Night Bike Ride at Sembawang Park 2013-09-21

I wanted to do some stargazing since I haven't had any for several months already. The nearest park from my place that might be good for some stargazing is Sembawang Park. Since I haven't tried riding a bike at night, I decided to try both stargazing and night biking at the same time.

When I arrived, I immediate took some shots at Venus before it sets. Unknown to me, Saturn is just beside Venus. It was until I get home and check Stellarium that I found out it was Saturn.

 The place isn't really free from people even at night. Families gather there to have picnics and recreation.

I took some astrophotos as well, so as not to go home empty handed. :)

Before I left the park, the moon has just risen, so I took some shots of it as well to wrap up the night's activity.
 

Bukit Timah to Dairy Farm Nature Park 2013-08-25

I went up the Bukit Timah Hill, the tallest point of Singapore, for some weekend physical activity. Initially, I was disappointed with the number of our avian friends. I saw nothing except those annoying Javan mynas.

When I reached the peak, I decided to stay a bit and explore the other side trails. I took the trail leading towards the dairy farm which I barely explored during my past visit there. At one point, I noticed a fork which, according to the sign, will take me to the Dairy Farm Nature Park. Since I've never been to there, without hesitation, I took the fork and found myself in another park. :)

 

 

At the park, I visited the exhibit building, drink some refreshment and stayed away from the hot sun outside. When I heard some bird calls, I ran back outside to look for it. There, I saw a couple of tailorbirds.

 Ashy tailorbird

I explored to a bit, walk some trails and decided to leave after an hour or so of exploring without many birds on my list: an immature crimson sunbird, spotted dove, asian glossy starling and olive backed sunbirds.

Immature crimson sunbird

Spotted dove

I took the road to the park's nearest exit, but found it is not the kind of road that I wanted to take. So I turn back and took the trail that will lead me to another exit near the Singapore quarry. Along the way, I heard a racket-tailed drongo and some tiny bird which, upon closer examination, reveal they were orange bellied flowerpeckers.

 Racket tailed drongo without the rackets

 Orange bellied flowerpecker

When I reached the exit, I wandered around a bit to find the nearest bus stop where I took the bus to Yishun, have lunch there before heading home.