Singapore March 2014, Sungei Buloh

After a tip from my friend Lars Buckx, we also visited Sungei Buloh Wetland Reserve in Singapore. This site is somewhat further away from the city centre than the other sites we´ve visited, but still rather easily accessible by public transport. Take the Nort-South MRT Line (the red one) to Kranji. Here you have to take the SMRT 925 bus (1.10 SGD). When visiting the reserve on a Sunday (like we did) this bus stops directly in front of the entrance of the reserve. When visiting on another day, you have to get out at the next stop and walk 15 minutes to the entrance. We really liked this park, even though it pissed down on us for most of time we were here. However expect the reserve to be very busy, which makes the recording of sounds close to impossible.

Our main interest in the reserve were the waders and shore birds, but of course we looked at other birds as well. The best time to observe shore birds in the reserve is probably September - November, but we still managed to see some species like Whimbrel, Common Greenshank, Common Redshank, Marsh Sandpiper, Common Sandpiper, Pacific Golden Plover and best of all: Chinese Egret. Again some other migrants were also observed: Asian Brown Flycatcher, Pale-legged Leaf Warbler, Blue-tailed Bee-eater and (again!) a female Von Schrenk´s Bittern. Besides these birds we observed the more common resident birds of Singapore that can be seen in most other parks too. We also saw some non-avian highlights like loads of Water Monitors, Long-tailed Macaques and two Saltwater Crocodiles!

A Chinese Egret (Egretta eulophotes) together with two Little Egrets (Egretta garzetta)

Whimbrel (Numenius phaeopus) together with two Pacific Golden Plovers (Pluvialis fulva)

Saltwater Crocodile (Crocodylus porosus) with Common Greenshanks (Tringa nebularia) in the background

Singapore March 2014, Botanic Gardens

In Pasir Ris we received a tip that there was a very tame Mangrove Pitta staying in the Herb Gardens of the Botanical Gardens. Since we dipped this species in Pasir Ris we paid these gardens a visit. We wanted to visit them anyways. The gardens are easy to reach by public transport, as are most sites in Singpore. Take the MRT Circle Line (the yellow one) and get out at the stop named "Botanical Gardens". Once outside, you are virtually inside the gardens. It couldn´t be easier.

We spend a lot of our time in the Gardens searching for the Pitta, but again without luck. I was starting to doubt that it was actually lingering in the Herb Gardens, as these gardens were tiny and not very suited for a Mangrove Pitta. Later I found out that it was actually lingering in the Healing Gardens and not in the Herb Gardens... The only part of the Botanical Gardens we did not visit. A second try there on our last day in Singapore was impeded by heavy rains...

We still saw other birds though, but not much to write about. The Eco Lake hosted several Lesser Whistling Ducks, a Chinese Pond Heron and a Yellow Bittern, but the Grey-headed Fish-eagles that apperently like the Swan Lake were not around. The Rainforest proved a rather good site for several species of Sunbirds, including Van Hasselt´s, Copper-throated, Crimson and Brown- (or Plain-) throated Sunbird. We also observed some migrants like Asian Brown Flycatcher and several Arctic Warblers. Apart from these birds we also saw tons of Plaintain Squirrels and Common Tree Shrews and a single Tanezumi Rat.

A male Crimson Sunbird (Aethopyga siparaja) taking a bath in the leaf of a epiphytic fern

Asian Brown Flycatcher (Muscicapa latirostris)

Common Tree Shrew (Tupaia glis)

Singapore March 2014, Chinese Gardens

After having found out that the first ever record of Band-bellied Crake for Singapore that was found a week earlier, was still lingering in the Zodiac Garden of the Chinese Garden, the choice for the next birding site in Singapore was easily made. The Chinese gardens don´t have authentic mangroves like Pasir Ris or any other authentic habitat but there is hardly any authentic nature left in Singapore anyway. Luckily they are also easy to visit using the public transport. Just take the East-West MRT line (the green one) to the MRT station "Chinese Gardens". Similar to Pasir Ris you don´t need to pay entrance fees to the park, but at least during te week there are a lot of school groups visiting the gardens.

