I was in business in Singapore last week and managed a few hours after work
on two evenings at the Botanic Gardens which produced the following list of
species (* = lifers for me):
Lesser Whistling Duck
White-breasted Waterhen
Feral Pigeon
Spotted Dove
Pink-necked Green-Pigeon
Long-tailed Parakeet *
Rose-ringed Parakeet
Blue-topped Hanging Parrot
Large-tailed Nightjar *
Asian Koel
Asian Palm Swift
Fork-tailed Swift
Blue-throated Bee-eater
Sunda Pygmy Woodpecker (split from Brown-capped) *
Banded Woodpecker * (was surprised to see three of these)
Common Flameback
Pacific Swallow
Barn Swallow
Yellow-vented Bulbul
Common Iora (A gorgeous black and yellow male)
Oriental Magpie Robin (Singapore's answer to Willie Wagtail/Magpielark)
Yellow-rumped Flycatcher (female) *
Striped Tit-babbler * (a local birder helped me with this confusing bird. I
would not have picked it easily from the FG)
Dark-necked tailorbird (A pair was accompanied by some Phylloscopus warbler.
I am not game to ascribe a species name to it.)
Brown-throated Sunbird (Also call Plain-throated. How come such a boring
name can be applied to such a spectacular creature? It seems bizarre to name
something after its most undistinguished feature.)
Olive-backed Sunbird
Scarlet-backed Flowerpecker *
Black-naped Oriole
Greater Racket-tailed Drongo
House Crow
Asian Glossy Starling
Javan Myna
Common Myna
Indian Hill Myna
Tree Sparrow
Nutmeg Mannikin
On Saturday I went to Pulau Ubin before my evening flight back to Perth to
follow up other Birding-aus recommendations. The island is a short $2:50
ferry ride from Changi Village. There I added the following species:
Grey Heron (about 30 around one of the quarry lakes. Some of them were
particularly pale birds - one could almost mistake them for a Great Egret at
first glance)
White-bellied Sea-eagle (a pair)
Red Junglefowl? (not sure if this is a tick - the males I saw had white
lappets on their face indicating a Thai sub-species)
Collared Kingfisher
Common Kingfisher (half a dozen in the same quarry as the Grey Herons)
Dollarbird
Oriental Pied Hornbill * (definitely bird of the trip. Apparently there are
4 in residence on the island. I saw one after I back-tracked 100 m just
before calling it a day and heading for the ferry.)
Straw-headed Bulbul * (a very handsome bird indeed. Handbook of the Birds of
the World says there are 32 pairs on the island - amazingly precise
information from this source. Their illustrations beat the socks off any
field guide I have used in SE Asia. I used Craig Robson's Field Guide to
the Birds of South-east Asia. This species would vie for bird of the trip if
not for the Hornbill)
Olive-winged Bulbul * (would vie for the most nondescript bird of the trip!)
White-rumped Shama (A juvenile of this species was following the Red
Junglefowl/Chuck like a Pilotbird follows a Lyerbird. Its lack of long tail,
and spotted young robin appearance had me confused for a bit until I worked
out what it was. I caught up with a nice adult later in the day.)
Pied Fantail
Common Tailorbird
Ashy Tailorbird (very common especially in the mangroves)
Crimson Sunbird
Javan Munia
I got to the island about 9:30 but I am sure an earlier start would have
produced many more birds. If you plan to be there for more thas a few hours
bring food - away from the ferry terminal they only sell soft-drinks and the
odd coconut. Bikes are easily hired. There are excellent board walks but
they tend to be busy. It is easy enough to enter the forest and secondary
growth as there are many trails made by the numerous wild boars. They can be
a bit startling but all the ones I met tore off as soon as they sensed my
presence. The high tide and the lure of more interesting birds away from the
coast meant that I mad little effort to see any shorebirds. There were
waders roosting on offshore granite rocks but they were beyond binocular
viewing.
All in all a very interesting trip. I was surprised at the number of new
species I saw at the Botanic Gardens given that I had visited them on quite
a few occasions in the past. And I would definitely return to Pulau Ubin,
Singapore's Rottnest Island equivalent.
===============================
www.birding-aus.org
birding-aus.blogspot.com
To unsubscribe from this mailing list,
send the message:
unsubscribe
(in the body of the message, with no Subject line)
to:
===============================
|
