Singapore - Birding in the Southern Ridges

One more bird watching trip before I leave tomorrow. I had enthusiastically signed up for a bird watch walk with the Nature Society some weeks ago, and regretted the decision last night. The walk will start promptly at 7:30 in the morning, and I was still up at 1am the night before. I had received group emails from people backing out of the trip, and was very tempted to do the same. In the end, I decided that it was my last day in Singapore, possibly my last birdwatching trip for a good while, so I bit the bullet as I set my alarm for 5am the next morning.

Obviously this was going to be a group walk. I hadn't forgotten my lesson about birdwatching with company. But I hadn't expected a crowd this size as I got out of the cab at the group's meeting point. There must have been over twenty people, adults and children alike. I had forgotten this was the tail end of the March week-long school holidays. Families were out with a vengeance, trying to make the most out of the last couple of days of the break. My heart sank as I counted the number of children present. Could they possibly walk in the silence and reverence that was required on such a journey? There wasn't anything I could do but follow the two guides as the tour started. Luckily, they decided to split the group into two. I quickly jumped in to join the first group after gauging that there were less children than in the other.

For the first stop, the guide brought us to the Henderson Waves Bridge, built at the tree top canopy level. The morning sun blazed a bright red, but we were able to gaze directly at it because of the hazy atmosphere. Within minutes, we spotted a collared kingfisher perched high on the branches. We also saw the very common Yellow Vented Bulbul, which we would consistently see throughout the walk today. Several people came equipped with their fancy cameras with their even fancier bulky lenses. I half wished I had borrowed my dad's until I remembered that his lens weren't powerful enough for long distances. I watched enviously at the little boy standing next to me, big-ass camera slung around his neck, aiming his shutter at the beautiful pink necked green pigeons, trigger happy and clicking away. Do I really have to pick up another hobby for my latest hobby??

Next, we were led through the treetop canopy walk on the Southern Ridges. Adding to my life list was the Racket-Tailed Drongo, also a fairly common but splendid sight - dark glossy black, with two single long tail feathers, falling like a regal train down its back.

Halfway through the walk I gave up trying to keep up with my group. They forged ahead even as I fell behind, taking my time to seek out the birds that I heard but could not see. By this time, the lesson was firmly etched into my brain - birdwatching is a solitary activity. Period. No ifs or buts. It was when I fell behind that I saw the most. A couple other stragglers from my group were by no doubt, serious birders themselves. I hung around them in silence, as I decided with a sweeping glance they were more experienced and seasoned birders. My patience paid off as one of them spotted a dollarbird in a far off tree. Through my binoculars I could only make out its bright and thick orange bill. As I pulled out my newly purchased Singapore Birds Field Guide to confirm my sighting, another guy pointed out the four long-tailed parakeets perched at the very top of another tree. Man, was I glad I stuck around! These guys are good! In the following fifteen minutes, we walked into a clearing and proceeded to spot two common flamebacks, multiple pairs of common hill mynas, and even a lineated Barbet!

By now, the sun had come out in full force and most of us decided to call it a day. One of the guys had struck a conversation with me, and when I described my birding experiences in Singapore thus far he remarked, "Wow, you're quite an adventurous girl!" To which I had no reply. I had never pictured myself that way, certainly not in Singapore where it is very safe to travel around on your own, by and large. But I felt a little flattered and a lot more confident.

I can be alone, I may actually have the courage to be on my own.

Bird list: collared kingfisher, yellow-vented Bulbul, Pink necked Green pigeon, olive-backed sunbird, oriental Dollarbird, long-tailed Parakeets, Javan Mynas, Common Hill Mynas, Dark-necked Tailorbird (?), Lineated Barbet, Common Flameback, Greater Racket-tailed Drongo, Black-naped Oriole, Asian Glossy Starling

Singapore - Birding at Botanic Gardens

Having had a partner around for so long, being alone takes some getting used to. Justin and I were inseparable, we had been together for 8 years. So excuse me if I feel weird eating at a restaurant all by myself, feeling self conscious, thinking that I possibly look very much like a loser to inquisitive onlookers. In the last couple of weeks, my single and alone status has grown on me. I can do things on my own again and not give two hoots about what people think.

I am stronger than I give myself credit for.