It took some time before we found the Zodiac Garden, but once we found them it took little time before we located the Band-bellied Crake in the little stream running through the garden. It was not shy at all and even approached us up to two meters at a certain moment. Of course we looked at other birds as well. We observed similar resident birds as in Pasir Ris, but also got some good looks at several escapees from the Singapores zoo´s: Milky and Painted Storks and Spot-billed Pelicans as they were flying over. Again, as in Paser Ris, we also saw a fair share of migrants in the Chinese Gardens (next to the Crake of course). They included a possible Pin-tailed Snipe, a possible Swinhoe´s Snipe (for pictures of these two identification challenges see below. The suggestion which one is which is based on the length of the tail, the long-tailed one being the Swinhoe´s and the short-tailed one being the Pin-tailed. Common Snipe could be excluded because of the head-pattern, barred greater wing-coverts and the lack of a broad white trailing-edge), Asian Brown Flycatcher, Blue-tailed Bee-eater and Brown Shrike amongst others. In total we saw more than 40 species in the Chinese Gardens.

Band-bellied Crake (Porzana paykullii)

Possible Swinhoe´s Snipe (Gallinago megala) 

Possible Swinhoe´s Snipe (Gallinago megala) 

Possible Pin-tailed Snipe (Gallinago stenura) 

Possible Pin-tailed Snipe (Gallinago stenura) 

Singapore March 2014, Pasir Ris

After two months in Borneo we had to get a new visa for Indonesia and with Singapore being the closest, the choice was easily made. So we stayed a week in this tiny, weird country and did some birding next to the visa arrangements as well. Our first day of birding in Singapore was in the Pasir Ris Park. I was inspired by this post by Redgannet to visit the park. Pasir Ris is very easily reached by the public transport. Just take the East-West MRT line (the green one on all maps) to the last station, which is aptly named "Pasir Ris". From the MRT station just take the B exit and walk towards the east. Five minutes later you will find yourself inside the park (no entry fees). I don´t know whether the weekends are more calm, but when visiting this park during the week, expect a lot of noisy school groups visiting this park for educational purposes.

Because of the post by Redgannet, I made the Spotted Wood Owls and the Mangrove Pitta in the park my main targets. In the end I only found one of the two targets, but I´m very pleased with the results of our seven hour stay in this park. The birding was very entertaining with new birds showing up all the time. In the end we saw more than 50 species in the park. Amongst them where many local residents like Asian Glossy Starling, Black-naped Oriole, Collared, Stork-billed, Common and White-throated Kingfisher, Laced and Banded Woodpecker, Common Flameback, Pink-necked Green Pigeon, Pied Thriller, Changeable Hawk-eagle (which attacked the local Grey Heron colony several times!) and Oriental Pied Hornbill. The best amongst the resident birds however were the two Spotted Wood-owls roosting in the high trees just to the West of the concrete viewing hill.

One of the two Spotted Wood-owls (Strix seloputo) inhabiting the large trees near the vieuwing hill

The stars of the day however were the migrants. I was surprised how many species of migratory birds I recorded on this day. Of course the Asian Koels, Blue-throated Bee-eaters and Asian Brown Flycatchers were present, but there were also some more unexpected findings like Ashy Minivet, Grey-streaked Flycatcher (long primary projection, heavy streaking on the underparts and unmarked undertail coverts gave this species away), Chestnut-winged Cuckoo, "Swintail" Snipe and last but not least a female Von Schrenck´s Bittern sneaking through the mangroves!

Chestnut-winged Cuckoo (Clamator coromandus)

A female Von Schrenck´s Bittern (Ixobrychus eurhythymus) made my day!

Other animals can also be observed in this park, especially in the mangroves. we had good views of several Plaintain Squirrels, Monitor Lizards, Giant Mudskippers, Archer Fish and other mangrove inhabitants, however we did not have the same luck as Redgannet on that day and did not see any Otters.

