pekan quarry otters @ ubin -17Oct2015

A late afternoon at Ubin's Pekan Quarry proved a good spot for birdwatching. The usual suspects showed up. A grey headed fish eagle, stork-billed kingfisher, two common kingfishers, a dollarbird, barn swallows, bee-eaters, a flock of asian glossy starlings, a white bellied sea-eagle, a couple of brahminy kites, a pair of straw headed bulbuls, two oriental magpie robins, an oriental pied hornbill and lots of grey herons.

Common Kingfisher 

Barn Swallow

Stork-Billed Kingfisher

The endangered Grey Headed Fish Eagle 

Grey Herons loving the first installation of the new floating wetlands at Pekan Quarry.

Grey Heron with Common Kingfisher

Oriental Pied Hornbill

The grey herons were enjoying the new floating wetlands installation. There were 4 to 5 islands of rafts lined with coconut husk fibres mat with some planted vegetation. Some of the herons, presumably juveniles, were actively picking at the reeds. This might be to practise their targeting skills. 

The floating wetlands were also a hit with a group (about five) of visiting otters, (likely smooth-coated otters). Otters have only occasionally been seen at Pekan Quarry and it was great to see them using the newly installed floating wetlands. It also looked like 2 of the otters were spraying the coconut husk matting with their faeces which may be a sign that they are claiming the area as theirs.

pekan quarry otters @ ubin -17Oct2015 from SgBeachBum on Vimeo.

Hope the otters like the wetlands enough to make it a permanent home. 

Find out more about the Pekan Quarry wetlands and other Pulau Ubin projects :

https://www.nparks.gov.sg/news/2015/6/factsheet-updates-on-the-ubin-project-initiatives-june-2015

http://www.mnd.gov.sg/mndlink/2015/2015_Jul-Aug/ubin-day-2015.htm

http://www.tnp.sg/news/5-new-things-look-forward-pulau-ubin

http://www.channelnewsasia.com/news/singapore/new-biodiversity-research/1913778.html

http://www.straitstimes.com/singapore/environment/nparks-to-build-homes-on-pulau-ubin-for-bats-birds-and-other-creatures

Pulau Ubin :

http://www.wildsingapore.com/ubin/

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pulau_Ubin

https://www.nparks.gov.sg/gardens-parks-and-nature/parks-and-nature-reserves/pulau-ubin-and-chek-jawa

http://www.littledayout.com/article/day-tripping-to-pulau-ubin-planning.html

stork-billed kingfisher @ Ubin - Sept2012

Pekan Quarry seems to be a good place to spot not so common birds. Some of them are big and some are small. Earlier in the day at about noon, PH spotted a rare grey-headed fish eagle flying in to sit on a branch of an Albizia by the edge of the quarry.

A lot of times, the small birds are far away. It was a pleasant surprise seeing a stork-billed kingfisher, the largest kingfisher in Singapore and one which is not commonly seen (i've only seen by the main bridge at Sungei Buloh) sitting on a branch at the edge of Pekan Quarry. The branch was unfortunately, some distance away. 

The bird did a bit of fishing around the branch and then resumed preening itself. It looked as if it had dived to catch a fish and 'lost' the fish after getting back to the perch. Replaying the video showed it to have merely pulled out a feather instead of losing a fish. Realtime can be deceiving.

Place : Pekan Quarry, Ubin

Time : about 6pm.

  stork-billed kingfisher @ ubin - Sept2012 from SgBeachBum on Vimeo.

Find out more about this kingfisher :

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stork-billed_Kingfisher

http://www.naturia.per.sg/buloh/birds/Pelargopsis_capensis.htm

http://www.ecologyasia.com/verts/birds/tree-kingfishers.htm

http://www.besgroup.org/2011/02/20/stork-billed-kingfishers-fishy-antics/

http://besgroup.blogspot.com/2006/09/tale-of-stork-billed-kingfisher.html