Singapore - June 2024 - Trip List

As usual here is a list of the species seen, and for the more interesting ones the place where I saw it. A proper eBird trip list is here. In summary I had a great time and came back totally shattered, always the sign of a good trip. Despite all the greenery, finding birds in Singapore can actually be quite hard, and photography can be even harder, especially in the forests. But I tried! I came away pretty pleased with the birds I'd seen, but slightly disappointed I hadn't managed to break 100 species which I always thing of as the bare minimum for a weekend away, especially a long weekend. I also discovered that my days of lugging around a heavy DSLR were numbered, and if you have been following this blog you will know that I did indeed get rid of it all and switch to mirrorless a couple of months ago. I am itching to get back with this new lighter setup, but there are plenty of other places I want to visit as well so let's see what pans out.

Singapore - June 2024 - Day 3 - Jurong Lake Gardens, Dairy Farm Nature Park, and finally Wood-Owls!

I slept in a bit later than I had wanted to, I think just incredibly tired from having walked 18 miles the previous day. This is not what my body is used to, especially with a heavy load, 30 degree heat and 95% humidity. Nonetheless I was birding Jurong Lake Gardens before 8am. The area was thronging with morning commuters, this is a big residential area with a lot of people heading to work. Just outside Lakeside station I found an orange juice machine which for a nominal sum produced me a cup of freshly-squeezed orange juice. As a drank the first I commanded it to make me second, wonderful!

Pink-necked Green-Pigeon

Jurong Lake Gardens had been recommended to me by Mick, but of course he had been here in November and it was now June and so various birds simply weren't present. Nonetheless I had an enjoyable birding session here until late morning and finding all sorts of new birds for the trip. I started at the floating garden at the top end and walked down alongside the lake to the grasslands area. Highlights were Little Bronze Cuckoo, Plaintive Cuckoo, Asian Koel, Black-crowned Night Heron, Crested Goshawk, a group of Swinhoe's White-eye and some Common Iora. I had been hoping for Crakes in the grasslands but apparently you need rain, after which they emerge and run around where you can see them.

Black-crowned Night Heron

Crested Goshawk

Late morning I headed back to the Central Catchment Area and walked up the gentle track to the Dairy Farm Nature Park. I'd found this area on eBird whilst looking for targets, which included two species of Leafbird and general good forest birding. This area is on the north side of Bukit Timah, and indeed you can walk via the Dairy Farm Hut up a much steeper track to the summit and then down the other side to the Hindhede Trail. The whole of Singapore seems to be like this, a huge city but with lots of corridors and you whilst you'd have to cross a few main roads you could spend an entire day in the forest moving along well-maintained trails from one area to another.

The area was pretty busy with walkers and with school groups, but I was amazed to actually find both Greater Green Leafbird and Blue-winged Leafbird feeding in the same fruiting tree along the Wallace Trail, and then along the main track both Short-tailed Babbler and Abbot's Babbler. In breaks in the canopy I could see a pair of Changeable Hawk-Eagle high above Bukit Timah. 

Black-naped Oriole

Greater Green Leafbird

Blue-winged Leafbird

Abbot's Babbler

Time was now running out. It was 1pm and my flight out was at 10.30pm. I still hadn't managed to see the Spotted Wood-Owls, and rather than dip at Pasir Ris again I decided to try a new spot on the other side of the Central Catchment Area, Bishan-Ang Mo Kio Park. I jumped in a cab at the bottom of Dairy Park and was soon at the correct spot - as with all Owls in Singapore their presence is given away by photographers. Sure enough two adults and a fat fluffy youngster were sat way up in the trees above a car park. Finally! I took a few photos but mostly admired them through bins, wonderful views in the canopy. I then enjoyed a spot of lunch before walking west through the park along the stream, disturbing a Purple Heron as I did so, to catch a bus to the Singapore Botanic Garden for one final wander. 

