A Her-man BY with Kit 2021

[Kitsafari]

246. Yellow-vented Flowerpecker, Bukit Timah Summit

 

 

[Kitsafari]

247. White-throated Needletail, Bt Timah Summit

 

another record shot. 

 

[Kitsafari]

248. Pacific Swift, Bt Timah Summit

 

 

[Kitsafari]

Another rarely seen mammal - common treeshrew

 

[elefromoz]

Every time I think your count will be slowing down, you bag another dozen. What kit (no pun intended) is Herman using, he's getting great clear, bold shots of birds in heavy forest cover.  Nice seeing a couple of little mammals there too. 

[PeterHG]

Wonderful to add another rarity to your list and, again, great photos!

[Kitsafari]

On 10/31/2021 at 5:44 PM, elefromoz said:

Every time I think your count will be slowing down, you bag another dozen. What kit (no pun intended) is Herman using, he's getting great clear, bold shots of birds in heavy forest cover.  Nice seeing a couple of little mammals there too. 

 

Herman's using Canon R6 and switches between 2 lenses - the 100-400mm IS II lens and the 800mm F11 lens. i think he's using the 400mm for birds more. 

 

On 11/1/2021 at 10:24 PM, PeterHG said:

Wonderful to add another rarity to your list and, again, great photos!

 

THanks! a couple more rare birds coming up tomorrow. 

[Kitsafari]

A handful of more rarities that graced our shores in recent weeks, starting with an EBC!

 

249. Black-Thighed Falconet, Bukit Brown

 

This was not a lifer for me but it is for Herman. It is also a very rare non-breeding visitor in Singapore. Although historically native to Singapore, the destruction of much of our forest cover meant this species is not seen.. we suspect they occasionally fly over from Johor. This falconet was discovered by chance by a birder in a greenery area bordering an old disused cemetery. 

a heavily cropped shot. 

 

 

[Kitsafari]

250. Ruby-cheeked Sunbird, Sungei Buloh wetlands Reserve

 

Another very rare non-breeding species, this is the only second confirmed ever  sighting of the very active sunbird that is native to north eastern parts of India and southeast Asia excluding the Philippines. A very pretty sunbird with a bright orange neck and breast and ruby red cheeks . 

 

 

[Kitsafari]

251. Fairy Pitta, Bukit Timah Hill

 

The first ever sighting of this non-native Fairy Pitta resulted in one of my best ever EBC shots 2 years ago. This second visit of this special pitta was far better as this particular bird has been far more confiding and the park authorities was kind enough to do crowd control by doing a queue system, allowing photographers in 10 by 10 for 15 minutes to avoid crowding. So nearly everyone has a clearer shot of this bird this time round in typical upright Pitta stance. 

The second visit is making me wonder if the fairy pitta is expanding its migration range as it historically flies direct from northern Asia into Borneo. 

 

 

 

 

Edited November 4, 2021 by Kitsafari

[Kitsafari]

252. Oriental Dwarf Kingfisher, Hindhede Nature Park

 

To round up the recent wave of rarities (although we missed out on one rarity - the ashy-headed green pigeon), the stunning, minute, and always crowd-pleasing oriental dwarf kingfisher or black-backed kingfisher. Last year was not a good season as only a couple were sighted for a day or two. This year saw a 3 or four in different parks, but also a handful found dead as they seem to crash into our tall buildings more than others (except blue-winged pittas which also tend to crash into buildings)  

 

 

 

 

 

[Kitsafari]

253. Blue-eared Kingfisher, Windsor Park

 

An uncommon winter visitor, the blue-eared kingfisher is the last of the eight regular kingfishers we see during migration season. Almost a grand slam of the Singapore kingfishers but for one - the ninth kingfisher species in the Singapore Bird List is the Pied Kingfisher, but this species (which we all are familiar with in Africa!) has only been seen once on our island in 1994. 

 

 

 

[Kitsafari]

254. Gray-faced Buzzard, Henderson Wave

 

The raptors are late in passing by Singapore apparently because bad weather had kept thousands of them in Thailand. But reports from there are that they are finally on the move. 

An EBC of a BIF.

 

[Kitsafari]

255. Dark-sided Flycatcher, Changi Business Park

 

A migrant.

 

[Kitsafari]

256. Forest Wagtail, Yishun

 

An uncommon migrant. 

 

[shazdwn]

Wow its like the birds of the world know you can't get out to visit them so they are coming to you!!  What and incredible range of rare species, and a mouse deer to boot.

[PeterHG]

Great photos of most of the rarities! It's good to hear the park authorities controlled the number of visitors and it certainly paid of with amazing images.

[Soukous]

Kit, I'm just trying to work out how many times this year you've said "that's about it from us", and then gone on to produce another batch of super images. Not fair.

[michael-ibk]

Wonderful KIngfishers - and the Pitta too. Congratulatoins on passing #250, a great achievement!

[Galana]

Wow from me too. And the rarities just make it better and better. I like the mental image of orderly queuing to get a ticket to view the Pitta. Are they split into seats in the circle or stalls?

All we get from our 'Park keepers' is "gerroff the grass!"

[Zim Girl]

Gorgeous pictures of the kingfishers.

[pedro maia]

Amazing birds and pictures and congrats on 250, I also like the falconet and the buzzard photos, my kind of photos .

[Kitsafari]

 

Thanks much for the generous comments, everyone. 

 

On 11/4/2021 at 5:10 PM, Soukous said:

Kit, I'm just trying to work out how many times this year you've said "that's about it from us", and then gone on to produce another batch of super images. Not fair.

 

 

it was about it from us. and then migration season started anew and the rarities decided to holiday in the hot and wet tropical island. 

 

On 11/4/2021 at 4:31 PM, PeterHG said:

Great photos of most of the rarities! It's good to hear the park authorities controlled the number of visitors and it certainly paid of with amazing images.

 

and we hope they will continue this system as it is far better than just boarding up the entire area to keep photographers from bunching up (which they did with the black-backed kingfisher). 

 

 

 

 

 

Edited November 5, 2021 by Kitsafari

[Peter Connan]

Wow. Again.

[Kitsafari]

After a long hiatus, we (or rather Herman's camera) managed to scrape together a number of species for this year's count. 

 

257. Cinerous Bulbul, Kent Ridge

 

A rare non-breeding winter visitor