Kit's Fledgling BY

[Galana]

Worthy repeats. Never give up on the next century. Schoemacher never stopped racing until he saw the chequered flag in his mirror. December 31st is a long way off.

 

[Zim Girl]

Really well done on getting to 200.

The trip to Thailand produced many beautiful birds and well done on the effort taken to get some of them.

[michael-ibk]

Wow, you have been busy! Congratulations on surpassing #200' and you did it with some real stunners. hard to pick favourites with so many gorgeous species (and photos), but Crimson Sunbird, the Broadbill, Hornbill and that incredible Pitta stand out for me. Bravo! Also really enjoy all your additional commentary, very interesting!

[Kitsafari]

It's a quiet period over here too, although the early migrants have made one or two appearances. I still have some stragglers from weeks back I've yet to put up so back to birds in Singapore. 

 

204: Paddyfield Pipit, Changi Business Park, July 21

 

 

The paddyfield pipit is one of three species of pipits found in Singapore and it is the only resident species here. we had seen it in Langkawi but we gave it up for the red wattled lapwing. It is found in India, southwest China and SEA. 

[Kitsafari]

205: Long-tailed shrike, Changi Business Park, July 21

 

 

A pretty shrike, found in Central Asia, western and northeastern India,  southern China, Taiwan  to SEA. It is an uncommon resident in Singapore, but this particular shrike seemed to like being close to a running track at the grounds of a local university located next to a river. 

[Kitsafari]

206: Olive-winged Bulbul, Singapore Botanic Garden, August 18

 

 

After the yellow-vented bulbul, the olive-winged bulbul is the second most common bulbul species found in SIngapore. While the yellow-vented bulbul has learned to live in the suburban residential areas, the olive-winged species still prefers wooded or forested areas. Found in Thailand down to Singapore and Indonesia across to the Philippines. 

[Galana]

Keep them coming. Lovely photos.

[xelas]

Yes, and the associated knowledge is also appreciated.

[Dave Williams]

Agreed!

[Kitsafari]

207: Barred Eagle-Owl, Singapore Quarry, Aug 29

 

 

I was hugely satisfied and delighted to see the Barred Eagle-Owl this evening and had to share it immediately. Herman and I had tried one weekend, waiting over an hour but it didn't appear. As the location was close to my office, I decided to drop by after work to try my luck. and was I lucky. The stunning male eagle-owl was perched on an open branch of a tree unblocked by other tall trees. it perched nearly 2 hours into the night and I had to give up hoping it would take flight or start to hunt as it was too dark. The barred eagle-owl is marked in IUCN Redlist as regionally extinct in Singapore, but occasional but rare sightings were had with no clear records until in recent years. Birders here think the appearances came from the owls flying in from Malaysia but they are starting to breed here, which is a great positive. The male I saw is sometimes accompanied by a female and a juvenile. only a handful have seen all three in one go. The owl is found in Thailand, Malaysia down to Sumatra, Java and Borneo.

Edited August 29, 2018 by Kitsafari

[TonyQ]

What an amazing bird, a wonderful sighting and great photos.

[Galana]

Great work. Love the "eyebrows". Great excuse for being late home from the office.

[Zim Girl]

Fantastic shots of a pretty groovy looking owl.

[xelas]

@Kitsafari, have you any idea if the owl will be in Singapore also in August of 2019 ?!

[Dave Williams]

Wow, what a brilliant find and capture that Owl is!

[Peter Connan]

Lovely photos of a beautiful owl!

[PeterHG]

Agree with the others, very special sighting and impressive shots!

[Kitsafari]

208: Grey-Headed Fish Eagle, Pandan River Connector,  August 9

 

 

This is a large eagle and is a near threatened species because of the usual factors - habitat destruction, pollution and competition with humans' over-fishing habits. Although it is listed as a rare but native breed in Singapore, in recent years, the birds have been seen breeding and more are seen around the island. This species is found in Indian subcontinent, Myanmar down through Malaysia into Indonesia. The pair we saw at Pandan River was an adult and a young adult.

