Hornbills are good!!! They RULE!!! Anyway, I learned a lot about hornbills and conservation during the hornbill conference. If one asks me if it is boring, I say no. It is fun! 3 days of Hornbill talking, discussion, presentation was just good. The only thing i regret was not going to the field trip

Well, yeah I skipped school.

CUT! PSLE IS OVER. NO MORE EXAMS! STOP THAT!!!

Ok. So, I basically saw a few other birds like sunbirds and 2 Oriental Pied Hornbill.

I also saw the longtailed macaque at henderson waves:

This explains the almost looking photoshoped background.

At night, we didn’t see any birds. But we saw some bats that is all.

Today, I tried using raw and large fine image so thepics look better and nicer. Lesson learnt.

I wanted to think of some ideas for a paper in the hornbill conference. I was thinking of writing one, but have not come to a decision.

Hoping to see a hornbill in Pulau Ubin or Changi Villages to get some inspiration, we drove to Changi Village to take a boat ride to Pulau Ubin. On the way, my father suggested to me some good topics on hornbills that I can do about. When we parked the car in a car park at Changi Village, I saw a green object flying past. Knowing it was a bird, I traced its flight path till it landed on a tree.

When the car stopped, I immediately dashed out of the car with my camera on my hand. Looking closely at the bird, I knew it was a parakeet. Then, I thought it looked like a red breasted parakeet, which was common then, but for a novice birder, that was a lifer! Ok, I took some pictures and now that I learned how to over expose, the picture was so sweet! After I reviewed the pictures I confirmed it was the red breasted parakeet. Here is the picture:

Then, we went to Changi Point Ferry Terminal to catch a boat to Pulau Ubin. There were 6 people already there, two equal groups of 3. The first group was a family of 3 while the other group were three students. With my father, brother and I included, there were 9. The boat will only leave when 12 people are in the boat, or when they can collect 30 dollars (You can pay for the rest of the vacant seats to leave without waiting. One trip is worth $2.50.

In the end, each group paid $2.50 more as all of us were tired of waiting.

Okay, I have to admit, the diesel of the boast stinks! Smelling it may cause your health to suffer! I hope those boatmen are all right…

The salty sea water sprayed up onto the boat onto my face as we cruised towards the Granite Island. The excitement in my heart flowed through out my body, causing my fingers to tingle. (Sorry about the primary school composition styles, after all I just left primary school)

After 10 mins, I reached Pulau Ubin. We got out of the boat and went up to the information kiosk. There was this man there who politely showed us where the artificial nestboxes are on the map. I learnt that there were some for the hornbills here: http://besgroup.talfrynature.com/2008/11/11/oriental-pied-hornbill-success-of-nesting-boxes/ . We then went in search for the nest box. We also went up to the voluteer hub and they told us the exact spot of the hornbill nest box was, and here is a picture of it:

We did not see any hornbills there so too bad . We saw many insects and spiders there. A beetle, which I don’t know which species:

As for the spiders, the pictures are so yucky so never mind, shan’t post that picture.

After walking for a while, I saw a pretty dragonfly. Oh, it had yellow stripes at the tail and it sure looked good. I couldn’t focus with suto-focus as it was too thin so i manual focus and it turned to be perfect! Here is the picture:

After a while, I was greeted with a very loud call. Looking towards that direction, guess what I saw? I saw what I have came for. In fact, I got even more that what I bargained for. I did not see a hornbill, I saw 2 of them:

Here is one of them:

The two of them:

I was so happy while I watched their behaviour. Apparently, I found that when one of them flew the other followed. Then they flew to a palm tree (or was it a coconut tree?) before flying away.

After that, we walked. At one part of the walk, there were dogs all around, looking at us as one moved to the middle of the path behind us and the other in front of us. In case they attacked, my father, brother and I took branches to protect ourselves. They didn’t attack us in the end. I took a very nice photo of them though:

Good! Just when I thought the day was over, a wild boar came! It walked from one side of the path to the other. I was so excited my hands were shaking! Sorry about the blur photo:

I also saw a grey heron and took a good picture of it flying!