Today I ventured out to the Botanic Gardens to do more birdwatching. It is one activity you have to do alone, as I have come to realize. The night before I had hesitantly agreed to let my friend accompany me in the morning. He had just returned from a trip to Cuba and NYC, and was perhaps just a tad too eager to share his experiences. I was also too polite to stop him, even as my eyes darted from tree to tree, and my attention wavered whenever I heard a birdcall. I couldn't do my usual note taking as I was not able to watch the birds long enough to make clear observations. With company, I felt pressed to keep moving. My friend redeemed himself with his photography skills, taking great pictures of the birds we spotted. I also saw some new birds for my life list today, which made me feel like my day wasn't a total bust. Up on a palm tree, dozens of Asian glossy starlings gathered together, their bright crimson eyes watching the skies, their bluish black bodies glistening in the sunlight. On another tree, I caught sight of a gorgeous Blue-tailed Bee-eater, his body a riot of colors, fading from orange, to yellow, to green, to blue. How is Mother Nature such an incredibly talented artist? How have I never seen such birds all my life, growing up in this garden city that is Singapore?

Bird list: yellow-vented Bulbul, Spotted Dove, Blue-tailed Bee-eater, Pacific Swallow, Brahminy Kites, Lesser Whistling Ducks, Asian Glossy Starlings, White breasted Waterhen, Olive backed Sunbird, Rock Pigeons, House Sparrow, Eurasian Tree Sparrow, Ashy tailorbird (?), Black-naped Oriole

Singapore - Birding on the North Eastern Riverine Loop

It's true that Singapore doesn't have much variety in terms of natural landscapes. We have no mountains and valleys (just hills), no deserts, no changes in climate. But what little green spaces we have, we sure make a helluva good use of it. The National Parks Board have recently built a network of paved trails and walkways to link the major parks in Singapore to each other, so visitors can park hop from one place to another with great ease, mostly without having to encounter road traffic at all!

I live about ten minutes away from Punggol Park, which is part of the 26km North Eastern Riverine Loop, linking a total of four major parks. The website states it takes about 3-4 hours to walk the route, or a 2hr bike ride. Level of difficulty : Easy. So today, I packed up my Gryffindor backpack, armed myself with my binoculars and Justin's Chicago Bears cap, slapped on some sunscreen (being sensible finally) and trudged out the door. I'm off to do some serious birding today.

I rented a bicycle from the shop at the park. Nothing fancy, no mountain bikes (c'mon this was going to be a paved trail!). Just a simple bicycle equipped with a basket in the front, and an "I ❤️SG" tinkling bell on the side. The rental was $8 an hour. I'd be back in an hour an a half at most, smiling smugly to myself as I rode away.

Ahh.. Riding with the wind in my hair. I could ride on forever.

I made my first stop at the Sungei Serangoon Park Connector, and got my fair share of birds. I realized I could spot them a little more easily now, having had a little bit of practice the other day. I could also recognize some of the birds I had seen before, or read about. The yellow vented bulbul, the collared kingfisher, the black-naped oriole, the pied fantail.

I was glued to one particular grassy spot, watching a black-naped oriole feed on a bug it had between its beak. It didn't immediately swallow the fuzzy centipede-looking fellow, but proceeded to slap the bug on the branch it was perched on. Several times. As if it was trying to knock the poor creature senseless before devouring its crunchy snack. When it was done, I started to walk towards the paved trail when a movement amongst the grass startled me. I looked down, and about two feet away, a thin black snake slithered across my path. I was too stunned to do anything, and in retrospect I was glad I didn't make any sudden movements. Excitedly, I fished around for my camera, but when I finally got it out of my bag, the snake was gone. I made a mental note to stick to the trail from now on.

At some point on my ride, I silently wished that I would come across a raptor. Having volunteered at the Raptor Center in North Carolina, I grew very fond of these magnificent birds of prey. I had decided that the best way to make me voluntarily read up on these birds was to become a docent. It provided some external motivation, and a compelling one at that, to learn more about birds. Otherwise, I can be very lazy.

Ten minutes later, as I was approaching the Lor Halus Bridge, I saw two shadows in the sky. Too mighty to be anything but a stork, egret, or perhaps a raptor? My heart skipped a beat. I pedaled faster towards the bridge and parked my bicycle against some benches. Reaching for my binoculars, I tried to ID  the birds with my eyes. Gliding in the air, powerful wing beats, skimming the waters in search of food. For fish? Looking through my binoculars, a more powerful set of eyes - a white bald head, chestnut wings that glowed bright rufous red against the sunlight, black wing tips. Sea eagles? What kind? I scribbled frantically into my notebook. I later found out those were a pair of Brahminy Kites, only one of the most common raptors found in Singapore, snorted a birder in derision. Well, common for you maybe, it goes on my life list, thank you very much.

