Monday, November 10, 2008

Gone Birding...

Frankly speaking, I'm not exactly a birder, so it does sound rather strange (even to myself) to hear me saying that I've gone birding. So guess the following photos are really more like by-products of my various recent nature trips :P

But then again, birds can look really nice on photos sometimes, so I certainly don't mind becoming a "birder" once in a while.

Intermediate egret (Egretta intermedia)
The intermediate egret (Egretta intermedia) is a medium size egret - bigger than a little egret, but smaller than a great egret. It feeds on fishes, crustaceans or insects. A common winter visitor to Singapore, it usually hunts and roosts with other egret species.

Intermediate egret (Egretta intermedia)
Here's a shot of the intermediate egret in flight.

Swallows
There was a small flock of pacific swallow (Hirundo tahitica). I often see these swallows near the coastal areas of Singapore.

Little terns (Sternula albifrons)
"Hey, watch where you are landing!"

Just thought it was rather cute to see the various little terns (Sternula albifrons) trying to compete for various spots on the metal railing. Not sure why, but they seemed to feel that the spot already occupied by another bird was better. Anyway, these are resident birds in Singapore. They feed by plunge-diving for fish.

White-winged tern (Chlidonias leucopterus)
This is probably a white-winged tern (Chlidonias leucopterus). Somewhat larger than the little tern, this bird does not dive for fish. It usually flies slowly over the water to pick up prey on the surface or catches insects in flight.

White-winged tern (Chlidonias leucopterus)
Here's another look at the white-winged tern settled down on a pole. It is not a resident bird, but a winter visitor.

Tern
This is probably an immature white-winged tern.

Whiskered tern (Chlidonias hybridus)
This is probably a whiskered tern (Chlidonias hybridus), also a winter visitor.

Rufous Woodpecker (Micropternus brachyurus)
The rufous woodpecker (Micropternus brachyurus, previously Celeus brachyurus) supposedly builds its nests within the nests of ants of the species Crematogaster.

Waders
Different species of waders wading in shallow water.

Waders
Yet another mixture of different species of waders.

White-breasted waterhen (Amaurornis phoenicurus)
The white-breasted waterhen (Amaurornis phoenicurus) is commonly found in many parts of Singapore near water bodies. It usually feeds by probing for small fish or other little animals in mud or shallow water, though they sometimes forage for insects on the ground or among bushes too.

Stork-billed kingfisher (Pelargopsis capensis)
The stork-billed kingfisher (Pelargopsis capensis, formerly Halcyon capensis) is a tree kingfisher which usually perches on tree branches while screening for prey, which ranges from fish, frogs, crustaceans, rodents to young birds.


Found this common sandpiper (Actitis hypoleucos) resting on this grass patch in the middle of Sungei Buloh Besar.


This is a common redshank (Tringa totanus).

Thanks to LK for the waders' ID! :)

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

I was looking at all these wonderful birds thinking "I wish I could see some of those", we have little egrets and the odd great egret, but there are no intermediate egrets, even in Europe I think. But then the last bird, the redshank, I see nearly everytime I visit a mud flat. Its nice to know there found on the other side of the world too :)

Ron Yeo said...

Hi Neil, I hope I had seen the wildlife you featured on your blog too. Unfortunately, when I was in UK the last time, it was a rather rushed trip and I did not have the opportunity to visit more nature spots. Agree totally that it's nice to know birds found in Singapore can be found all the way in UK too :)