We went back to Changi Village after that. I saw the red breasted parakeet again, and long tailed parakeet. Then, I saw the Tanimbar Corella! Too bad I was too excited. The picture became blur again. I feel so sad. Next time, I will try to improve my photography skills first. Soon, I will be able to take good photographs!

I learnt a lot that day and have more understanding of birds. I too have more good bird photos and observed a lot of bird behaviour! Looking foward to my next birding trip!

I arrived at Upper Seletar Reservoir, hoping to find the Oriental Pied hornbill, but sadly, I did not see it. Anyway, anyone know where can find hornbills? I have been finding them for a long time. I’ve tried Upper Seletar, Changi Village, Macritchie and Botanic Gardens. What time are hornbills most easily spotted?

Okay, back to the story. then, I went up the lookout tower, hoping that I will see hornbills high up the trees. It was then I found that my tripod was so short. It did not even go higher than the railings! That was the first time I was using my tripod so I wasn’t used to it. (That explains why my pictures are so blur and shaky) In the end, I detached the camera from the tripod and started birding.

All in a sudden, I saw something flying towards Mandai Zoo: At the other end of the reservoir. Because it looked a bit dark, my first impression was: hornbill! By the time I looked again, it was too far away. I took a picture, but for some reason, the subject was black, like most of my pictures. I don’t know why it was like that. By the way, I am using aperture priority, so I thought they will auto adjust the photo. When my father reviewed the pictures, he told me that the sky was too bright. The camera sensor sense how much light there is coming in and adjust the amount of light in let in automatically. For example:

If it is very dark, they must let in more light to let the picture look reasonably bright. So, for a high aperture (that means a low number), the shutter speed will still not be that fast. But if when it is very bright, you set a high aperture, the shutter speed will be very fast so it will not take in so much light. So, with a very bright sky and a slightly dark object, the average of this will still be bright. So, the camera will automatically make the shutter speed faster at aperture priority and the aperture lower in shutter speed priority (the two modes I use). So, the picture will come out as: a slightly bright sky and a dark object.

But how do you prevent this?

Just over expose it, of course! So the sky will be very bright while the object will be of average brightness. Problem solved, but there is another problem. How do you over expose? I started trying to figure it out. Just then, I saw another of those “hornbills” fly by. By this time, I saw a flash of white. Looking at how they look, I think they are more of white bellied sea eagles.

Just then, I saw that there was a white bellied sea eagle fishing. They swooped down to get fish, just that it missed. It kept missing for many times, and I did not see it successfully catch any fish. If only the lense could zoom further and I solved the problem of how to over expose it. I guess next time!

Anyway, I read the manual when i got home. You just need to hold the Av button and turn the dial knob.

Although I did not see any hornbills, the trip was very fruitful. I saw the white bellied sea eagle trying to fish and solve the problem of birds that look dark when you play back the picture.

Striped tit babbler

When leaving, I saw a big bird fly past. I saw it landed on the trunk of a tree. There could have been a cavity there. When I got there, no bird was found.

Although it was a short 30 minutes, the journey was fruitful.

I think that it is from our cutlery and waterbottles. At home, I use metal plates and metal cutlery and glass bowls so that is not a problem.

For an average person, their bottles are polycarbonate bottles. So, we would consume some bisphenol A. The BPA is released fast as we use bottles to store liquids. It would be even faster if we put hot liquids in.

So, sometime ago, I wanted to buy a Klean Kanteen bottle. It is a stainless steel bottle. I did not know where I could buy my bottles for I live in Singapore and did not want to waste my time shipping it over from the USA. Morever, I wanted it quick.

So, I searched the internet and found a shop, called SingHealthStore. It’s website is www.singhealthstore.com and is based in Singapore. I called and bought the product. They even delivered it straight to my house door. You could just call and they will let you buy it. You have the option of going to their office or having them deliver it to your house for a small fee.

It is on offer now so it is very cheap. So quickly, buy it!

Till now, I had only seen one species of flowerpecker-the scarlet backed flowerpecker. I heard it was common but do not know where I can find it.

Orange bellied flowerpecker-Sime Forest

Could anyone help me?

I saw it twice at Bishan Park, both times it was at a field. Then, I saw it fly then perch on the canal railing once. It was then when saw its long wingspan. After all, its wingspan is about my height.

