February 2013 was a very wet month with some days having intermittent heavy rain from morning till the afternoon. The penultimate level of the Jejawi tower provided some shade from the light rain and also a great vantage point to look over the surrounding mangroves and forest. It's rare to see so much green in Singapore.
During the brief lulls in the intermittent rain, some of the birds showed themselves. There were the oriental-pied hornbills, straw-headed bulbuls(quite a few), olive-backed bulbuls, magpie robins, black-naped orioles, pink-necked green pigeons, brown-throated sunbirds, crimson sunbirds, a white-bellied sea eagle, and a great-billed heron amongst many other birds.
A red streak flew across the scene and settled on a nearby tree. It was a rufous woodpecker. This was my third time seeing a rufous woodpecker. The first was also on Pulau Ubin although at the Jelutong mangroves which is on the Southern side of Ubin. The second was at the Berlayar mangroves.
The bird was soon joined by another rufous woodpecker for a brief moment before the latter flew off to another nearby tree. Rufous woodpeckers are rarely seen resident birds. Habitat loss seems to be the main reason why these birds are not seen more regularly. We need to ensure that our already rare coastal mangroves and forests are conserved.
Read more about this rarely seen woodpecker :
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