A Lesser Big Year - for Kit&Herman 2020

[TonyQ]

The Red-whispered Bulbul is a beautiful bird, and beautifully photographed.

Keep safe!

[PeterHG]

A colourful and interesting collection from your local patches! I hope both of you will stay healthy and be able to show us some more this year.

[Kitsafari]

Thanks all. 

 

@Galana if by "home" you mean Singapore, i'm surprised at the count too, and it doesn't include the number of birds we had to forego as we were tied to be indoors before the lockdown. 

hopefully the second half of the year will bring on more birds for the count!

[Galana]

@Kitsafari I hope so too.

I wish I could get Pittas to come in the kitchen but they would have to learn how to work the lift to my apartment. Any tips?

 

finally and just to get a smile in these difficult times I would ask

On 5/3/2020 at 1:17 PM, TonyQ said:

The Red-whispered Bulbul is a beautiful bird,

How can you tell what colour a bird whispers in if you are hard of hearing like me?

Nice one Tony!

[TonyQ]

@Galana the ones we saw in India were very quiet.....

[Kitsafari]

On 2/29/2020 at 6:11 PM, Kitsafari said:

Just an update on the Malayan Pied Fantail's nesting - sadly, the female Asian koel found the nest,  and was either eating the eggs or throwing the eggs out. we heard the fantails loudly calling but it was too late as it had done the damage. the fantails are not sitting on the nest,so we surmised the koel had eaten the eggs rather than lay hers there. in any case, the fantail's nest is small - just like a tiny teacup.

 

 

 

We thought the pied fantails had  lost their brood.

 

But surprise surprise, a couple of weeks ago, the adult female returned to my neighbour's mango tree in the backyard with a juvenile in tow! they must have built their nest at a safer place but decided to return to the neighbour's backyard which is littered with dead leaves, which equals to a lot of  insects on the ground. they've been coming every day with the adult feeding the juvenile. we've been trying to capture the feeding but oh gosh the adult is just too fast. 

Since I dont have many more new birds to add, i'll add a few of this cute little fantail. 

 

 

[PeterHG]

A lovely set of Fantail pictures!

[Soukous]

A really neat sequence Kit

[Kitsafari]

I should get back to the count and not be distracted by other stuff going around the world and home (i've been bingeing since my doggie passed on, and putting back the 2kgs i had lost). Lately, I've been very lazy and been walking around with Herman only with my binos and without my camera because Herman's shots are of far better quality than mine.(and because i've become lazy....)

 

116 :  Coppersmith Barbet, Bidadari

 

A common resident in our country, but also found in the Indian subcontinent, southern China and Southeast Asia. They love nesting in a hole in hollow trees. Herman got a reasonably good shot of a juve being fed. 

 

 

 

 

[Kitsafari]

117/SG117 : Olive-winged Bulbul, Dairy Farm Nature Park

 

Dairy Farm nature park is a good spot to see a handful of the different bulbul species and olive-winged is fairly common there. A rather dull looking bulbul, but certainly a good boost with an otherwise low count. 

 

[Kitsafari]

 

118/SG118 : Lesser Coucal,  Bidadari

 

A very shy bird is the lesser coucal although the greater coucal is even more so in Singapore. so sometimes one  does get to see the lesser in various locations. 

 

 

 

 

Edited June 20, 2020 by Kitsafari

[Kitsafari]

119/SG119: Ruddy-breasted Crake, Bidadari

 

a sneaky crake that appeared in bidadari because there were very few people in a piece of woodlands that is officially closed for grooming to become a clinical and brushed up park. Herman caught it fleeing from him.

 

 

 

 

[Kitsafari]

120 : Slaty-breasted Rail, Bidadari

 

Another one of those skulky rails/crakes that fled into the long grasses in Bidadari.

 

 

 

[Kitsafari]

121: Brahminy Kite, Marina Bay

 

A very common resident that sometimes fly above our neighbourhood. 

 

 

[Soukous]

Great to see the counter turning over again. Nice additions.

[Galana]

Good to see you are back with us adding to your score.

BY2020 will be renamed BY-Covid-19 with much reduced scores.

[Kitsafari]

Thank @Soukous! 

 

5 minutes ago, Galana said:

Good to see you are back with us adding to your score.

BY2020 will be renamed BY-Covid-19 with much reduced scores.

 

@Galana hmmm, that is a thought. 

 

 

 

 

 

[Kitsafari]

122 : Red-wattled Lapwing, Marina East Drive

 

This area, next to a golfing range, is still being kind to the lapwings who laid their eggs last year in the construction site and all the birders worked together to convince the construction contractor company to hold off working in the area around the eggs until they hatched.

The lapwings were back in the area but so far no eggs, at least none seen during the lockdown period (we were still allowed to go out to exercise, and explicitly no photography in the public parks, but nothing said for quiet, deserted areas outside the parks). 

These are uncommon resident birds here. 

 

 

[TonyQ]

Lovely additions. Well done with the Crake and the Rail.

[michael-ibk]

Great to see you back in action Kit!

[Kitsafari]

thanks @TonyQ @michael-ibk ! 

[campsafari2015]

My goodness, nearly every post is something I've never seen before. What an enjoyable trip through your bird sightings!

[Dave Williams]

Lovely additions, I love Rails and Crakes as they are so secretive and make a great photo challenge, Herman did well!

 

I was reading about foreign workers losing the right to work in Singapore and collection a hefty fine to boot for their Corvid lockdown breaches. When it comes to enforcement Singapore doesn't mess about unlike the UK where some of the breach scenes are absolutely horrifying.

[Kitsafari]

thanks @campsafari2015 @Dave Williams

 

Dave - you read right. the government here has been relentless on anyone breaching the lockdown rules - both locals and foreigners and in a way, it helps increase the degree of safety and confidence that they are making a concerted effort to control the spread. 

 

 They eased the lockdown very slightly nearly a month ago to allow schools to reopen on a staggered basis but retail shops and businesses remained shut. But two weeks ago, they suddenly allowed all shops to re-open, allowed dining in at restaurants and food outlets, and allowed people to gather in groups of up to five - to make way for a general election that is just announced.

 

And now the community cases are slowly inching up. there is no failsafe, unfortunately, until an effective vaccine arrives. which is really frustrating as we want to travel! sigh. 

[Kitsafari]

So in the meantime, the count continues for a handful more..

 

123: White-crested Laughingthrush, Goldhill Avenue

 

These are gregarious and very sociable birds, and rather noisy too when they are together.