Giant Mudskipper (Periophthalmodon schlosseri) peering uit of its muddy hole

Kalimantan January – March 2014, Ulu Barito

Similar to our stay in Mauritius in 2013, our stay in Borneo was aided by a conservation organisation and this time it was the Bornean Orang-utan Survival Foundation (BOSF). And similar to the blog posts from Mauritius, most blog posts from Borneo will be of limited use to “normal” birders visiting this beautiful island, however they are still interesting and therefore I will keep you posted.

From January to March we were based non-stop in the North of Central Kalimantan in an area called Batikap Protection Forest, which is located within the Ulu Barito IBA and is roughly 200.000 square hectares. This area is situated just east of West Kalimantan and just South of the Mueller Range of which the roughly 1.600 MASL high Bukit Batikap is a part of. The GPS coordinates of the field station we stayed in (200 MASL) are N 0.04141; E 113.49924, for those who want to have an exact idea of the location. The area is drained by several rivers, which also are the main travel routes for our work. The river network is rather complicated, but to give you an idea: the field station is located at the Posu River, which joins with the Joloi River. Before that Joloi River is joined by Tajoi Besar River and Tajoi Kecil River. Further downstream the Joloi River is joined by the Mohot River and later by the Tohan River. This is as far as our working area goes. After this the Joloi River is joined by Naan River and finally drains into the mighty Barito. The forest until the Mohot River is still in pristine condition. Most of the forest in the Batikap area is primary lowland dipterocarp forest, but on top of most hills the forest is dominated by kerangas, whose peat colours the rivers dark brown.

Most of the time we helped with the monitoring and radio-tracking of reintroduced Orang-utans. The area currently holds 99 mature Orang-utans. 14 of those were released just last February and we were fortunate enough to be able to help with this release. Next to this I went out to do some birding of course, especially because of the fact that this area has NEVER been birded by any other Western birder before. So far the results were not disappointing and almost 200 species have been recorded by us in the seven weeks we stayed here. I don´t want to discuss every species individually, but some species deserve some more words.

Endemics and near-endemics:
Of the more than 50 Bornean endemics I so far recorded ten endemics and one near-endemic in the Batikap Protection Forest, some of them being really good species that are hard or impossible to find on the standard Sabah tour most birders do when visiting the island. The endemics I recorded here are Bulwer´s Pheasant (heard-only), Bornean Peacock-pheasant (heard-only), Blue-headed Pitta, Blue-banded Pitta (heard-only), Bornean Black Magpie, Bornean Bristlehead, Yellow-rumped Flowerpecker, Bornean Spiderhunter, Bornean Blue-flycatcher and Bornean Wren-babbler, Some of them giving exceptional views. The only near-endemic I recorded was Dusky Munia.

A male Blue-headed Pitta (Pitta baudii) photographed by Joy

(Bornean) Black Magpie (Platysmurus leucopterus (arterrimus))

Female Bornean Blue-flycatcher (Cyornis superbus)

