Singapore Bird Race 11Nov18

From JS

LKK, Alfred and Ju Lin got the most birds - 78 species.

We (Danny, JS and BJ) had 77 species.

Singapore Bird Race 25-26Oct14

Danny, JS and I participated in this year's bird race and managed to emerge the winner for the very first time!

The flag-off was at Bishan Park, where we quickly ticked a few common birds before we had to go wader-watching (low tide was at about 6 pm). Our plan was to do a quick check at Seletar Dam and then Mandai Mudflat. To our horror, there were no waders at Seletar Dam, except for Common Sandpipers! Where did the waders go??

As the lights are dimming, we made a dash for Mandai Mudflat and were fortunate to catch the last lights. We had a good haul of waders, including Red-necked Stints and a Broad-billed Sandpiper.

Moving on to Turut Track, we head several Savanna Nightjars but failed to see any... Fortunately, we managed to tick Large-tailed Nightjar and Buffy Fish Owl. By now, it was about 8 pm and the decision was to have dinner and have a good rest. The tally so far: 39 species.

The next morning, we were at Rifle Range carpark at about 6 am. We heard a few Brown Hawk Owl, before connecting with one. We only heard one Collared Scops Owl, but did not connect with it. Soon the sun was out and after ticking off a few forest birds, it was time to climb the tower. Red-crowned Barbet and Chestnut-bellied Malkoha were good ticks, so were some bulbuls and flowerpeckers. We stayed on the tower till 8 am. If we had stayed a while longer, JS would have cleared his nemesis - Blue-rumped Parrot!

At the pump house, Danny first noticed an interesting bird, which soon turned out to be the bird of the day - Sakhalin Leaf Warbler (this bird has only be added to the Singapore checklist early this year!). Near the Rifle Range carpark, all three of us got our SG tick - Grey-faced Buzzard!

Next stop, Halus. A quick check at the tidal gates revealed White-winged and Whiskered Terns. At the wetland itself, the Little Grebes did not disappoint, but a Malaysian Hawk Cuckoo was a surprise catch.

After Halus was Pasir Ris Park for the Spotted Wood Owls, but we made a wasted trip - there were none present. A quick drop-by at Changi Village for packed lunch was yet another disappointment - no corella, no parakeet, no sparrow! Changi Cove did give us several species, but not all the birds during our recce...

It was not time for Bidadari. Brown-chested Jungle Flycatcher and Black Baza did not disappoint, but Tiger Shrike was nowhere to be found.

A quick check of NSRCC added Yellow Wagtail as expected. Turut Track and Neo Tiew added the final 10 species to our list, making 112. We later found out that we had only won the runner-up by 1 bird! All in all, a tiring, but rewarding race. Time to retired.

1)	White-Vented Myna	1700h	Bishan Park
2)	White-Breasted Waterhen	1700h	Bishan Park
3)	Asian Koel	1700h	Bishan Park
4)	Common Pigeon	1705h	Bishan Park
5)	Barn Swallow	1705h	Bishan Park
6)	Pacific Swallow	1720h	Yio Chu Kang Rd
7)	Olive-Backed Sunbird	1720h	Yio Chu Kang Rd
8)	Black-Naped Oriole	1725h	Yio Chu Kang Rd
9)	Coppersmith Barbet	1728h	Yio Chu Kang Rd
10)	House Crow	1728h	Yio Chu Kang Rd
11)	Spotted Dove	1733h	Jalan Kayu
12)	Brown Shrike	1737h	Seletar
13)	Asian Glossy Starling	1740h	Seletar
14)	White-Throated Kingfisher	1740h	Seletar
15)	Little Egret	1750h	Seletar Dam
16)	Yellow-Billed Egret	1750h	Seletar Dam
17)	Grey Heron	1750h	Seletar Dam
18)	Striated Heron	1750h	Seletar Dam
19)	Daurian Starling	1750h	Seletar Dam
20)	Common Sandpiper	1750h	Seletar Dam
21)	House Swift	1800h	Mandai Ave
22)	Crested Honey-Buzzard	1800h	Mandai Ave
23)	White-Bellied Sea-Eagle	1805h	Woodlands Rd
24)	Brahminy Kite	1815-1855h	Mandai Mudflat
25)	Common Kingfisher	1815-1855h	Mandai Mudflat
26)	Collared Kingfisher	1815-1855h	Mandai Mudflat
27)	Common Redshank	1815-1855h	Mandai Mudflat
28)	Common Greenshank	1815-1855h	Mandai Mudflat
29)	Lesser Sand Plover	1815-1855h	Mandai Mudflat
30)	Pacific Golden Plover	1815-1855h	Mandai Mudflat
31)	Whimbrel	1815-1855h	Mandai Mudflat
32)	Marsh Sandpiper	1815-1855h	Mandai Mudflat
33)	Red-Necked Stint	1815-1855h	Mandai Mudflat
34)	Broad-Billed Sandpiper	1815-1855h	Mandai Mudflat
35)	Curlew Sandpiper	1815-1855h	Mandai Mudflat
36)	Great Egret	1815-1855h	Mandai Mudflat
37)	Little Tern	1815-1855h	Mandai Mudflat
38)	Large-Tailed Nightjar	1915h	Neo Tiew Lane 3
39)	Buffy Fish Owl	1950h	Turut Track
40)	Brown Hawk Owl	0615h	Rifle Range
41)	Siberian Blue Robin	0645h	Rifle Range
42)	Greater Racket-Tailed Drongo	0650-0715h	Rifle Range
43)	Orange-Bellied Flowerpecker	0650-0715h	Rifle Range
44)	Pin-Striped Tit-Babbler	0650-0715h	Rifle Range
45)	Dark-Necked Tailorbird	0650-0715h	Rifle Range
46)	Asian Paradise Flycatcher	0650-0715h	Rifle Range
47)	Fork-Tailed Swift	0650-0715h	Rifle Range
48)	Blue-Tailed Bee-Eater	0650-0715h	Rifle Range
49)	Asian Fairy Bluebird	0650-0715h	Rifle Range
50)	Short-Tailed Babbler	0650-0715h	Rifle Range
51)	Long-Tailed Parakeet	0650-0715h	Rifle Range
52)	Olive-Winged Bulbul	0720-0825h	Jelutong Tower
53)	Banded Woodpecker	0720-0825h	Jelutong Tower
54)	Red-Crowned Barbet	0720-0825h	Jelutong Tower
55)	Common Hill Myna	0720-0825h	Jelutong Tower
56)	Oriental Dollarbird	0720-0825h	Jelutong Tower
57)	Forest Wagtail	0720-0825h	Jelutong Tower
58)	Thick-Billed Green Pigeon	0720-0825h	Jelutong Tower
59)	Crimson Sunbird	0720-0825h	Jelutong Tower
60)	Chestnut-Bellied Malkoha	0720-0825h	Jelutong Tower
61)	Blue-Crowned Hanging-Parrot	0720-0825h	Jelutong Tower
62)	Asian Brown Flycatcher	0720-0825h	Jelutong Tower
63)	Arctic Warbler	0720-0825h	Jelutong Tower
64)	Pink-Necked Green Pigeon	0720-0825h	Jelutong Tower
65)	Red-Rumped Swallow	0720-0825h	Jelutong Tower
66)	Scarlet-Backed Flowerpecker	0720-0825h	Jelutong Tower
67)	Asian Red-Eyed Bulbul	0830h	Rifle Range
68)	Sakhalin Leaf Warbler	0850h	Rifle Range
69)	Grey-Faced Buzzard	0910h	Rifle Range
70)	Yellow-Rumped Flycatcher	0910h	Rifle Range
71)	Sooty-Headed Bulbul	0947h-1025h	Halus
72)	Common Goldenback	0947h-1025h	Halus
73)	Changeable Hawk Eagle	0947h-1025h	Halus
74)	Pied Triller	0947h-1025h	Halus
75)	Brown-Throated Sunbird	0947h-1025h	Halus
76)	Little Grebe	0947h-1025h	Halus
77)	Japanese Sparrowhawk	0947h-1025h	Halus
78)	Yellow-Vented Bulbul	0947h-1025h	Halus
79)	Golden-Bellied Gerygone	0947h-1025h	Halus
80)	Baya Weaver	0947h-1025h	Halus
81)	Malaysian Hawk Cuckoo	0947h-1025h	Halus
82)	Common Iora	0947h-1025h	Halus
83)	White-Winged Tern	1030-1100h	Halus
84)	Paddyfield Pipit	1030-1100h	Halus
85)	Savanna Nightjar	1030-1100h	Halus
86)	Long-Tailed Shrike	1030-1100h	Halus
87)	Whiskered Tern	1030-1100h	Halus
88)	Cattle Egret	1103h	Pasir Ris Farmway
89)	Grey-Headed Fish-Eagle	1133h	Pasir Ris
90)	Black-Winged Kite	1200-1300h	Changi
91)	Common Myna	1200-1300h	Changi
92)	Zebra Dove	1200-1300h	Changi
93)	Scaly-Breasted Munia	1200-1300h	Changi
94)	Black-Headed Munia	1200-1300h	Changi
95)	Common Tailorbird	1200-1300h	Changi
96)	Zitting Cisticola	1200-1300h	Changi
97)	Asian Drongo-Cuckoo	1200-1300h	Changi
98)	Chinese Sparrowhawk	1200-1300h	Changi
99)	Brown-Chested Jungleflycatcher	1400h	Bidadari
100)	Black Baza	1400h	Bidadari
101)	Yellow Wagtail	1455h	NSRCC
102)	Red-Breasted Parakeet	1455h	Neo Tiew Lane 3
103)	Tiger Shrike	1500-1600h	Turut Track
104)	Sunda Pygmy Woodpecker	1500-1600h	Turut Track
105)	Pied Fantail	1500-1600h	Turut Track
106)	Red Turtle Dove	1500-1600h	Turut Track
107)	Lineated Barbet	1500-1600h	Turut Track
108)	Purple Heron	1500-1600h	Turut Track
109)	White-Crested Laughingthrush	1500-1600h	Turut Track
110)	Red-Wattled Lapwing	1500-1600h	Turut Track
111)	Sand Martin	1500-1600h	Turut Track
112)	Large-Billed Crow	1500-1600h	Turut Track

