The fourth and final day of my Singapore trip was a return trip to McRitchie Reservoir, this time hoping to make it round the wrong reservoir. Unfortunately but deliberately, I got off to a late start.
Despite a slow start to the birds, things soon got hot, and not just the weather!
From entering the forested area and along the golf course the following were seen: copper throated and crimson sunbirds pin-striped tit-babbler common iora oriental magpie-robin pink-necked pigeon House Swallow yellow vented bulbul
The path reaches a pump house where a wooden boardwalk starts (the nightjars were around this area two nights previously). Saw a pair on banded woodpeckers along the boardwalk.
At the end of the boardwalk were a group of long tailed macaques. The wooden boardwalk is then replaced by a concrete walkway and leads to an observation tower, which was brilliant and I kept returning to this spot during the day. It was also a great place to hide from the heavy rainfall that fell.
Whilst here, I go talking to a park ranger and he pointed out a greater coucal calling, an eerie, whooping sound and also said that rhinoscerous hornbill can be seen from the tower but no such luck on the day!
Additional birds from the tower included: red-eyed, cream-vented and olive-winged bulbuls white rumped shama greater racquet tailed drongo Van Hasselts sunbird - stunning bird perched and sang for ages from the top of a tree black naped oriole blue-throated bee eater collarded and white-throated kingfishers
I also wandered back along the boardwalk and flushed a crake species from underneath and from the limited view I got considered it to be red legged crake but hadn't seen the legs!!
I continued around the reservoir towards the tree top walk, which unfortunately was a bit of a disappointment as I didn't see any birds but this is probably best when it opens at 9am. Due to time, I then wandered back towards the tower and golf course, spending more time up the tower looking for raptors etc but without any joy.
As I walked back over the boardwalk, I flushed the crake again from exactly the same spot. It was initially too quick for me but fortunately wandered into view off the path and I was able to confirm the id as red-legged crake.
As I rounded the golf course, a purple heron was stood close to the path but flushed as I moved closer. Then to cap off the entire stay, a brahminy kite was flushed from a tree by something large and darkish, giving excellent views. I couldn't find the other bird but soon noticed a large raptor above the trees which turned out to be a grey-headed fish eagle which soared over the golf course and wondered whether I had stumbled upon a fight of sorts.
that was pretty much the end of my singapore trip. No doubt with some earlier starts a few more birds could have been added. April is not the best time of year to visit either as migration has finished but that said, I had a great time and would go back.
Iain Johnson said
Tue May 4 9:43 PM, 2010
Pulau Ubin is a small island located off the north-east cost of Singapore and largely undeveloped and therefore consists of some natural rainforest. There is a main village, where the ferry arrives and departs from and where food can be bought and bikes hired (virtually essential if you want to get around the island). There is a resort on the island but this was virtually deserted when we rode past, so not sure if you are able to overnight or not but would be worthwhile.
like all locations within Singapore, Pulau Ubin is very easy to get to via MRT and bus (or taxi depending on your budget). The potentially tricky bit is the ferry crossing. for the boat to travel to the island there has to be 12 people!!! fortunately this didn't take very long and there appeared to a steady stream of visitors throughout the day including mid to late afternoon. Even tricker is getting back!!!
I went over with a swedish surfer cum birder called Peter; his dad is a birder back in Sweden and he grew up going birding and still keeps a look out especially as he's very keen on photography so hopefully some photos to come!!
First up was the wetlands/ coastal walk at the eastern end of the island before we worked our way back westwards through the centre of the island, reaching the resort as our furthest point. The full list is as follows:
Quarries: Little grebe, grey heron, little egret, brahminy kite
Ponds (immediately east of main village): cinnamon bittern (1 flushed), chestnut munia, brown-throated sunbird, white-throated kingfisher, white-breasted water hen,
Coastal/ mangrove walk: little heron, grey heron, great billed heron, probable white rumped shama, oriental pied hornbill (island speciality) collarded kingfisher, black-naped tern, pied fantail, black-nest and germain's swiftlets (great views from tower platform on the walk), common, ashy and rufous-tailed tailorbirds
other areas: common flameback, asian glossy starling (from the main village) pied oriental hornbill (first birds we saw), pink-necked pigeon, yellow vented and olive winged bulbuls, red junglefowl (common), blue-throated bee-eater, crimson sunbird, spotted and zebra doves, barred buttonquail (adjacent to the resort), abbotts babbler
also saw three otters (not sure which species), loads of water monitor lizards plus a few other lizard species and heaps of amazing butterflies.......
