egret v egret @ seletar - Jan 2013

Whilst the openbills were taking centrestage, two egrets (probably Cattle Egrets) decided to fight it out. Both had been provoking each other for about half a minute before the recording started. They had been flapping their wings at each other lifting off a couple of feet as if they were daring the other to get physical. 

Eventually, things got heated and the birds went at each other with one bird managing to step on the other and giving the fallen bird a good strong peck at the back of its head. That was a convincing enough show of strength and the loser flew off in a hurry. The victor stood still for a bit and then itself flew off to a spot about 25 metres away.

egrets v egret @ seletar - Jan 2013 from SgBeachBum on Vimeo.

read more about the cattle egret :
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cattle_Egret
http://www.besgroup.org/2011/08/15/cattle-egrets-feeding-at-rubbish-dump/
http://www.besgroup.org/2007/05/14/cattle-egret-a-potential-urban-scavenger/
http://www.besgroup.org/2007/03/30/cattle-egrets-have-colonised-the-world/
http://www.ecologyasia.com/verts/birds/herons-small.htm

asian open-billed stork I @ seletar - Jan2013

The Asian Openbill or Asian Open-Billed Stork made a rare appearance in Singapore last week. There are 6 birds currently in the Seletar area hanging about a tiny patch of soft marshy ground.

I got to the site at 7.15am in time to see one bird fly in to roost at a tree across the marshy field. I was soon joined by a slew of cars (and 2 motorbikes), tripods and mega-glass. The 6 birds flew down to the marshy patch one-by-one. Pretty soon, there was a firing line focused on the birds watching their every more as the birds went about looking for breakfast. The birds soon got spooked by a passing Brahminy Kite and flew off to the safety of the trees for about 20 minutes before returning to resume their hunt for breakfast.  

Here is a clip of the birds going about breakfast. 

asian open-billed stork I @ seletar - Jan2013 from SgBeachBum on Vimeo.

The early bird gets the ... snail. They seem to like Apple Snails (Link1, Link2) which are seen to be an invasive pest organism in many countries. 

More about this rare visitor here :

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

http://ibc.lynxeds.com/species/asian-openbill-anastomus-oscitans

http://www.nepjol.info/index.php/ON/article/view/2552

http://www.oiseaux-birds.com/card-asian-openbill.html

http://avis.indianbiodiversity.org/bibliography-of-ciconiiformes-ciconiidae-storks/bibliography-of-asian-openbill-anastomus-oscitans.html

hawk-cuckoo @ labrador park - Jan 2013

Spotted this hawk-cuckoo at about 7pm on the tree just before the Labrador Park beach gate. It kept flying to and fro between that branch pictured and somewhere behind one of the sea almond trees behind the beach walkway. It seemed to prefer to sit with its neck withdrawn as if to lower its profile. However, just before flying off, it extended its neck as if to get a better look at something before it flew off.

hawk-cuckoo@labrador park - Jan2013 from SgBeachBum on Vimeo.

It's either a Malaysian Hawk-Cuckoo or a Hudgson's Hawk-Cuckoo (?). This paper by Yong Ding Li highlights the difficulty in identifying between the two.

ashy tailorbird moment @ labrador park - Jan2013

It's not often that the little birds keep still long enough for one to get a good look and observe them. Ashy Tailorbirds can sometimes be quite tolerant of human prescence closeby. This little bird was only about 2 metres away on a small branch close to the end of the Berlayar Creek mangrove boardwalk. There was another ashy tailorbird in an adjacent sea hibiscus but it was a bit more shy preferring to hide in the shade below the sea hibiscus foliage. 

The pictured bird chose a nice sunlit spot to catch some sun and air its feathers.

ashy tailorbird moment @ labrador park - Jan2013 from SgBeachBum on Vimeo.
Time : about 5.00pm

Find out more about this delightful mangrove bird :

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

http://nusavifauna.wordpress.com/2012/07/31/ashy-tailorbird/

http://www.birdlife.org/datazone/speciesfactsheet.php?id=7652

http://ibc.lynxeds.com/photo/ashy-tailorbird-orthotomus-ruficeps/ashy-tailorbird

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

http://www.xeno-canto.org/species/Orthotomus-ruficeps

http://www.oiseaux.net/birds/photos/ashy.tailorbird.html

http://orientalbirdimages.org/birdimages.php?action=birdspecies&Bird_ID=1770

http://sgbeachbum.blogspot.sg/2012/08/ashy-tailorbird-mirrored-woodlands.html

http://www.besgroup.org/2011/03/31/call-of-the-ashy-tailorbird/

peregrine falcon @ labrador park = 05Jan2013

Was near the Labrador Park MRT station when I noticed a bird flapping its wings across the big field. This one looked somewhat differently from the ubiquitous pigeons and mynas. It made its way towards PSA building and flew past it a little before doing a U-turn and flying back in the direction of PSA building all the while gaining height. Nearing the building, it stopped flapping its wings and cruised a bit before sharply evading the side of the building in an abrupt u-turn narrowly missing crashing into the side of the building. It then flew off around the far side of PSA building and disappeared from view.