Spotted Wood-Owl

This time I entered at the top, and walked down to the bottom, concentrating most of my efforts around Pulai Marsh and the Bambusetum side to the west of Swan Lake. No outstanding birds, but I did get great views of a White-throated Kingfisher in the woodlands reminding me that some of these species are not tied to water in the slightest. My main target here, Stork-billed Kingfisher, remains most-wanted! A reason to return.

SBG

White-collared Kingfisher

Malaysian Pied-Fantail

Spotted Dove

And that was it. It was 5pm and not much light remained. I also needed to get back to my hotel to pick up my small suitcase and pack up, after which I headed to the airport for a much-needed shower and some very cold drinks, this time of an alcoholic nature! And then a very long flight back home - I think I slept nearly the entire way!

Singapore - June 2024 - Day 2 - Central Catchment Area, Botanic Gardens and Marina Bay

I got out of a bus in the dark somewhere along Upper Thomson Road. My destination was the Jelutong Tower above MacRitchie Reservoir, in the lower part of the Central Catchment Area, Singapore's largest green space and a critical part of the island. There is no quick way to get to the tower, and my choice of starting point was driven by where I could get public transport to. A 40 minute walk beckoned, which in fact turned out to be a one hour walk as I took a wrong turn about half way and started heading up towards Upper Peirce Reservoir before realising my mistake at the bottom of a long slope that I had to then climb back up.

The view south from the Jelutong Tower.

The tower is enormous, several storeys high and thus at or above the canopy, and commands fabulous views over the forest. You feel a million miles away from the vast city in the distance. I had missed first light by about a quarter of an hour, but the birding was still fabulous, helped in no small part by a couple of young Singaporean birders who knew what they were doing. Remarkably neither had binoculars but both sported lovely light-weight mirrorless cameras with telephoto lenses. Very envious.... Most of their birding was done by ear, with the occasional look at a dot on the back of the camera to check if they weren't sure. This is how birding happens in Singapore, there are probably fewer than ten pairs of binoculars in the entire city but well over a trillion zoom lenses. I was happy to join in the fun, and although we had to rapidly descend the tower a couple of times to dodge some intense downpours I probably spent at least three and half hours observing up there. The full list is here, and perhaps I stayed too long as it only has 26 species, but what I did see was very good indeed. Violet Cuckoo was perhaps the highlight, but we also had flybys from Banded Bay Cuckoo, Square-tailed Drongo-Cuckoo and Grey-rumped Treeswift. In the trees around the tower itself were Dark-necked Tailorbird, Cream-vented, Olive-winged and Red-eyed Bulbul, Orange-bellied Flowerpecker, Scarlet-backed Flowerpecker, Asian Fairy-bluebird and Blue-winged Leafbird. Blue-rumped Parrots perched in semi-distant palms, Blue-crowned Hanging-Parrots and Pink-necked Green-Pigeons seemed constantly on the move. The majority of these birds were new for me so it had been a very profitable morning.

Asian Fairy-bluebird - male

Asian Fairy-bluebird- female

Scarlet-backed Flowerpecker

Violet Cuckoo

Blue-rumped Parrot

I reluctantly dragged myself away late morning, retracting my steps east to the Country Club. Along the way I got soaked to the skin, caught in heavy rain with no nearby huts in which to shelter. I dried off a bit near at Windsor Nature Park, and then walked the Venus Loop a couple of times. It was very hot. The best birds here were a pair of Crimson Sunbird and my first Common Hill Myna, their bizarre calls drawing me in from quite some distance having no idea at first what on earth they could be. 

Colugo

Mid afternoon I was back in town at the Botanic Garden, a simply lovely spot whether for birds or not. As you know I enjoy tropical plants as much as I enjoy birds, and after a late lunch at the Green Pavilion I had a high-interest botanical amble from the Tanglin Gate at the bottom to the Cluny Park Gate at the top. I didn't see as many birds as I was hoping, but a pair of Lesser Whistling Ducks on the Eco Lake were a surprise as well as a world lifer, a Pied Imperial-Pigeon flew over at some point which was also new, and a Brahminy Kite was perched in a tree alongside Symphony Lake. 