Iain Johnson said
Tue May 4 7:46 PM, 2010
Tuesday am was spent at Sungei Buloh, a cracking reserve consisting of both tidal mangroves and freshwater lagoons. Main wader passage is in March/ April, so these were a little thin on the ground and even threw a little bit after two years out of the UK!
Relatively easy to reach via MRT then either taxi or bus but the bus service can be a little bit irregular except for weekends (GM Buses could learn something here!).
In the afternoon I took a bus and MRT back towards town before jumping on a bus to McRitchie Reservoir, an area of secondary rainforest designated as a nature reserve which surrounds a large reservoir. The track is popular with walkers/ runners. Part of the reservoir borders a golf course where nightjar can be found.
Sungei Buloh yellow bittern, little heron, black-crowned night heron, grey heron, little egret, eastern cattle egret, white bellied sea eagle, white-breasted water hen, zebra and emerald doves, pink-neck pigeon, collarded kingfisher, sunda woodpecker, indian golden (recent/ forthcoming spilt) and black-naped orioles, pied fantail, common and great iora's, copper-throated, purple and brown-throated sunbirds, yellow-vented bulbuls, scarlet backed flowerpecker, ashy and common tailorbirds and yellow bellied prinia.
also found two waders, both of which are extremely common in the UK. The thought process went something like this: cool redshanks but they don't look right. Ah, they are covered in heavy black spots, cool spotted redshank, yes thats right, no thats not right, they would be in black breeding plumage, er.........
eventually it twigged that these birds were in breeding plumage but having not seen them for over two year they looked completely alien. The second wader was a common sandpiper sat on a tree in the middle of a stream, and looked out of place, mainly i think because it wasn't bobbing its tail.
McRitchie Reservoir pink necked pigeon, banded woodpecker, copper-throated sunbirds, small minivet, blue rumped parrot, fork-tailed swifts, lesser racquet tailed drongo, collarded kingfisher, house swallow, stok billed kingfisher, white-throated kingfisher, crimson sunbird, common iora and malaysian nightjar
Iain Johnson said
Tue May 4 10:33 AM, 2010
Botanical Gardens Easily reached by MRT (tube) and bus with lots of walking paths and a variety of habitats plus a cafe! A new MRT station is being developed in the northern corner of the gardens which will mean that it will be even easier to access.
Birds included: Mute and Black swan, House and Tree Sparrow and Spotted Dove - not what you really want to see in a foreign clime
The SE Asian birds included White-breasted waterhen, oriental magpie robin, scarlet backed flowerpecker, yellow vented bulbul, house crow, barn and house (pacific) swallow, fork tailed swift, germains swiflet, olive backed sunbird, zebra dove and lesser whistling duck.
Bukit Timah Last remnant of the original rainforest, easily reached by bus from the Botanical Gardens or Little India. As I was walking up the road into the reserve I spotted an extremely long legged and long tailed cat walking towards me, only to realise that it was a long tailed macaque, i.e. a monkey!
There is a visitor centre here and a good selection of walks to the top of a hill although the main track is heavily used by runners/ walkers.
Birds included : Olive backed sunbird, black-naped oriole, sunda pygmy woodpecker, coppersmith barbet, crimson sunbird, assian glossy starling, greater racquet tailed drongo, common hill myna, pin-striped tit-babbler and chestnut winged cuckoo.
Iain Johnson said
Tue May 4 10:22 AM, 2010
On my way back to the UK I stopped off in Singapore for four days birding. The first day (Monday) was spent at the Botanical Gardens and Bukit Timah, Tuesday was spent at Sungei Buloh and part of the McRitchie Reservoir, Wednesday at Pulau Ubin, an island off Singapore and Thursday (the final day) at McRitchie Reservoir again before flying back on Thursday night.
All of the locations were relatively easy to reach via a combination of tube, bus, taxi and ferry. However, it was at least 30 degrees every day plus over 90% humidity which made it a very sweaty adventure!
I picked up a copy of Craig Robson's excellent book Birds of South East-Asia from Borders in Singapore itself which meant that I couldn't really undertake any research so it was a case of on the job learning which was interesting, entertaining and frustrating at the same time!
Also needed plenty of water as well, probably at least two litres, if not more per day.
I stayed in the Little India area of Singapore, in a lovely, relaxed backpackers called Sleepy Sam's complete with free breakfast and internet. However, I was a bit lazy and didn't really take advantage of the cooler morning temperatures for birding so doubtless missed out on a few species. The main migration is over by April, with only four wader species seen, as opposed to Feb/ March.