When I was done feasting my eyes on those kites, I turned my gaze towards the calm peaceful waters. A little head broke through the glassy surface. I blinked. What did I just see? I scanned the surface, this time with my binoculars and saw not one, but two otters. Excitedly, I looked around and saw a couple of people on the edge of the waters a little further ahead. I was so excited I wanted to call out to them to come look at the otters. Was I glad I didn't. I pushed my bike and walked in their direction, preparing to ride away when I saw what they were looking at. About five feet away, in the waters, was an otter feeding on a fish. Calmly and nonchalantly chewing away, as the onlookers excitedly took pictures and videos with their cameras and phones and other devices. This was wayyyy more interesting than my sighting of otter heads above water. Like the Brahminy kites, these otters are regular visitors. I felt like such a noob.

Multiple house swallows, white breasted waterhens and pipits later, I decided I was done for the day. Even though the trails were well paved, there were parts where I had to pedal upslope and across bridges. Okay. So the slopes were gentle, but unforgiving on my knees. I half wished I had rented those mountain bikes with better suspension and fancy gears. I was at the halfway point on the route, but I had already been out for two and a half hours. There was a convenient option of cutting through the loop via the Punggol Waterway. Nothing to see along this route, just plenty of construction and noise. Lots and lots of new residential buildings are going up. Good for the ever exploding population. 5.5 million and growing.

Bird list for today: Collared kingfisher; yellow vented bulbul; black-naped oriole; zebra dove; Sunda woodpecker; long tailed shrike; grey heron; house swallow; paddyfield pipit; white throated kingfisher; Brahminy kite; white breasted waterhen; common Iora; pied fantail; hawk cuckoo (not sure which kind); oriental magpie robin; common mynah; brown throated sunbird.

Singapore - Birding at the Lower Peirce Reservoir Park

Last night, I was looking through the National Parks website and decided I wanted to hike a trail in the morning. I picked a quick 45min easy trail that looped around the Lower Peirce Reservoir because the description said that I would be able to spot some native birds. I haven't really gone bird watching since I came back, so this would be a good opportunity as I had nothing on my agenda today. Zero. Amazing.

The weather in the morning was beautiful. Clear blue skies with not a cloud in sight. I took my time to have breakfast and Face Timed my in laws for an hour. When I decided to finally set off, the sky looked a little iffy. Newsflash! My weather app projected a 90% chance of rain. That didn't deter me. By my strange and stubborn logic, I thought I could perhaps outrun the clouds, get to the trail and finish hiking and birdwatching before the heavens opened.

I know what you're thinking. Uh-oh. This story does not have a good ending.

As the bus neared my destination, I could see dark ominous clouds lurking over the exact spot where I was going to hike. I muttered a silent prayer for the clouds to hold up, even just for an hour. I wasn't going to be greedy, just one hour please. The sun was still shining, even though I felt tiny droplets at random moments. I looked at my still-pretty-darn-new pair of walking shoes. Damn, they're about to get real muddy.

Still, i plodded on.

If there weren't enough warnings, a sign at the trailhead read : Do not enter in the event of stormy weather. Sailed right past it.

I was relieved to find that the trail was a boardwalk the entire way (I love you Singapore, and your no nonsense efficiency. I applaud you for your foresight). Muddy shoes, a thing of the past. The towering trees also covered much of the skies, so the rain suddenly became a distant memory. Very soon, I was straining all my senses in hopes of finding myself a new bird for the life list. Nada. I saw a monitor lizard, and a skink. And just a couple of other hikers. I could hear them little birdies chirping away, but identifying them by song is the least of my capabilities. I remembered reading on the website that the trail takes you to an open area to the quarry lake, where the birds are most likely found, so I doubled my pace to look for water.