Looking west from Marina East Drive

I just about had time to nip up to Pasir Ris to dip the Spotted Wood-Owls again before finishing the day at Marina Bay East. As time was running out I took a Grab taxi to the top of Marina East Drive and then walked out to the Barrage. On one side there is an uninteresting golf course, but to the east of the road is some excellent wetland habitat and I was able to stock up on Masked Lapwing, Little Egret, Medium Egret and Grey Heron. Best of all an Asian Openbill had taken up residence some time before and was still out on the marsh. As dusk fell and I approached the MCE Ventilation Building I caught some movement above me. Yes! A Large-tailed Nightjar was hunting from a lamp post. Very difficult to see as it sat directly above the light, but there was no doubt about it when it started calling.

Masked Lapwing

Asian Openbill

I spent a bit of time mucking about with a long-exposure shot of the Marina Bay Sands from the bottom of the Barrage, and then crossed over and into the Gardens by the Bay. Fully dark by now this was full of people here to enjoy the light show from the Supertree Grove. I enjoyed it too as I hobbled along now somewhere north of 35k steps for the day. I found my way to the excellent and enormous food court underneath the Marina Bay Sands complex and had Dim Sum for dinner before catching a bus back to Lavender. What a day! Only 52 species but some high quality and 15 world ticks.

Marina Bay Sands from the Barrage

Singapore - June 2024 - Day 1 - Lorung Halus to Pasir Ris, and Buffy Fish-Owl

After a refreshing sleep in my box I woke up nice and early and caught the MTR up to Punggol. The LTR loops were unfortunately closed this weekend but there were replacement bus services and upon enquiring about where I wanted to go I was ushered to the correct line and shortly thereafter was sat on a bus heading just a short distance east towards Riviera. The sun had only just risen and my destination was the Lor Halus Wetland. The bus dropped me off about ten minutes walk away from the Lor Halus Red Bridge, and so just after 7am I had started birding.

It was hard work, much harder than I anticipated, especially carrying a rucksack weighing about 8kg containing my camera and all the supplies I would need for the day. But I persevered, starting off at the small series of ponds and deliberate scrubby areas with paths around them trying to find birds. I ended up doing a full circuit as it wasn't clear how to access the central part of the reserve, and in a couple of hours and over a couple of miles notched up something like 30 species - a decent start. The best bird here were Oriental Pied Hornbill, Coppersmith Barbet, Pied Triller, Brown-throated, Copper-throated and Ornate Sunbirds, Ashy Tailorbird and a White-throated Kingfisher. As with the start of most trips photography was inordinately difficult and I failed miserably to get anything decent of anything.

Javan Myna

Copper-throated Sunbird

Oriental Pied Hornbill

 

Ashy Tailorbird

Golden-backed Weaver

I then walked the Pasir Ris Farmway Park Connector (catchy!) from Lorung Halus to Pasir Ris, essentially walking east for about two miles through what was supposed to be farmland but appeared to be mostly one vast building site and was unfortunately rather bird-free as a result. I found some Pink-necked Green Pigeon along here, and my first Blue-throated Bee-eater, but it was actually rather a slog along an unshaded path busy with cyclists and runners, with a backdrop of JCBs and bulldozers and in increasingly warm conditions. I was pleased to finally reach the tree cover of Pasir Risk Park, and when I sat down on a bench above my head were a pair of noisy Collared Kingfishers. 

Blue-throated Bee-eater

I had a nice break and a bite to eat under one of the numerous shelters here, and also found a water fountain to refill my bottle - the mark of a great city. I also purchased my first of many fruit and ice-based concoctions which proved so so delicious and sustaining over my trip.  As I sipped it I clocked a Black-naped Tern flying offshore between Pasir Ris and the island of Pulau Ubin. I had a poke around the various car parks looking up into the trees for the Spotted Wood-Owls that everybody seemed to see here but drew a blank, and so continued my walk east to the mangrove boardwalk. It was now about 1pm and the rumbles of thunder that had been distant in the morning were seemingly now rather closer. Ambling down one section of the boardwalk the trees suddenly began to wave and within a few seconds a deluge had started. Fortunately I was very close to a shelter and did not have to run very far. I joined a couple intent on taking as many romantic selfies as possible, and soon there were quite a few of us under the corrugated roof as the rain pelted down. The selfies stopped. Lightning was frequent and at times simultaneous with the thunder and I felt rather exposed under this small tin roof. I can't remember how long I had to stay there, but I'd imagine it was probably 45 minutes or more before the rain finally let up and I was able to continue to the small pond where I hoped to find Sunda Scops Owl in the Pandanus.