Ian McKerchar said
Sat Apr 10 8:54 PM, 2010
Permits are required for Mai Po Chris but it is an easy process to procure one with little red tape and well worth it.
Personally I didn't get any info directly from the HK birders although did contact an ex-Manchester birder living out there which didn't help at all! I did scrutinise the HKBWS forum for sightings and made a list of likely places to go etc, but I like to pretty much make my own way around places and suss them out on my own.In the end I realised Mai Po is basically more than enough for most of a birder's requirements! I had to contend with Bird Flu too as Mai Po was shut until the very day before my arrival there. I was so desperate for it to be open I even wrote a letter of 'protest' to the HK goverment. I like to think it was that and that alone which made them open the reserve for my visit I have included the 'rant' below for your amusement, taken from the Hong Kong Goverment's website.
I'm planning to go to HK next February. I went to Singapore last year.
I've asked Aian to let me know how he gets on.
The HKBWS seem to require permits for Mai Po, so I'm a little apprehensive about red tape.
Did you get any help and advice from the local birding community ?
Chris.
John Rayner said
Wed Feb 24 6:00 PM, 2010
Never been to Honk Kong but had a 3 night stop-over in Singapore once. Unfortunately it was over 10 years ago so info might be somewhat dated.
Chinese and Japanese Gardens: Both easy to get to and a good introduction to the local birds. I clocked 29 species most of which were new.
You could try a river cruise to Kusi Island (Japanese Sparrowhawk, Great-billed Heron, Edible Nest Swiftlet).
Another morning we took a taxi to Bukit Timar Reserve - good forest birding here e.g. a stunning male Siberian Blue Robin on passage.
Best of all recommend Sungei Buloh Wetland Reserve. We got an early start on the mass rapid transport system (to Kranji I think) then a bus to the reserve. Superb wetland, 1000s waders plus much more, excellent birding.
Cheers, John
Ian McKerchar said
Wed Feb 24 5:19 PM, 2010
Unfortunately I have disposed of my Singopore gen
However, Hong Kong is probably my favorite birding location in the world (outside Cornwall ), if only as it meets the needs of my family and personal birding requirements in every aspect As Tony says, Mai Po is THE place to visit and April is THE month. If you only go to one spot make that it and you could easily visit there and no where else without ever getting bored. Transport to the reserve is simple, though you can stay at Mai Po and it to be thoroughly recommended, although I never did! Waders are the key attraction of course and there are few, if any, locations in the world that can better Mai Po, but the track to the reserve and fish ponds around it plus the more wooded areas (such as that around the visitor centre) afford magnificent birding. Other than Mai Po, Kowloon Park in the heart of downtown Kowloon is well worth a visit and I even managed Eye-browed Thrush there! The Peak is worth a trip as is Tai Po Kau, a well wooded national park in easy reach though typically of that kind of birding it's neck breaking stuff at times and birds can be hard to see. Long Valley is another Hong Kong birding spot worthy of a visit although getting there is more difficult than the rest. There are many, many more locations but it depends how long you've got. If you had the time, Po Toi Island, a tiny island off the south-east of Hong Kong Island is their answer to our Isles of Scilly. It is fairly easily reached by boat and affords magnificent migrant passage, especially in April, plus the boat trip over there can be very productive too.
-- Edited by Ian McKerchar on Wednesday 24th of February 2010 05:20:58 PM
Tony Coatsworth said
Wed Feb 24 4:41 PM, 2010
Long time ago now
Mai Po marshes is a must at Hong Kong
The botantical gardens and the 'monkey jungle' up by the reservoir are the best habitats in Singapore
-- Edited by Tony Coatsworth on Wednesday 24th of February 2010 04:43:56 PM
Iain Johnson said
Wed Feb 24 12:46 AM, 2010
Anyone been to either of the above please and could share some gen?
Thinking of visiting in April
Cheers e
Despite a slow start to the birds, things soon got hot, and not just the weather!
From entering the forested area and along the golf course the following were seen:
copper throated and crimson sunbirds
pin-striped tit-babbler
common iora
oriental magpie-robin
pink-necked pigeon
House Swallow
yellow vented bulbul
The path reaches a pump house where a wooden boardwalk starts (the nightjars were around this area two nights previously). Saw a pair on banded woodpeckers along the boardwalk.
At the end of the boardwalk were a group of long tailed macaques. The wooden boardwalk is then replaced by a concrete walkway and leads to an observation tower, which was brilliant and I kept returning to this spot during the day. It was also a great place to hide from the heavy rainfall that fell.