Singapore Bird Race 20-21Oct12

From KH

Danny, JS and I formed Team Drongos to participate in this year's bird race. Con joined Seetoh's team, as the team size is limited to a max of 3 this year.

The race started on Sat 5 pm at SBWR and ended Sun 5 pm at Dairy Farm, so we arrived early at SBWR to recce. When we reached, the weather was good and the birds (waders and egrets) were around. However, when the race started at 5 pm, it started pouring! All teams were stuck at the Main Hide for about 1 hour. Fortunately, we ticked off all the waders and egrets seen earlier, except Bar-tailed Godwit and Intermediate Egret.

When the rain was lighter, our team took the opportunity to escape to Seletar Dam. Along the way, we ticked off some common bird. The surprises were 2 Changeable Hawk Eagles and 3 Grey-headed Fish Eagles along SLE.

At Seletar Dam, The plovers (Oriental, Malaysian, Greater Sand) were all MIA. We only ticked off Terek Sandpiper and 3 common birds. By now, the sky was dark and we were off to Seletar West to tick off some night birds, namely Savanna Nightjar and Black-crowned Night Heron. Then at Lower Peirce, we only got Large-tailed Nightjar. No owls for the night. We ended the night with 30 species. Not too bad considering how bad the weather was.

The next morning, we went Rifle Range for the forest birds and managed to salvage two owls. A Collared Scops Owl perched at eye level calling, making it an easy target. Almost immediately after that, a pair of Brown Hawk Owls started calling high up in the tree and soon they flushed, making them another easy tick. We waited at Jelutong Tower for the morning fly-bys. There were swallows and swifts for picking, as well as Blue-winged Leafbird, bulbuls (Red-eyed, Olive-winged) and others. In total 20 species were counted from the tower within less than 1 hour.

We took the boardwalk to the reservoir and got 3 birds from the boardwalk but none from the reservoir. We should skip it next time... On the way back to Rifle Range, we managed to tick off Ashy and Crow-billed Drongo. The former got us the Bird of the Day award! A fruiting tree drew in a Red-crowned Barbet and an Asian Fairy Bluebird. We also got Greater Green Leafbird and Striped Tit Babbler to round up our forest league. Dark-necked Tailorbird and Short-tailed Babbler were heard-only, so they never made it to our list. There was also supposed to be a Malaysian Hawk Cuckoo (seen by other teams).

Our next stop was Bidadari. We got 10 more bird here, including Black-backed Kingfisher, Drongo Cuckoo and Lineated Barbet, but Brown-chested Jungle Flycatcher was MIA.

Next up was Halus for the terns (Little, White-winged, Whiskered) and Little Grebe. We ticked off 14 birds in total. Prinia called, but did not show. We missed the Rosy Starling and Streaked Weaver. Soon it started pouring and our exploration of Halus was shortened. Fortunately, we have covered most of it.

At Pasir Ris Park, we braved the rain to tick off Spotted Wood Owls (1 adult, 1 juv.). We stopped for lunch at Changi Village and ticked off Rock Pigeon only, because the target birds here had been ticked off elsewhere. At Changi Beach, we got our Oriental Magpie Robin. The pickings were thin with 1-2 birds per site! Fortunately, our next destination was Changi grassland. There should be some good birds here. Indeed, we ticked off 9 birds within 1 hour including Ruddy-breasted Crakes, a Chinese Goshawk, a male Eastern Marsh Harrier and the usual residents.

By now it was 2 pm. With 3 hours to go, we made a decision to head for NTL2. On the way, a single Purple-backed Starling mixed with Asian Glossy Starlings along Loyang Ave made 99; and the Intermediate Egret we missed at SBWR seen when entering SLE made 100. Guess what our 101 bird was. It was Eurasian Tree Sparrow along Kranji Industrial Estate. At Kranji NSRCC, Yellow Wagtail and Little Ringed Plover made up 102 and 103, respectively. By now, it was getting harder and harder to add birds.

Nevertheless, the decision to go NTL2 turned out fruitful. We got 11 more birds by 4 pm. These included the target birds, Purple Swamphen and Common Moorhen, as well as bird like Emerald Dove, Chestnut-winged Cuckoo, Indian Cuckoo and Red-whiskered Bulbul. Black-browed Reed Warbler called, but did not show.

Finally at Dairy Farm, we heard the Straw-headed Bulbul, but no tick. Fortunately, at the entrance of MOE Adventure Centre, a Laced Woodpecker made 115 for our list. Other teams that arrived later got Eastern Crowned Warbler right at the entrance, but by this time JS and Danny were tallying the numbers, so this bird did not make it to our list too.

So after 24 hours of hard work in bad weather, we came in third behind the second team (LKS, CC with 116) and the winning team (LKC, YDL, LBW with 120).

Our biggest misses were Brahminy Kite and the munias.