A picture taken of it at Bishan Park

Bird at ranger station

Sorry for the bad image. The ranger station was very dark.

Why was it there? Do birds seek shelter like that?

 Please comment if you know anything about this.

 The usual one is common, but the one that is grey all over is smaller than the usual one.

The on that is black all over is quite big in size compared to the normal one.

The usual rock pigeon

The one that is grey all over

The one that is white all over

The one that is black all over

Are they of different subspecies, or different morphs, or gender, or different age, etc, but I don’t know. Anyone who knows please comment.

As we walked into the nature reserve, I did not see any birds. I tried to find the hooded pitta fruitlessly by doing that pit-pit whistle. Did not even work. I heard a low gaw gaw towards the water edge, but did not see a thing.

I saw an unknown bird on the way. Can’t identify it, but got quite a good picture.

Can anyone help me identify?

Then, I moved on to the road beside the forest, did not see any thick billed pigeons, but saw a squirrel. I am suprised on its agility.

At the ranger station, it started to rain, then, we went to the ranger station for shelter. I did some birdwatching there, with my camera in the shelter but the birds outside. Took a picture of it, but face was covered a bit.

If you can identify it, please comment.

I also saw an unknown tailorbird

Should be a tailorbird

I also saw the asian fairy bluebird.

At last, the rain stopped. We headed back. On the way back, I saw about six greater racket tailed drongos.

I saw more birds than before. I always see more birds than before and I think it is because I know where are the good birding spots.

He uses it for his work as he take pictures of his products. My father have never let me use this camera before, but this time he allowed.

High zoom, which is much better than my normal camera, and it has more functions, ISO can go higher, to 1600, and less automated.

This is much better than Canon EOS 300D model.

It focuses very well and pictures come out clear. Usually, I use the Program mode or full manual exposure.

One more point, is that it can take many frames per second. So, that means that I can take birds flying in the sky for it has a high shutter speed and everything.

Now, to put it to the test, I went to Sime Forest to do some birding, and results are satisfactory.

There are a two good places in Bishan Park to bird.

First is along the canal from Bishan Park 1 to Braddell Road. There are egrets, herons in the canal, sandpipers there, long tailed parakeets, tailorbirds, yellow vented bulbuls, spotted dove, rock pigeon, flycatchers, blue tailed bee-eaters, crows, and bitterns. Once, I saw a black spitting cobra in the canal being caught by some people.

Second is at Bishan Park 1, near the lake, I only went there once as it is furthest away from my house and I only recently got permission to venture there. I saw a common Iora, Common Flameback, brown capped woodpeckers, tailorbirds, yellow vented bulbuls,

Common flameback

Common flameback

Blue tailed bee eater

Little egret

Long tailed parakeet

Unknown lizard, anyone can help me identify this lizard?

After seeing the woodpecker, I went on, seeing no m0re birds all the way to the road beside the country club, though occasionally seeing birds darting by.

They were the size of sunbirds, but were to small for me to see in detail as I do not have a binoculars and my 10x optical zoom digital camera was not near enough. That was the problem with not having a camera with a very high optical zoom. If you look at my bird gallery, you would see that most of the pictures are digitally zoomed in, like the white bellied sea eagle picture. It is quite easy to photograph a bird in the garden but in the forest, the bird is high up in the tree.

Walking along the road towards the ranger station, I saw a tree with many pigeons. If you are a bird photographer, that should be a very good place to take photos. The tree is not blocked by anything from where you are as it is beside the road, and the tree was flowering, so it attracted many pigeons. I saw a bird that I could not identify.

It could be a thick billed pigeon or a pink necked pigeon.

I also saw a bird that I am positive is a thick billed pigeon

We reached the ranger station a while after that.

At the ranger station, I saw a few small birds that I could not identify as I could not see the details of it. It was very irritating when I tried to zoom into the bird but halfway, I reached my full zoom.

At the treetop walk itself, I only saw flock Philippine glossy starling, which I was a feat as I usually do not see anything as I am hardly looking at the trees around (I am scared of heights). I guess it is a good place to bird as you are very high up and birds will be very near to you.

After that we went to Jelutong tower, where I did not see any birds.

