Holland Green 08Aug20

From KH

While Con, Danny and JS went Marina Barrage for seabirding, I went back to Holland Green.

Stayed half an hour at Holland Plains. No bushchat, but got these common birds instead.

1. Red Junglefowl 1 - Heard
2. Spotted Dove 1 - Heard
3. Pink-necked Green-Pigeon 3
4. dark swiftlet sp. 5
5. Lineated Barbet 1 - Heard
6. Long-tailed Parakeet 8
7. Black-naped Oriole 1 - Heard
8. Malaysian Pied-Fantail 1 - Heard
9. Yellow-vented Bulbul 2
10. Pin-striped Tit-Babbler 2 - Heard
11. White-crested Laughingthrush 2 - Heard
12. Baya Weaver 0 - Nest

Others had looked but couldn't find the bird either. So I decided to take a walk along Holland Green Linear Park. A Pair of Red-wattled Lapwings were in the field.

1 saw 3 White-headed Munias. Here're 2 of them.

Throw in a Chocolate Pansy for good measure.

Xylocopa latipes Carpenter Bees busying.

Senna sp. and Blue Trumpet Vine Thunbergia laurifolia.

The park connects with the Green Corridor, so I took a short walk along the corridor. Nice to see a bunch of Plume-toed Swiftlets flying low.

1. Spotted Dove 5
2. Zebra Dove 2
3. Pink-necked Green-Pigeon 1
4. Plume-toed Swiftlet 10
5. dark swiftlet sp. 10
6. Red-wattled Lapwing 2
7. White-throated Kingfisher 2
8. Blue-throated Bee-eater 2
9. Lineated Barbet 2 - Heard
10. Common Flameback 2
11. Laced Woodpecker 2
12. Tanimbar Corella 1
13. Long-tailed Parakeet 1
14. Black-naped Oriole 1 - Heard
15. Malaysian Pied-Fantail 1 - Heard
16. Common Tailorbird 1
17. Dark-necked Tailorbird 1 - Heard
18. Rufous-tailed Tailorbird 1 - Heard
19. Pacific Swallow 3
20. Yellow-vented Bulbul 1
21. Pin-striped Tit-Babbler 2 - Heard
22. Asian Glossy Starling 10
23. Javan Myna 10
24. Scarlet-backed Flowerpecker 1 - Heard
25. Olive-backed Sunbird 3
26. Scaly-breasted Munia 10
27. White-headed Munia 3
28. Eurasian Tree Sparrow 2
29. Paddyfield Pipit 1

On the way home, I dropped by the plains again. Voila, the Pied Buchchat showed up, where else but at the blue fence area.

Batam 8-9Aug09

From KH

This is not a birding trip, but it was interesting to see a White-headed Munia nesting in the backyard of the Holiday Inn.

I didn't really take note of the birds, but here's what I can remember seeing/hearing: Brahminy Kite, Olive-backed Sunbird, Spotted Dove, Eurasian Tree Sparrow, Myna (heard).

Halus, Pulau Punggol, Punggol, Changi 08Mar08

From KH

We started the day at Halus (actually Pasir Ris Farmway 3) for the Javan Pond-heron and sure enough, there were at least 2 of them in breeding plumage. Also present were more non-breeding pond-herons. As always, there's great difficulty to ID the species in non-breeding plumage, so we'll leave them at that. Besides the various species of herons and egrets, there were also waders and a handsome Common Kingfisher in the canal.

Javan Pond-heron ©Lau JS

Moving on to Halus proper, we were disappointed to see the polluted state of the Moorhen Pond... Fortunately, the Grebe Pond is holding out and still offered us 2 breeding Little Grebes. By 0830, we were ready to roll on for our Booted Eagle at where else but Punggol Island, however not before waving goodbye to a breeding Chinese Pond-heron by the side of the road.

At Punggol Island, the Booted Eagle made its appearance again! This time a dark/rufous morph. We saw it in the sky and quickly got off the cars to take a closer look. Immediately, the raptor got spooked and flew towards Johor. We thought we have lost it, but unexpectedly, it u-turned halfway in the straits and headed towards us! The cameras were back in action again. 2 Booted Eagles in a single season!! What more can we ask for? Also present were the 3 Black Bazas that had wintered here for the whole season. Of course, the resident raptors were also around. While checking out the Chestnut-winged Cuckoo location, we were being asked to leave the island, but we took a little longer to vacate.

Dark morph Booted Eagle ©Con Foley

Dark morph Booted Eagle ©Fang SC

Along the way to Changi, we dropped by Punggol Grassland but did not see much. A Changeable Hawk-eagle was calling though. The drain is overgrown. Hopefully, the Painted Snipes are back, although we did not see any.

At Changi, we had an exciting day - we got bogged down! Fortunately, we were able to save ourselves and achieve our target - the Oriental Plover, in breeding plumage. However, we dipped at the White-faced Plovers and Red-throated Pipits.