Here's a reconstruction of our list:

No.	Species	Location
1-12	Whimbrel, Common Greenshank, Common Redshank, Curlew Sandpiper, Marsh Sandpiper, Pacific Golden Plover, Lesser Sand Plover, Little Egret, Cattle Egret, Great Egret, Grey Heron, Pink-necked Green Pigeon	SBWR main hide
13-15	Common Sandpiper, White-breasted Waterhen, Oriental Pied Hornbill	SBWR entrance
16-20	Javan Myna, Spotted Dove, Asian Glossy Starling, Black-naped Oriole, White-bellied Sea Eagle	Kranji
21-23	Yellow-vented Bulbul, Changeable Hawk Eagle, Grey-headed Fish Eagle	SLE
24-27	Little Heron, Barn Swallow, Common Myna, Terek Sandpiper	Seletar Dam
28-29	Savanna Nightjar, Black-crowned Night Heron	Seletar West
30	Large-tailed Nightjar	Lower Peirce
31-33	Collared Scops Owl, Brown Hawk Owl, Greater Racket-tailed Drongo	Rifle Range
34-52	Red-rumped Swallow, Pacific Swallow, House Swift, Fork-tailed Swift, Glossy Swiftlet, Grey-rumped Treeswift, Blue-tailed Bee-eater, Dollarbird, White-throated Kingfisher, Blue-winged Leafbird, Red-eyed Bulbul, Olive-winged Bulbul, Crimson Sunbird, Orange-bellied Flowerpecker, Large-billed Crow, Arctic Warbler, Asian Brown Flycatcher, Japanese Sparrowhawk, Hill Myna	Jelutong Tower
53-61	Banded Woodpecker, Asian Paradise Flycatcher, Common Iora, Ashy Drongo, Crow-billed Drongo, Red-crowned Barbet, Asian Fairy Bluebird, Greater Green Leafbird, Striped Tit Babbler	Rifle Range
62-71	Black-backed Kingfisher, Drongo Cuckoo, Tanimbar Corella, Oriental White-eye, Common Goldenback, Lineated Barbet, Brown-throated Sunbird, Olive-backed Sunbird, Collared Kingfisher, Tiger Shrike	Bidadari
72-85	Little Tern, White-winged Tern, Whiskered Tern, Little Grebe, Yellow Bittern, Purple Heron, Pied Fantail, Baya Weaver, Sooty-headed Bulbul, Paddyfield Pipit, Red-breasted Parakeet, Common Kingfisher, Zebra Dove, Common Tailorbird	Halus
86	Spotted Wood Owl	Pasir Ris Park
87	Rock Pigeon	Changi Village
88-89	Oriental Magpie Robin, House Crow	Changi Beach
90-98	Ruddy-breasted Crakes, Black-winged Kite, Chinese Goshawk, Red-watted Lapwing, Red Collared Dove, Lesser Coucal, Eastern Marsh Harrier, Long-tailed Shrike, Asian Koel	Changi grassland
99	Purple-backed Starling	Loyang Ave
100	Intermediate Egret	SLE
101	Eurasian Tree Sparrow	Kranji
102-103	Yellow Wagtail, Little Ringed Plover	Kranji NSRCC
104-114	Purple Swamphen, Common Moorhen, Stork-billed Kingfisher, Brown Shrike, Long-tailed Parakeet, Pied Triller, White-crested Laughingthrush, Emerald Dove, Chestnut-winged Cuckoo, Indian Cuckoo, Red-whiskered Bulbul	NTL2
115	Laced Woodpecker	Dairy Farm

Singapore Bird Race 17-18Oct09

From KH

This year, Danny, Jia Sheng and I formed the team Drongo to take on the Singapore Bird Race. The difference from previous years is that this is a Green Race, meaning no cars allowed. Our mode of transport was Bus. We were expecting much less birds counted than last few years because we would be covering less locations. However, it turned out that we actually counted 101 bird species! The main reason is that we had to spend more time at each location. All photos during the race taken by JS.

This was the Silver-backed Needletail at the Sg Quarry that made our day. (After-thoughts: As it turns out, the first photo is a Brown-backed Needletail and the second a Silver-backed Needletail.)

It was also nice to see the House Swifts at the quarry.

This was the drongo at NTL2 that looked like it had pale underparts in the bin and had us wondering whether it was an Ashy Drongo. However, since we can't confirm its ID, we decided to remove it from our list. (After-thought: this should be a Greater Racket-tailed Drongo)

To round off the two-day event, a Yellow-ringed Cat Snake (aka Mangrove Snake) was spotted on a tree in MOE Adventure Centre!

There was also a White-bellied Rat Snake (about 2m) sighted at Dairy Farm, on the way to the quarry. It was trying to cross the path when it saw us and slithered back into the grassy area. It remained in its typically upright posture for some seconds until we walked closer and it disappeared into the undergrowth.

1. White-vented Myna Dairy Farm
2. Yellow-vented Bulbul "
3. Eurasian Tree Sparrow Upp Bt Timah Rd
4. Zebra Dove "
5. Spotted Dove Hindhede
6. Asian Glossy Starling "
7. Blue-crowned Hanging Parrot "
8. Pacific Swallow "
9. Red-legged Crake " 2 adults
10. Banded Woodpecker "
11. White-bellied Fish-Eagle "
12. Greater Racket-tailed Drongo "
13. Asian Brown Flycatcher "
14. Red-rumped Swallow "
15. Blue-tailed Bee-eater "
16. Peregrine Falcon BTNR summit 1 japonensis
17. Siberian Blue Robin BTNR 1 female
18. White-crested Laughingthrush " 2
19. Barn Swallow Hindhede
20. Buffy Fish-Owl Lower Peirce 1
21. White-breasted Waterhen Warren grassland
22. Large-tailed Nightjar " 1
23. Red-wattled Lapwing " >20
24. Common Snipe " 3
25. Savanna Nightjar " 2
26. Paddyfield Pipit "
27. White-throated Kingfisher "
28. Long-tailed Parakeet "
29. Chinese Pond Heron " 2
30. Daurian Starling " 5
31. Little Egret "
32. Coppersmith Barbet " 1
33. Large-billed Crow " 2
34. Black-naped Oriole "
35. Red-breasted Parakeet "
36. Olive-backed Sunbird "
37. Common Hill Myna " >5
38. House Crow "
39. Common Goldenback " 3
40. Pink-necked Green Pigeon "
41. Purple Heron "
42. Arctic Warbler "
43. Common Pigeon Yew Tee MRT
44. Brown Shrike Kranji Resort
45. Common Tailorbird "
46. Common Myna "
47. Zitting Cisticola "
48. Scaly-breasted Munia "
49. Baya Weaver "
50. Common Iora NTL2
51. Asian Paradise Flycatcher " 2
52. Common Kingfisher " 1
53. Lesser Coucal "
54. White-headed Munia "
55. Brahminy Kite "
56. Black-winged Kite " 1
57. Pied Triller "
58. Oriental Dollarbird "
59. Blue-throated Bee-eater "
60. Little Tern "
61. White-Winged Tern "
62. Yellow Wagtail " 1
63. Striated Heron "
64. Grey-headed Fish-Eagle " 1 adult
65. Asian Koel "
66. Ashy Drongo " 1
67. Tiger Shrike " 1 juvenile
68. Common Sandpiper "
69. Black-headed Munia Kranji Resort 1
70. Golden-bellied Gerygone "
71. Collared Kingfisher Kranji boardwalk
72. Yellow-rumped Flycatcher " 1 female
73. Lesser Crested Tern "
74. Grey Heron "
75. Eastern Crowned Warbler " 1
76. Dark-necked Tailorbird "
77. Ashy Tailorbird "
78. Pied Fantail "
79. Marsh Sandpiper SBWR
80. Common Redshank "
81. Common Greenshank "
82. Curlew Sandpiper "
83. Whimbrel "
84. Pacific Golden-Plover "
85. Lesser Sand Plover "
86. Cattle Egret "
87. Great Egret " 1
88. Greater Sand Plover " 1 juvenile
89. Broad-billed Sandpiper " 1 juvenile
90. Rufous-necked Stint " >8
91. Terek Sandpiper " 1
92. Brown-throated Sunbird "
93. Orange-bellied Flowerpecker "
94. Changeable Hawk-Eagle Dairy Farm 1 dark juv, 1 pale juv
95. Little Grebe " >6
96. Straw-headed Bulbul " 1
97. House Swift "
98. Fork-tailed Swift " >2
99. Silver-backed Needletail " 1
100. White-rumped Munia " 2
101. Crimson Sunbird "
102. Olive-winged Bulbul "

Other birds heard or not seen by all members

1. Slaty-breasted Rail
2. Purple Swamphen
3. Collared Scops-Owl
4. Stork-billed Kingfisher
5. Laced Woodpecker
6. Lineated Barbet
7. Red-crowned Barbet
8. Yellow-bellied Prinia
9. Pin-striped Tit-Babbler
10. Copper-throated Sunbird

Singapore Bird Race 25-26Oct08

From KH

This year Danny, Con and I again formed the Drongo team to take on the 25^th Annual Bird Race. This is the first time we broke the 100 mark - coming in 4^th with 105 birds. To us, this is already an achievement since the top 3 teams' leaders have been doing serious bird-watching for more than 20 years, while our team only got serious 3 years ago.

