Birding at AngMoKio-Bishan Park 2013-08-04

I returned to Singapore a few days ago to finalize my stay. During weekend, I decided to explore the other nearby parks like the Ang Mo Kio-Bishan Park.

From Sembawang bus interchange, I took bus 167 bound for Bukit Merah. Along the way, I alight at the bus stop nearest Ang Mo Kio Avenue 2. From there, take a short walk to the park. When I arrived there, something on the rail opposite the small creek caught my attention. It was a white-throated kingfisher. I managed to take a few shots before it flew away. As I looked at the bird pictures I took, I was amazed at the difference of the white mark compared to the Philippine subspecies. It definitely has a more prominent white throat extending to the breast. It's like comparing chest hair to a goatee.

White throated kingfisher

As I walked a bit more, few birds were observed. But the landscape was good. There's a small stream, pond and some trees. The park is definitely not a nature park but more an urban park.

After a while, rain started pouring heavily. While the rain started, I also saw a white collared kingfisher, but wasn't able to get a good shot because the rain started to fall heavily so I have to protect my camera and ran to the nearest shelter. I was stuck for an hour or so before it stopped for me to continue my stroll.

White collared kingfisher

 
Midway along the park, I was a bit disappointed that my bird list didn't even reached 10. Fortunately, at the second half of the park trail, I managed to see a few more birds.

Pied thriller

Sunda woodpecker

Scaley breasted munia

Scarlet backed flowerpecker

Spotted dove

Yellow vented bulbul

Birding at Timberland 2013-07-27

I was back in the Philippines to take care of a few things. It was very fortunate that during the weekend, WBCP was invited to take part in a bird survey at Timberland. I was initially hesitant due to a lot of things to be done, but changed my mind when Mike asked if I wanted to join.

At the meet-up point near Ever Commonwealth, I arrived there before everyone else. Once everyone arrived, we proceed to the Timberland Sports and Nature Clubhouse. After the initial registration, welcome program, snack and announcement, we proceed to the first birding site.

 

The surprise bird was the sleeping Philippine Frogmouth.

Philippine Frogmouth

While going to various areas of the property owned by Filinvest, we were able to see lots of white breasted wood swallows along the way. We also saw some striated grassbirds, long tailed shrikes, yellow vented bulbuls, pied bushchats and a few others. There's an area where we hiked to try and find some owls, but it was already getting dark and the slope was a bit wet and slippery. We decided to cancel our owl watching and just do birding early in the morning.

At night, we had dinner and counted the birds we had and proceed to our guestroom. Most of the members decided to have  a little liquor session, but as a non-drinker, I didn't join them.

The moon that night

Nighttime view outside the guesthouse

Sea of clouds in the morning

Early in the morning, we proceed as planned, visited several areas before taking a break at the plant nursery. From there, we started the hike to the waterfall, but due to the soggy trail and danger of slipping, the organizer and a few of us decided to forgo the waterfall. Many people in the group are also not used to walking a few kilometers, not to mention the bad trail condition. During the last leg of the hike, rain started pouring which further complicates the hike. It took us over an hour before we arrived to the area where cars will pick us up.

Lowland white-eye

Philippine pygmy woodpecker

Black naped monarch

Pied bushchat (female)

Scaley breasted munia

White collared kingfisher

We cleaned ourselves before proceeding to clubhouse. After the bird tally, group picture taking and some discussions, we left Timberland. It was a pleasant experience for me, although I'm pretty sure many people didn't like the last hike.

Here are some pictures I took during the trip.

Back To Sungei Buloh 2013-07-13

I took bus 925 from Woodlands MRT station to the Kranji Reservoir Park. From there, did a 15-minutes walk to get to the Sungei Buloh Wetland Reserve. At the tourist counter, the lady asked me if I was there for the photography activity to which I said no. There was a big group of photographers there waiting for their friends to finish setting up their instrument. I walked pass them and started my solo trek as usual. Last time I came here, I was pestered by so many mosquitoes. This time, I came prepared with a bottle of mosquito repellant.

I started on the trail at the right. Along the way, I meet 2 separate bird photographers heading back to the tourist counter/entrance. With a friendly gesture, I asked them if they had any luck. Both of them said no birds. I only saw some White-collared kingfishers and mynas. At the midway point, I had to turn back due to the call of nature. On my way back, I heard a call so I looked up and saw a yellow bird. I took some quick shot, but none turned out good.

White collared kingfisher

Common Iora

After I reached the entrance and solved the issue, I returned to the trail and took the left path instead. I also meet a few photographers on the way and some members of the local nature club. At one  point, I saw a couple of ashy tailorbird. I tried capturing a few shots and noticed that although they were constantly on the move, they never really left the area. I soon realized that they were building a nest. Both male and female returned to the nest twice while I was there waiting for them. After they stopped coming, I decided to leave the area as well.

Ashy tailorbird

After a few minutes, I reached the Aerie tower and the area where I reached earlier before I had to turn back. This time, I decided to turn back and try to stalk the tailorbird again to see if they will come back. When I reached the nest area and didn't see them, I simply walked towards the exit. Before reaching the exit, there's a bridge that traverses a stretch of water. Like last time, there was a salt-water croc there. Some nature volunteers were also there with a spotting scope. They were kind enough to show me a dollarbird about 30m away with their scope. I also asked them about the yellow bird I took earlier, which they were able to identify as a Common Iora thanks to a guidebook.

Salt water croc

Dollarbird

Oriental magpie-robin

At the gallery beside the information counter, I noticed another pathway that I hadn't visited the last time I came here. It was another 500m Mangrove walk different from the Mangrove Arboretum that I visited before. I took this path which basically loops back on itself. Along the way, I saw a raptor overhead flying around looking for food, a black-throated sunbird and 2 more Ashy tailorbirds.

Black-throated sunbird

Raptor sp. (juvenile White-bellied sea eagle?)

When I get back to the entrance, I decided to call it a day and head to the bus stop. On my way, I saw a dark object on one of Singtel's antenna. I thought it was a large bird or something. I took a photo and was able to identify it as a Brahminy kite. Later, I changed my mind and identify it as a White-bellied sea eagle.

White bellied sea eagle

Here are some of the other images I took.

Hornet mound?

Olive-backed sunbird

Monitor lizard