Pulau Ubin 05Jun19

From KH

Danny, JS and I went for the Buff-rumped Woodpecker again, and got it this time!

Greater Racket-tailed Drongo enjoying the morning sun.

Van Hasselt's Sunbird nest

1. Red Junglefowl 2 - heard
2. Asian Emerald Dove 1
3. Pink-necked Pigeon 5
4. Oriental Pied-Hornbill 2
5. Blue-eared Kingfisher 1
6. Collared Kingfisher 2
7. Blue-throated Bee-eater 1
8. Dollarbird 1
9. Buff-rumped Woodpecker 1 - male
10. Laced Woodpecker 1
11. Common Flameback 1 - heard
12. Black-naped Oriole 2
13. Greater Racket-tailed Drongo 2
14. Straw-headed Bulbul 1 - heard
15. Yellow-vented Bulbul 1
16. Olive-winged Bulbul 2
17. Pacific Swallow 2
18. Oriental White-eye 2
19. Dark-necked Tailorbird 1 - heard
20. Yellow-bellied Prinia 1 - heard
21. Abbott's Babbler 1 - heard
22. White-rumped Shama 2
23. Asian Glossy Starling 10
24. Plain-throated Sunbird 3
25. Van Hasselt's Sunbird 3
26. Crimson Sunbird 3

Sepilok 06Jun18

From KH

After a few hours drive from Mt Kinabalu, we reached Rainforest Discovery Centre.

The Canopy Walkway is a great place to see some of the common birds here.

Ashy Tailorbird


Chestnut-winged Babbler

Some of the Cream-vented Bulbuls here have red eyes! So care must be taken.

The Red-eyed Bulbuls actually have more orangey eyes here. Juveniles have dark eyes though.

The first endemic we encountered here was this male Yellow-rumped Flowerpecker.

Some of the sunbirds here included:

Juvenile van Hasselt's Sunbird


Female Brown-throated Sunbird

Some have split the Bornean Brown Barbet as a distinct species. It does look different from the Peninsular Malaysia ones, which are called Sooty Barbets after the split.

Saw this broadbill nest, but no idea who's it is.

Wallace Hawk-eagles were common here. This was a juvenile.

Another raptor we encountered today was this juvenile Brahminy Kite.

There were also a young Orangutan (right) and its shy mother around.

This Green Crested Lizard didn't want to show us it face.

Then, we heard a pitta call - Black-crowned Pitta!

1. 1 Wallace's Hawk-Eagle - Juvenile
2. 1 Brahminy Kite - Juvenile
3. 1 Greater Coucal - Heard
4. 1 Banded Bay Cuckoo - Heard
5. 30 Plume-toed Swiftlet
6. 30 dark swiftlet sp.
7. 1 Helmeted HornbillSensitive - Heard
8. 1 Bushy-crested Hornbill - Heard
9. 1 Black Hornbill - Heard
10. 1 Blue-throated Bee-eater
11. 4 Brown Barbet
12. 2 Blue-eared Barbet - Heard
13. 1 Maroon Woodpecker - Heard
14. 1 Blue-crowned Hanging-Parrot - Heard
15. 1 Black-crowned Pitta
16. 2 Malaysian Pied-Fantail
17. 10 Cream-vented Bulbul
18. 6 Red-eyed Bulbul
19. 1 Spectacled Bulbul
20. 2 Dark-necked Tailorbird
21. 2 Ashy Tailorbird
22. 1 Rufous-tailed Tailorbird - Heard
23. 1 Yellow-bellied Prinia - Heard
24. 4 Chestnut-winged Babbler
25. 5 Asian Glossy Starling
26. 1 Yellow-rumped Flowerpecker
27. 1 Van Hasselt's Sunbird - Juvenile
28. 50 Eurasian Tree Sparrow

Sime Forest 06Apr13

From KH

Today, we went to Sime Forest as JS needs Blue-rumped Parrot to reach Club 300. There were a bunch of bulbuls (Red-eyed, Cream-vented, Olive-winged), leafbirds (Blue-winged) and sunbirds (Van Hasselt's, Crimson, Brown-throated), as well as Blue-crowned Hanging-parrots, Pink-necked Green-pigeons, 7 Dollarbirds and Banded Woodpecker. However, no Blue-rumped Parrot.

Red-eyed Bulbul. Cream-vented Bulbul.

Male Blue-winged Leafbird. Van Hasselt's Sunbird pair.

Pulau Tekong 31May - 03Jun10

From JS

After a gruelling period of 4 days in Tekong, I am back to modern civilisation, back to the company of mynas and more mynas. At Tekong, it was the White-rumped Shama that were everywhere - on the road and one even came up to my instructors for food!

Thrash birds aside, I was fortunate to hear my first Mangrove Blue-flycatcher and see my first Black-naped Monarch on Tekong. I was expecting to see the monarch in the dense forest of Tekong but saw it at the shrubby trees by the track.

Other noteworthy sightings were more Green Imperial-pigeons and plenty of the brilliantly coloured Purple-throated Sunbird.