The bird race consisted of 13 teams - 8 advanced and 5 novice. The winning team led by Subaraj had 142 birds and he got the Century Award as well. LKS's team snatched the 2^nd position with 123 birds, while his brother took the 3^rd with 120. The Bird of the Day was the Large Hawk Cuckoo sighted by the winning novice team led by Ju Lin.

Summary

Starting at Sungei Buloh Wetland Reserve (SBWR) at 1600 on Sat, we ticked 15 birds in 15 mins. Our first bird on the list was none other than the friendly resident Stork-billed Kingfisher. We got all the 8 common waders of SBWR. Moving on to Krangi Nature Trail, we were right behind LKS's team (with Doreen & Chung Cheong). Next, we located the Peregrine Falcon at the Transmission Towers and the Osprey at the Mandai Mudflat. As we entered Murai, a family of 2 adult Slaty-breasted Rails and 3 chicks crossed the path. What a sight! We got 8 birds from here, but not a single munia that we came here for. We had to rush to Tuas before it gets too dark and guess who was already here? LKC's team (with Dingli & James). At night time, we dipped at all the owls... :( By the end of Sat, we had 59 birds on our list.

On Sun, the race continued, starting with Sime Forest which got us 21 birds. The best ones had to be the Emerald Dove, White-rumped Shama and the a flock of 10 Oriental Pratincoles - all sighted in consecutive order at the Jelutong Tower! At Lorong Halus, we ticked another 15 birds. The stars here got to be the 3 raptors (Japanese Sparrowhawk, Black Baza & Black-winged Kite), the Grebe and a Rusty-breasted Cuckoo. Thanks to SC's tipoff, we got the Little Ringed Plover at Pasir Ris Farmway. There were also Yellow Wagtails, Pacific Golden Plovers and Lesser Sand Plovers here! It was now lunch time and we decided to go Changi Village to tick the Tanimbar Corella. At Changi Point, the Black-naped Terns were not home, but 2 Lesser Crested Terns were sighted. At Punggol, we totally dipped at the Munias and Cisticolas! Fortunately, we picked up the Pied Fantail that we missed last year. It was also nice to see an Crested Honey Buzzard and a Japanese Sparrowhawk circling the sky although we already had them on our list. The rest of the afternoon was spent locating specific birds at specific locations. We never learnt our lesson - we went to Bukit Batok Nature Park again and there was not a single bird... again... And so we ended the race with 105 birds on our list, missing again the Yellow Bittern and a few other common birds.

The sites in order of productivity were Sime Forest (21), Lorong Halus (15), SBWR (15), Murai (8), Tuas (8).

Here's the reconstruction of our list:

1 Stork-billed Kingfisher SBWR 1601
2 Marsh Sandpiper " "
3 White-breasted Waterhen " "
4 Little Egret " "
5 Whimbrel " 1605
6 Pacific Golden Plover "/Pasir Ris Farmway "/1130
7 Lesser Sand Plover "/Pasir Ris Farmway "/1130
8 Common Redshank " "
9 Curlew Sandpiper " "
10 Collared Kingfisher " 1610
11 Common Sandpiper " "
12 White-vented Myna " "
13 Brahminy Kite " "
14 Pacific Swallow " "
15 Common Greenshank " "
16 Ashy Tailorbird KNT 1615
17 Black-naped Oriole " "
18 Asian Glossy Starling " 1620
19 Grey Heron " "
20 Lesser Crested Tern " "
21 Spotted Dove Kranji 1630
22 Pink-necked Green Pigeon " "
23 House Crow " "
24 Cattle Egret Transmission Tower 1640
25 Yellow-billed Egret " "
26 Peregrine Falcon " "
27 Barn Swallow " "
28 Striated Heron Mandai Mudflat 1650
29 Osprey " "
30 Common Myna " "
31 Purple Heron " "
32 Little Tern Kranji Dam 1700
33 Paddyfield Pipit NSRCC 1710
34 Yellow Wagtail "/Pasir Ris Farmway "/1130
35 White-bellied Sea Eagle Turut Track 1720
36 Large-billed Crow " "
37 Yellow-vented Bulbul " "
38 Brown Shrike " "
39 Common Goldenback NTL2 1730
40 Long-tailed Shrike " "
41 Slaty-breasted Rail Murai 1740
42 Red-rumped Swallow " 1745
43 Lineated Barbet " "
44 White-throated Kingfisher " "
45 Oriental Magpie Robin " 1750
46 Eurasian Tree Sparrow " "
47 Zebra Dove " "
48 Chinese Pond Heron "/Halus "/1120
49 Red-wattled Lapwing Tuas 1820
50 Savanna Nightjar " "
51 Pin-tailed Snipe " "
52 Oriental Dollarbird " 1830
53 Blue-tailed Bee-eater " "
54 Scaly-breasted Munia " "
55 Lesser Coucal " "
56 Asian Brown Flycatcher "/Halus 1840/1100
57 Large-tailed Nightjar Dover Road 1930
58 House Sparrow PP 2000
59 Black-crowned Night Heron Sungei Serangoon 2300
60 Brown Hawk Owl Rifle Range 0630
61 Collared Scops Owl " 0640
62 Common Hill Myna " 0650
63 Greater Racket-tailed Drongo " "
64 Striped Tit Babbler " 0700
65 Olive-winged Bulbul " "
66 Asian Fairy Bluebird " 0710
67 Brown-throated Sunbird " "
68 Asian Emerald Dove Jelutong Tower 0720
69 White-rumped Shama " "
70 Oriental Pratincole " "
71 Long-tailed Parakeet boardwalk 0730
72 Dark-necked Tailorbird " "
73 Chestnut-bellied Malkoha " 0740
74 Laced Woodpecker " 0750
75 Grey-rumped Treeswift " 0800
76 Blue-throated Bee-eater Jelutong Tower 0820
77 Scarlet-backed Flowerpecker " "
78 Crimson Sunbird " "
79 Crested Honey Buzzard Lornie Road/Punggol 0900/1330
80 Asian Koel Lornie Road 0905
81 Red-breasted Parakeet Lower Peirce/Changi V 0930/1200
82 Red Turtle Dove Halus 1030
83 Little Grebe " "
84 Common Kingfisher " "
85 Arctic Warbler " 1040
86 House Swift " "
87 Common Tailorbird " "
88 Yellow-bellied Prinia " "
89 Black Baza " 1050
90 Sunda Pygmy Woodpecker " "
91 Japanese Sparrowhawk "/Punggol 1100/1330
92 Black-winged Kite " 1110
93 Rusty-breasted Cuckoo " "
94 Sooty-headed Bulbul " "
95 Olive-backed Sunbird " 1120
96 Golden-bellied Gerygone " "
97 Little Ringed Plover Pasir Ris Farmway 1130
98 Common Iora " "
99 Tanimbar Corella Changi V 1230
100 Common Pigeon " "
101 Pied Fantail Punggol 1330
102 Little Spiderhunter MOG 1400
103 Lesser Whistling Duck SBG 1430
104 Straw-headed Bulbul HNP 1530
105 Changeable Hawk Eagle " 1540

Black-naped Oriole. Olive-backed Sunbird

Scaly-breasted Munia

Striated Heron

White-bellied Sea Eagle. White-throated Kingfisher

Recce before Bird Race 11-24Oct08

11Oct08 Sat

From KH

Danny and I did a recce:

MacRitchie: Too many people, too noisy
Lower Peirce (0830-0930): Very nice, 2 Chinese Goshawks, 3 OHB, 2 adult Brahminy, 2 WBSE (1 adult, 1 juv), 1 CHE calling, but no Buffy. Also, Purple Heron, Bee-eaters, Banded wp, Red-rumped Swallow and other common birds.
SBG: No parking! So we didn't stop here. Need another check to see if the Spotted Wood Owl and ducks are still there.
HNP: Red-rumped Swallow, female YRFC, Straw-headed Bulbul, Laced WP, Common Goldenback, SBKF
CG: BCNH (adults and juvs), juv Purple Heron, female YRFC, Common KF.
SBWR: Common KF, the usual waders (8 species)

From Danny

Purple Heron is less common than Grey Heron but it was great to see a juv. Purple Heron and juv. Black-crowned Night-heron on Heron island at Chinese Garden. Interestingly, House Crows were side by side to the the Herons enjoying the cool shade on Heron Island without mobbing them (including an out-of-place Cattle Egret).