Whilst here, I go talking to a park ranger and he pointed out a greater coucal calling, an eerie, whooping sound and also said that rhinoscerous hornbill can be seen from the tower but no such luck on the day!
Additional birds from the tower included:
red-eyed, cream-vented and olive-winged bulbuls
white rumped shama
greater racquet tailed drongo
Van Hasselts sunbird - stunning bird perched and sang for ages from the top of a tree
black naped oriole
blue-throated bee eater
collarded and white-throated kingfishers
I also wandered back along the boardwalk and flushed a crake species from underneath and from the limited view I got considered it to be red legged crake but hadn't seen the legs!!
I continued around the reservoir towards the tree top walk, which unfortunately was a bit of a disappointment as I didn't see any birds but this is probably best when it opens at 9am. Due to time, I then wandered back towards the tower and golf course, spending more time up the tower looking for raptors etc but without any joy.
As I walked back over the boardwalk, I flushed the crake again from exactly the same spot. It was initially too quick for me but fortunately wandered into view off the path and I was able to confirm the id as red-legged crake.
As I rounded the golf course, a purple heron was stood close to the path but flushed as I moved closer. Then to cap off the entire stay, a brahminy kite was flushed from a tree by something large and darkish, giving excellent views. I couldn't find the other bird but soon noticed a large raptor above the trees which turned out to be a grey-headed fish eagle which soared over the golf course and wondered whether I had stumbled upon a fight of sorts.
that was pretty much the end of my singapore trip. No doubt with some earlier starts a few more birds could have been added. April is not the best time of year to visit either as migration has finished but that said, I had a great time and would go back.
like all locations within Singapore, Pulau Ubin is very easy to get to via MRT and bus (or taxi depending on your budget). The potentially tricky bit is the ferry crossing. for the boat to travel to the island there has to be 12 people!!! fortunately this didn't take very long and there appeared to a steady stream of visitors throughout the day including mid to late afternoon. Even tricker is getting back!!!
I went over with a swedish surfer cum birder called Peter; his dad is a birder back in Sweden and he grew up going birding and still keeps a look out especially as he's very keen on photography so hopefully some photos to come!!
First up was the wetlands/ coastal walk at the eastern end of the island before we worked our way back westwards through the centre of the island, reaching the resort as our furthest point. The full list is as follows:
Quarries: Little grebe, grey heron, little egret, brahminy kite
Ponds (immediately east of main village): cinnamon bittern (1 flushed), chestnut munia, brown-throated sunbird, white-throated kingfisher, white-breasted water hen,
Coastal/ mangrove walk: little heron, grey heron, great billed heron, probable white rumped shama, oriental pied hornbill (island speciality) collarded kingfisher, black-naped tern, pied fantail, black-nest and germain's swiftlets (great views from tower platform on the walk), common, ashy and rufous-tailed tailorbirds
other areas: common flameback, asian glossy starling (from the main village) pied oriental hornbill (first birds we saw), pink-necked pigeon, yellow vented and olive winged bulbuls, red junglefowl (common), blue-throated bee-eater, crimson sunbird, spotted and zebra doves, barred buttonquail (adjacent to the resort), abbotts babbler
also saw three otters (not sure which species), loads of water monitor lizards plus a few other lizard species and heaps of amazing butterflies.......
Relatively easy to reach via MRT then either taxi or bus but the bus service can be a little bit irregular except for weekends (GM Buses could learn something here!).
In the afternoon I took a bus and MRT back towards town before jumping on a bus to McRitchie Reservoir, an area of secondary rainforest designated as a nature reserve which surrounds a large reservoir. The track is popular with walkers/ runners. Part of the reservoir borders a golf course where nightjar can be found.
Sungei Buloh
yellow bittern, little heron, black-crowned night heron, grey heron, little egret, eastern cattle egret, white bellied sea eagle, white-breasted water hen, zebra and emerald doves, pink-neck pigeon, collarded kingfisher, sunda woodpecker, indian golden (recent/ forthcoming spilt) and black-naped orioles, pied fantail, common and great iora's, copper-throated, purple and brown-throated sunbirds, yellow-vented bulbuls, scarlet backed flowerpecker, ashy and common tailorbirds and yellow bellied prinia.
also found two waders, both of which are extremely common in the UK. The thought process went something like this: cool redshanks but they don't look right. Ah, they are covered in heavy black spots, cool spotted redshank, yes thats right, no thats not right, they would be in black breeding plumage, er.........
eventually it twigged that these birds were in breeding plumage but having not seen them for over two year they looked completely alien. The second wader was a common sandpiper sat on a tree in the middle of a stream, and looked out of place, mainly i think because it wasn't bobbing its tail.