When I was walking out of the forest to Venus Drive car-park, I encountered a black dog, it was a short distance away from me. It came out of the undergrowth and started barking furiously. I was scared by the sudden arrival of the dog that I screamed.

I wonder how did that dog come here. I wonder if it is native to Singapore. This is the second time I saw it. The first time was at Bishan Park canal, after the MRT depot. If you know anything about it, feel free to comment on this entry.

Picture I took of the black dog in Bishan canal

I only saw a few birds in Sime Forest and wish to know how R Subaraj and the other birders see so many birds in the forest. I suppose I would need more experience and be sharper. In the past, I would see nothing, then one species, then two species of birds. I guess I just need to be more “bird-sensitive”!

Also, I must learn how to take clear photos. I usually cannot take shots properly. It is to dark and lacks if I use program mode (P), and it is bright and blurry sometimes when I use Auto mode.

Sime forest

My mother and I reached Macritchie reservoir park at 7:50 am. Once we entered the trail, we were greeted by a woodpecker. It could have been a Common goldenback http://birdsrule.wordpress.com/2007/11/07/common-flameback/, Greater goldenback or Laced woodpecker. Look at http://birdsrule.wordpress.com/2008/02/09/greater-goldenback-or-common-goldenback/ for more information. After reading the comments, I think that it is a laced woodpecker.

(Will be continued in Part 2)

It may have been a common goldenback-http://birdsrule.wordpress.com/2007/11/07/common-flameback/

To know more on how to differentiate them, go to http://besgroup.talfrynature.com/2008/02/06/flamebacks-duo/

I thought it might be a Greater goldenback because of its eyes. The eye is white with a black dot in it.

Stork billed kingfisher

Then I saw two birds I did not know

And the other is either a black capped kingfisher or collared kingfisher.

When I was about going to come back home. The tide went up and on the way back I saw this sun skink (I think) and mudskipper.

It was really interesting. The numbers are very big there. When I went there, I also thought that sungei buloh is very dirty-just look at this photo of a collared kingfisher.

I am amazed by the birds adaptability. Besides those birds like javan mynas, even those like the birds in sungei buloh had adapted. Another example on how amazing birds are!

First, we went out of the Imbiah mono rail station and saw the merlion. The usual, take a photo.

The merlion

Then, we went to the butterfly park, and saw a macaw in a cage, that bird looked stressed. After that, we went to eat pizza at a nearby place.

Now, we went to the Luge and sky ride. Me, my sister, and two of my relatives were going. I went faster than them and reach the finishing line first. My sister went of the track. Then, we went to the sky rider back to the starting point. It was so scary, because I’m scared of heights.

Us waiting for our turn n the luge

Then, we went to the underwater world. I saw many fishes, sting rays and even a Dugong!

Isn’t it beautiful??? But before going in, I saw a kite outside the underwater world, flying. I think it should be the brahminy kite.

Brahminy kite I saw at Sentosa

Before it, I even saw a peacock on the roof!!! Wonder how it got there…

Then, we went to the dolphin lagoon, where I enjoyed the wonderful performance by the pink dolphins. I’m afraid it was raining slightly so no photos in case I spoil my camera.

After that, we walked to the hawker centre for some food.

For the grand finale, the songs of the sea. I must say that was the best out of all the activities today. For that 30 minutes, they showed us many special effects. Like where the used water to create a temporary screen to flash light onto it, making the pictures look as if they were really not on a screen (the screen could not be seen). They used some fire and fireworks as well as lasers. The technology was very good and that certainly impressed my relatives from Malaysia.

The full performance

Part 1

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SyeI91Kiys8&feature=related

Part 2

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K7oOl_OrSRY&feature=related

Part 3

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XPa3D8zzlIg&feature=related

What a wonderful time in Sentosa.

Well, I hope I can grow another plant, any ideas??? Please comment.

Also, plastic contibutes to global warming, so I am trying to reduce my usage of plastic. So, I advice those that are concerned on global warming to use metal instead of plastic bottles.

There is a good brand making metal waterbottles: Klean Kanteen, but is not in Singapore. Recently, they had a retailer here in Singapore- SingHealthStore: www.singhealthstore.com . They sell at reasonable prices. They aren’t open yet, but you can email or call them to buy the products. They will let you buy the products before the shop opens.