Phasanidae:
The family that frustrated me more than any other family during my stay here. To give you an example of a week in Batikap: Missed a male Bulwer´s Pheasant foraging on the banks of Joloi River because I was ordered to stay on standby in a flying camp for Orang-utan monitoring; Missed a female Bornean Peacock-pheasant crossing our helipad because I was facing the other way, while my co-worker saw it crossing the helipad just a couple of meters in front of him as he was coming to join me; Missed a male Black Partridge singing because I was staring into the wrong opening between the bushes as it showed itself for a couple of seconds. On top of that I also missed a Storm´s Stork flying over in the distance because I was watching in awe as two Helmeted Hornbills flew over rather close. Not my best week ever… In the end I managed to record six species of the Phasanidae family of which I saw just two. The rest remained heard-only.
For Bulwer´s Pheasant I visited a lekking site, locally known as “sempidan helipet” (pheasant helipad). We were lucky enough to hear one or two females calling to invite males to the lek (unfortunately my gear, including recorder was still in Palangkaraya), unfortunately no males or females actually showed up at the helipad. Another try at this site was postponed until the very last day by extremely low river levels due to a prolonged period of drought. The second attempt also yielded no Bulwer´s Pheasant, but this time none were heard as well.
Bornean Peacock-pheasant also remained heard-only, even though I once heard a male calling from our kitchen. Despite long searches or long sit-and-wait sessions I haven´t caught a glimpse of this mega yet. The closest I´ve ever come to seeing one was hearing a pheasant taking off through the forest from a place where I heard a male Bornean Peacock-pheasant before without actually seeing anything…
Nothing of that however is comparable to the frustration and confusion Black Partridge has caused me. In my first week I heard a call I didn´t know and Joy (a keen, young colleague of mine with incredibly sharp eyes and very good knowledge of the local fauna) ascribed it to “Puyuh Hitam” and after asking he assured me the bird did not have a crest, so we went after it. After an hour of badly imitating the sound three birds crossed the path, but I was checking the other side of the path and when I turned around the birds were gone. The same thing happened some weeks later. Later when my gear arrived I recorded the presumed Black Partridge song and it turned out to be incredibly similar to the song of Black-throated Babbler, something which the locals confirmed. Now I hear the call everywhere and every time I invested time (a couple of occasions every day) to find out what its source was I saw either nothing (Black Partridge?) or a group of Black-throated Babblers… According to Myers (2010) the call of Black Partridge is poorly known, so it might as well be this call, but I definitely want to find out whether this call is actually produced by Black Partridge or not. I will keep you updated.

Night birds:
A species group that always has fascinated me, but it took some time before the first results of my nightly searches paid off. In the end we found five Owl species, one Nightjar species and one Frogmouth species here. The Frogmouth was found during the day on its tiny nest hanging over the Muara River and it turned out to be a Large Frogmouth! Not a bad find at all. The next day two more were found roosting rather close to the field station. Strange that they never responded to my playback… The same goes for the other night birds. During my nightly searches I never saw a night bird, just heard them and they would never react to playback, however every now and then I found them roosting during the day. In the end I managed to see all four of the five Owls, the Frogmouth and the Nightjar.

Brown Hawk-owl (Ninox scutulata)

Large Frogmouth (Batrachostomus auritus)

Apodidae:
But because I spend so much time traveling on rivers, I got a lot of time to look at Swifts dipping in the water, which aids their complicated identification. In the end I managed to identify five Swiftlets, two Needletails and two Treeswifts. The best species was Waterfall (or Giant) Swift(let), which was observed twice. It is a truly gigantic Swift and has a rather different way of flying, smooth and direct without the fast wing beats that are typical of the smaller species. However I did not see the white margins on the undertail coverts nor did I manage to take a picture (who could on a moving cis/klotok/prahu), but I´m sure of the identification. 

Bucerotidae:
Probably the most enigmatic species group of Borneo. In Batikap seven of the eight hornbill species of Borneo occur. Strangely the most common Hornbill, Oriental Pied Hornbill, which can be seen simply in the city of Palangkaraya, is missing in this forest. Maybe it gets outcompeted by the other, larger species? The most common Hornbill in Batikap is Black Hornbill; the rarest is White-crowned Hornbill. Helmeted Hornbill is heard reasonably often, but seeing this Pterodactyl-like bird is a different thing. The others are fairly common.

Wreathed Hornbills (Aceros undulatus)

Rhinoceros Hornbills (Buceros rhinoceros)

Pittidae:
An all-time favourite of families. In Batikap I recorded five species and I suspect three more to be present. Surprisingly I saw four of the five species well and that without using playback. Unfortunately the Fairy Pitta that chose the area around the field station as wintering ground (it was found by Adhy, field station manager and keen birdwatcher from Java, and it is probably the second record for Central Kalimantan) seems not to have returned this year and I had to console myself with “just” two wintering Blue-winged Pittas.

