpark, Kim Chuah pointed out the Oriental white-eyes in the trees to us. At 7.30 am sharp, our group headed for Upper Peirce Reservoir carpark, which is the actual NSS gathering point.

We walked along the Upper Peirce Reservoir and spotted some good birds here. There were 3 species of woodpeckers (rufous, banded, common flameback) and 3 species of kingfishers (stork-billed, white-throated, collared). There was also a white-bellied sea-eagle, some dark-necked tailorbirds and striped tit-babblers. Soon it started to drizzle, but it was a light one, so we carried on. Before we hit the barricaded road which goes along the reservoir, we were greeted by a chestnut-bellied malkoha by the side of the road. Then Kim Keang spotted a flying lemur with a baby!

Dark-necked Tailorbirds

Chestnut-bellied Malkoha

Along the barricaded road, there were bulbuls (cream-vented, olive-winged, yellow-vented), more good views of the chestnut-bellied malkoha, a juvenile brahminy kite flying overhead, long-tailed parakeets and sunbirds (crimson, plain-throated, purple-throated). The most interesting bird for this trip is a lifer for me - a short-tailed babbler. We owe it to Bingwen for calling it out.

There were also many house swifts flying very low. The reason why they were flying so low is that they were pushed down by the rain clouds and also the insects flew lower when it is going to rain. Sure enough, it began pouring soon (right after Ben Lee caught up with us in a cab). Only Kim Keang saw the greater green leafbird flying across, while the rest of us were busy standing under the tree for shelter or hurdling under our umbrellas. We rounded up with a butterfly - a Malay viscount.

Malay Viscount

1. House crow
2. Javan myna
3. Pacific swallow
4. Yellow-vented bulbul
5. Olive-winged bulbul
6. Plain-throated sunbird
7. Crimson sunbird
8. Purple-throated sunbird
9. Common flameback 1
10. Banded woodpecker 2
11. Rufous woodpecker 1
12. Asian koel
13. Striped tit-babbler
14. Short-tailed babbler 1
15. Dark-necked tailorbird
16. White-bellied sea eagle 1
17. Brahminy kite juvenile 1
18. White-throated kingfisher
19. Collared kingfisher
20. Stork-billed kingfisher 1
21. Long-tailed parakeet
22. Asian glossy starling
23. House swift
24. Swiftlet spp.
25. Black-naped oriole
26. Chestnut-bellied malkoha
27. Greater green leafbird
28. Common iora
29. Cream-vented bulbul
30. Oriental white-eye
31. Orange-bellied flowerpecker
32. Common tailorbird (heard)
33. Greater racquet-tailed drongo (heard)
34. Red-crowned barbet (heard)