Singapore Bird Report – August 2017

Eurasian Curlew, at SBWR on 29 Aug, by See Toh Yew Wai

August was a busy month as the migrant species continue to arrive. On the 1st, Robin Tan had an Intermediate Egret Egretta intermedia at SBWR. On the 2nd, an Orange-headed Thrush Geokichla citrina was found dead at Bendemeer Road by John Chan, probably after having crashed into the apartment flats. On the 3rd, David Li had a Curlew Sandpiper Calidris ferruginea at SBWR.

On the 5th, Frankie Cheong recorded the Black-tailed Godwit Limosa limosa at Pulau Tekong; while Martin Kennewell had a Little Ringed Plover Charadrius dubius at Kranji Marshes. On the 6th, Martin Kennewell recorded 4 Grey Plovers Pluvialis squatarola at Pulau Ubin. On the 7th, Luke Milo Teo and Francis Yap found a lone Whimbrel Numenius phaeopus at Seletar Dam. On the 11th, a rare Horsfield’s Bronze Cuckoo Chrysococcyx basalis, juvenile, was photographed at the Kranji Marshes by lucky Deepthi Chimalakonda and Tanvi DG.

Brown-streaked Flycatcher, at Jelutong Tower, on 18 Aug, by Francis Yap

On 13th, a rare Brown-streaked Flycatcher Muscicapa williamsoni was recorded at Pasir Ris Park by “Trust Mind”; See Toh Yew Wai had even better luck, seeing an adult and a juvenile on the 14th; while Francis Yap saw the juvenile on the 15th; Seng Alvin saw it on 17th; and Con Foley had his on the 18th. At the Jeutong Tower, Francis photographed another Brown-streaked Flycatcher on the 18th.

Also on 13th, a Blyth’s Paradise Flycatcher Terpsiphone affinis, first of the season, was recorded at Venus Link by Siew Mun. On 21st, a Common Kingfisher Alcedo atthis was photographed at Jurong Eco Garden by Luke Milo Teo. On 25th, Veronica Foo reported a Marsh Sandpiper Tringa stagnatilis at SBWR in the late morning; while David Tan reported that an Eastern-crowned Warbler Phylloscopus coronatus was found dead at Winsland House.

Terek Sandpiper, at Seletar Dam, on 27 Aug, by Goh Cheng Teng

On 27th, Goh Cheng Teng found a lone Terek Sandpiper Xenus cinereus at Seletar Dam. On 28th, Robin Tan photographed an Eurasian Curlew Numenius arquata at SBWR; See Toh Yew Wai found it on 29th; and Lim Kim Keang reported that the bird was still around on the 31st.

On 28th, David Li recorded a flock of Black-tailed Godwits Limosa limosa at SBWR, and on 30th, Veronica Foo reported 10 birds in the afternoon. On 31st, Koji Ichiyama photographed a Yellow-rumped Flycatcher Ficedula zanthopygia at Dairy Farm Nature Park. A Grey Wagtail Motacilla cinerea was also photographed this month at Upper Changi Road East by Ramesh Thiruvengadam.

Stork-billed Kingfishers mating, at Pasir Ris, on 3rd Aug, by Gerals Chua

For the residents – Gerals Chua photographed a pair of Stork-billed Kingfishers Pelargopsis capensis mating at Pasir Ris Park on the 3rd; while Luke Milo Teo documented an adult Rufous Woodpecker Micropternus brachyurus feeding a juvenile at the Chinese Gardens.

White-rumped Munia at Chinese Gardens on 3rd Aug, by Ang Siew Siew

A White-rumped Munia Lonchura striata was photographed at the Chinese Gardens by Ang Siew Sew on the 3rd and seen again by See Toh Yew Wai on the 10th. On the 4th, James Tann recorded a Greater Coucal Centropus sinensis at the southern Ridges near Kent Ridge Park, and Laurence Eu had another of this secretive bird at Dempsey Hill on the 7th. On the 5th, a family of Ruddy-breasted Crakes Porzana fusca with 3 chicks were seen at the Gardens by the Bay by Terence Tan.