There are many things an avid birder would avoid. One, dressing in bright colors, because let's face it, they don't call it the bird's eye view for naught. Two, making too much noise. The ultimate birder's nightmare was about to happen to me. I had reached the part of the trail that edges the quarry lake, and walked past an old man, who was doing some gentle stretches, minding his own business (as was I). To my horror, he started swinging his arms back and forth, clapping when his hands met. Now, I am all too familiar with this clapping shenanigan that the local older folks call "exercise". Here was one prime example, just doing it at the worst spot! In an effort to get away from all that ruckus, I quickened my pace so the birds won't flee from me into oblivion. Reaching a bend in the trail, I heaved a sigh of relief as I thought I had put some distance between us. I raised my binoculars to search for my little birdies when the sounds of  clapping traveled to my ears. Very faint at first, but approaching. Definitely advancing. Cursing under my breath, I picked up my pace and moved quickly along the trail.

It had to be a blessing in disguise. Because I wandered to the end of the trail and into the reservoir park proper. There was a little pavilion at the end of a cobbled path that led to nowhere. I decided to take a break from walking, and also seek shelter from the bigger drops of rain that were now falling. Right next to the shelter were two huge flowering trees. One was the beautiful flame-of-the-forest, but I had no idea what the other was called. It had pretty clumps of orange flowers that looked like the ixora, but I didn't think the ixora grew on trees. This was my big birding break. I could hear a symphony of chirping, I just couldn't see the birds. For now.

I spent the next two hours sitting on the bench, propping my elbows up on my knees. Birding can be a tiring affair, as I have come to remember. Holding the binoculars up for an extended period of time causes the arms to burn. Really bad. And then you start to tremble, which is not good at all for looking through the binoculars. You need really steady hands. And then there is the disconnect between spotting a movement with your eyes, then raising the binoculars and trying to look for that same spot. I was only getting the hang of it by the end of the two hours. And then comes the challenge of trying to catch a glimpse of unfamiliar birds. If only they would stay put long enough for me to note their features for identification later on! As if teasing, these birds flit in and out of the trees, behind leaves or in the glare of the sun so you don't really think you'd seen what you saw. But patience always pays off. If you follow a bird long enough, sooner or later you'll get a good look, and bam! Field notes taken, image committed to memory. New bird for life list. Mission accomplished!

My two hours of hard work yielded sightings of a purple-throated sunbird - a beautiful bird the size of a hummingbird with a iridescent turquoise crown and bright red belly, and of course, its shiny purple throat. I also saw a common flameback. - a magnificent woodpecker in flight, with yellow wings with a bright red crest on its head. A common tailorbird that drove me nuts for the first hour as I could only hear it's incessant chuk-chuk-chuk, but could never spot it. When I'd finally seen it, you could only imagine the amount of satisfaction and relief flowing through my veins. Adding to my list are four female pink necked green pigeons, a crimson sunbird, a yellow vented bulbul, a black naped oriole, two barn swallows and a thousand mynas. Oh and three macaques.

The rain never did fall. I must have been in the area with 10% chance of precipitation.

Oahu: Manoa Falls

So this morning I found out that the Hawaiian alphabet has only thirteen letters, five vowels and eight consonants. Which explains the number of recurring vowels. In fact, the Hawaiian name for the state fish is twenty one letters long. Are you ready for this? The state fish, the triggerfish is also known as the humuhumunukunukuapuaa. Now say it fast, three times.

And while we're on the topic of state symbols, the Hawaiian state flower is the hibiscus, and the state bird is the nene (Hawaiian goose) pronounced nay-nay. I thought i would get a glimpse of it today as we embarked on a morning hike, but it is not as common as you'd think a state bird oughta be.

Crazy trees in Manoa

We journeyed inland to Manoa to see the waterfalls. Here lies the lush green rain forests of Oahu, where it rains almost every day. I managed to catch sight of two more new birds for my life list -- the Red-billed Leiothrix and the Saffron Finch. Pretty stoked about my lucky birding experience! The falls, however, was a different story. It hadn't rained that morning so the waterfall was unimpressive to say the least. James showed me a picture of the waterfall when he was here another time. Now that was a waterfall. This was a mere trickle.

With mixed feelings about the birds versus the falls, we headed out to the west coast to White Sands Beach Park, where people go to surf. I am done with trying new things for awhile, so I gave surfing a miss. Instead, I spent my time combing the sands for pretty shards of seashells, daydreaming about the jewelry I could create with them. My prized find was a tiny heart-shaped shell of the prettiest shade of maroon, though I wouldn't be surprised if the shells crumbled to pieces before I could do anything with them. I had to cram all my belongings into one carry-on. How did I manage to fit everything in the same suitcase before??

That's it. Tonight is my last night in Hawaii. Tomorrow, I visit North Shore, and then I would have covered all four corners of the island.