Blue-winged Pitta (Pitta moluccensis)

Rare lowland specialist species:
Quite a lot of lowland specialists that are rare or gone elsewhere are still quite numerous in this area. Examples of species like this are: Large Green Pigeon (their goofy calls can be heard every single morning from my bed and some roosting trees hold more than 40 individuals!), Short-toed Coucal, Great Slaty Woodpecker (we even found a group of six birds!), Blue-banded Kingfisher (on some boat rides the Blue-banded Kingfisher – Blue-eared Kingfisher ratio was 1:1!), Straw-headed Bulbul, Blue-headed Pitta, Bornean Wren-babbler and Long-billed Blue-flycatcher (it took some time to find this species, but when I found them they turned up regularly at different sites). At is a pleasure to be in a place where so many endangered species occur so numerously.

A crappy flight shot of a Blue-banded Kingfisher (Alcedo euryzona)

An even more crappy record shot of a Large Green Pigeon (Treron capellei)

Unexpected findings:
Of course when birding a blank spot on the map like Batikap, some strange things pop up. An example of an unexpected record is a Dark-sided Flycatcher taking a shower in the rain, after Adhy had found another one just a couple of days earlier on a different location. There are very few records for Central Kalimantan of this species. There are no photographs of my sighting, but luckily there are of Adhy´s record. According to Myers (2010) there are no records in Central Kalimantan of this species. However according to Mann (2008) there is one old record from Barito Ulu in 1969. These statistics make our sightings sound very special, but I think this migrant is very under recorded in Central Kalimantan as this species was also found during the Murung Raya expedition by Martin Holland. Another unexpected finding was a female Crimson-breasted Flowerpecker with a just fledged chick, while Yellow-rumped Flowerpecker is common in this forest. Myers (2010) states that both species are not known to occur together… I´m sure more discoveries such as these will follow!

Dark-sided Flycatcher (Muscicapa sibirica) photographed by Adhy Maruly

Batikap Protection Forest is also a good site for other animals. Besides the reintroduced Orang-utans and their wild born babies, Southern Bornean Gibbons (and possibly Agile Gibbons, as Batikap is part of the hybridization zone between the two), Maroon Langur, Silvered Langur, Pig-tailed and Long-tailed Macaque can be seen here. Other mammals we have recorded are Sambar, Greater Mouse-deer, Bornean Red Muntjak, Bearded Pig and a large variety of squirrels including Tufted Ground, Sunda Giant, Prevost´s, Ear-spot, Horse-tailed, Black-eared Pygmy and Plain Pygmy Squirrel. We got very close to seeing some other, rarer mammals, but in the end we did not see them. We saw the bushes moving as a Bornean Yellow Muntjak spurted away, we saw trees moving as a Clouded Leopard was moving through them (not a single glimpse of the animal!) and we found tracks of Otters, small felids and other mammals. We also recorded a large array of reptiles of which we identified some including Reticulated Python, Malaysian Flat-shelled Turtle, Frilly Gecko, Ornate Shrub-lizard, (this record is one of the few records from Central Kalimantan of this species) and three species of the flying genus of Draco, which are in my opinion another one of the many wonders of the Bornean heart of darkness. 

A very cute Least Pygmy Squirrel (Exiliscuiris exilis)

A baby Reticulated Python (Python reticulata) slept in our camp (photograph made by Anna van der Kaaden)

Ornate Shrub Lizard (Aphaniotis ornata) (Picture made by Ike)

Frilly Gecko (Hemidactylus craspedotus)

Hopefully a second blog post about this marvellous piece of forest will follow in a couple of weeks. Keep checking, for there are many exciting plans like trekking two days through the forest to reach a saltpan, where apparently thousands of birds and mammals come together to drink and feast on the minerals.  Of course the Bulwer´s Pheasant lek will be visited again and my searches for Bornean Peacock-pheasant and Black Partridge will continue!