Raptor Sighting on 1/6: Osprey (1)

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

Pulau Ubin 22Jul06

From KH

This is the 2nd farewell for Yamane, who is returning to Japan for his new job posting. We wish him all the best. I was supposed to get busy with my renovation stuff, but fortunately my uncle settled it for me. Thus I made a surprised appearance at the Changi jetty just when everyone thought I'll not be there. At the carpark, I saw some Tanimbar Cockatoos flying high up in the sky. These big white birds are now a prominent inhabitant of Changi Village. And they are noisy! No wonder their keepers release them into the wild. :)

A Sunda Woodpecker was pecking away on a tree in the carpark, living up to its nickname of 'carpark woodpecker'. A Common Iora was singing away, allowing me to listen to its varied calls and melodious songs. Then I saw Yamane waiting at the jetty. I went to surprise him. Soon after, Robert arrived. Seeing that Danny was late, we gave him a call - he is usually punctual. He was on his way and he has fetched Marisol. Con could not join us as he had to be present at the meeting for nesting birds.

So Danny and Marisol arrived and they told us they saw a pair of Oriental Pied-hornbills being harassed by Tanimbar cockatoos right at the carpark at Changi beach. We were all envious as we did not see any hornbill on Pulau Ubin for the rest of the day...

We're going to Ubin!

Coconut, anyone?

Show me how to digiscope.

Once on the island we took a taxi towards Ubin West hoping to see the rare and elusive Mangrove Pitta. We were all geared up and ready with the recorded call of this bird in hand. Or so we thought... After more than one hour of persistent calling, no pitta was in sight or even heard, or maybe we did hear it call back once, or maybe it was just hallucination. Nevertheless, along the way we spotted some interesting birds. A Rufous Woodpecker was chipping away at the top of a tree.

Rufous Woodpecker

Yamane spotted a Common Flameback. Blue-throated Bee-eaters were doing their aerial display and feeding. Grey and Purple Herons were flying overhead. A seemingly abandoned or used sunbird nest was hanging on a stem by the side of the road. Robert spotted an Asian Koel in the tree.

Having ran out of luck, we called the taxi driver and headed back to the visitor centre. From here, we continued to explore Ubin East. White-bellied Sea Eagles, Brahminy Kites and 3 Changeable Hawk Eagles were circling in the sky. A Crimson Sunbird came close. Robert spotted a Straw-headed Bulbul flying off. Further down the trail were some Purple-throated Sunbirds calling away on the top of a bare tree.

Juvenile Purple-throated Sunbird

A male Brown-throated Sunbird was singing away at the top of a big palm leaf. It totally ignored us as it went about its own business, singing and preening.

Male Brown-throated Sunbird

Nearby a laborious Scaly-breasted Munia was busy fetching long strains of grass from a hedge to and from its nest high up on a coconut tree at the base of a bird's nest fern.

Scaly-breasted Munia under its nest

Further down the road, we heard noisy chirps and guess what, 5 juvenile scaly-breasted munias were begging for food from an adult! The juveniles have no scaly markings on the body, they were just plain brown.

1 adult and 5 juvenile Scaly-breasted Munias

Finally, while Danny was busy snapping away at a nonchalant Olive-winged Bulbul which simply perched right in front of him ignoring him, I spotted a male Laced Woodpecker.

By this time it was too hot to bird and it was lunch time! Kong suddenly appeared in his gears - he was here in the morning for his departmental cycling event. The six of us took a seat in this nice countryside restaurant with many nature photos on the wall. We had a sumptuous meal of prawn, veg., fish, with fried rice and noodles. And Yamane pulled out his personal laptop and showed us all the photos he had taken in our last 1 year of birding together. It was great to reminisce the fun and laughter we had since last year's National Day. Today is not about the birds but it is about the enjoyable time we had together that is ours to keep and we will see you again, some day, Yamane!

Pulau Ubin
(1) Rufous woodpecker
(2) Common flameback
(3) Laced woodpecker
(4) White-throated kingfisher
(5) Collared kingfisher
(6) Blue-throated bee-eater
(7) Asian koel
(8) Long-tailed parakeet
(9) House swift
(10) Nest swiftlet
(11) Zebra dove
(12) Spotted dove
(13) Pink-necked green pigeon
(14) Black-naped tern
(15) White-bellied sea eagle
(16) Changeable hawk eagle
(17) Brahminy kite
(18) Grey heron
(19) Purple heron
(20) Striated heron
(21) Black-naped oriole
(22) Oriental magpie robin
(23) Asian glossy starling
(24) Common myna
(25) Javan myna
(26) Pacific swallow
(27) Straw-headed bulbul
(28) Olive-winged bulbul
(29) Yellow-vented bulbul
(30) Oriental white-eye
(31) Common tailorbird
(32) Ashy tailorbird
(33) Rufous-tailed tailorbird
(34) Scarlet-backed flowerpecker
(35) Crimson sunbird
(36) Purple-throated sunbird
(37) Plain-throated sunbird
(38) Olive-backed sunbird
(39) Eurasian tree sparrow
(40) Scaly-breasted munia

Changi jetty
(41) Sunda woodpecker
(42) Oriental pied hornbill
(43) Tanimbar cockatoo
(44) Rock pigeon
(45) House crow
(46) Common iora

Mandai, SBWR, Sime Forest 25Feb06

From Con

We went to the large tract of land bounded by Mandai Road, SLE, BKE and CTE. We solved the mystery of the "pond" on the Google Earth map & several other mysteries. I don't know what you want to call it: "Orchidville" "Hamburger Hill" "Grand Canyon" ( that's an inside joke, you have to be there to understand ). Maybe it's easier just to call it Mandai Road.

