Spotted Dove (R.Simpson)
White-vented Myna (R.Simpson)
Lesser Whistling Duck (R.Simpson)
Urban Birding Singapore Style
Singapore
Singapore is basically an island that has turned into a huge city. I had a stop over here on my way back from Australia to the UK.
I visited three places, Pulau Ubin; a smaller island and well worth a trip, but in the context of urban birding it is the reserve of Bukit Timah and the old standby for all urban birders, the botanical gardens, that I will concentrate on here.
Starting with the Botanic Gardens that are situated off Napier Road and an easy taxi ride from the main hotel area. Our main reason for visiting here was that my wife has a passion for orchids equal to my passion for birds and these gardens have one of the very best collections in the world - a must for all orchid lovers and, of course, bird enthusiasts too!
There are a number of species that you can see almost anywhere in Singapore, these include White-vented and Common Myna , House Crow, Spotted Dove, House Swift, Tree Sparrow and Olive-backed Sunbird. Near to our hotel there was an area known as the East Coast Park and here within a few hundred metres of our hotel we also saw White-crested Laughing Thrush (introduced), Magpie Robin, Pied Fantail, Common Tailorbird, Yellow-vented Bulbul, Collared Kingfisher, Zebra Dove, Common Iora, Brahminy Kite, Large-billed Crow and White-bellied Sea Eagle!
Walking in the gardens is easy, as you would expect, with good paths going to all parts. As Elis (my wife) ooh'd and aah'd at the magnificent array of orchids I kept an eye out for birds. All the common birds were seen quickly here as well as Asian Glossy Starling and Common Koel, which are also fairly easy to find.
At one point I noticed a bird on a dead branch high above the park and was delighted to see a Blue-tailed Bee Eater. It sallied forth a few times in pursuit of prey and then as I watched it, into my view came a Coppersmith Barbet! The two birds sat side by side for a while eyeing each other up and me positively drooling, until the Barbet decided it was time to move on, as indeed it was for me.
At the top of the hill in the gardens there is a display building with information about some famous types of orchid, outside is a square of lawn with a good view over the treetops. It was here that I came across Grey-rumped Treeswift and Edible Nest Swiftlet among the House Swifts, Pink-headed Pigeon and Black Drongo in the trees and Thick-billed Raven flying by.
Back down near the entrance is a lake with some very confiding Lesser Whistling Ducks and a number of White-breasted Waterhens.
The following day we took a taxi to Bukit Timah and set off up the hill to the summit. There is a road you can take which looks good, but we took a track off to the right of the road that goes through the forest. It's quite narrow in places and there are some steepish climbs/descents, but well worth the effort.
As with all natural spaces in cities open to the public, it is a Mecca for locals to stretch their legs and unwind, so don't expect to be on your own! The birding here though is great. We had pretty soon notched up Racquet-tailed Drongo, Banded Woodpecker, and Striped Tit-Babbler when a large bird came crashing into the tree just above our head it turned out to be a Chestnut-bellied Malkoha. Good views were had of this obliging bird.
At one point we had a view down into a ravine with a bit of open space affording a wide vista for searching for forest edge species. We decided to stop here for a while, so too did a local gent who decided that it was a good place to make a mobile phone call. I reckon the person he called could hear him without the need of a phone from the loudness of his voice, but no amount of glaring and tutting moved him. However a few well chosen expletives in Portuguese had him confused, and off he went, but we could still hear him long after he had disappeared from view!
On concentrating again on the ravine a movement in a tree about halfway across the clearing caught my eye. On inspection it turned out to be a Malayan Flying Lemur. It stayed pretty still the whole time we were there though sadly we were not treated to a flying display. However, as hoped, it proved a good spot for birds and we saw Orange-bellied Flowerpecker, Black-crested Bulbul (introduced I think), Asian Brown Flycatcher and Blue-winged Leafbird. At the top of the hill we saw Fork-tailed Swifts and a Japanese Sparrowhawk narrowly missing an Arctic Warbler! We returned by the road, and didn't add any new species until we got to the entrance where we saw Hill Myna and had a run around after what turned out to be Lineated Barbets, neither of which I believe are native to the region but good birds nevertheless.
So, if you're going to Australia and transiting Singapore, take my advice, organise a stop over, I think you'll find it worthwhile.
Rick Simpson