On the way to the pond there was a Painted Stork along the Sungei Tampines, and a Common Flameback was seen at the pond itself. Of these Owls there was also no sign, albeit that it is acknowledged that they are very difficult to see. Not helping was a renewed amount of water in the air, not as cataclysmic as earlier but still with a good capacity to soak, and so I cut my losses and walked to Pasir Ris MRT where I had a late lunch in a shopping centre and another fruity drink.

From here I then caught a bus to Selatar which dropped me off a short walk away from the Hampstead Wetlands Park. This involved walking up Piccadilly, past Maida Vale and Lambeth Walk, before walking along Mornington Crescent and finally crossing Oxford Street and walking down Baker Street to Hampstead Gardens! If you don't believe me look it up! Once there it was clear I was in the right spot for the Buffy Fish-Owls. It was a hive of photographic activity, with loads of people with enormous cameras camped out by the side of small pond. They were clearly here for the long haul, with seats, camp tables and all sorts. I joined the throng for a while but soon gave up and went birding instead. This was pretty good with four Sunda Pygmy Woodpecker, another Oriental Pied Hornbill, a flyover Grey-headed Fish-Eagle that paused for a moment, some Long-tailed Parakeet, and a pair of Straw-headed Bulbul that I knew were around here but that I hadn't genuinely expected to find. A properly rare bird these days due to the songbird trade.

Grey-headed Fish-Eagle

Sunda Pygmy Woodpecker

Straw-headed Bulbul

Buffy Fish-Owl

Finally a shout, and an enormous Owl glided in from a hidden location and into a tree above the photographers. Cue a cacaphony of motor drives and excited chatter to which the Owl paid no heed whatsoever. It poked around in the nest tree for a while, and then flew off again. My work here was done! I packed up and caught a bus on the main road back down to Bugis, about an hour in air-conditioned comfort back to the City. It had been a hard day - 13 miles walked for only 45 species seen, but it had been an exhilarating one as well, and I still had two days. A quick bite to eat and another cooling drink and I was done.

Singapore - June 2024 - Logistics and Itinerary

 

Logistics

• A three day solo trip to Singapore in early June. I'd last visited in 2019 and thoroughly enjoyed myself over a three day trip, so this time booked an extra day (note that a full day is spent getting there so it is really a four day trip - two days annual leave required). It's an easy city to navigate, is completely safe, and has far more birds than you might expect for a megalopolis  - the island is extraordinarily verdant and I enjoyed the plants as much as the birds.
• Flights: British Airways from Heathrow on Friday night after work which arrived in Singapore on Saturday at around 6pm, too late for any meaningful birding. I used air miles as well as some kind of BA voucher to get there and so just paid the taxes which meant I could travel rather comfortably. I returned on Tuesday evening and as you gain time in this direction I arrived in time for work on Wednesday morning. Yay!
• Transport:  As you would expect public transport in Singapore is top notch so I purchased a three day Singapore Tourist Pass for about £17. These are only available at larger MRT stations -  I bought mine at the the airport, there is a kiosk at the far end of Changi MRT. This grants you full passage on all buses, tubes and light rail and I used it extensively. As it was a three day pass I also bought a single ticket to get me into the city centre that first evening. For some places that were a little out of the way I used Grab a handful of time, the Singapore equivalent of Uber. 
• Accomodation: I booked a room the size of a shoe box at a budget hotel called the NuVe Urbane near Lavendar/Bugis. This was ideally located for me to get everywhere I wanted to go, and seeing as I spent virtually no time there, it made sense for it to be at the lower end of the scale.
• Literature/Resources: As ever I used eBird for up-front planning, identifying target birds and sites, and as I'd been before I knew I also wanted to revisit a few places. Mick also gave me a few tips of places he'd found good in late 2023.
• Food - Street food and food courts are alive and well in Singapore. I also had lots and lots of cold fruit-based drinks.

