Singapore May 2014, Botanic Gardens

During our last visit, we birded the Botanic Gardens once, but failed to find the very tame Mangrove Pitta, which resided during that time in the Healing Gardens. Now we visited these gardens four times, but with a different target species.

This time we were searching for the Red-legged Crakes that inhabit the gardens. Apparently these gardens are one of the best places in the world to see this shy species. We searched several sites within the Botanic Gardens thoroughly, like the Eco Lake, the Foliage Garden, the Fern Garden, the Healing Garden and the area around the visitors centre, but in the end we saw only White-breasted Waterhens and no Red-legged Crakes. We saw lots of more common species though, of which Grey-headed Fish-eagle, van Hasselt's Sunbird and Large-tailed Nightjar are probably the most notable. Like in Sungei Buloh, the migrants were definitely missed. We also recorded Common Treeshrew and Plaintain Squirrel, like the last time, but this time also found a Slender Squirrel.

Pink-necked Green Pigeon (Treron vernans) (male) are very common in the Botanic Gardens

Laced Woodpecker (Picus vittatus), another common species (video made by Anna van der Kaaden)

Singapore May 2014, Sungei Buloh

After two months in Kalimantan it was time to arrange a new visa for Indonesia again ans so we spent another week in Singapore. I wanted to give the Mangrove Pitta another try, so we visited Sungei Buloh again. For information how to reach this lovely mangrove forest see this post about our first visit to this site.

Unfortunately we did not find the pitta, nor many other interesting species. I think that Singapore is indeed generally boring outside the migratory season. We did find one migrant, a Pacific Golden Plover, that was still sticking around, but not the interesting migrants that can be seen here in other times of the year. Other interesting birds observed here included Oriental Pied Hornbill, Copper-throated Sunbird and Sunda Pygmy Woodpecker. We also saw a Saltwater Crocodile here, but dipped the Smooth Otters again...

Male Copper-throated Sunbird (Nectarinia calcostetha)

Male Oriental Pied-hornbill (Anthracoceros albirostris) chewing on a stick

I would advice against visiting this site (or entire Singapore) outside of the migratory season, for it is not the resident species that make this place (or country) interesting, but its migrants. Without them the birding is rather slow and boring.

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