A Lesser Big Year - for Kit&Herman 2020

[Kitsafari]

212 : Jambu Fruit Dove, Jurong Lake Gardens

 

The male jambu fruit dove is a skittish nervous bird that is only seen when it comes out to feed on fruiting trees. it vanishes once the fruits are gone. It was the first time that Herman and I laid eyes on the male as we had seen the juveniles and females of this native species before. It's smaller than I expected, but at least it perched quite well and patiently at the top of the tree in the middle of the day.

 

To me, this is the most beautiful bird we have in Singapore (barring the pittas!)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Kitsafari]

213: Rufous-bellied Eagle, Singapore Quarry

 

A rare migrant. 

 

 

[Kitsafari]

214: Pheasant-tailed Jacana, Marina East

 

Another rare migrant to our shores. Singapore had a good year for rare visitors this year. Hope to see more of them, and more regularly.

 

 

 

 

[Kitsafari]

215: Common Moorhen, Jurong Lake Gardens

 

A resident bird, but uncommonly seen. 

 

 

[Kitsafari]

216: Grey Nightjar, Baker Street

 

An uncommon migrant that is seldom seen because it is well camouflaged on branches at the top of trees.

 

 

 

 

 

[Kitsafari]

217: Cinnamon-headed Green Pigeon, Pulau Ubin

 

A very rare visitor from our Southeast Asian neighbours. 

 

 

[Kitsafari]

218: Sanderling, Marina East Bay

 

Another rare migrant wader, blending in with the Malaysian and white-faced plovers on the shores. 

 

 

[Peter Connan]

So many beautiful birds!

So many beautiful photos!

[PeterHG]

Another batch of beauties and apparently some rare one, too! That dove is really spectacular.

[Kitsafari]

219:  Common Snipe, Neo Tiew vicinity

 

Despite its name, the common snipe is an uncommon winter visitor to Singapore.

 

 

 

[Kitsafari]

220: Eyebrowed Thrush, Dairy Farm Nature Park

 

An uncommon migrant here, the skulking eye-browed thrush breeds in its native ranges of Siberia through Mongolia to Japan. 

 

Edited December 26, 2020 by Kitsafari

[Kitsafari]

221: Siberian Thrush, Changi Business Park

 

An even rarer visitor.

 

[Kitsafari]

222: Yellow-browed Warbler, Changi Business Park

 

Warblers here are hard to identify from each other. the yellow-browed warbler is another rare migrant and differentiates from its close cousins the uncommon migrant Eastern crowned warbler and the more common arctic warbler with its smaller size and yellowish-whitish supercilium

 

 

 

[Kitsafari]

we have only a couple more on hand to add and with only five days to go before this year is up, I can't see us having many more to add to the list. We are heading to an island tomorrow to see if we can sight any new species among the waders but the birds are often very far out on the beach, so my expectations are pretty low!

 

When we started this thread, before the pandemic locked us down, i had already anticipated a far lower count for our BY.  Having over 200+ species within our 728 sq km of borders and missing several new species earlier this year because of our dog's illness, we really can't be too despondent about it.

[Peter Connan]

A truly excellent performance indicative of much effort and determination!

[shazdwn]

Over 200 species in Singapore is fantastic, it’s really opened my eyes to the diversity of the island. Congratulations on a great number with great photos 

[elefromoz]

@Kitsafarithe Fruit Dove is indeed beautiful and great luck with the Eagle. You've done Singapore proud with this years collection, I think as I probably said last year, I would never have guessed there was so much diversity of birdlife there. You and Herman have made a great birding team.

[TonyQ]

A beautiful set of birds from Singapore. The Fruit Dove is stunning!

[Kitsafari]

Thank you @Peter Connan @shazdwn @elefromoz @TonyQ !

 

On the last day of 2020, the final push to end the domestic BY!

 

The trip to Pulau Ubin to watch the shorebirds got off to a bad start. At low tides, the sandbars appear at a far distance from the boardwalk built over the wetlands of Chek Jawa. to see the birds well, you'd need a scope. Shorebirds sometimes gather in the hundreds to feed at the low tides - a precious feeding ground since there are very few wetlands (probably 2 or three) left in Singapore. Immediately, we sighted two persons on the largest sandbar, although that is legally out of bounds to everyone. we later found out (when Herman confronted the pair when we saw them later) that the lead lady was a researcher with the male assistant who was announcing his presence to the waders with a bright orange shirt. Their presence meant that not many of the shorebirds would or could not land on the sandbar. She had obtained approval to film the birds foraging on the sandbar, but she took a step too far and the birds flew off. She later apologised a lot when we told her off, and reported herself to the agency in charge of such wetlands, which was a good faith step. LEt's hope she learned a valuable lesson from that. 

 

Still, the trip wasn't wasted. Herman had his four lifers, me three lifers, after we followed the plovers to a rocky island. 

 

223: Ruddy Turnstone, Pulau Ubin

 

An uncommon migrant, the ruddy turnstone was blending in well with the plovers but a more experienced birder picked it out while in flight. a lucky catch, but one that was much appreciated. 

The ruddy was in the lead in this 3-in-1 shot of turnstone, grey plover and godwit.

  

 

 

Edited December 31, 2020 by Kitsafari

[Kitsafari]

224: Bar-tailed Godwit, Pulau Ubin

 

I noted that one of the birds foraging with the plovers had a longer bill and my first thought was it was a whimbrel. But this was later confirmed to be a bar-tailed godwit,  confirmed no less by the researcher herself who was almost on top of those birds (so about 50m away). The godwit is an uncommon migrant to Singapore. (4th bird from the left)

 

Edited December 31, 2020 by Kitsafari

[Kitsafari]

225: Grey Plover, Pulau Ubin

 

This is an uncommon winter visitor, also called black-bellied plover. There was a fair flock of them - about 10 or so, slightly spread out on the sandbar before they took flight. Distributed from the Arctic islands and northern coasts of Russia and Canada and migrates southwards during winter. 

 

 

 

[Kitsafari]

226: Greater Crested Tern, Pulau Ubin

 

A tern with many names - also known as swift tern and yellow-billed tern, the greater crested is another uncommon migrant to our shores. There were a flock of about 32 terns sitting right at the edge of the sandbar and it was brilliant watching them take off and land a few times. 

 

 

[Kitsafari]

227: Baillon's Crake, Marina East

 

True to its nature, the skulking Baillon's crake played hide and seek with the photographers and birders, creeping out for split seconds to tease everyone. There's been a lot of rain recently, and pools formed at this yet undeveloped patch of grassland, creating perfect wet grounds for the crakes, rails and bitterns, as well as a watercock. 

 

 

 

[Kitsafari]

This is a duplicate of the pacific reef heron at #152, but the dark morph only appeared just recently. It is a very attractive morph. 

 

  

 

[Kitsafari]

228: Grey-headed Lapwing, Marina East

 

The grey-headed lapwing is a very rare vagrant to Singapore and its solo appearance among the red-wattled lapwings caused a major stir among birders. It was a tough bird to shoot as it appeared only occasionally, and sometimes in an adjoining golf course, which was where this shot was done - at 350m in a very narrow window sometimes blocked by the swaying branches! 

It is native in eastern Siberia to Japan, northern and eastern China and migrates to southern China, Indian subcontinent and Southeast Asia during winter.