 

The river was full of predators - the eagle, looking down at smooth-coated otters on the banks....

 

The otters looking up to make sure the eagle wouldn't swoop down on a pup....

 

 

and a young river monitor making a quick and unseen retreat from the other two predators....

 

 

[Kitsafari]

209: Lesser Sand Plover, Yishun Dam, August 11

 

 

 

Early migrants are here! The lesser sand plovers arrived in a small flock to the northern coast of Singapore. This is a winter migrant species that flies down from central Asia,  eastern Russia and northern shores of China to southern China, Southeast Asia, Africa, and Australia. 

And hiding among them, we spied one or two 

 

210: Greater Sand Plover

 

It was a tough call for us beginners to tell the difference apart. A veteran birder who was with us at the location pointed out the yellowish legs of the Greater sand plover against the more greyish legs of the lesser. 

[Ratdcoops]

Well done on 200+ @Kitsafari really would take something love all of your content. Really liked the story about the Barred Eagle Owl good to see some animals making a comeback.

[Galana]

More great photos. Good to see the difference twixt Greater and Lesser Sandplovers in one habitat.

Lovely action with the Otters as, contrary to rumour, I really prefer mammals.

[Kitsafari]

211: Malaysian Hawk Cuckoo, Pasir Ris Park, August 28

 

 

Another early migrant, the Malaysian hawk cuckoo is a fairly large cuckoo. It would come out early in the morning between 7am and 8am to feed on juicy caterpillars before the other birds would appear to mob it into hiding. This is a non-breeding visitor to Singapore shores but because it is a rather uncommon visitor, it attracted quite a crowd hoping to catch a glimpse of it. It seems to like the white-rumped sharma's nest to brood its young. 

 

[Kitsafari]

212: Buffy Fish Owl, Pasir Ris Park, August 25

 

 

We had gone to the park to look for the Malaysian hawk cuckoo but unexpectedly found the Buffy Fish Owl! There are seven species of owls in Singapore, so I was very pleased to see this owl and the barred earred owl, both bringing my count to five. wonder if i'll get a grand slam of all seven by year-end? i can only hope. This owl is a resident in the park and its resilience and survival power is impressive because it is a one-eyed owl and has been at least for the past five years. as its name suggests, this gorgeous owl with the brilliant yellow eye hunts mainly aquatic prey. There is a river in the park. 

[Kitsafari]

213: Greater Coucal,  Singapore Quarry, August 22

 

 

Not the best shots, but we had just arrived at the spot and the coucal was on the verge of taking off so HP had to fire a few quick shots. Mine are down the rubbish chute. The Greater Coucal is found from Indian sub-continent to southern China and down to Southeast Asia. It is an not commonly seen but is a resident in Singapore. 

[Kitsafari]

Forgot to add : while waiting for the Malaysian Hawk cuckoo, we had a few bonuses that had included the Buffy Fish Owl. 

Another early migrant was the many-morphed oriental honey buzzard. Already in the count (#182), we saw a pale morph and the tweedale dark morph on the same morning in Pasir Ris Park, generating some buzz among the photographers who were at the scene. these buzzards typically fly from Russia and northern Asia to winter in the warm climates of Southeast Asia. 

 

(a pink-necked green pigeon photobombing the Tweedale dark morph below)

 

a pale morph not that far off from the dark morph

 

 

then we saw the white-throated kingfisher (#99) with a big meal - a tree snake - which it proceeded to whack and swallow.

 

 

followed by the appearance of a family of feral dogs, a female and two pups which looked pretty well fed and watched us as we bird-watched the dark morph buzzard

 

 

finally we ended up watching the stork-billed kingfisher (#175) pose and preen for the photographers as it does every day at the river. 

 

Edited September 8, 2018 by Kitsafari