eagle v kamikaze @ high street - June 2012

The white-bellied sea eagle was flying back past the unflying saucer towards Fort Canning when it suddenly swerved as a dark form sliced through its flight path in a sweeping almost vertical downward sweeping arc at great speed. The dark form can be seen setting itself up for the dive at the start of the clip as it rises quickly at the top left corner ofthe frame before making its rapidly calculated dive.

As the eagle regained its composure in the air above High Street-Funan, the dark form dived again narrowly missing the eagle.
(the dark form appears as a double image in the clip due to its high speed).

Time : about 1830 hrs

eagle v kamikaze @ high street - June 2012 from SgBeachBum on Vimeo.

An unedited clip (sans slowmo) showing the few seconds where the dark form was able to dive twice at rapid speed.

zeaglekamikazedII from SgBeachBum on Vimeo.

[There was a considerable distance between the scene of the action and my observation point from the esplanade bridge and unfortunately, there is no other good vantage point offering an unobstructed view of the area.]

Similar behaviour had been been observed the preceding week when an eagle had a caught something snake-like and was flying across the sky with its dinner in its talons. It was suddenly dive-bombed by a speedy kamikaze bird (probably a peregrine falcon) which tried more than once to unnerve the eagle (probably for an easy snack).

Find out more about the possible kamikaze :
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Peregrine_Falcon
http://singaporeseen.stomp.com.sg/stomp/sgseen/this_urban_jungle/792858/falcon_spotted_in_heart_of_city.html
http://www.besgroup.org/2009/02/04/peregrine-falcon-in-singapore%E2%80%99s-heartland/
http://besgroup.blogspot.sg/2006/12/peregrine-falcon-feasting-on-black.html

blue-throated bee-eater on road @ turut track - June 2012

Came across this bee-eater sitting on the road. It seemed to be grooming itself but i saw little reason for it to expose itself in the open as it did when it could have done so in the safety of a tree branch.

spectacular aero-nautical eagle show @ marina bay ~ June 2012

Why wait for the annual air-show at far-away Changi when you can see a spectacular one daily at the Marina Bay Reservoir?

The eagle had been flying circles beyond the Benjamin Sheares Bridge with its partner but flew towards the Esplanade at about 6.30pm. It suddenly swung into a steep dive with its legs extended swooping close to the surface before snatching what was most likely a fish from the surface. 

It then began flapping its wings flying up in a tight spiral. It kept doing this until it reached well above the Esplanade durians before flying off across the Padang. It soon settled on its favourite perch atop a building and started consuming its skillfully caught dinner. Evening showtimes are between 6pm and 7pm. Best vantage point is from the Esplanade Bridge. Spectacular and free....right in the heart of the city!

Find out more about Singapore's white-bellied sea eagles :

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

http://singaporebirds.net/npassers_04/white-bellied_sea_eagle.html

http://www.besgroup.org/2010/01/09/white-bellied-sea-eagles-catch-sea-snakes/

http://www.besgroup.org/2008/05/18/white-bellied-sea-eagle-foraging-in-monsoon-drain/

http://www.besgroup.org/2007/03/24/white-bellied-sea-eagle-fishing/

http://www.besgroup.org/2006/05/13/white-bellied-fish-eagle-fishing-a-rat/

http://besgroup.blogspot.sg/2006/09/white-bellied-sea-eagle-not-just.html

http://besgroup.blogspot.sg/2006/10/white-bellied-sea-eagle-in-action.html

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/White-bellied_Sea_Eagle

http://infopedia.nl.sg/articles/SIP_579_2005-01-05.html

http://www.mas.gov.sg/currency/currency_info/notes/bird_series/Singapore_Circulation_Notes_Bird_Series__10000.html

http://www.sicc.org.sg/sicc_crest.asp

Festival of Biodiversity - Singapore 26May2012

Videos of the various talks from the inaugural
Festival of Biodiversity

held on 26 May 2012
at the Singapore Botanic Gardens.