It was only after i got back home and adjusted the video settings (adjusting exposure and playback speed) before i could confirm that it was a peregrine falcon because of the characteristic Elvis Presley sideburns on its face. The sharp wing-tip pattern in flight are also characteristic of falcons.

peregrine falcon @ labrador park - 05Jan2013 from SgBeachBum on Vimeo.

Peregrine Falcons are more commonly seen in Singapore during the October to April months when visiting falcons from the further north migrate south to escape the cold Northern winter months. They favour tall trees or in a place like Singapore...tall buildings where a high vantage point makes it easy for them to spot prey (e.g smaller birds like pigeons, mynas etc.) flying below them.
There may however be resident peregrine falcons which stay on in Singapore throughout the year. Here are a couple of clips from June 2012 : LINK

Find out more about the fastest animal (when in a hunting dive) on the planet :

http://www.iucnredlist.org/details/106003622/0

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

http://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Peregrine_Falcon/id

http://www.rspb.org.uk/wildlife/birdguide/name/p/peregrine/index.aspx

http://animals.nationalgeographic.com/animals/birds/peregrine-falcon/

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q_sFmeZ5XF0

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
http://sgbeachbum.blogspot.sg/2012/06/eagle-v-kamikaze-high-street-june-2012.html
http://www.naturia.per.sg/buloh/birds/migration.htm

changeable hawk eagle (pale morph) @ bukit brown - 01Jan2013

Spending the first day of the New Year at the Bukit Brown cemetary may seem out of place (and contradictory to local superstitious beliefs) but I was glad that there were not many visitors on the first day of the year. This left the whole place less disturbed and the birds more relaxed.
[Note : the cemetary was designated as a Municipal Cemetary on 1 Jan 1922 by the then Municipal Commissioner Tan Kheam Hock and so the 1st of Jan is an anniversary. Find out more here. LINK]

I spent about 7 hours from about 7am until about 2pm walking about the grounds. 7am is a good time to visit the cemetary as the sounds of the various birds is more clear than the lower level of traffic noise coming from the nearby Lornie Road.

On my exit along the last stretch leading back to the carpark, I was approaching a huge rain tree at the first 'y' junction from the roundabout when a large bird took off flying low away from me towards a denser part of the surrounding foliage. It settled on a bare branch and moved to another tree soon after where it started calling out loud with its characteristic signature call. (check clip below and compare with LINK)  Somewhere close by, another changeable hawk eagle returned its call. It soon took off soaring in a spiral with the midday thermals but kept to about 50 meters off the ground in a tight circular path. After flying low for about 3 minutes, the bird flew off towards the main gate still calling out occasionally. After I left the cemetary about half an hour later, I could hear the calls coming from the forested area adjacent to Kheam Hock Road. This part of the forest would eventually be cleared for the proposed road building later on in 2013.

changeable hawk eagle (pale morph) @ bukit brown - 01Jan2013 from SgBeachBum on Vimeo.

I wasn't alone in appreciating the eagle as a very enthusiastic lady ('GC'), an accomplished bird photographer herself, drove by with two camera-toting friends. They must have heard the eagle's calls and came looking for it. GC's enthusiasm for the eagle can be heard in the background audio accompanying the video. The eagle was flying low and provided a good subject. GC, who visits Bukit Brown probably more often than anyone else, later shared that there were 7 types of eagles which could be seen in the Bukit Brown area. I had seen a crested serpent eagle flying in the sky above Bukit Brown about half an hour earlier and I had heard from others that one can see the grey-headed fish eagle as well as the white-bellied sea eagle around too. I would assume that the dark morph version of the changeable hawk eagle can also be found around Bukit Brown. Must keep a lookout for other eagles too!

What a fabulous way to start the New Year!
Best wishes to all!

Find out more about these rarely seen resident birds here :

http://sgbeachbum.blogspot.com/2012/11/changeable-hawk-eagles-tanah-merah.html

http://www.birdlife.org/datazone/speciesfactsheet.php?id=31546

http://www.besgroup.org/2007/10/07/changeable-hawk-eagle-pale-x-dark-morph/

http://www.besgroup.org/2007/08/16/portrait-of-an-eagle-changeable-hawk-eagle/

 http://besgroup.blogspot.com/2007/01/changeable-eagle-attacking-colugo.html

http://www.besgroup.org/2006/11/02/changeable-hawk-eagle-and-the-long-tailed-macaque/

http://www.besgroup.org/2007/07/21/changeable-hawk-eagle-nesting-observations/

http://nusavifauna.wordpress.com/2012/07/29/changeable-hawk-eagle/

http://singaporebirds.blogspot.com/2012/06/buttonquail.html

http://www.xeno-canto.org/species/Nisaetus-cirrhatus

http://wildbirdsingapore.nss.org.sg/Raptor%20Manual_circa.pdf