Trip to Singapore Japanese Garden

It has been a while since I last visited Singapore Japanese Garden. Is now a good time to re-visit this garden as both resident & migratory birds can be found in the garden. As usual, I head straight to the lotus pond and saw this Milky Stork.

We are very fortunate to be able to watch this beautiful bird in such a close distance.

After about 5 minutes, another bird join in and try to fish at the same area.

Not just one or two but three different species feeding at the same place!

This is the second heronry that I saw in Singapore! Is amazing that the grey herons (Ardea cinerea) are doing well here in such a highly urbanised Singapore!

 Across the river, I spotted 2 purple heron (Ardea purpurea).

 There are 3 types of kingfisher in this garden. Collared Kingfisher, White Throated Kingfisher (photo above) & the winter visitor - Common Kingfisher.

 What a lucky day, I saw 2 different woodpecker visit the same spot one after another! First was this Rufous Woodpecker (Celeus brachyurus).

 and follow by this Common Flameback (Dinopium javanense).

 One of the biggest sunbirds in Singapore - Brown-Throated Sunbird (Anthreptes malacensis).

 One of the 2 swallow that can be found in the garden is this Pacific Swallow (Hirundo tahitica).

Common Myna (Acridotheres tristis) can be found at urban area and not just limit to coastal area.

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

 White-Breasted Waterhen (Amaurornis phoenicurus) out in the open.

 Flock of Asian Glossy Starling (Aplonis panayensis) birds with stripes are juveniles.

 Brown Shrike (Lanius cristatus) one of the winter visitor will stay here for few months before returning to their country of origin.

 Common kingfisher too will stay here for he next few months.

 This looks like a Brown-Chested Jungle Flycatcher (Rhinomyias brunneata).

 Can't get a clear shot of this Yellow Rumped Flycatcher (Ficedula zanthopygia).

An introduced species, Changeable Lizard (Calotes versicolor).

It used to be very common in the garden, now I'm seeing less of this Water Monitor (Varanus salvator).

By November, more migratory birds will arrive here and I'm sure it will be another exciting trip next month!

Birding at Singapore Botanic Garden

After months of waiting & trying my luck without success. I finally saw signs of the return of the migratory birds to Singapore Botanic Garden (SBG). I have seen some migratory birds at Bidadari last month but only see them here at SBG today.

What a better way to start my birding with Japanese Paradise Flycatcher (Terpsiphone atrocaudata). I saw not one but 3 of them. All of the perch quite high up the tree, but is good enough to excite me to come back for more in the following months.

The next migratory bird that I saw around the same place is this Arctic Warbler (Phylloscopus borealiss).

Is good to see the return of the migratory birds, but I am not giving a miss to our local beauties too. This female Crimson Sunbird (Aethopyga siparaja) give me a perfect pose!

When there are female, the male will not be far away. This is the male Crimson Sunbird (Aethopyga siparaja).

 A male Laced woodpecker (Picus vittatus) don't mind to pose for me too.

It was once at the edge of extinction and now doing quite well after they are re-introduce to Singapore and they are still listed as endangered currently.

One of the local bird that can sing many different calls and also good at mimicking calls of other bird is this Greater Racket-tailed Drongo (Dicrurus paradiseus).

Singapore Botanic Garden may have receiving more visitors than before, but it is still a good birding place after all this year.

Feeding Brown-Throated Sunbird

For bird photography, one of the best time to take their photo is when they are feeding or when they are looking for food. For smaller birds, they tend to move very fast and hardly stay at one place for too long. This is also true for Brown-Throated Sunbird (Anthreptes malacensis). When I saw them feeding last Sunday at Singapore Botanic Garden, I know I came at the right time. 

Brown-Throated Sunbird feed on nectar and also small insects.

 This male sunbird is looking for spider after he have enough nectar.

This sunbird is scanning under the leaf looking for small insects.

This is the female Brown-Throated Sunbird, without the colourful plumage and the brown throat that gave them their name.

Side view of the female Brown-Throated Sunbird.