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.

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.