On this trip I went to eveywhere marked with a red dot.

Itinerary

• Day 0 - Evening arrival into Changi, no birding. Just a quick meal and then bed.
• Day 1 - Early start at Lorung Halus Wetlands, and I then walked all the way from there to Pasir Ris Park where I spent most of the afternoon, including about an hour sheltering from some incredible rain on the mangrove boardwalk. In the late afternoon I went to Hampstead Wetlands Park which is a well-known site for Buffy Fish-Owl.
• Day 2 - An even earlier start to be at the Jelutong Bird Tower in the Central Catchment Area as soon as possible after first light. This is a 40 minute walk from the nearest road hence the very early start. All morning in this area and then a quick walk around Windsor Nature Park which is back towards the Country Club entrance. Afternoon spent at the wonderful Singapore Botanic Gardens before going back to Pasir Ris to try for the Spotted Wood-Owls again. Evening at Marina Bay East and the Gardens by the Bay. 39k steps with a heavy camera nearly killed me.
• Day 3 - Final day! Started at Jurong Lake Gardens before heading to Dairy Farm Nature Park late morning. Mid afternoon stop at Bishan-Ang Mo Kio Park for Spotted Wood-Owl again, this time with success! Then another tour around the Botanic Garden before heading back to my hotel to pack my bag and head to the airport.

Birding in Singapore

Logistics
A two (!) day trip in early March for no other reason that I felt I needed some tropical heat and tropical birds.

• Flights with British Airways to Singapore had been purchased in a sale at £400, and once again I used some airmiles to get a flat bed for the way back - the return journey is always important as I typically go straight into work after landing. Other airlines are available. Allegedly.
• I stayed at "The Hangout" at Mount Emily. Cheap and Cheerful, but like everything else in Singapore, clean.
• Transport was mostly by Grab, the Asian equivalent of Uber and very reasonably priced. The MTR is of course a lot cheaper, but I wanted to move between sites very quickly with my limited time. You can set the Grab app up before you leave but you can only add payment card information once you arrive for some reason.
• Over the course the weekend I saw exactly 50 species. That doesn't sound a lot but all I can say is don't underestimate how hard it is to keep going all day carrying a large camera - the heat and humidity are intense. On my last day I also had to carry around all my other things as I was headed straight to the airport. Luckily for a part of the day I was able to leave my stuff in a locker in the Gardens by the Bay.
• Literature was "Birds of South East Asia" by Craig Robson.
• 
  

Itinerary
Day 0 (Saturday PM): A walking tour around Central Singapore but no time for anything other than this. 
Day 1 (Sunday): First light at Macritichie Reservoir, late morning at Sungei Buloh Wetland Reserve, afternoon at the Botanic Garden, evening at Gardens by the Bay East in order to take a non-existent sunset photo of the Singapore skyline.
Day 2 (Monday): First light at the Botanic Garden, rest of the day at Gardens by the Bay.

Blue-winged Stunpitta

Sunday

Overall Macritchie had more birds than anywhere else, including a Blue-winged Pitta that I somehow jammed, but photography was far better in the Botanic Gardens. Part of the reason for this was that the place was crawling with early morning joggers and trekkers. And I mean crawling, the Sime Trail was over-run with people, and it was only once I got onto the boardwalk trail that goes past the canopy tower (plenty of Parakeets and Sunbirds from up here) and skirts between the reservoir and the golf course that it started to thin out a bit. I guess this is just what happens on weekends. It was on the boardwalk trail that I found the Pitta, having first found a Red-legged Crake in exactly the same place. Trying to photograph it another bird flew away, but soon came back and I could scarcely believe my luck. What a stunning bird - apologies for the crappiness of the photo, the bird was in near darkness but I had amazing views. There was a troop of Long-tailed Macaques here too.