Attendees: Con, Danny, Chee Wai & Stu

The bird of the day was definitely the Indian Cuckoo. This bird definitely didn't like flash, it would jump when the flash when off, so I turned the flash off. Most of the time, he was facing away from us. Here's what I got as a side view. This must be a juvenile bird as the adult does not have buffish-white bars/blotches on the feathers.

Indian Cuckoo ©Con Foley

Indian Cuckoo ©Danny Lau

Here's an Olive-Winged due the to the eye & wing coloration.

Olive-winged Bulbul ©Con Foley

After Chee Wai left, we were treated to a male Common Iora in breeding plumage practicing karoke to his Valentine. Can anyone name the plant the Iora is perched on? You can see the large structures that open into big leafs.

Common Ioras ©Con Foley

1. Banded woodpecker
2. Laced woodpecker
3. Common Flameback
4. Yellow-vented bulbul
5. Olive-winged bulbul
6. Straw-headed bulbul
7. Asian Glossy starling
8. Asian Fairy bluebird
9. Common iora
10. Common kingfisher
11. White-throated kingfisher
12. Asian koel
13. Indian cuckoo
14. Javan myna
15. Common myna
16. Barn swallow
17. Pacific swallow
18. House crow
19. Dollarbird
20. Purple heron
21. Grey heron - in flight
22. Black baza - in flight
23. Olive-backed sunbird
24. Crimson sunbird
25. Pink-necked green pigeon
26. Spotted dove
27. Zebra dove
28. Black-naped oriole
29. Common sandpiper
30. White-breasted waterhen
31. Blue-tailed bee-eater
32. Greater racket-tailed drongo

Straw-headed Bulbuls ©Danny Lau

From JS

Last Saturday, I went to SBWR for conservation work, e.g. weeding, sampling, etc. Below is the checklist for the birds that I sighted. Saw two copper throated nest. Now is the time for photographing copper and purple throated sunbirds. They are nesting in Singapore with an abundance of them at SBWR and Sime track respectively. No cuckoos or rare waders. I may have sighted a dark-morph jaeger. The sighted bird had prominent white rump and crow like features, appears like a crow with white rump. The most interesting thing is he flapped a few times, then rest, not sure if this is what Craig Robson calls as slow and laboured. Jaegers are known to intrude SBWR with sightings before, approx 3 yrs back.

As for the crocodile, it would be submerged underwater due to the high tide. The copper thorated sunbirds have made a nest behind the third shelter from the right of Main Hide 1A and one at the left hand side of the main bridge, on a branch farthest away from the banks, approx a metre away from the bridge.

In the afternoon, my father and I went to Sime track. Saw around 10++ purple throated sunbirds and orange bellied flowerpeckers, all of which were flying around Jelutong tower. Seen one 3m away with perfect lighting, didn't know it had a cyan forehead and a sappire blue eye brow. We heard sounds coming from the leaf litter that goes like that tuk-tuk-tuk. My father said that it was a Siberian blue robin. 3 flying blue winged leafbirds were seen at Jelutong tower. Otherwise, it was a cooling afternoon with brillant lighting condition.

Purple-throated Sunbird

Red-eyed Bulbul

Long-tailed Scorpion (Lychas scutilus)

SBWR
1. Black-naped Oriole
2. Asian Glossy Starling
3. Oriental Magpie Robin
4. White-rumped Shama
5. Black-capped Kingfisher
6. Common Kingfisher
7. Collared Kingfisher
8. Emerald Dove
9. Copper-throated Sunbird
10. White-breasted Waterhen
11. Ashy Tailorbird (heard)
12. Pied Fantail
13. Common Greenshank
14. Common Redshank
15. Whimbrel
16. Pacific Golden Plover
17. Little Egret
18. Common Sandpiper
19. White-bellied Sea Eagle (juvenile)
20. Black-headed Munia
21. Large-billed Crow
22. Purple Heron
23. Grey Heron
24. Little Heron
25. Dollarbird

On the way to Kranji MRT
26. Paddyfield Pipit

Sime forest
27. Common Tailorbird
28. Striped Tit Babbler
29. Yellow-vented Bulbul
30. Red-eyed Bulbul
31. Cream-vented Bulbul
32. Oriental Honey Buzzard
33. Hill Myna
34. Pink-necked Green Pigeon
35. Long-tailed Parakeet
36. Pacific Swallow
37. Purple-throated Sunbird
38. Blue-winged Leafbird
39. Orange-bellied Flowerpecker
40. Scarlet-backed Flowerpecker
41. Brown Hawk Owl (heard)
42. Malayan Eared Nightjar
43. Olive-winged Bulbul

Metal bird from Con!