Juvenile Purple Heron. Juvenile Black-crowned Night-heron

12Oct08 Sun

From Danny

I went to Fort Canning again to look for Ruddy KF but no luck. The hi-lite was a Crow-billed Drongo. The Dark-sided Flycatcher seen last week around the trash bin was gone as the place was turned into a wedding reception party.

1) yv bulbul 2) rock pigeon 3) collared kf 4) common iora 5) tiger shrike 6) common tailor bird 7) asian brown flycatcher 8) asian paradise flycatcher, female 9) olive backed sunbird 10) brown throated sunbird 11) gerygone 12) koel 13) bn oriole 14) wbse 15) purple backed starling 16) glossy starling 17) eurasian tree sparrow 18) common myna 19) javan myna 20) png pigeon 21) white throated kf 22) oriental white eye 23) scarlet backed flowerpecker 24) striped tit babbler 25) artic warbler 26) crow billed drongo 27) pacific swallow 28) house crow

Juvenile Crow-billed Drongo

Other than birds found a cluster of above bats at Palm valley last Sunday. 1st pic indicates the roosting palm - straight into the shades are the bats. The 2nd pic is another palm with about 4 bats. The main cluster of bats (counted 16) are shown in the 4th pic. There was a single bat hanging alone in another palm, total 21 in all. The last pic shows how it TAB.

18Oct08 Sat

From KH

Con, Danny and I started the day at Rifle Range. 0650 too late for owls. Fruiting tree at PUB pump station yielded Arctic Warblers, 1 APFC, female YRFCs. Ran into Subaraj, as well as his tip-offs - 1 White-rumped Shama and 1 Siberian Blue Robin. Nothing much at MacRitchie Reservoir, except had some fun taking Purple Heron flight shots.

2 adult WBSEs and 2 adult Brahminy Kites at Lower Peirce, but no migrant raptors. Nice to see a Brown Shrike here.

Mousedeer Trail yielded Arctic Warblers, female YRFC, Cream-vented Bulbul.

The 'White-headed Munia' at Punggol is actually a White-capped Munia.

Nice to see 2 Great Crested Terns and 1 LT Shrike.

Lower Seletar tree not fruiting so no point coming here for the race.
Owner of Nature's Niche at Orchidville mentioned Oriental Magpie Robins can be found there.
MOG offered good numbers of Little Spiderhunters (>5) and Crimson Sunbirds (>5)
SBG was quiet, except for 1 lonely LW Duck.
Other than the birds, also had fun shooting Green Crested Lizards and Slender Squirrel.

From Danny

After SBG, I stopped at Little Guilin around 4.15 pm, the adult grey headed fish eagle still around its favourite spot.

19Oct08 Sun

From Danny

Went to PP Wholesale Centre around 9.30 am, took a while to locate the House Sparrows but fairly easy to locate the nests once they were found. Follow a juvenile sparrow back to its nest. There are at least 3 nests around the above lorong of shop units. The nest was active while I was around, the nest is outside the unit premise, immaterial even when unit is close.

However, no luck at West Coast Park, no sign of the LW Ducks. The only interesting bird other than a common kf was an Oriental Reed Warbler that flew across the boardwalk from one reed patch to another, waited half an hour but no sign of it.

20Oct08 Mon

From Con

I went to Loewen Road yesterday morning around 9:00 am, and again yesterday evening around 6:30 pm. Both morning and evening the Hill Mynas were calling, and in the evening they were perched openly in plain sight, four of them.

Neither morning nor evening were the yellow crested cockatoo or the tanimbar corellas around. I drove all around Dempsey road area looking for the corellas but couldn't find any. Normally this should be an easy bird to find since they are very noisy, so perhaps they have moved elsewhere.

But it may be possible to tick the Hill Myna at this location.

21Oct08 Tue

From GC

The bird was still around today at high tide (4 pm).

The white rump further differentiates it from the very similar Far Eastern Curlew.

22Oct08 Wed morning

From KH

I was at the new Admiralty Park trail this morning and met one "Tou Ming". He's a resident of the area and he showed me a LTNJ roosting site, but no good for photography. He also mentioned that there was an Oriental Dwarf Kingfisher! I guess Admiralty Park is a little out of the way, but he did mention about common kf, YRFC. And I saw a few Blue-throated Bee-eaters. Shouldn't they be leaving and the Blue-tailed entering?

Non-avian creatures wise, he warned me of a Black Cobra and a 1-m-long Croc in the area.

22Oct08 Wed evening

From Con

I went to SBG arriving about 6pm. Light rain, the entire time I was there, I think many birds were hiding. No ducks, I walked around the pond looking for them twice, still no ducks. There were two hill mynas plainly visible in a tall tree near Symphony Lake and a white throated kingfisher flew by.

I stayed at the place behind the waterfall until 10 past 7 waiting for the crake. No crake, maybe he figured since it was already raining, no need for more water, I don't.

Walking back to the car at Taman Sari, several LTNJ were heard calling on the lawn near the gazebo on the small hill. I imagine you could walk up there, flush them, and tick them.

24Oct08 Fri

From KH

I checked out the Lesser Whistling-ducks at Yishun this morning and no one was in sight. Either they are still in cosy bed (drizzling) or they had moved house.

Singapore Bird Race 27-28Oct07

This year Danny, Con and I formed a team to take on the 24th Annual Bird Race. In continuation of last year's spirit, we called our team DRONGO. As what Con mentioned, even if we don't win, at least we are noisy!

The bird race consisted on 7 teams - 3 advanced and 4 novice. The winning team led by Kim Seng had 113 birds and they got the Century Award with their 100th birds at 1210 on Sun. This is considered a late time, as the 100th bird is typically counted in the morning. Also, the typical count for the top team is 130 and above. So this year is not a particularly good year for the race. The Bird of the Day was the spotted wood owl that our team saw at Dover Road.

Summary

Starting at Dairy Farm Adventure Centre at 1630 on Sat, we headed for the shorebirds at Mandai Mudflat as low tide was in an hour's time. Being the first site, we picked up a good 25 birds from here. The best birds here were 1 osprey, 3 godwits and 1 stork-billed kingfisher. Moving on to NTL2, we got another 14 birds, including a pale morph changeable hawk eagle. During the night, we ticked 3 night birds in total. One of these, the spotted wood owl, was to win us the 'Bird of the Day' trophy later on. By the end of Sat, we had 45 birds in our pocket.

On Sun the race continued, starting with Sime Forest, which got us 22 birds. The best ones had to be the shama, leafbirds and black-headed bulbuls. Next stop was Halus, which was a great disappointment with only 7 birds to offer. Nevertheless, it was nice to see the grebes, black-capped kingfisher and our only flycatcher (Asian brown). At Punggol, we got 5 more birds. Sungei Buloh gave us another 10 birds - half of them waders/tern, the other half songbirds. To get to NTL2, we passed by Murai, getting us our only munia (scaly-breasted). At NTL2, we could finally tick off the 2 terns that we missed on Sat. The rest of the day was spent more on traveling and walking then ticking birds off the list. The final birds were: 1 red-wattled lapwing from Tuas, 2 from Botanic Gardens (lesser whistling duck & Eurasian tree sparrow), 1 Tanimbar corella from Loewen Road. There was still more than 1 hour till the end of the race and we couldn't get a single tick from Bukit Batok or Dairy Farm... It was probably due to the dark sky threatening to put a wet blanket on us. And so we ended the race with 97 birds on our list, missing the century point by just 3 birds.

