Changi, Halus, Pasir Ris Park, Pulau Punggol 22Jan11
From JS
Today, Con, Kok Hui, my dad and I went to Changi Cove (lagoon, grid) , Coney
Island (entrance), Lor Halus (grebe pond), Pasir Ris Park and Pulau Punggol.
Summary of sightings for each site:
1) Changi Cove
The first raptor that we saw was the usual
Common Buzzard without its
fatter buddy - probably the latter is having shift rest. Next, we saw the
subadult
Chinese Sparrowhawk at its usual spot.
During our journey from LP149 to cove, except for a single perched
pale morph adult
OHB, we saw only the usual resident raptor species. (3
Brahminy Kites, 2
Black-shouldered Kites and 1 juvenile
WBSE).
Due to high tide, the lagoon also yielded nothing special. Notable species
counted include 18
Grey Plovers, 2
Kentish Plovers, 14
Malaysian Plovers, 2
Common Sandpipers and 1
Little Egret.
The sole consolation is a
White-faced Plover. It has fleshy legs and
white lores.
After the lagoon, we decided to try our luck at the grid/red clay area. There
was a snake, a lone
Little Ringed Plover (no prominent wingbar on the
upperwing), 5
Paddyfield Pipits, 1 suspected female
Siberian Stonechat, 2
Red-rumped Swallows, 2
Yellow Wagtails, 2
Red-throated
Pipits heard (including 1 suspected individual seen briefly flying into
thick vegetation) and about 10
White-shouldered Starlings.
White-shouldered Starling ©Lau JS
Little Ringed Plover ©Lau JS
At the grid, raptor-wise, there was 1 seen for each of the following:
subadult
Peregrine Falcon (faint brownish neck sides),
Black
Kite, Brahminy Kite and male
Eastern Marsh Harrier.
Black Kite above and OHB below ©Lau JS
OHB ©Lau JS
On the way back, we saw 3 BSKs (including the 2 adult birds that were busy
chasing off a pair of dark morph
Changeable Hawk Eagle). Additionally,
there was an adult pale morph CHE watching the action.
2) Coney Island
Just when we tried to sneak in, we were caught red-handed and left
immediately.
3) Lor Halus
We saw 1
Little Grebe and 1
Black-capped Kingfisher at the grebe
pond. Raptor-wise, 1 adult and 1 juvenile Brahminy Kite entertained us like how the
red ants in the green bottle did.
4) Pasir Ris Park
In a nutshell, we missed the Large Hawk Cuckoo and the Spotted Wood Owl. For
my dad, his consolation is 2
Arctic Warblers, 1
Asian Brown
Flycatcher and 1 male
Common Iora. For me, I had a slightly better
deal in the form of a pair of courting
Oriental Pied Hornbill and a
calling
Dark-necked Tailorbird. Besides these birds, we had many
Asian Koels and
Black-naped Orioles to provide some lively background noise. Kok Hui
also saw
Golden-bellied Gerygones,
Pied Trillers and the male
Violet
Cuckoo.
Male Violet Cuckoo ©Danny Lau
Female Sunda Woodpecker ©Danny Lau
Raptor-wise, we saw a Brahminy Kite and, additionally, I saw 4
Black
Bazas. (2 were seen at Pasir Ris Drive and at TPE before Punggol exit.)
Along the way to Pulau Punggol, I saw a suspected adult
Large Hawk
Cuckoo flying past the car. It had a rather long broad, rounded tail,
darkish upperwing and thick dark bill. Although I didn't see its underparts, it
reminded me of the individual that I had photographed in flight inside LP149
recently.
5) Pulau Punggol
Prior to the main action, I saw a juvenile accipiter flying over from Khatib
Bongsu. My initial impression of the bird is a juvenile Japanese Sparrowhawk.
But, with hindsight, I will not try to identify the juvenile accipiter, given my
limited view.
As usual, in the casuarina, we saw the wintering adult male
Chinese
Sparrowhawk scaring away the doves and the other birds on the casuarina
trees. The alarm calls of the dove, as expected, alerted us of the hunter's
presence.
Male Chinese Sparrowhawk ©Danny Lau
On the other hand, the other hunter, the
Booted Eagles, flew overhead
in the forest and took us by surprise. While the pale morph Booted Eagle did
not show itself again, the dark morph individual circled and allowed the
ill-prepared photographers to snap a few regrettable shots through the foliage.
Wasted!
From 6-7 pm, we were treated to a galore of raptors. In short, 9
Brahminy
Kites, 1 unid accipiter, 1
Osprey, 2
WBSE (1 juvenile and 1
adult), 1 dark morph
Booted Eagle (a different bird from the one seen
in the forest.) and 1 adult
Peregrine Falcon.
1 dark Booted Eagle with white spot on breast.
We believe it is the same bird that we saw last year. See the composite
below.
There was another dark Booted Eagle with 6 full fingers and without the white breast spot.
Initially, KH thought the above shows two different individuals, as the one
on the right seems to show more pale underparts. However, after putting them
side by side in the same orientation, we can see they are most likely the same
individual.
Summary of Raptors seen
1) Changeable Hawk Eagle (3)
2) White-bellied Sea Eagle (>3)
3) Booted Eagle (2 dark morph and 1 pale morph)
4) Black Kite (1)
5) Brahminy Kite (>15)
6) Black-shouldered Kite (>4)
7) Black Baza (4)
8) Common Buzzard (1)
9) Oriental Honey Buzzard (1)
10) Chinese Sparrowhawk (2)
11) Eastern Marsh Harrier (1 Adult Male)
12) Peregrine Falcon (2)
13) Osprey (1)
14) Accipiter sp. (2)
15) Unid raptor (1)
Con's photo of some of the Changi surveyors.
