A short clip of a short dogfight over the skies of chek jawa between a white-bellied fish eagle and a grey-headed fish eagle as seen from the Jejawi Tower. The WBSE obviously did not like the prescence of the GHFE and was trying to get rid of it. The WBSE was seen repeatedly flying close to the GHFE harassing it and the GHFE extended its legs ready to use them against the WBSE. There was however no contact seen between the two birds. The two birds eventually flew off behind the forest canopy near the Balai Quarry and the GHFE was not seen in the sky afterwards.
The migratory season has started and the Jejawi Tower at Chek Jawa proved a great vantage point to spot both migratory as well as resident birds in the sky. Amongst those spotted were oriental honey buzzards, changeable hawk eagles, accipiters,white-bellies sea eagles, grey-headed fish eagles, grey herons, sunbirds, swifts, oriental-pied hornbills, black-naped orioles et al.
Besides the birds, other animals seen were the ubiquitous macaques and wild boar.
The coastal forest around Chek Jawa and at that corner of Pulau Ubin is indeed a fabulous vista to take in. A must see for all!
Time : about 10.00am
Sunday, November 4, 2012
Monday, October 15, 2012
juvenile brahminy kites @ lim chu kang road - Oct2012
There were two raptors flying around the Lim Chu Kang chicken coops as if they were looking to make an afternoon meal out of the poultry in the megacoops. The chickens were certainly making a bit of noise from the safety of the sheltered buildings.
The raptors looked like juvenile Brahminy Kites. One of them was fiddling with its legs in midflight as if it had got something stuck and was trying to remove it. Brahminy Kites are well known for eating on the fly which is something they seem to specialise in as compared to other locally found raptors. The tails edge was also a slightly rounded squarish one as compared to the wedge shaped tail of the white-bellied sea eagles.
Find out more about the Brahminy Kite :
Sunday, October 14, 2012
sandpiper & prawn dinner @ Sg Buloh Wetland Reserve - Oct2012
I think this is a Common Redshank (but I initially thought it was a Marsh Sandpiper). The reddish legs identify it as a Redshank. The other birds which closely resemble it are the Greenshank (with greenish legs) and the Marsh Sandpiper. This bird had a clearly visible green tag on its left leg. I assume that the green tag was over a white tag which was not so visible. The green over white tags indicate that the bird was ringed in Singapore. SBWR does ring birds with the characteristic green over white tags to identify that these birds were tagged in Singapore. It had just caught a nice prawn and was busy preparing it for a swallow. It kept dunking the prawn in the small stream and finally swallowed the prawn whole. I had previously thought that sandpipers went for smaller food items like insects , small crabs and small worms. This prawn was certainly at the larger end of the sandpiper's food list.
Here is another clip of another Redshank foraging close to the ringed Redshank.
sandpiper looking for dinner @ SBWR - Oct2012 from SgBeachBum on Vimeo.
Saturday, October 13, 2012
stork-billed kingfisher @ SBWR - OCT2012
The resident stork-billed kingfisher (Singapore's largest resident kingfisher) was at the cafe pond sitting nicely on a fallen bamboo stalk. There was also a barrage of megalensed photographers who had set up in the cafe intruding into the king's privacy. It did the best it could by flying off and returning with a fish in its beak only if was facing the opposite direction much to the annoyance of the persons behind some expensive glass.
The bird promptly made quick work of the fish swallowing it. Shortly thereafter, it did a quick neck swing and ruffled its feathers and wings as if to reset itself after the dive to catch the fish. The neck swinging seemed particularly 'violent' ... much more severe than any you might get in an old style barber's chair after a cut. The resetting neck swing shows the power the kingfisher has in its neck muscles when it uses the same action to knock prey (eg. fish, lizards etc.) senseless against branches before swallowing them.
here is the replay of the neck swing (@12.5% normal speed)
disappearing croc @ sg buloh wetland reserve - Oct2012
I was up in the tower aerie looking down when a fast moving log caught my eye.
The 'log' was about 2 metres long and it seemed to know when it was being watched for it soon submerged and disappeared below the water surface. It later surfaced closeby showing just its head for a brief moment before it disappeared again.
Bet you'd think more than twice before you get into the mangroves next.
Wednesday, October 10, 2012
grey-headed fish eagle @ sg buloh wetland reserve - Oct2012
It was about 1030 am when I spotted a raptor quite far off flying in tight circular. It was only when I got a faraway glimpse of the top edge of its tail that I knew what it was...a rare grey-headed fish eagle. (There was a distinctive black edge to the white tail). This was my second time seeing it at SBWR. The first was in July 2012 when it flew almost directly overhead the main bridge giving me a fabulous short clip. (see this post from July 2012).
The eagle was flying somewhere near the outdoor classroom area beyond the main tower aerie. It kept to a tight circle for a few minutes before flying off towards the coast. It seemed as if it was somehow interested in the area below its flight circle. Hopefully it was scouting out a roost or fishing spot.
Towards the mid-afternoon whilst I was occupying a quiet gazebo at the mangrove boardwalk area when the air was interrupted by the unmistakable squawking of white-bellied fish eagles coming from the direction of the currently closed (for renovations) Kranji Nature Trail. I hope the renovations do not inconvenience the WBSEs too much. Let's hope they stay too!
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