crows vs eagle @ SBWR - Feb 2017

This clip shows the ubiquitous house crows harassing a juvenile white-bellied sea eagle. The crows are certainly persistent and each brave enough to mess with the much larger eagle.

The eagle tried its best to maintain its balance but lost it and had to take to the air although it was clearly unprepared to do so and seemingly forgot to tell its legs that it was no longer on the tree.

crows vs eagle @ SBWR - Feb 2017 from SgBeachBum on Vimeo.

osprey diving @ eagle point - Feb 2017

osprey diving @ eagle point - Feb 2017

Whimbrels flying from Eagle Point towards Sungei Danga/Sungei Sekudai - 12Nov2016

A flock of about 35 whimbrels flying off from Eagle Point (Singapore) across the Straits of Johor (Malaysia) towards Sungei Danga/Sekudai in Johor. The incoming tide chased the birds off for the evening. Eagle Point (part of the Sungei Buloh Wetland Reserve) is at the western edge of the Mandai mudflats which is a rich coastal mudflat area which the shorebirds feed at during the lower tides. As the incoming tide rises, the shorebirds fly off to roost at either the Sungei Buloh Wetland Reserve nearby or across the Straits of Johor towards the Sungei Danga/Sekudai mangroves. Time : 6.36pm Tide : 0.9m @ 3.30pm, 2.9m @ 9.30pm The clip was shot at 96fps and played back at 24fps. Certain sections were sped up (especially where the focus starts to suffer and the birds are far away enough to start merging into the background.)

Whimbrel Flock flying towards Sungei Sekudai - 12Nov2016 from SgBeachBum on Vimeo.

The red lines show some of the routes taken by various groups of shorebirds to and from the Mandai mudflats from roosting sites at SBWR and the Danga-Sekudai rivers. There may be other roosting areas (eg. Sungai Melayu) closeby too. (Music : Symphony No. 4 in B-Flat Major : Op 60 IV. : Allegro ma non troppo)

harrier @ kranji marshes - 19Nov2016

At first, I thought a brahminy kite was flying low over the marsh but soon realised that this was not a kite but a harrier.... likely a juvenile eastern marsh harrier. The head of the harrier was very visibly pale and the rest of its plumage was in much darker tones of brown with a distinct white rump.

It made several passes over the marsh before flying off towards the north.


harrier @ kranji marshes 19Nov2016 from SgBeachBum on Vimeo.

Juvenile White-Bellied Sea Eagle Fishing @ SBWR Eagle Point - 2Oct2016

This juvenile WBSE appeared out of nowhere in the sky above at Eagle Point, SBWR and quickly drew the keen attention of the few visitors at the lookout point. It swooped down towards a dead fish (probably a milkfish which is one of the types of fish farmed at the nearby offshore 'fishfarms') floating at the water surface which it skilfully picked up with incredible precision. It soon flew off into the fringing coastal mangrove forest. What a wonderful sight!

(no audio - footage shot at 120fps)


Juvenile White-Bellied Sea Eagle Fishing @ SBWR Eagle Point - 2 Oct 2016 from SgBeachBum on Vimeo.

pacific reef egrets @ cyrene reef - 09Feb2016

Cyrene Reef never ceases to amaze. Made up of three submerged reefs, one can only walk on it during particularly low tides. It lies surrounded by shipping lanes in and out of the port at the south-western edge of Singapore. Despite the busy shipping and petrochemical plants surrounding it, Cyrene Reef hosts an amazing range of marine life. With the low tides, the exposed reef and its temporary shallow pools become a feeding ground for wading and shorebirds.

These reef egrets were already on the exposed bit of the reef before we got off our boat and into the dinghy. Both the white and dark morph reef egrets were present and busy darting about looking for food. The dark morphs had smoky dark grey feathers, a white throat and a yellow bill. Both morphs were actively hunting for food in the shallows and they were very good at finding food ranging from tiny crabs, prawns and even fish.

white morph pacific reef egret @ cyrene reef - 09Feb2016 from SgBeachBum on Vimeo.

One peculiar thing both morphs did was to partially open up their wings as if to air their underwings as they were approaching their prey. Perhaps this helped to create a shadow to encourage prey to come out from hiding. Or maybe it helps with maintaining balance during active pursuits.

dark morph pacific reef egret @ cyrene reef - 09Feb2016 from SgBeachBum on Vimeo.

There were a total of 9 egrets seen that afternoon and 3 of them were dark morphs. The remaining 6 were white morphs.

Some links about the pacific reef egret :-
http://www.birdlife.org/datazone/species/factsheet/22696980
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pacific_reef_heron
http://www.arkive.org/pacific-reef-egret/egretta-sacra/
http://www.oiseaux-birds.com/card-pacific-eastern-reef-egret.html
http://www.besgroup.org/2011/08/17/pacific-reef-egrets-%E2%80%93-fishing-in-pulau-tioman-malaysia/
http://orientalbirdclub.org/chinese-egret/
http://npss.org.sg/forum/viewtopic.php?f=9&t=855
http://www.ecologyasia.com/verts/birds/herons-small.htm

More about Cyrene Reef :
http://www.wildsingapore.com/places/cyrene.htm
http://lkcnhm.nus.edu.sg/dna/places/details/55
http://cyrenereef.blogspot.sg/
http://teamseagrass.blogspot.sg/search/label/cyrene#.VsCWNpN95E4