Oriental Plover dwarfing a Lesser Sand-plover ©Lau JS

Oriental Plover ©Lau JS

Female Eastern Marsh-harrier ©Lau JS

3 species of Munias quenching their thirst on a hot afternoon. 1 Scaly-breasted, 3 Black-headed amongst White-headed ©Lau JS

Sanderlings ©Lau JS

Pasir Ris Farmway 3
1 Striated Heron
2 Grey Heron
3 Purple Heron
4 Little Egret
5 Great Egret
6 Javan Pond-heron
7 Chinese Pond-heron
8 Common Sandpiper
9 Common Kingfisher

Halus
10 Yellow Bittern
11 Little Grebe
12 Zebra Dove
13 Spotted Dove
14 Lesser Coucal
15 Blue-tailed Bee-eater
16 House Crow
17 Common Iora
18 Javan Myna
19 Common Myna
20 Yellow-vented Bulbul
21 Baya Weaver

PP
22 Black-winged Kite
23 Black Baza
24 Brahminy Kite
25 Booted Eagle
26 White-bellied Sea-eagle
27 White-breasted Waterhen
28 Asian Koel
29 Collared Kingfisher
30 White-throated Kingfisher
31 Common Flameback
32 Large-billed Crow
33 Black-naped Oriole
34 Brown Shrike
35 Oriental Magpie-robin
36 Zitting Cisticola
37 Yellow-bellied Prinia
38 Oriental Reed Warbler
39 Common Tailorbird
40 Olive-backed Sunbird

Seletar Airport
41 Cattle Egret
42 Rock Pigeon
43 Long-tailed Parakeet
44 Dollarbird
45 Asian Brown Flycatcher
46 Asian Glossy Starling

Punggol
47 Changeable Hawk-eagle
48 Long-tailed Shrike

CC
49 Eastern Marsh-harrier
50 Common Greenshank
51 Ruddy Turnstone
52 Sanderling
53 Pacific Golden-plover
54 Grey Plover
55 Kentish Plover
56 Lesser Sand-plover
57 Malaysian Plover
58 Oriental Plover
59 Red Collared Dove
60 Barn Swallow
61 Pacific Swallow
62 Paddyfield Pipit
63 White-headed Munia
64 Scaly-breasted Munia
65 Black-headed Munia

Tampines 06May06

From Danny

It was a rainy morning. Kong & PC turned up & we adjourned to coffeeshop along Tampines Ave 9 for prata & coffee. The nearby multi-storey CP offered good view of possible bird site bound by Ave 9, 10, 12 & Tampines Road. Drove into trail opp. Blk 722/723 when rain reduced to light drizzle. A lot of birds' activities where we spotted our 1st pair of courting sooty-headed bulbuls (mostly Thailand sub-species with yellow/orangy vents). Did not proceed further due to muddy/ponding terrain, perhaps another time. Went back to Jln Sam Kongsi around 10 am all the way to the sand dunes around Tampines Quarry. The trip ended around 1.35 pm. On the way home, located the entrance to Tampines biking trails, another bird trail.

1. House Crow
2. Eurasian Tree Sparrow
3. Asian Glossy Starling
4. Yellow-vented Bulbul
5. Sooty-headed Bulbul (>6)
6. Collared KF
7. White-throated KF
8. Sunda Woodpecker
9. Greater Coucal
10. Lesser Coucal
11. Blue-throated Bee-eater (many at sand dunes)
12. Spotted Dove
13. Pink-necked Green-pigeon
14. Red Collared-dove
15. Zebra Dove
16. House Swift
17. Paddyfield Pipit
18. Yellow-bellied Prinia
19. Plaintive Cuckoo (heard & seen in flight)
20 Rusty-breasted Cuckoo (heard)
21. Pied Fantail
22. Myna
23. Black-naped Oriole
24. Common Iora
25. WBSE
26. BWK
27. Scaly-breasted Munia
28. Black-headed Munia
29. White-headed Munia
30. Baya Weaver
31. Common flameback Woodpecker
32. Pied Triller
33. Olive-backed Sunbird
34. Plain-throated Sunbird
35. Scarlet-backed Flowerpecker (male & female)
36. Pacific Swallow
37. Dollarbird
38. White-breasted Waterhen
39. Yellow Bittern
40. Ruddy-breasted Crake - perched on railing on drain along Tampines Road

Male Red Collared-dove

Sooty-headed Bulbul

White-headed Munia

From PC

Danny, Kong and I had a good time checking out the Tampines trail on Election Day that Joe Lim does his bird census. It is a nice scenic trail with streams running, a quarry, a sand dune at the end.

Kong has taken pictures of a rare toad that jumped out when he was about to sit on it. The fragrance from his rear is too much for the toad to bear.

We also seen some purple colored dragon flies. Last week, we saw a army green dragon fly at Poyan. I'm liasing with someone from Vertebrate Group to find out about these rare colored dragonflies.

The Tampines walk ended at 1.40 p.m. as we have started late at 10 a.m.

Toad from Kong