sgbeachbum

Sunday, February 26, 2012

spotted dove @ seletar link mangrove

Was walking out or the Seletar Link mangrove settlement when 'kuh-kruuu' vocalisation of a bird caught my attention. It was sheltering deep within the foliage of a sea hibiscus tree. I guess it was preparing to settle down for the evening. It had a beautiful white-spotted black neck collar covering the sides and rear of its neck. I guess that is where it gets its name from.

red-breasted parakeet @ seletar link mangrove

This bright green bird caught my eye at the top of one of the mangrove trees. I think it was a Sonneratia Alba tree. The bird picked select leaves and chewed off the stems before discarding the leaves. The stems and the parts of the leaves near the stem seemed to the only part of the leaves the bird was interested in.

Time : about 6.40pm, 24th Feb 2012.

I initially thought this was a long-tailed parakeet but this bird had a bright reddish upper mandible and a slightly paler yellow/orange/cream lower mandible and it had a grey-blue crown and head instead of the more reddish cheek patch seen in the long-tailed parakeet. I've identified it as a male red-breasted parakeet although its lower mandible is not black but seems to be a pale yellow/orange/cream colour.

Find out more about the red-breasted parakeet :

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Red-breasted_Parakeet

http://www.birdlife.org/datazone/speciesfactsheet.php?id=1540

http://ibc.lynxeds.com/species/red-breasted-parakeet-psittacula-alexandri

http://www.besgroup.org/2011/02/26/red-breasted-parakeet-eats-seeds-of-lagestroemia-speciosa/

http://www.besgroup.org/2011/08/05/video-of-red-breasted-parakeet-eating-seeds-of-african-tulip/

http://www.xeno-canto.org/species/Psittacula-alexandri

Saturday, February 25, 2012

brown shrike @ seletar link mangrove

Came across what i initially thought was a sparrow sitting on a scrubby bush at the mangroves. On a closer look, it had a black stripe across the eye. Checking my bird guide showed it to be a Brown Shrike.

Tuesday, February 21, 2012

galloping mangrove pitta @ pasir ris - Feb2012

This rarely seen bird prefers not to fly, although it can very well, but to hop or gallop about on the ground and it does it fast! Viewed at normal speed, the bird seems to have an rather peculiar gait. However, when slowed down to 12.5%, one sees that the bird tends to gallop on both feet instead of running with each foot alternating. I'm not sure if there are any other birds which prefer, not to use their wings, but to gallop or hop like the blue-winged pitta over not-so-short distances (eg. 3 to 5 metres). Most of the birds I have observed which do walk on the ground will prefer to flap their wings to assist a walk of more than a metre. White-breasted waterhens do walk over extended distances and they also do run without using their wings but their step is one which alternates each foot. Understandably, flapping a set of wings would take up more energy than running or hopping along.

(note : the bird is actually a mangrove pitta and not a blue-winged pitta. These look very alike but there are some slight difference such as the size of the bill )

Monday, February 20, 2012

spotted wood owls @ pasir ris - Jan2012

Was informed by a friendly birder that there were some rarely seen owls nesting at Pasir Ris Park near the mangroves. I went to the location and started looking. It was like looking for a needle in a haystack. Finally, after some aching neck muscles, I spotted the first one. This was an adult Spotted Wood Owl. And closeby on the same tree, was a juvenile. The juvenile was covered in more white feathers as compared to the darker plumage of the adult. It was about 5pm and both birds were sitting silently on the high branches of the tree. Their wide faces and big eyes following every movement. Apparently, there were supposed to be two adult birds. I could not locate the other one that day though. Perhaps it was in the nearby mangroves. It was fascinating to know that the Pasir Ris mangroves and park could support such rarely seen birds of prey.

According to the Singapore Red Data Book, this species of owl is critially endangered.
One of the main causes of this is probably due to habitat destruction. There just aren't enough patches of forest left in Singapore to sustain more of these rare birds.

Sunday, February 19, 2012

large-tailed nightjar @ bukit brown - Feb2012

Was passing by Lornie Road and decided to detour into the Bukit Brown cemetary since i had never been there at night. At about 10pm, the birdsong heard during the day was gone. All the birds must have been snoozing away up in the trees. There was only the sound of crickets and a rhythmic 'chlok, chlok, chlok' reverberating throughout that part of the cemetary. This sound i knew to be coming from a nightjar which would be active at night.

As i was driving along slowly, something, which looked like a bunch of leaves on the road, exploded from the ground in front of the car. As it flew away, i thought that it must have been a nightjar as they had a habit of keeping still until the intruder was almost upon it and then flying off in an instant. Moving along slowly, i came across another nightjar sitting on the road about 3 metres after the first one which had flown off. This one did not fly off eventhough the car was about two and a half metres away.

Chancing it, I dimmed the headlights, got out and approached the sitting bird expecting it to fly away at any second. Instead, it kept still and i was able to get very close to it. I was close enough to touch it and it still did not move. I guess when i moved slightly back, it decided that that was the time to fly off. It seemed to jump up and fly off in a micro-moment and disappeared silently into the night sky. The bird had an incredibly red eye-shine quite befitting a bird which was active at night and especially in an old cemetary.

I wondered why the two nightjars were sitting on the road instead of on the grassy patch close-by. I guess it could be because it had rained during the day and the ground must still have been damp and cold. Perhaps the birds were taking advantage of the drier and warmer conditions on the road.