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NSS Bird Group Report – Jun 2016

TheforestBlue-earedKingfisherfishingatthecanalatKranjiMarshes.Photo:MarkNelsonValino.Therewere lessexcitementthismonthcomparedto last June.Thenwe had the first record of a White-tailed Tropicbird at Tuas, anOrientalDarteratUbinandthewinteringHorsfield’sBronzeCuckoosatPunggolBarattokeepusbusy.ThisJune,wehadtobecontentedwiththeKingQuails,Excalfactoriachinensis,atPunggolBarat,Blue-eared Kingfishers,Alcedo meninting, at Kranji Marshes and Red-crownedBarbets,MegalaimarafflesiiatSeletartokeepourshuttersclicking. On the plus sidewe hadmany interesting nesting recordsincludingafirstfromallovertheisland.

WendyLinandfriendsPeterOkimi,ChaiLeeFungandEdwinChoywereatSeletarRevervoirParkon30thMaylookingfortheChestnut-wingedBabblerswhentheychancedupontheRed-crownedBarbetsfeedingonthefruitsoftheGreenCoffeeTree.Photo:WendyLinshowingthebarbet

squeezingthepulpoutofthefruit.

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ThemostsurprisingrecordcamefromCashewareaon20thwhenamemberofthepublicreportedababyowlatthefootofaraintreeonherway towork. NParks staff rescued the owlet and subsequentlyputitbackintoitsBird-nestFernnestmuchtothereliefofapairofSpotted Wood Owl, Strix seloputo, parents. This is a rare nestingrecordforthisuncommonowlandconfirmedthattheyalsouseBird-nestFernstonestjustliketheBuffyFishOwls.

AperfectshotoftheSundaPygmyWoodpeckerleavingthenest.Photo:DannyKhoo.

There were several important nesting records from Ubin. A pairofStork-billedKingfisher,Pelargopsiscapensiswasfoundnestinginanoldtermiteneston4th.Thenestwasattachedtoabamboo(LimKim Chuah). This could be the first confirmed nesting of thiskingfisher in Singapore. A failed nesting of theMangrove Pittas,Pittamegarhyncha,there,probablyduetopredation;andthenestingof the most common bird in Ubin the Olive-winged Bulbul,Pycnonotus plumosus, (12th Lim Kim Keang). Elsewhere anotherfailednestingof thePied Triller,Lalagenigra, atPunggolPointon15th (Seng Alvin); two Crested Goshawks, Accipiter trivirgatus,fledgedatSingaporeBotanicGardenson18th(LaurenceEu);SundaPygmy Woodpecker, Dendrocopus moluccensis, at TamanJurong;PacificSwallows,Hirundotahitica,atStagmontParkon21st(TimothyChua)andtheBlue-throatedBee-eaters,Meropsviridis,atPunggolend.

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SecondcalendaryearOrientalHoneyBuzzardspendingthesummerintheregion.TakenatSatay

bytheBaybyAndrewTan.Winter visitors recorded for themonth include aGreater CrestedTern, Thalasseus bergii, photographed off Pulau Pawai by FrancisYapandhisfriendsduringaminipelagictriptoRafflesLighthouseon25th.Thisisanewextremedate(previouslatedate:18June1990).AnotherwintervisitorstillpresentwastheBlue-wingedPitta,Pittamoluccensis. At least three were heard calling at the edge of theWestern Catchment on the 19th (Alfred Chia).Will they spend thesummer and even breed here? Timewill tell. Egrets are known toover summer in ourwetlands.All three specieswere recorded thismonth. Intermediate atLorongHalus (LimKimKeang),Little andGreatatSBWR(LimKimSeng)allonthe12th.

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GreaterCrestedTernphotographedoffPulauPawaion25thJunesetanewlatedateforthis

visitingtern.Photo:FrancisYap.Weknowthat thesecondcalendaryearOrientalHoneyBuzzards,Pernis ptilorhynchus, stay over during summer and do not migratebacknorth.Twowerephotographed,on11thoverSBTBbyAndrewTan and the other at Ubin by Lim Kim Chuah on 12th. Bothwerejuveniles.AdeadBlack Bittern,Dupetorflavicollis atAljuniedAvenueon10thwaspickedupbyDavidTan.

ResidenternestiracePeregrineFalconflyingoverPunggolBaratcapturedbyLeeTiahKhee.

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Other notable sightings were three Black-naped Terns, Sternasumatrana,flyingacrossKeppelHarbouron8th(RichardWhite)andthree more near the southern island of Pulau Senang on 25th(Francis Yap). These resident terns were more common in thenorthern straitswhere they have been nesting at a rocky out cropsince 1949.. Francis also recorded ten Pied Imperial Pigeons,Duculabicolor, flyingpassPulauSudongonthesameday.Thesearethewildpigeonsthatspendmostoftheirtimearoundthesouthernislands. A Buffy Fish Owl, Ketupa ketupa, was photographed atHindhedeQuarrybyRaghavNarayanswanyon19th confirming thefurtherspreadingofthisuncommonowl.Asecondintwomonthsofa resident ernesti race Peregrine Falcon, Falco peregrinus wasphotographed by Lee Tiah Khee on 15th over Punggol Barat. Thelocally rare Crested Serpent Eagle, Spilornis cheela, wasphotographedbyJanRobertsonthe4thatChanceryLane.

BuffyFishOwlatHindhedeQuarry.Photo:RaghavNarayanswany

Seng Alvin reported three to four Plaintive Cuckoos, Cocomantismerulinus,atPasirRisParkon3rd.CouldbethatfosterparentsliketheMalaysianPied Fantails are plentiful there? The on-offBlackHornbill,AnthracocerosmalayanuswasseenflyingaroundthePekanQuarry at Ubin on the 4th (Lim Kim Chuah). It is still listed underCategory E for suspected escapees and released birds. Theintroduced Javan Munias, Lonchura leucogastroideswere back atSBWRon7th(HowSungLee).

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OverattheHindhedePark,motherandsonteam,SubhaandRaghavNarayanswany sent in records of Black-crested, Pycnonotusflaviventris, and Asian Red-eyed Bulbuls, Pycnonotus brunneus,Blue-winged Leafbird, Chloropsis cochinchinensis and a pair ofJambuFruitDoves,Ptilinopusjambu feedingonafruittree.Duetothe closure of Bukit Timah Nature Reserve, Hindhede Nature Parkwas also hardly visited. This may account for the increased birdactivitythere.Reference:Lim Kim Seng. The Avifauna of Singapore. 2009 Nature Society(Singapore).YongDingLi,LimKimChuahandLeeTiahKhee.ANaturalist’sGuidetotheBirdsofSingapore.2013.JohnBeaufoyPublishingLimited.Craig Robson. A field Guide to the Birds of Thailand and South EastAsia.2000.ThisreportiscompiledbyAlanOwYongandeditedbyTanGimCheongfromselectedpostings invarious facebookbirdingpages,bird forumsand individual reports. Somewere not verified.Wewish to thank allthecontributorsfortheirrecords.ManythankstoMarkNelsonValino,WendyLin,DannyKhoo,AndrewTan, LeeTiahKheeandRaghav fortheuseoftheirphotos.