sgbeachbum: grey-headed fish eagle @ sg buloh

It was just after 6 pm when most of the weekend's visitors to the reserve had already left. The hornbills were somewhere towards the front of Sungei Buloh Besar and started cackling loudly. I turned towards them to see what i thought was one of them flying towards the main bridge. However, the flying style of this bird was noticeably different from that of a regular oriental-pied hornbill. It was a raptor and I initially thought it was a white-bellied sea eagle (or white-bellied fish eagle as it is also known by). As it got closer, i saw that the head was noticeably grey. This was my first time seeing the grey-headed fish eagle up close. I had a fleeting glance of one on Pulau Ubin some months ago but this one was headed my way and flying rather low. I lost track of it when it was just past overhead and it flew into some trees. A quick reposition on the bridge showed it atop a tree looking around. It was there for about a minute before flying off towards the pond on the left of the main hide. Hope it finds a favourite tree at Sungei Buloh to take up residence!

Global status : near threatened