Red Junglefowl aka Chicken

Long-tailed Macacque

Plantain squirrel (Callosciurus notatus)

Greater Racket-tailed Drongo

Plaintive Cuckoo

Once the forest thinned out a bit it became easier to see birds. A Greater Racket-tailed Drongo and a Dollarbird were perched high up on a dead tree, and a smaller tree next to the lake had a Plaintive Cuckoo and several Asian Brown Flycatchers in it. By this time it was mid-morning so I took a Grab. It was about a half hour ride to Sungei Buloh wetlands, and the sun was high in the sky.

Nonetheless I slogged it around the western loop seeing all sorts of Herons and both White-throated and Collared Kingfishers. There were a few waders out on the mud, including Whimbrels, but I had no scope and they were just too far away for the most part. The bushes on either side of the path had a few smaller birds, including an Arctic Warbler, so remember if you see one of these on Shetland or wherever, think how far it has travelled to be with you.

White-throated Kingfisher

By now it was midday and all sensible people were indoors in air-conditioned comfort, but I persisted, first walking the Mangrove boardwalk and then taking the path all the way to the eastern entrance. In truth I saw very little for my troubles, a few Doves and an immature White-bellied Sea Eagle.

Next stop was the Botanic Gardens where I was able to finally get a nice cold drink and something to eat beyond the bananas I had been carrying. I had been here on each of my previous visits and had forgotten how nice it was. I resolved to come back first thing the next day as it opens very early. I wandered around primarily enjoying all the plants, but also making mental notes of which spots to come and visit in the cool of the following morning. By mid-afternoon I was pretty dead and went back to my hotel to have a rest, but only a short one as I wanted to catch the sun setting from Marina Bay east. As with most of my trips recently the weather seemed to have other ideas so the glorious photo remains untaken. Having arrived from the south I then walked all the way around the north side of the bay and back to the Helix Bridge and the massive food court on the bottom floor of the Marina Bay Sands complex - known as Rasapura Masters. Gorged I retired to my hotel at Mount Emily with extremely sore feet.

Monday
The next morning the first thing I saw was an Otter - a Smooth-coated Otter to be precise. I heard an almighty splashing from one of the pools right next to the Cluny Road entrance, and was delighted to find an Otter demolishing ornamental fish. Nom nom nom. 

Olive-backed Sunbird

Scarlet-backed Flowerpecker

Yellow-vented Bulbul

Oriental Magpie-robin

The next four hours were spent mostly around the Pulai Marsh and the Keppel Discovery Wetlands, as well as the extensive stands of heliconias to the east of Symphony Lake which were a haven for Sunbirds. All too soon it was time to go back to the hotel and pack up but I had had a much more productive session with the camera. On day one of a trip I am generally always useless and then up my game later on.

Olive-backed Sunbird

After checking out I headed to the Marina Bay Gardens.This time I had to cart not only the camera but also all my clothes etc. After lunch at the same food court and after exploring the actual building, I got lucky with a left luggage locker near the Dragonfly bridge. I dumped as much as I could and spent the whole rest of the day making circuits of the gardens which are highly impressive. There were birds everywhere - Herons and Waterhens in the pools, large numbers of Pacific Swallows and a few Paddyfield Pipits over "the Meadow", and generally really rather good. I also visited the Supertree grove, the Barrage, every single lake, and once again spent a lot of time looking at plants. The cycad collection is particularly noteworthy, and having chatted to one of the gardeners the rate of growth is unbelievable. Whilst I am jealous in a way it is a good thing that growth is so slow under glass in the UK, otherwise I would be divorced by now.

Pied Fantail

White-breasted Waterhen

Ashy Tailorbird

It had been another hot day, and whilst I had planned to stay for sunset again, a large rainstorm put paid to my ambitions and I headed to the airport. I was able to have a shower, several fruity drinks and a nice meal before gratefully falling asleep on the plane. 



Trip List