McRitchie Reservoir
pink necked pigeon, banded woodpecker, copper-throated sunbirds, small minivet, blue rumped parrot, fork-tailed swifts, lesser racquet tailed drongo, collarded kingfisher, house swallow, stok billed kingfisher, white-throated kingfisher, crimson sunbird, common iora and malaysian nightjar
Easily reached by MRT (tube) and bus with lots of walking paths and a variety of habitats plus a cafe! A new MRT station is being developed in the northern corner of the gardens which will mean that it will be even easier to access.
Birds included:
Mute and Black swan, House and Tree Sparrow and Spotted Dove - not what you really want to see in a foreign clime
The SE Asian birds included White-breasted waterhen, oriental magpie robin, scarlet backed flowerpecker, yellow vented bulbul, house crow, barn and house (pacific) swallow, fork tailed swift, germains swiflet, olive backed sunbird, zebra dove and lesser whistling duck.
Bukit Timah
Last remnant of the original rainforest, easily reached by bus from the Botanical Gardens or Little India. As I was walking up the road into the reserve I spotted an extremely long legged and long tailed cat walking towards me, only to realise that it was a long tailed macaque, i.e. a monkey!
There is a visitor centre here and a good selection of walks to the top of a hill although the main track is heavily used by runners/ walkers.
Birds included :
Olive backed sunbird, black-naped oriole, sunda pygmy woodpecker, coppersmith barbet, crimson sunbird, assian glossy starling, greater racquet tailed drongo, common hill myna, pin-striped tit-babbler and chestnut winged cuckoo.
All of the locations were relatively easy to reach via a combination of tube, bus, taxi and ferry. However, it was at least 30 degrees every day plus over 90% humidity which made it a very sweaty adventure!
I picked up a copy of Craig Robson's excellent book Birds of South East-Asia from Borders in Singapore itself which meant that I couldn't really undertake any research so it was a case of on the job learning which was interesting, entertaining and frustrating at the same time!
Also needed plenty of water as well, probably at least two litres, if not more per day.
I stayed in the Little India area of Singapore, in a lovely, relaxed backpackers called Sleepy Sam's complete with free breakfast and internet. However, I was a bit lazy and didn't really take advantage of the cooler morning temperatures for birding so doubtless missed out on a few species. The main migration is over by April, with only four wader species seen, as opposed to Feb/ March.
Personally I didn't get any info directly from the HK birders although did contact an ex-Manchester birder living out there which didn't help at all! I did scrutinise the HKBWS forum for sightings and made a list of likely places to go etc, but I like to pretty much make my own way around places and suss them out on my own.In the end I realised Mai Po is basically more than enough for most of a birder's requirements! I had to contend with Bird Flu too as Mai Po was shut until the very day before my arrival there. I was so desperate for it to be open I even wrote a letter of 'protest' to the HK goverment. I like to think it was that and that alone which made them open the reserve for my visit
http://www.legco.gov.hk/yr05-06/english/panels/fseh/papers/fe0314cb2-1414-10-e.pdf
I'm planning to go to HK next February. I went to Singapore last year.
I've asked Aian to let me know how he gets on.
The HKBWS seem to require permits for Mai Po, so I'm a little apprehensive about red tape.
Did you get any help and advice from the local birding community ?
Chris.
Chinese and Japanese Gardens: Both easy to get to and a good introduction to the local birds. I clocked 29 species most of which were new.
You could try a river cruise to Kusi Island (Japanese Sparrowhawk, Great-billed Heron, Edible Nest Swiftlet).
Another morning we took a taxi to Bukit Timar Reserve - good forest birding here e.g. a stunning male Siberian Blue Robin on passage.
Best of all recommend Sungei Buloh Wetland Reserve. We got an early start on the mass rapid transport system (to Kranji I think) then a bus to the reserve. Superb wetland, 1000s waders plus much more, excellent birding.
Cheers, John
However, Hong Kong is probably my favorite birding location in the world (outside Cornwall
-- Edited by Ian McKerchar on Wednesday 24th of February 2010 05:20:58 PM
Mai Po marshes is a must at Hong Kong
The botantical gardens and the 'monkey jungle' up by the reservoir are the best habitats in Singapore
-- Edited by Tony Coatsworth on Wednesday 24th of February 2010 04:43:56 PM