On the 7th, Alan OwYong recorded a Malaysian Pied Fantail Rhipidura javanica feeding an juvenile at the Chinese Gardens. On the 9th, James Tann saw 10 Pied Imperial Pigeons Ducula bicolor feeding on palm dates at Bukit Batok; Francis Yap photographed an Asian Palm Swift Cypsiurus balasiensis at the Chinese Gardens; and Dr Tan-Koi Wei Chuen reported several Grey Herons nesting at Pasir Ris Park. On the 10th, Seng Alvin photographed a juvenile Great-billed Heron Ardea sumatrana at Seletar Dam; while James Tann had an adult male Jambu Fruit Dove Ptilinopus jambu at the Green Corridor near Hillview Station.

During the NSS birding walk at Bishan Park for beginners on 13th, the Slaty-breasted Rail Gallirallus striatus and Spotted Wood Owl Strix seloputo were recorded. On 16th, an Eastern Barn Owl Tyto delicatula was recorded at SBWR by Meena Vathyam; a Chestnut-winged Babbler Cyanoderma erythropterum at Old Upper Thomson Road by Marcel Finlay; and Tan Eng Boo spied a pair of Little Grebes Tachybaptus ruficollis mating at Lorong Halus Wetlands.

White-browed Crakes, Lorong Halus Wetlands, 14 Aug, by Seng Alvin

On 14th, Seng Alvin recorded 2 usually secretive White-browed Crakes Amaurornis cinerea at Lorong Halus; on 16th Terence Tan photographed one; James Tann also photographed one on the 18th. On 18th, Francis Yap photographed a Glossy Swiftlet Collocalia esculenta at Jelutong Tower, while another was found dead at Lornie Road by Vincent Lao on the 26th.

On 20th, a Spotted Wood Owl was spotted at Pasir Ris Park by James Ngeo. On 22nd, Siew Mun photographed a Blue-eared Kingfisher Alcedo meninting at Jurong Eco Garden. On 24th, David Tan reported that a rare Black and Red Broadbill Cymbirhynchus macrorhynchos crashed into Ubin Outward Bound School.

Malaysian Pied Fantail at Pasir Ris, mid-August, by Harry Geno-Oehlers. This nest was placed on a single horizontal twig. On 18th, the nest was found to have swivelled downwards, emptying the nest of 2 young chicks.

On 30th, NParks announced that a family of Black-backed Swamphen Porphyrio indicus, including 2 juveniles, were seen ‘recently’ near a pond in the core conservation area, marking the 1st evidence of breeding since the opening of the marshes in March 2016. Alan OwYong reported the successful nesting of a pair of Grey-rumped Treeswifts Hemiprocne longipennis at One North Crescent, with the adult still feeding its young as at August. On 16th, Ang Siew Siew photographed a juvenile Pied Fantail apparently begging for food from its parent. Over at Pasir Ris Park, Harry Geno-Oehlers reported that the nest of a pair of Malaysian Pied Fantails toppled over, killing the 2 chicks; Seng Alvin added that it was the 3rd round of nesting. Finally on 31st, Terence Tan photographed a Violet Cuckoo Chrysococcyx xanthorhynchus at Kranji Marshes.

 

SBWR = Sungei Buloh Wetland Reserve

References:

Lim Kim Seng. The Avifauna of Singapore. 2009 Nature Society (Singapore).

Yong Ding Li, Lim Kim Chuah and Lee Tiah Khee. A Naturalist’s Guide to the Birds of Singapore. 2013. John Beaufoy Publishing Limited.

Craig Robson. A field Guide to the Birds of Thailand and South East Asia. 2000.

This report is compiled by Tan Gim Cheong and Alan OwYong from selected postings in various facebook birding pages, bird forums, individual reports and extracts from ebird. This compilation is not a complete list of birds recorded for the month and not all the records were verified. We wish to thank all the contributors for their records. Many thanks to See Toh Yew Wai, Francis Yap, Goh Cheng Teng, Gerals Chua, Ang Siew Siew,  Seng Alvin and Harry Geno-Oehlers for the the use of their photos. Please notify alan.owyong@gmail.com if you find errors in these records.

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.