I’ll have more to share about the trip, and more photos, but this at least is the start of a blog reboot going into 2013
Category Archives: birds
bird with attitude
I love the facial expressions you find in photographs of birds. While I doubt this bird was thinking anything beyond finding the next snack, he does look like he’s scowling.
white-breasted water hen & all about singapore
This was the best bird photo from my trip to Singapore. Taken at the Singapore Botanical Gardens.
Reasonably comfortable around people, he was hunting along the edge of a large pond and in the reeds.
I did not take pictures of the overly enthusiastic visitors chasing the poor bird around with their cameras. They’d get much better photos if they were still, observed the bird, and let it come with in camera range on its own.
Fortunately for the bird’s health and my sanity, they left after a minute or two, and after a minute or two of quiet, my avian friend reappeared for this photo op.
As some of you know or may have guessed, I’m just back from a week in Singapore. Of course, I couldn’t pass up an opportunity to get in some birding, and I as a result I saw more of the country outside of the city center than just about anyone else at the conference. The smartest thing I did was to contact Lim Kim Seung and make arrangements for him to be my guide, knowing that my enthusiasm far exceeds my birding skills. Birding with Kim Seung was a wonderful experience. He knows not only the birds of Singapore and where to find them but also is knowledgeable about other animals and plants as well. Highly recommended if you should find yourself and your bins in Singapore.
So where did we go?
Central Catchment nature reserve
And what did I see?
SUNDA PYGMY WOODPECKER Dendrocopus moluccensis
COMMON GOLDENBACK Dinopium javanense
LINEATED BARBET Megalaima lineata
WHITE-THROATED KINGFISHER Halcyon smyrnensis
COLLARED KINGFISHER Todiramphus chloris
BLUE-THROATED BEE-EATER Merop viridis
BLUE-CROWNED HANGING PARROT Loriculus galgulus
RED-BREASTED PARAKEET Psittacula alexandri
HOUSE SWIFT Apus nipalensis
COMMON PIGEON Columba livia
SPOTTED DOVE Streptopelia chinensis
RED TURTLE-DOVE Streptopelia tranquebarica
COMMON EMERALD DOVE Chalcophaps indica
PINK-NECKED GREEN PIGEON Treron vernans
LITTLE TERN Sterna albifrons
OSPREY Pandion halieatus
BRAHMINY KITE Haliastur indus
WHITE-BELLIED SEA EAGLE Haliaeetus leucogaster
CHANGEABLE HAWK EAGLE Spizaetus cirrhatus
GREY HERON Ardea cinerea
PURPLE HERON Ardea purpurea
ASIAN FAIRY-BLUEBIRD Irena puella
LARGE-BILLED CROW Corvus macrorhynchos
BLACK-NAPED ORIOLE Oriolus chinensis
PIED FANTAIL Rhipidura javanica
GREATER RACKET-TAILED DRONGO Dicrurus paradiseus
COMMON IORA Aegithina tiphia
ORIENTAL MAGPIE ROBIN Copsychus saularis
WHITE-RUMPED SHAMA Copsychus malabaricus
ASIAN GLOSSY STARLING Aplonis panayensis
COMMON MYNA Acridotheres tristis
WHITE-VENTED MYNA Acridotheres javanicus
COMMON HILL MYNA Gracula religiosa
PACIFIC SWALLOW Hirundo tahitica
STRAW-HEADED BULBUL Pycnonotus zeylanicus
YELLOW-VENTED BULBUL Pycnonotus goiavier
OLIVE-WINGED BULBUL Pycnonotus plumosus
YELLOW-BELLIED PRINIA Prinia flaviventris
COMMON TAILORBIRD Orthotomus sutorius
DARK-NECKED TAILORBIRD Orthotomus atrogularis
ASHY TAILORBIRD Orthotomus ruficeps
WHITE-CRESTED LAUGHINGTHRUSH Phylloscopus borealis
SHORT-TAILED BABBLER Malacocincla malaccensis
CHESTNUT-WINGED BABBLER Stachyris erythroptera
STRIPED TIT-BABBLER Macronous gularis
ORANGE-BELLIED FLOWERPECKER Dicaeum trigonostigma
SCARLET-BACKED FLOWERPECKER Dicaeum cruentatum
BROWN-THROATED SUNBIRD Anthreptes malaccensis
