Birding at Bishan Park

As we move closer to August, the hot weather here in Singapore is set to continue for at least another 2 months. Is another hot day a expected today for birding here locally in Singapore. I go over to Bishan Park for my morning birding.

This female Pink Necked Green Pigeon is spoil for choice. Whenever there is fruiting tree, it will become buffet meal for this birds.

 So as this male Pink Necked Green Pigeon

 This male Asian Koel just peep from behind.

 Over at the open field, an adult Common Myna  is feeding their chick.

 The partner just watch from a nearby tree branch.

 This may look similar, but is a Javan Myna.

 This Black-Naped Oriole is also busy looking for food searching from branch to branch.

 Just in time to capture this pair of Blue-Throated Bee-Eater(Merops viridis)

 IS a hot hot day, this Purple Heron (Ardea purpurea) is panting to keep the temperature down.

 There is quite a number of them hiding in the bush near the canal.

Trying my luck catching a fast pace treeswift.

Waterhen is picking bits of food from the canal. Is a hot but a good birding trip.

New Purple Heron Paradise in Singapore

It looks like Bishan Park is another great location to look for Purple Heron (Ardea purpurea). 

They are actually not easy to spot when they stay static in the bush. In this case, is just too difficult to miss as there are 2 purple heron so close to each other!

Just few steps away, I can easily spot another 2 so close to each other.

So may of them...

No... this is not Purple heron but a Pond Heron.

Among so many heron is this White-Breasted Waterhen (Amaurornis phoenicurus). Searching for food along the side of the canal.

One of the most common bird in Singapore - Javan Myna (Acridotheres javanicus)

Apparently, Bishan Park is also a good place to look out for Scaly-Breasted Murnia (Lonchura punctulata).

A not so shy Peaceful Dove (Geopelia striata). They can be seen quite easily in the park too.

Black-Naped Oriole(Oriolus chinensis) a very bright colour bird.

Malayan water monitor (Varanus salvator) using their tongue to taste the air to locate for food. They are always mistaken as crocodile especially when they are in the water.

Weekend Birding at Bishan Park

Bishan Park is one of the largest urban parks in Singapore, one unique feature of this park is the waterway. Is indeed a great place for families to have a fun day out. One can simply enjoy nature, bird watching or simply picnic by the river side.

 One of the many beautiful bridges in the garden.

 Is just a stone throw from the nearby apartment.

From time to time, there are people that try to get rid of their pet here and need to be reminded. Don't buy a pet if you can't keep them for life.

 One of the most common bird in the garden - Javan Myna.

 Beside scavenging at hawker center, Javan myna hunt for food too.

Looks very similar to Javan Myna from a distance - Common Myna. They are now out numbered by the introduced Javan Myna.

 Yellow Vented Bulbul is the most common bulbul in Singapore.

 A male Brown Throated sunbird taking shelter under the shade.

Hunting spider for food not limited to just Spider hunter but sunbird too. This female Brown Throated sunbird just got a spider!

 Zebra dove also known as Peaceful dove. They like to forage on bare ground or short grass.

Sunda pygmy woodpecker are much smaller than myna, they are not easy to spot without first listen to their call and pin point their location.

 Another bird that usually stay high up on the tree that not easy to spot - Pied Triller.

 One of the most beautiful treeswift in Singapore - Grey Rump Treeswift.

Usually fly in flock, Bishan Park is one of the place that you can get real close to Scaly-Breasted Munia.

 Hiding in the thick vegetation by the river, didn't expect to see this big beauty - Purple Heron.

There are quite a number of White Breasted Water Hen here. They can be easily spotted along the water edge.

 This changeable lizard warming up under the sun.

Another very common bird not just in this garden, they can be found everywhere from hawker center, shopping belt at Orchard to my neighborhood. Yet they are not even listed in the Top 20 Most Common bird in Singapore. Rather strange and puzzle, sorry little Eurasian Tree Sparrow. I'm sure one day, you will join the top 20 list again.

Birding at Bishan Park

CS Ling got her 500mm lens last week so we decided to try it out at Singapore Botanic Garden. We starts our trip on the Bukit Timah Core but later decided to move to Bishan Park when the weather changed and starts drizzling. I saw this pair of Sunda pygmy wood pecker pecking on the tree trunk for breakfast.

This oil palm tree seem to be support a variety of animals of the park which include this squirrel.
Below the tree was this Magpie Robin bird that like to sing.The Asian glossy staring also pick on the palm fruit that left behind and drop to the ground by the long tail parakeets on the tree.
Competition for foods is fierce on the tree too. These 2 parakeets are fighting for this bunch of oil palm fruits.

On the other side of the park, this squirrel is having fun with this sign.

The weather changed and it started to drizzle so we decided to move to Bishan Park to continue our exploration.This was the first bird that we saw when we arrived at Bishan Park - a nice flower pecker!The Sunda pygmy woodpecker are found at Bishan Park too.

The Common lora was feeding on the fruits that is abundance in the park.

A very cute White eye bird is feeding too.

This Dollar bird perched high on the tree top looking for flying insects for food.
Do you have a feeling of autumn with this thick layer of dried leaf on the floor?

The dark cloud starts forming over Bishan area so we end our trip with comparing the 2 lenses. Just look at the huge 500mm lens compare with the 80-400mm lens on the right!