Video 1 - The Welcome Address 
by NParks CEO, Mr Poon Hong Yuen

Video 2 - the Keynote Address 
by Nature Society of Singapore President, Dr Shawn Lum

Video 3 - Presentation by Ms Tan Beng Chiak, Raffles Girls' School 
on "The cowshed that became a WELL"

Video 4 - 'Community Efforts in Biodiversity -1,000,000 native plants @ South West' 
by Mr. Tiew Chew Meng





Video 5 - Presentation by Mr Liak Teng Lit, Group CEO - Alexandra Health 
on "Enhancing Biodiversity at a Hospital Project - the Khoo Teck Puat Hospital's experience"

Video 6 - Presentation by Mr Ching Youyi, Keppel Singmarine
on "Keppel Volunteers - Diving for Biodiversity"

Video 7 - Presentation by Mr N. Sivasothi, National University of Singapore
Co-ordinator for International Coastal Cleanup Singapore on 
"Trash on the Beach - 21 years of Community Action on the shores of Singapore"

other video clips of talks by the other presentors 
will be made available over the next week.



Find out more about the Festival of Biodiversity :
http://festivalofbiodiversitysingapore.wordpress.com/
http://festivalofbiodiversitysingapore.wordpress.com/programme/

http://festivalofbiodiversitysingapore.wordpress.com/2012/03/19/first-festival-of-biodiversity/

http://iyb2010singapore.blogspot.sg/2012/04/26-27-may-sat-sun-festival-of.html

yellow-vented bulbul @ ketam quarry @ ubin - may2012

Saw some rustling in the trees and it turned out to be a bird feeding. It was a yellow-vented bulbul which is a very common bird in Singapore. Not sure exactly what kind of tree it was but perhaps it was a  type of ficus???.

Location : at the Ketam Quarry hilltop 

Time : about 2.45 pm

Find out more about this bird :

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

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yellow-vented_Bulbul

http://www.besgroup.org/2012/04/15/yellow-vented-bulbul-in-my-garden/

http://www.npss.org.sg/main/images/pdf/yellow%20vented%20bulbul.pdf

http://rmbr.nus.edu.sg/nis/bulletin2009/2009nis347-352.pdf

sunda pygmy woodpecker @ the esplanade - 18may2012

Was walking by the Esplanade Waterfront just before the Esplanade Bridge on 17May2012 at about 6pm when i noticed a small bird flying up to a tree. This would not normally pique my interest...as there are many many small tiny sparrows all over Singapore...but a sparrow this was not...it started hopping UP the long trunk of the palm tree without using its wings. Sparrows do not hop UP tree trunks...they fly. I then realised that there were more such birds on the trunks of the adjacent palm trees. I counted five in total. 

I quickly checked the NSS Bird Guide on my mobilephone. The bird which most closely resembled these birds was the Sunda Pygmy Woodpecker. I was also able to play the birdcall audio file recording of the Sunda Pygmy Woodpecker and a few moments later I heard a similar chip coming from a tree behind me. Double confirmation! Through the pictures in the App and via the birdcall recording in the App as well!

Later, I went home and consulted Robson's Field Guide to the Birds of SE Asia. Unfortunately, this one showed both the Sunda Pygmy as well as the Grey-Capped Pygmy Woodpeckers as closely resembling each other. As I did not have any photo of the esplanade birds, it was difficult to conclusively ID the birds.

I went back the next day at 6.30pm with a more capable camera&lens combination and managed to spot the birds again.

The clips seen here capture three of the birds on the palm tree trunks at the small little patch of green just between the Esplanade Bridge and the Esplanade Theatre building. The birds seemed to be foraging on the trunks probably for ants or termites or other insects. The first bird's dinner was interrupted by another pygmy woody flying to the same trunk and it seemed to be intimidated by the newcomer as it quickly moved lower around the trunk being chased by the newcomer until the first bird flew off to another adjacent tree.

The birds had a distinct sub-mustachial stripe which seems to point (according to the Robson's guide) towards them being the Sunda Pygmy instead of the Grey-Capped Pygmy woodies (which are thought to be extinct in Singapore). 

Read more about these birds here :

http://singaporebirds.net/npassers_01/sunda_pygmy_woodpecker.html

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sunda_Pygmy_Woodpecker

http://www.besgroup.org/2011/04/17/sunda-pygmy-woodpecker-foraging/

Visit these links for more info on the NSS Bird Guide App :

http://www.nss.org.sg/nss_group.aspx?news_id=WD4nAJNGyuo=&group_id=yclleUod3WM=

http://itunes.apple.com/sg/app/birds-of-singapore/id513185555?mt=8