Satay Anyone? Part 2

Satay by the Bay a good place not just for satay but good for birding and a good place for dining too. Very likely you will be greeted by this Oriental Magpie robin when you visit this nice dining place.

Main entrance to the Satay by the Bay from the car park just next to Marina Barrage. In fact, you can walk to the Barrage, it is just 2 minutes away.

Water features next to the main dining area, is a pleasure to dine here & watch bird at the same time.

With this thick vegetation, not surprise why birds choose to stay here.

This lotus pond is the place to look out for yellow bittern, whistling ducks, kingfishers, etc.

This bridge directly link to Satay by the bay and you may walk from here to Garden by the bay.

Not surprisingly why kingfisher was use as part of the decorations in the garden.

Is all connected! From Satay by the bay, Garden by the bay, Marina Barrage...

I'm sure if you visit this place at night, you will see a even more colourful Singapore waterfront!

Satay Anyone?

"Satay by the Bay" - a place to enjoy satay, grilled meat on skewers while surrounded by lush greenery before a beautiful waterfront. Just next to Garden by the Bay, is a nice place for birding too.

This Oriental Magpie Robin perch on top of the sign at the entrance. Indeed, this is a good place to look for good food not just by us but birds too. There are plenty of plants which provide birds with lots of their favorite foods.

One of the many Olive Backed Sunbird in the garden. They are quite friendly too.

With so many flowering plants in the garden, is not difficult to have some feeding shots.

Brown throated sunbird that is slightly bigger than Olive backed sunbird can be found in the garden too.

Black naped oriole

A very beautiful Pink Necked green pigeon

Peaceful dove aka Zebra dove looking for food on the ground.

Common myna was once very common, they are now have to compete with the Javan myna for food.

Also looking for food on the ground is a pair of Eurasian tree sparrow.

A pair of Wandering Whistling duck was preening in the pond.

A common king fisher perched on the rock with the lotus flower at the background. They are only here for few months during this migratory period.

Another migratory bird that only be seen during this period, Arctic Warbler.

An introduce lizard, now quite a common sight in the garden - Brown Anole.

If you are looking for some nice place for dining with opportunity to see this little cuties, head down to Satay by the bay!  :)

Common Friends at SBG

I finally got sometime for a short walk on this raining Saturday morning. I decided to go Singapore Botanic Garden instead of Bidadar that is flooded by lots of bird watchers and photographers who are out for the migratory birds.

First bird of the day is this Greater Racket Tailed Drongo. This drongo can mimic may different sounds from birds to machineries such as grass cutting machine! Impressive!

One of the cute animal that will not be missed by visitors is this Plaintain squirrel. Darting from tree to tree, I often mistook it as birds when they are high up the tree...  :)

 Spotted dove perched right at the top of the tree make it my easy target.

 This bird was named Yellow Vented Bulbul for a obvious reason...

A rather small bird that often darting from branch to branch looking for insects/spiders under the leaf.

Managed to capture this Olive Backed Sunbird perched on the same branch as the Common Iora.

For one hour trip in the garden still managed to see so many beautiful creatures... not a bad way to start my week end!

They Are Backed at Sungei Buloh Wetland Reserve

Is the time of the year again... no, not Christmas but birding at Sungei Buloh Wetland Reserve (SBWR). The migratory birds are back to the reserve.

 I got a copy of very handy guide for birding in the reserve!

Tips on how to identify birds in the reserve is included. Just look at the size of the bird, their bill & their plumage.

We have Mr Desmond Lee (Minister of State) joining us this morning too! Below are some of the animals we saw...

SBWR is probably the only place in Singapore to see a wild crocodile. The next time when you are here, try looking for them at the Main Bridge. They are very well camouflage, so try look for anything that looks like a floating log or tree trunk in the water. They are usually just at the water edge.

 One of the many birds in the reserve. This Red Shank was with the colour flag X7. If you saw any birds that with flag, may report your sightings at Sungei Buloh Engraved Flag Sightings.

 Looks very similar to Red Shank but with yellowish/green leg.

Another sandpiper that we saw is Marsh Sandpiper. These birds will only be here for a limited time. Catch them while they are here or you will have to wait another year to see them again...

Return of Brown Shrike

Migratory birds are starting to arrive since late last month so as Brown shrike!

They are common but quite a shy bird to be photographed. I have to keep a distance and approach very slowly to get a more decent shot.

However, you will have some small window to get close when they have food in their mouth...

Photograph migratory bird is a annual affairs that not to be missed in tiny Singapore.  :)

Singapore Botanic Garden

Oh! It was a while ago when I last visited Singapore Botanic Garden. Although the number of visitors surged year by year, the garden still a good place for new photographer to test their camera, or try their new photography skills. 

One of the cutest animals in the garden - Plantain squirrel. They are almost any where, darting & jumping from tree to tree looking for food. It is also one of the easiest target to be photographed too.

Another most common bird in Singapore - Javan myna. They are sometime consider as pest thanks to their super adaptability to any environment. They can be found from hawker center, bin center, monsoon canal, garden and even in busy Orchard Road!

Rock pigeon is another bird species that adapt very well in the urban environment.

Rock pigeon here come in variable colour and patterns. They too at times consider as pest. Nevertheless, they are good subject for photography too.

One of my favorite bird is this Pink Necked Green Pigeon.

Spotted dove is a popular in song-singing contest. They are also quite common in Singapore.

Very similar to Pacific swallow, Barn Swallow are migratory bird and start visiting Singapore around this period.

Scaly Breasted Munia, usually come in a flock.

Common tailor bird, a very tiny but a rather noisy bird. Their call are consider very load compare to their tiny body size.

Just before I left the garden, take a photo of this unknown bug.