YAY! I’m going to have a metal bottle soon. YAY!!!

A great egret

It has a white body, wing, black legs and a yellow bill and a thin neck. I took this picture at the canal near the kallang canal near Bishan Park.

The gardens was first founded in 1849. In 1990, NParks took over the garden. I think they did a very good job.

About birding there, you I found these species at these specific places.

• Near Bandstand- Common flameback
• Near Bonsai garden (a bush)- yellow vented bulbul, Black naped oriole, pink necked pigeon
• Near Eco Lake- Pied fantail
• Eco Lake-White breasted waterhen, Radjah Shelduck
• Symphony Lake-Lesser treeduck, white breasted waterhen

What an ecology wonder! A good birding spot just in the heart of the city.

I usually see them at Singapore Botanic Gardens, at the Symphony Lake I saw a pair of them, they are very tame.

A photo I took at the Symphony Lake of the duck

Its habitat is at still freshwater lakes with lots of vegetation to feed on usually. This duck has a long grey bill and the wings and back are grey with brown areas around the wings and tail. The belly and breast is light brown in colour.

 Highly gregarious and tame and nests in tree holes, old nests of other birds, or on a stick platform near the ground, and lays 6-12 eggs.

An adult white breasted waterhen

Many rails are very secretive, but White-breasted Waterhens are often seen out in the open.

They can be found in Singapore Botanic Gardens. I only saw them there before. Everytime I go there, I would surely see it.

Another adult white breasted waterhen

Secondary growth in the forest

Long tailed macaque I found at the entrance of the tree-top walk

Me walking on tree-top walk

All you need to do to compare is to look at a sugar cane that you got. You can see that there are hairs on it. I heard that they can grow spikes. YAY!!! That means a good start. Does it?

My sugar cane (sorry for the bad image)

It is a strikingly colourful bird with brown wings (as you can see from the picture on below). The woodpecker has a crest of either red or black, depending on the sex. The female has a black crest, and the male has a red crest. The common flameback has three toes. The belly and breast is white in colour with spots.

It is found in open coastal woodlands, mangroves, disturbed habitats such as mature gardens, like Botanic Gardens. I saw one there. It flies from tree to tree, finding food, starting from the bottom of the tree to the top. I saw one moving from the bottom to the top of a tree, pecking on the bark, I think it might be finding insects.

It is a very agile in climbing trees. when I saw it at the Singapore Botanic Garden, it was moving up trees very smoothly. 

It is found in and looks like the greater goldenback/ greater flameback. The common flameback has 2 malar stripes, whereas the greater flameback only has 1 malar stripe. The greater flameback is less common than the common flameback in Singapore.

Let me tell you how I started birding. It all started when I was Primary 2, when I was 8 years old. I when to Sime Forest through Macritchie Reservoir Park. When I walked I then saw a greater racket tailed drongo. I know it was very common, but I was amazed. At that moment, I had already forgotten everything in the world. I just looked at it.

 I wasn’t prepared to take any action on birding yet. It was then after about a fortnight when I when Sime Forest again. This time, I went through Venus Drive to the ranger station, then to the tree-top walk. No, it was not what you are thinking right now, I did not see any birds there, partly because I’m scared of heights.

Then, I continued walking on till I reached Petaling trail. I walked till I reached Petaling hut. It was then, I saw the rarest bird I ever saw… Even till today-3 years later. I saw a white rumped shama. I looked at it and heard it sing. It was beautiful.

In a glimpse of an eye, 3 years has past. Now, I love birding at Sime forest! The previous time I went, I went from Macritchie reservoir park all the way to Jelutong tower! It was so fun. I even saw the orange bellied flowerpecker there.

The orange bellied flowerpecker I saw in Sime Forest.

A blog- http://www.besgroup.talfrynature.com/, told me that the Radjah Shelduck is a new duck around the lakes of Singapore. The exact post: http://besgroup.talfrynature.com/?p=1719.

 It is found in Australia and New Guinea.

I am interested in birds and like other animals too. This is my log on birds and I would post some photos on it. I am only familiar with Singapore birds and I am studying about birds from other countries.

For any information on birds or questions email me: birdlover001@gmail.com . See Ya!!!