Singapore Bird Report – May 2015

Albert Tan’s 24th                                       Eric Tan’s 25th. Horsfield’s Bronze Cuckoo

May is the usual slow and quiet month as most of the migrants have left and the residents were in their post breeding period.  But all these were shattered with an influx of the long awaited and rare Austral migrant, the Horsfield’s Bronze Cuckoo, Chrysococcyx basalis.

Apparently it was photographed at Punggol Barat on the 10th by Vincent Lao, but was dismissed as the Little Bronze Cuckoo. Albert Tan and Eric Wang posted their exciting finds on 24^th and 25^th after reading a timely post by Francis Yap of Lim Kim Seng’s old Horsfield’s Bronze Cuckoo article.

Horsfield’s Bronze Cuckoo at Punggol Barat

The race was on to find them before they are gone. To everyone’s surprise, there were a bunch of them flying around at the Mimosa open waste land at Punggol Barat. This is Francis Yap’s excited text on 30^th: “Got the horsy, Punggol Barat now”, “Lost track of it, near pond”, “Cannot find. Very hot now”, “Found again”, “3 birds now, near pond”, “ 4-5 birds”, “ Lost count liao after 10 birds”. Con Foley was calling this a “Cuckoo Convention”. It was just incredible. In June 2005 we had one adult and one juvenile that stayed for a week at Marina South. The past eight records, all were single birds. This is our chance to study their “wintering” behaviour.

Asian Paradise Flycatcher by Vincent Ng

The month started well with the sighting of a male white morphed Asian Paradise Flycatcher, Terpsiphone paradise, at Bidadari on the 2^nd ( new extreme date?).  Many of us were grateful for the instant alert from Vincent Ng as it was gone the next day, clearly on passage back. Two Von Schrenck’s Bitterns, Ixobrychus eurhythmus, were photographed at Pasir Ris Park on 5^th by Billy Goh and 8^th at SBWR on 8^th by Alan OwYong. They are known to stay late till June. Another late migrant was an adult Tiger Shrike, Lanius tigrinus, picked up at Bidadari on 9^th by Lim Kim Seng. A total of 49 Swinhoe’s Storm Petrels, Oceanodroma monorhis, on passage were counted during a private Pelagic trip to the Straits of Singapore on 10^th ( Francis Yap). This was the largest flock recorded for the year, a low count compared to previous year.

Eric Wang managed to photograph all three Jambu Fruit Doves, Ptilinopus jambu, adult male, female and a juvenile feeding on the same tree at Bidadari on the same date. These are the uncommon non breeding visitors attracted by fruiting figs. Another uncommon non breeding visitor was an Cinererous Bulbul, Hemixos cinereus, recorded at Belukar trail on the 20th, another new extreme date.

Interesting resident records include a Lesser Whistling Duck, Dendrocygna javanica at the Japanese Gardens, reported by Laurence Eu , Buffy Fish Owls, Ketupa ketupu, one at the Singapore Botanic Gardens on 8^th ( Richard White) and another at Bidadari on 15^th (Er Bong Siong). All are new for the location.

Two eggs belonging to the Large-tailed Nighjars, Caprimuigus macrurus, were found by Lucy Davies on 10^th at Wessex, while the chick of the Changeable Hawk Eagle at Mount Faber fledged on the 12th, much to the delight of the  many of its fans ( Johnson Chua). The young eaglet that was rescued and looked after by the vets in Sentosa turned out to be a Crested Goshawk, Accipiter trivigatus This is the first record of this rare resident raptor breeding there. It will be tagged before released back into the wild. Seng Alvin painstaking monitoring of the pair of Malaysian Pied Fantails, Rhipidura javanica, paid off.  He documented the fledgling of two chicks on the 25^th. Happy days.

Nesting Malaysian Pied Fantails about to fledge. Photo: Seng Alvin

Crested Goshawk chick rescued at Sentosa in April. Same chick a month later. Ready for tagging before release. Photos; Daniel Seah of SDC.