PURPLE-THROATED SUNBIRD Nectarinia sperata
COPPER-THROATED SUNBIRD Nectarinia calcostetha
OLIVE-BACKED SUNBIRD Nectarinia jugularis
CRIMSON SUNBIRD Aethopyga siparaga
LITTLE SPIDERHUNTER Arachnothera longirostris
PADDYFIELD PIPIT Passer montanus
BAYA WEAVER Ploceus philippinus
JAVAN MUNIA Lonchura leucogastroides
SCALY-BREASTED MUNIA Lonchura punctulata
EURASIAN TREE SPARROW Passer montanus
LESSER WHISTLING DUCK Dendrocygna javanica
BLACK SWAN Cygnus atratus
RED JUNGLEFOWL Gallus gallus
HOUSE CROW Corvus splendens
WHITE-BREASTED WATERHEN – Amaurornis phoenicurus
ZEBRA DOVE – Geopelia striata
This list is consolidated across all four locations, plus a few birds I saw on my own at the botanic gardens or walking around the city. I haven’t sorted out precisely which ones are life birds for me, but there will be a lot on this list that are. Not bad for the off season!
I’ll have more photos to share. Singapore is a wonderful city – vibrant, diverse, sophisticated, welcoming – in addition to the great birds to be found there.
Got birds?
my world, enchanted
I came home from my walk in the park, to find not one …
… but two, swans swimming about in the then high water behind our house.
tree swallows
Got birds?
what’s common about a grackle?
Very hungry baby grackle at the Bird Center of Washtenaw County.
On Sunday, I had an introduction to letterboxing thanks to one of my friends. The letterbox we went to find was easy to locate, being “hidden” at the Bird Center. The center is a wonderful place, doing great work saving birds on a shoestring budget. They are one of my favorite places to support, as the unsung and under-appreciated wildlife rehabilitators need all the help and support we can give them. Two recent local news items, Bird Center of Washtenaw County has become a vital resource for avian rehabilitation, seeks help in finding new location and Ann Arbor area wild bird rehabilitators open their season already at capacity, brought a spotlight to the center’s ongoing needs as well as shared information on simple ways to help wild birds.
Another Bird Center baby, this one a mourning dove. There were three of them, and they were absolutely adorable. That tub of icky-looking stuff on the left side of the photo is dove food. It takes a syringe and a lot of patience to simulate a mother dove and get these little guys to eat. Did I mention they and their 100-some friends at the shelter need to be fed every 30 minutes?
The Bird Center is not open for tours or visitors to the bird care area, but it is doing important work for all of us. If you can, send a donation in any amount to help their work. Or support your local rehabilitator(s) and help them help birds. Please share this information with others who will be interested and supportive.
Look at those sweet little birdy faces! How can you not help them, and their helpers?
for birds, it’s spring regardless of the temperature
While we humans have complained about the weather and the late spring, this red-winged blackbird has simply gone on with his life: migration, territory, mate, nest, guarding. His wing patch is the one bright spot in the gray horizon, but for him it’s business as usual.
weekend reflections: bird gazing
American Black Oystercatcher and its doppelganger at the Monterey Bay Aquarium.
skywatching again
Have you ever noticed that no matter where you go in the world, there are gulls sitting on street lights?
my world: spring birds
We also had a sandhill crane that day, along with robins, mallards, Canada geese, turkey vultures overhead, sparrows, and mourning doves. The blue-winged teals are firsts for the yard list.
