Saturday, August 10, 2013

Birds and the Snake 2013-08-09

It was Singapore's National Day and I don't have anything to do but bird-watch. I returned to my favorite birding spot in Singapore, Sungei Buloh. When the bus (925) that I took didn't stop at the bus stop that I'm used to, I was surprised, but I just decided to let it continue to see where it goes. It made a loop and stopped exactly beside the entrance of the SB nature park. I realized that during holidays, the bus will go directly to Sungei buloh instead of stopping in front of the Kranji nature park before turning back. Well better for me, since I didn't have to walk another 10 minutes or so before I reach my destination.

After paying the entrance fee of S$1, I entered the park and went to the restroom and apply some mosquito repellent. While doing so, I notice some movements on a tree visible inside the room. I quickly rush to the spot and noticed a hornbill. Not knowing what species it is, I just took as many shots as I could. Later, I was able to identify it as an Oriental pied hornbill.



At the bridge leading to the first trail, the ever present crocodile can be seen.


I continue my stroll and saw a lot of Ashy tailorbirds.







Along the way, I meet some birders and photographers with giant lenses. I also saw some other targets like the grey egret and a striated heron looking for food in the ponds.




When I reached the area where I last saw a tailorbird nest, I tried to find it, but it seems the nest is already gone.

I revisited the mangrove Arboretum, there I was able to see some crabs, mud skippers. I was surprised to see one of the crabs climbed up a vertical branch up to more than a meter from the water level. How did it managed to do that?


 

I also witnessed a crimson sunbird hunting a spider.

Where are you spidey?

Gotcha!

Dead spider  

On the way back, I was lucky to get some better shots of the Common iora. It's a moderately difficult bird to photograph due to its' tendency to move from branch to branch.



Common iora


In one area, I saw a birder shooting something while other onlookers also stopped to take a look. At first I thought it was a bird, but on closer inspection, it was a green snake crawling up a tree.




In the pond, some fish always tend to shoot themselves up into the air, perhaps it's their way of hunting for wading insects or something else. I tried to capture the moment and was able to although not that good.



At the end of the day, I was glad I was able to catch a glimpse of the hornbill which was another lifer for me.









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