One crash record came from John Arifin who found a concussed female Jambu Fruit Dove, Ptilinopus jambu, at Winsland House off Orchard Road on 27^th. He informed us that the dove managed to fly off on its own after a short recovery.

Reference: Avifauna of Singapore. Lim Kim Seng. 2009. A field Guide to the Birds of Thailand and South-east Asia. Craig Robson Asia Books Ltd.2000. Field Guide to the Birds of Australia. Simpson and Day, Edited by Francis Yap. The above records are taken from the various bird FB groups. pages, reports and forums.  Many thanks for your postings. Many thanks to Francis Yap, Vincent Ng, Seng Alvin, Daniel Seah, Albert Tan and Eric Wang for the use of the photographs.

Singapore Bird Report – April 2015

Indian Pond Heron photographed on 11 April by Joseph Tan at Bidadari Cemetery. Potentially a new addition to the Singapore Checklist.

We may have a potential new addition to Singapore Check List when Joseph Tan B.K. photographed an Indian Pond Heron, Ardeola grayii at Bidadari on 11th if it is accepted by the Records Committee. He did not process it until he saw a post of the Indian Pond Heron a week later. Er Bong Siong shot the same Pond Heron on the 17^th and posted it as a Javan Pond Heron. Francis Yap saw the photo and noticed the dark brown mantle and scapulars, diagnostic features of an Indian Pond Heron. Unfortunately the Indian Pond Heron took off the next day much to the disappointment of many birders. Our first record was a summer bird on 20^th March 1994 at Senoko but was placed under Category D for wild birds where possibility of escapee or release cannot be ruled out. Before this record the most southern range for this Pond Heron was in Ipoh, Perak. Another potential addition to our Checklist was the third sighting of the Pied Cuckoo, Clamator jacobinus at Lorong Halus on 4^th by Anthony Nik after Mark Oei’s at Halus Bridge and Lim Kim Chuah’s record at the Grebe pond last month.

Asian Paradise Flycatcher Male making a one day stop over at Bidadari cemetery on 29th April. Alan OwYong.

We had been getting several rain storms in the late evenings and nights during the latter part of the month. As a result many of the migrants returning back north were forced to make a quick stop over here. We were pleasantly surprised that the migrants chose Bidadari Cemetery as their rest stop just as they did in the Autumn.  The list included the Hooded Pitta, Pitta sordida on 9^th ( Frankie Lim), Chinese Pond Heron, Ardeola bacchus, a breeding Tiger Shrike, Lanius trigrinus,  and a male Yellow-rumped Flycatcher, Ficedula zanthopygia,  all on the 18^th reported by Tan Kok Hui, a Dark-sided Flycatcher, Muscicapa sibirica,  on 25^th by Zacc HD and the star of Bidadari, a white morphed male Asian Paradise Flycatcher, Terpsiphone paradisi, on 29^th (Paul Lee and Vincent Ng). Those who turned up that afternoon went away happy after getting this much sought after flycatcher on their sensors.

Asian Paradise Flycatcher at Tuas South by Chan Boon Hong

Returning migrants were also reported elsewhere. An incei Asian Paradise Flycatcher, Terpsiphone paradisi male was picked up at Tuas South on 9^th by Chan Boon Hong on his way to work. Hooded Pitta, Pitta sordid, on 18^th by Kweechang Ling, Crow-billed Drongo, Dicrurus annectans, and Black Bittern, Ixobrychus flavicollis, on 12^th at the Gardens by the Bay, ( Kelvin Yong and  David Awcock respectively), Green-backed Flycatcher, Ficedula elisae on 24^th at Rifle Range Link by Lim Kim Seng, Black-capped Kingfisher on 24^th at P. Ubin by Scarlet Lee, another Dark-sided Flycatcher, Muscicapa sibirica, on 25^th at Sime Forest by See Toh Yew Wai and a Grey Nightjar, Caprimulgus jotaka, on 28^th at Tampines Eco Green by Ang Teck Leng. The Green-backed Flycatcher sighting may be our new extreme date, the last being 9^th April.