The sites in order of productivity were Mandai Mudflat (25), Sime Forest (22), NTL2 (18), Buloh (10), Halus (7), Punggol (5).

Sat 1630-2200

We started the day at Dairy Farm, which was the starting point of the race. At the registration room were the participants as well as the people running the show. After paying the $40 pax registration fee, we collected our 2 apples, 1 bun and 1 towel each. Just as I was collecting the package, I noticed a pied imperial pigeon laid dead in a red plastic bag. Not such a good omen for an event like this... Anyhow, the flag off went on at 1630 and off we raced. Surprisingly there was not a single tick that we could put on the list at the Adventure Centre itself - another bad omen...

The first bird on our list was none other than the white-vented myna, formerly identified as the Javan myna (and even longer ago identified as the white-vented myna...). Low tide was 1739 according to the tide tables. As Changi Cove was closed to the public, the only alternative for us was the Mandai Mudflat. And sure enough some of the teams were also here. The great ticks here were 1 osprey and 3 godwits (every tick is a good tick, so the rarer ones will be known as great ticks hereafter). Another great tick is a stork-billed kingfisher that flew-by - a bird we hardly expect to tick at this site, much less as a fly-by! 27 birds on our list just 1 hour after the flag off. Not too bad for a start I was thinking, but we all knew it was going to get tougher as the hours past.

A brief stop over at the radio towers gave us 2 more birds - 2 white-bellied sea eagles and 1 brown shrike. Another bird seen here was the osprey (actually 2 of them). 10 mins or so later, we were ticking off a few more birds at NTL2. A pale morph CHE being the great tick here. The barrier has been shited a little further in and fortunately it was open. Expecting to get the 2 species of terns here, we were left disappointed with just 3 ticks - a purple heron, the bee-eaters and the barn swallows. The expected dip here was the purple swamphen. A bird flew pass us into the reeds and it looked like an Oriental reed warbler. However, none of us had a good look to confirm its ID, hence it was not on our list. On the way out of NTL2, we picked up another 3 birds. The white-crested laughing thrushes were also calling away, but no visual contact... Fortunately, we managed to get them at Murai Farmway. A loop round the LCK cemeteries produced no new tick, but it was great to see a dark morph CHE here nonetheless.

By this time, night has fallen and we headed straight for our night birds, starting with the spotties at Dover Road. The time was 1930 and there were no sign of the spotties. Then, the soft who-ing at a distance caught our attention. Never really expecting the birds to respond, I started imitating the call. Within a minute, lo and behold, 2 spotties flew in and gave us the much desired tick! Next stop, Lower Peirce Reservoir for the buffy. No buffy here but a large-tailed nightjar was a good substitute. Con said he almost stepped on the nightjar! The final bird before we retired for a good night's rest, was a night heron in the canal beside Kranji MRT. Total count for the day: 45 birds.

Sun 0530-1630

We continued our race by carpooling at Bukit Batok Nature Park because according to our grand plan this would be our final destination for the race. Sime Forest is the site to be for the morning part of the race every year. And so there we were at Rifle Range at about a quarter to 6am. As we walked along the trail, we could hear both the collared scops and brown hawk owls calling at a distance, but we could not see them at all. Exasperated, we stopped at the cross junction for some precious minutes calling and calling until finally, Danny pointed out a brown hawk owl flying by.

Next bird was our icon - the GRT drongo. It was a truly noisy bird chattering away early in the morning. Along the way to the boardwalk we picked up another 5 birds, not such a good progress for 1/2 hour of intense searching and head-bobbing. At the boardwalk, 8 more ticks were welcomed, but these were common birds, no flycatcher yet. By the time we reached the reservoir, most of the teams were already there. We were considered late, as typically the teams will be there at daybreak. After a brief hi-bye, we were back on the boardwalk to Jelutong Tower. A great tick at the tower was a pair of leafbirds. The tower was also where we had our greatest disappointment for the race. An Aquila-like raptor perched high up on a tree a distance away spoofed us and had us thinking we got a rare raptor. Excited, we called a few of the veteran birders who were passing by up, hoping to get an ID confirmation. At this point in time, the consensus was a greater spotted eagle and that was what we wrote down as our 64th bird. We were to find out later that it was indeed a crested honey buzzard, hence our 64th bird was invalid.

Our targeted time to reach Halus was 0900, but it was 0830 and we were still at Jelutong. Doubling back to Rifle Range, we were fortunate to stumble on a fruiting tree which got us a mixed flock of 2 bulbul species - cream-vented and black-headed. The latter is particularly nice as it is not easy to see them in our forest - another great tick!

Once we reached Halus, we were looking intently for any munias or red turtle doves but to no avail. Walking in, some movement in a tree caught our attention. It was an Asian brown flycatcher (the only flycatcher on our list). The moorhen pond was quiet and not a single bird was sighted in it. Fortunately, the grebe pond never disappointed us with the grebes and we also picked up another great tick here - a black-capped kingfisher. There was still no sign of any munias, but weavers and Daurian (formerly purple-backed) starlings were good consolations. At a distance, we could see Wing Chong's team near the hill top. Looking down from the hill slope, we could see a large monitor lizard in the moorhen pond. No wonder there was no bird in it. And so we left Halus with just 7 ticks, utterly disappointed with a site that was supposed to provide a bonanza of species.

Next up was Punggol. Together in the drain were 3 waders - 1 little ringed plover, 1 wood sandpiper and 1 common sandpiper. That's 2 more ticks (we had seen the latter already). A ruddy-breasted crake saved us from having a crake-less list. Together with the pipits and long-tailed shrikes, we had a total of 5 species from Punggol. Expected dips were the snipes and painted snipes. At this point in time, we had 79 birds on our list and the time was 1115. A short calculation showed that we need 1 bird per 15 mins to get 100 birds in all. With the 'luck' we had so far, it was not very promising...

As high tide was 1130, we headed for Sungei Buloh to catch the roosting waders. We managed to squeeze out 3 birds from the carpark and boardwalk outside Buloh. From Buloh itself, we got all the targeted waders, except for the ruddy turnstones. The godwits were roosting at Hide 1C, but we had already seen them at Mandai Mudflat. The tide was so exceptionally high on Sun that a part of the pathway was flooded! The number of monitor lizards here was also astounding. They were almost everywhere and some of them were so huge. Some just lazed around along the pathway, ignoring any human who walk pass them. We were also very lucky to witness a smaller monitor attacking a giant centipede! We completed the main Buloh loop but did not get a single tick after the main hide. By now, it was lunchtime and we noted that we still missed some of the common birds. Then as if by miracle, a common tailorbird and a male scarlet-backed flowerpecker (plus a tiger shrike) appeared out of nowhere while we were eating at the Buloh cafe! Another common bird, the brown-throated sunbird, also appeared out of nowhere when we were about to leave the Buloh carpark.

Instead of heading straight for Tuas on the highway, Con had a great suggestion to drive through Murai and NTL2. By so doing, we finally got a munia (scaly-breasted) on our list as well as both the terns (little and white-winged). When we arrived at Tuas, a quick scan revealed nothing in the dry grass field and the aero-modelling guys were flying their planes over the field. This would have flushed all the birds away... Seeing that it was hopeless to even walk into it, we decided to drive along and pick up anything that stirs from the car. A lone red-wattled lapwing saved us the embarassment of coming all the way here and leaving empty-handed. That was the 95th bird at 1430 - 2 more hours to complete our target of 100.