Non-breeding visitors reported were a Crested Serpent Eagle, Spilornis cheela, at P.Ubin on 4^th by Amanda Tay  and a male and female Jambu Fruit Dove, Ptilinopus jambu, at the MacRitchie Boardwalk on 22^nd by Laurence Eu.

April is the month when most of our resident species were busy bringing up new broods. We have several nesting records all over the island. Lucy Davis put out a nesting box in her garden at Wilton Close a few years back and now a pair of Oriental Magpie Robin, Copsychus saularis, finally decided to use it on the 5^th. Lee Van Hein reported a pair of Greater Racket-tailed Drongos, Dicrurus paradiseus, nesting high up in the Albizia at Hindhede Nature Park.  He also photographed Oriental White-Eyes,  Zosterops palpebrosus,  nesting at Jurong Eco Gardens on 15^th. A pair of Common Flamebacks Dinopium javanense, were digging a nest hole at Pasir Ris Park on 18^th (Lim Kim Keang) and Blue-throated Bee-eaters, Merops viridis, nesting at Jalan Kayu on 18^th by Heather Gwach.

Sunda Scops Owl at Hindhede Nature Park by Frankie Lim

Interesting and notable resident species sightings include a Sunda Scops Owl, Otus lempiji, ( left ) at Hindhede NP during the day on 2^nd by Frankie Lim, two grey morphed Pacific Reef Heron, Egretta sacra, at Sungei Buloh New Extension feeding during low tide on 3^rd by Alan OwYong.

 

Black-crested Bulbul at Bukit Timah summit. Photo by Raghav.

An introduced Black-Crested Bulbul, Pycnonotus melanicterus, at Bukit Timah NR on 4^th by Raghav and Subha, Abbott’s Babbler, Malacocincia abbotti, at West Coast Park on 16^th by Francis Yap, a lone House Swift, Apus nipalensis,  hawking for insects over at Labrador NP on 20^th by Alan OwYong, Brown Hawk Owls, Ninox scutulata, off Mandai Road (L. Neo) and West Coast Park by Lim Kim Keang, five active and calling Mangrove Pittas, Pitta megarhyncha, and an Asian Drongo Cuckoo, Suniculus lugubris, at Pulau Ubin on 24^th by David Tan, a rare Lesser Green Leafbird, Chloropsis cyanopogon, MacRitchie Forest on 26^th by Lim Kim Seng and a Ruddy Kingfisher, Halcyon coromanda, at Pasir Ris Park on 28^th by Lim Kim Chuah.  Good record for the Abbott’s Babbler returning to this part of the island. Both the Asian Drongo Cuckoo and Ruddy Kingfisher are also winter visitor and passage migrant respectively to our island. The House Swift is highlighted as their population have crashed in recent years.

Those who went out on the 2^nd NSS Bird Group Pelagic Survey to the Straits of Singapore on 26^th were rewarded with a rare sighting of a juvenile Lesser Frigatebird, Fregata ariel, and an adult Parasitic Jaeger, Stercorarius parasiticus. Other seabirds seen were Swinhoe’s Storm Petrels, Oceanodroma monorhis, and Lesser Crested, Thalasseus bengalensis, and Swift Terns, Thalasseus bergii.

Juvenile Lesser Frigatebird at Singapore Strait

An adult Parasitic Jaeger at Singapore Strait flying away at a distance.

Reference: The Avifauna of Singappore. Lim Kim Seng 2009. A field Guide to the Birds of Thailand and South-East Asia. Craig Robson. Asia Books Co. Ltd 2000. Edited by Francis Yap. The above records are taken from the various bird FB groups. pages, reports and forums.  Many thanks for your postings. Thanks to Joseph Tan, Francis Yap, Frankie Lim, Chan Boon Hong, Raghav and Alan OwYong for the use of your photos.