Half an hour later, we were at the Botanic Gardens ticking away the ET sparrow and lesser whistling duck. No wanderers around. Can you imagine such a 'trash' bird as the ET sparrow is actually amongst the last few birds on our list? A short loop round Dempsey trail got us our 98th and final bird - the Tanimbar corella. The time was 1515 and we had more than an hour to complete the grand hundred. Yet, a walk round BBNP returned nothing. Not only were there no ticks, there were hardly any birds. We did see some birders though. They were none other than the Eagles, i.e. Kim Seng's team. No straw-headed bulbul, no lineated barbet, no laced woodpecker and not even a single swift for us to pick out a glossy swiftlet... Kim Seng's team did not look very happy either. We reckoned it must be the dark clouds that caused all the birds to go into hiding plus it was a hot humid afternoon. As a last burst of effort, we headed to the Dairy Farm track behind Rail Mall, but again no bird. Defeated we returned to the Adventure Centre, handed in our list and got to know that the Eagles saw the Aquila-like raptor took flight displaying the typical honey buzzard features.

As we submitted the actual copy that we wrote the bird names on, I'll try my best to reconstruct our bird list here. Although the list here contains 98 birds, the final count acceptable by the arbitrators was 97 because of the wrong naming convention of the CHB (no longer OHB, until they decide to change it back again that is).

1 White-vented myna Dairy Farm 1635
2 Cattle egret BKE 1640
3 Common pigeon Mandai Mudflat 1650
4 Asian glossy starling " "
5 House crow " "
6 Golden-bellied gerygone " "
7 Little egret " 1700
8 Grey heron " "
9 Whimbrel " "
10 Olive-backed sunbird " "
11 Collared kingfisher " "
12 White-breasted waterhen " "
13 Osprey Mandai Mudflat/Kranji 1700/1730
14 Bar-tailed godwit Mandai Mudflat/Sungei Buloh 1700/1200
15 Asian koel Mandai Mudflat 1710
16 Large-billed crow " 1715
17 Common sandpiper " "
18 Striated heron " "
19 Spotted dove " "
20 Black-naped oriole " "
21 Common myna " "
22 Lesser crested tern " "
23 Lesser sand plover " "
24 Common greenshank " "
25 Great egret " "
26 Pacific swallow " 1725
27 Stork-billed kingfisher " "
28 White-bellied sea eagle Kranji 1730
29 Brown shrike " "
30 Black-winged kite NTL2 1740
31 Common goldenback " 1745
32 Yellow-vented bulbul " "
33 Arctic warbler " "
34 Zitting cisticola " "
35 Changeable hawk eagle NTL2/CCK cemetery 1745/1845
36 Purple heron Kranji Marsh 1800
37 Blue-tailed bee-eater Kranji Marsh "
38 Barn swallow Kranji Marsh "
39 White-throated kingfisher NTL2 1815
40 Zebra dove " "
41 Lesser coucal " "
42 White-crested laughing thrush Murai Farmway 1830
43 Spotted wood owl Dover Road 1930
44 Large-tailed nightjar Lower Peirce 2030
45 Black-crowned night heron Kranji MRT canal 2200
46 Brown hawk owl Rifle Range 0630
47 Greater racket-tailed drongo " 0645
48 Olive-winged bulbul " "
49 Long-tailed parakeet " "
50 White-rumped shama " 0650
51 Orange-bellied flowerpecker " 0700
52 Crimson sunbird " "
53 Dark-necked tailorbird Boardwalk "
54 Pink-necked green pigeon " 0715
55 Striped tit babbler " "
56 Purple-throated sunbird " "
57 Blue-crowned hanging parrot " "
58 Yellow-bellied prinia " "
59 Oriental dollarbird " "
60 Ashy tailorbird " "
61 Common hill myna MacRitchie Reservoir 0730
62 Grey-rumped treeswift Boardwalk 0745
63 Blue-winged leafbird Jelutong Tower 0800
64 Crested honey buzzard " "
65 Banded woodpecker Rifle Range 0830
66 Cream-vented bulbul " 0900
67 Black-headed bulbul " "
68 Asian brown flycatcher Lor Halus 0930
69 House swift " "
70 Little grebe " "
71 Black-capped kingfisher " "
72 Baya weaver " 0945
73 Daurian starling " "
74 Brahminy kite " 1015
75 Little ringed plover Punggol 1045
76 Wood sandpiper " "
77 Ruddy-breasted crake " 1100
78 Paddyfield pipit " 1115
79 Long-tailed shrike " "
80 Swift tern Boardwalk outside Sungei Buloh 1145
81 Common iora " 1150
82 Tiger shrike Outside Sungei Buloh 1155
83 Common redshank Sungei Buloh 1200
84 Pacific golden plover " "
85 Marsh sandpiper " "
86 Curlew sandpiper " "
87 Common tailorbird " 1255
88 Scarlet-backed flowerpecker " "
89 Brown-throated sunbird Outside Sungei Buloh 1320
90 Scaly-breasted munia Murai Farmway 1335
91 Red turtle dove NTL2 1350
92 Little tern Kranji Marsh 1400
93 White-winged tern " "
94 Yellow-billed egret " "
95 Red-wattled lapwing Tuas 1430
96 Eurasian tree sparrow Botanic Gardens 1500
97 Lesser whistling duck " "
98 Tanimbar corella Loewen Road 1515

Recce before Bird Race 14-26Oct07

Danny at Tuas & NTL2 14 Oct Sun

Evening I drove by Tuas, surprised no visible changes but the fields were pretty dry with no sign of any waders or water fowls. Only spotted an Asian Brown Flycatcher perched on fence opp. the field. Went over to NTL2 for a quick recce, quiet with the usual birds but little activity at the renovated ponds - no common KF?? There was a Peregrine Falcon around and by nighfall the typical nightjars abound. Seen three suspected warblers by naked eyes with prominent whites on tails and flanks.

Round the island 20 Oct Sat

1 Sime forest:
The track between the Ranger Station and Petaling Hut is closed, and it's not really worth the time and effort to go from Venus Drive to Rifle Range. Met with rain, not many birds seen, but at least we got our team bird, the racket-tailed drongo.

2 BTNR/Hindhede:
Oriental white-eye, yellow-rumped fc

3 Tuas:
Wood sandpiper, cinnamon bittern, zitting cisticola. Did not beat the bush for nightjars or snipes.

4 NTL/Kranji Marsh:
White-winged and little terns. No swamphen, no crake, no whistling duck. Osprey on transmission towers.

5 Boardwalk outside Sungei Buloh:
Asian paradise fc, Arctic warbler, crow-billed drongo, great crested tern, Sunda pygmy wp

6 Sungei Buloh:
Bar-tailed godwit, black-capped kf, emerald dove, yellow bittern and the usual waders.

7 UWC:
Spotted Wood Owl

8 Tanjong Rhu:
No barn owl...

Danny at Warren 21 Oct Sun

A duck was found around 6.35 pm and pic taken from the roadside bridge next to Warren entrance. The duck was about 50 ft from the bridge, on the Warren side of the drain. The duck was roosting for the night, about 3-5 ft from the edge of drain, nearby was a tree shielding it from the golfers. Likely a daytime active duck, If you head there early may catch it. Take note a lot of works going on around the forested area near the roadside, the usual path is no longer accessible, blocked by trees felled by contractors.

Domestic duck

Punggol, Warren 22 Oct Mon

KH: Was at Punggol on Mon evening for about 1/2 hr and still no sign of snipes/painted-snipes. Only goldenback, pink-necked pigeon, bwk, common sandpiper.

Danny: No luck on Mon evening at Warren canal, no duck except Common kf, White throated kf and a Asian Brown FC, many waterhens.

Con at SBG 23 Oct Tue

I went to SBG this evening from 5 to 7:15 pm. Although the weather was very nice, not much bird activity. The Lesser Whistling-duck was there, but in fewer numbers than before the plants were cleared from Symphony Lake. I saw no Wandering Whistling.

Then I went to the Oil Palm Trees near the MRT site. Sure enough at 6 pm the flock of Long tailed Parakeets flew in, but was not accompanied by the Blue-crowned Hanging Parrot as was happening back in March.

Then I went to the waterfalls and waited for the Red-Legged Crake, but none appeared. Also no Pitta. Not much to add, just Yellow-vented Bulbul, ETS, Spotted Dove, Pink-neck Green-pigeon, Feral Pigeon, Crimson Sunbird, both Mynas, (also heard Hill Myna), Waterhen, Striated Heron. Didn't see any kingfishers, there was a photographer there looking too.

Con at Lower Peirce 26 Oct Fri

I went to Lower Peirce from 4:30 pm and stayed until 7:45 pm. During that time I saw or heard:--

0) it was a very hot afternoon, and almost nothing was calling or visible from 4:30 to 5:30 pm, not even a Javan Myna
1) around 6 pm a red-crowned barbet called several times from inside the forest
2) a pair of WBSE were very noisy and quite visible
3) heard sunbirds in the canopy & PNGP
4) illegal fishing in the reservoir
5) definitely heard Mr. Buffy calling from around 6:45 pm to around 7:15 pm, but he was on the other side of the water from the boardwalk, not near any trail, no way to get to him except swim or hire a boat.
6) a large flock of Javan Myna flew by around at about 7 looking for a place to roost.
7) many bee-eaters and swifts
8) at 6:55 pm a Blue-winged Pitta called exactly twice and then stopped calling from the same area as Mr. Buffy.
9) around 7pm a Collared Scops Owl started calling from in the forest so I took the boardwalk but could not get close enough, he kept calling until I left.

Singapore Bird Race 21-22Oct06

Danny and JS represented our NSSG for the 21 Oct Sat bird race. Although 102 bird names were submitted, those 3 in bold were removed by the arbitrators due to inadequate description.

S/N	Species	Time	Locality
1	Malaysian Eared-nightjar	0612	Rifle Range
2	Brown Hawk-owl	0617	Rifle Range
3	Greater Racket-tailed Drongo	0622	Rifle Range
4	White-rumped Shama	0645	Rifle Range
5	Abbott's Babbler	0650	Sime Track
6	Emerald Dove	0656	Sime Track
7	Short-tailed Babbler	0700	Sime Track
8	Blue-and-white Flycatcher	0710	Sime Track
9	Scarlet-backed Flowerpecker	0727	Sime Track
10	Olive-backed Sunbird	0735	Route to Jelutong Tower
11	Arctic Warbler	0736	Route to Jelutong Tower
12	Tiger Shrike	0751	Route to Jelutong Tower
13	Long-tailed Parakeet	0752	Route to Jelutong Tower
14	Yellow-rumped Flycatcher	0753	Route to Jelutong Tower
15	Asian Brown Flycatcher	0754	Route to Jelutong Tower
16	Brown-streaked Flycatcher	0756	Route to Jelutong Tower
17	Asian Palmswift	0801	Jelutong Tower
18	Glossy Swiftlet	0802/1825	Sime Track/BBNP
19	Fork-tailed Swift	0804	Jelutong Tower
20	Olive-winged Bulbul	0809	Jelutong Tower
21	Blue-tailed Bee-eater	0810	Jelutong Tower
22	Yellow-vented Bulbul	0811	Jelutong Tower
23	Crimson Sunbird	0813	Jelutong Tower
24	Hill Myna	0814	Jelutong Tower
25	Thick-billed Green-pigeon	0815	Jelutong Tower
26	Orange-bellied Flowerpecker	0816	Jelutong Tower
27	Red-eyed Bulbul	0817	Jelutong Tower
28	Asian Glossy Starling	0820	Jelutong Tower
29	Blue-crowned Hanging Parrot	0825	Jelutong Tower
30	Asian Paradise-flycatcher	0830	Jelutong Tower
31	Rufous-tailed Tailorbird	0838	Boardwalk
32	Striped Tit-babbler	0839	Boardwalk
33	Asian Fairy-bluebird	0915	Bald tree at the bend parallel to stream
34	Large-billed Crow	0925	Rifle Range
35	Javan Myna	0939	Rifle Range
36	Dollarbird	1002	BKE, Mandai Rd Exit 7
37	White-throated Kingfisher	1004	Off Turf Club
38	Spotted Dove	1007	SLE Exit 9
39	Grey Heron	1016	Sungei Punggol
40	Little Egret	1017	TPE
41	House Crow	1018	TPE
42	Cattle Egret	1022	TPE
43	Common Kingfisher	1028	Halus
44	Great Egret	1029	Halus
45	Purple Heron	1029	Halus
46	Zebra Dove	1031	Halus
47	White-breasted Waterhen	1032	Halus
48	White-bellied Fish-eagle	1035	Halus
49	Lesser Coucal	1038	Halus
50	Marsh Sandpiper	1039	Halus, 1st pond
51	Common Sandpiper	1040	Halus, 1st pond
52	Pacific Swallow	1041	Halus, 1st pond
53	Wood Sandpiper	1042	Halus, 1st pond
54	Little Grebe	1046	Halus, 2nd pond
55	Striated Heron	1049	Halus, 2nd pond
56	Black-naped Oriole	1052	Halus, near 2nd pond
57	Pink-necked Green-pigeon	1053	Halus, near 2nd pond
58	Black-winged Kite	1055	Halus, near 2nd pond
59	Yellow-bellied Prinia	1101	Halus, near 2nd pond
61	Barn Swallow	1123	Halus, near 2nd pond
62	House Swift	1124	Halus
63	Brahminy Kite	1131	Halus
64	Paddyfield Pipit	1159	Rd to Punggol drain
65	Common Kestrel	1201	Rd to Punggol drain
66	Grey Wagtail	1203	Rd to Punggol drain
67	Long-tailed Shrike	1212	Punggol Grassland
68	Chinese Goshawk	1220	Punggol Grassland
69	Scaly-breasted Munia	1236	Punggol Grassland
70	Eurasian Tree Sparrow	1310	Kopitiam at Punggol
71	Collared Kingfisher	1416	Kranji Canal
72	Plain-throated Sunbird	1425	SBWR
73	Common Greenshank	1435	SBWR
74	Common Redshank	1436	SBWR
75	Whimbrel	1437	SBWR
76	Pacific Golden-plover	1438	SBWR
77	Ruddy Turnstone	1439	SBWR
78	Curlew Sandpiper	1442	SBWR
79	Mongolian Plover	1443	SBWR
80	Ashy Tailorbird	1500	SBWR
81	Broad-billed Sandpiper	1520	SBWR
82	Stork-billed Kingfisher	1535	SBWR
83	Oriental Magpie-robin	1550	SBWR
84	Baya Weaver	1555	Outside SBWR
85	Common Iora	1558	Neo Tiew Crescent
86	Black-headed Munia	1559	Neo Tiew Crescent
87	Pied Fantail	1600	Neo Tiew Crescent
88	Oriental Honey-buzzard	1601	Neo Tiew Crescent
89	Common Myna	1607	Turut Track
90	Blue-throated Bee-eater	1612	Turut Track
91	Red Collared-dove	1630	NTL2
92	Common Flameback	1636	NTL2
93	White-winged Tern	1705	Kranji Reservoir
94	Little Tern	1714	Mandai Mudflat
95	Great Crested-tern	1720	Mandai Mudflat
96	Caspian Tern	1725	Mandai Mudflat
97	Intermediate Egret	1735	Mandai Mudflat
98	Purple-backed Starling	1742	Mandai Mudflat
99	Asian Koel	1753	Mandai Mudflat
100	Rock Pigeon	1800	Kranji Industrial Estate
101	Lineated Barbet	1835	BBNP
102	Changeable Hawk-eagle	1837	BBNP
103	Dark-sided Flycatcher	1850	BBNP

Dark-sided Flycatcher at Bukit Batok Nature Park

Juvenile pale Changeable Hawk-eagle at Lorong Halus