Birdwatching at Tampines Eco Green

Tampines Eco Green is a 36-hectare park bordered by Sungei Tampines (Tampines River), Tampines Expressway (TPE) and Tampines Ave 12. As the human traffic in this park is low, it is an excellent place for birding. With the exception of the pathways, many parts of the park are left as is. There is a secondary forest, freshwater wetlands and open grasslands. This is a green oasis among the housing estates in the Tampines/Pasir Ris area. It is not uncommon to see raptors perched on some of the dead trees found all over the park.

Start of trail near main entrance.

Open grassland.

Shaded trails.

Ashy Minivet.

Lesser Coucal.

Rufous Woodpeckers.

Oriental Honey-buzzard.

Black-winged Kite.

Blue-throated Bee-eater.

Some of the birds I have seen here are:

Red-breasted Parakeet
Rose-ringed Parakeet
White-breasted Waterhen
Sooty-headed Bulbul
Yellow-vented Bulbul
Common Flameback
Laced Woodpecker
Sunda Woodpecker
Rufous Woodpecker
Brown Shrike
Yellow-bellied Prinia
Dollarbird
Blue-throated Bee-eater
Blue-tailed Bee-eater
Black-winged Kite
Brahminy Kite
Oriental Honey-buzzard
Jerdon's Baza
Malaysian Pied Fantail
Oriental Magpie Robin
Javan Myna
Ashy Minivet
Asian Brown Flycatcher
Little Bronze Cuckoo
Plaintive Cuckoo
Large-billed Crow
Common Kingfisher
White-throated Kingfisher
Olive-backed Sunbird
Scarlet-backed Flowerpecker
Common Tailorbird
Baya Weaver
Pied Triller
Common Iora
Black-naped Oriole
Zebra Dove
Pink-necked Green Pigeon
Rock Pigeon

How to get there

The main entrance is located at the junction of Tampines Ave 9 and Ave 12. There are no car parks here. If you are driving, please park at one of the public car parks near Sun Plaza Park.

If going by train, alight at Tampines MRT and make your way to Sun Plaza Park and follow the MRT track. After crossing Tampines Ave 9, walk a short distance along Tampines Ave 12 and you will find the entrance to the park.

There are buses from the bus interchange at Tampines MRT that will take you a little closer to the park entrance, but I find that the wait for the buses are not worth it and the walking distance saved is not very much.

Birdwatching at Gardens by the Bay - Migratory birds

October to March/April are good months for birdwatchers and bird photographers. Some migrants will stop by Singapore for a few weeks in October/November before flying further south to their final destinations for winter. Some will find Singapore good enough for winter and stay here until it is time to return home for summer. Birdwatchers and photographers will be out in full force with their gear, hoping to get a glimpse or photo of these not-so-frequently seen birds.

I love visiting Gardens by the Bay to take bird photographs because it is only about 50 minutes from home by public transport and I get to enjoy breakfast at my favourite stall at Satay by the Bay. Prata and Teh Tarik!

These are some of the birds I have photographed over the last few years and these birds (who knows, they may be the same ones!) still show up every year during the migratory period.

Oriental Reed Warbler.

Yellow-rumped Flycatcher.

Asian Paradise Flycatcher.

Common Kingfisher. Common elsewhere but uncommon in Singapore.

Arctic Warbler.

Asian Brown Flycatcher.

Tiger Shrike.

Barn Swallow.

Juvenile Chinese Pond Heron.

Part of the fun is looking for these birds and in my case, photographing them. Most of them are very shy and the best time to see them easily is before the busloads of tourists start arriving at the Gardens from 9am. I usually go to the quieter areas, stop, and wait for the birds to appear. Seeing bird photographers is also a good sign there are interesting birds nearby. I follow some of the local Facebook bird groups. Some birders are so helpful that they even post the locations online.

Birdwatching at Hong Kong Mai Po Nature Reserve (2018)

If you wish to learn more about Mai Po Nature Reserve, you may want to read my first article here, or visit their website for more information.

After an interval of 4 years, I re-visited Mai Po this year in the second half of November. Not just once, but 3 times! My sister, who lives in Hong Kong, managed to book me on 3 different tours:

• WWF - Exploring Mai Po (3 hours)
• WWF - Mangrove Boardwalk (4 hours)
• Birdwatching at Mai Po with the Hong Kong Birdwatching Society (6 hours)

The first 2 tours are conducted by World Wildlife Fund - Hong Kong volunteers. You pay a fee, which should be considered more of a donation to the reserve. The 3rd walk with the HK Birdwatching Society includes birding at one of the Mangrove Boardwalk hides and priority is given to members. This is a highly popular walk with serious birders. I was on the waiting list for quite long and lucky me was given a spot a few days just before the walk!

Exploring Mai Po is a walk that introduces the visitor to the main features of Mai Po - the intertidal ponds, fish ponds and bird hides. You get to do a little bit of birdwatching at the only 3-storey hide in the reserve. The walk takes you to the Education Centre and back. Look out for a Pied Kingfisher that shows up frequently at the pond next to the Centre. The Pied Kingfisher has a habit of hovering before diving for fish!

Intertidal ponds.

View from the 3-storey bird hide.

The Mangrove Boardwalk takes you to the famous floating boardwalk in the middle of the largest mangrove forest in Hong Kong. This boardwalk was built by volunteers and floats according to the tide levels. The boardwalk 'floats' because it is supported by floating drums on both sides which are anchored to the ground by chains. On this particular day, it was low tide when we visited the hide and there were not many birds to be seen. But it was still a good day with 36 bird species in my list.

Volunteer guides, Peter and Judy, for the Mangrove Boardwalk tour.

Inner Deep Bay mudflat on a low tide day.

One of the Mangrove Boardwalk birding hides.

The last session in late Nov with the HK Birdwatching Society was the most exciting for me because we spent almost 2 hours at the mangrove hide looking at migratory birds feeding at Deep Bay. It was high tide at noon and was a suitable time for watching shorebirds when we got there. It was such an experience for me because most of the shorebirds were not commonly seen in Singapore and I got to learn from the experts how to identify them. I saw 53 bird species on this day! See list below.

Migratory birds feeding close to the hides during high tide.

The Floating Boardwalk.

Most of these tours are conducted in Cantonese. It does help to speak their language or have someone with you who does. Otherwise, look out for the English tours, which may not be so frequent.

NOTE: This is a restricted area and permits to visit are required, especially to the Floating Boardwalk. Please book the tours in advance or look for professional birding guides who can make all the necessary arrangements for you.

This is my birding list for the 25 Nov 2018 tour with the HK Birdwatching Society:

Spotted Dove
Eurasian Collared Dove
Asian Azure-winged Magpie
Oriental Magpie Robin
Siberian Stonechat
Little Bunting
Yellow-browed Warbler
Japanese White-eye
Masked Laughingthrush
Plain Prinia
Cinereous Tit
Common Koel (female)
Chinese Pond Heron
Grey Heron
Purple Heron
Black-crowned Night Heron
Great Cormorant
Collared Crow
Black-collared Starling
White Wagtail
Red-whiskered Bulbul
Chinese Bulbul
Little Grebe
Common Moorhen
White-breasted Waterhen
Common Kingfisher
White-throated Kingfisher
Yellow Bittern
Little Egret
Great Egret
Black-faced Spoonbill
Eurasian Spoonbill
Common Sandpiper
Wood Sandpiper
Marsh Sandpiper
Common Greenshank
Common Redshank
Eurasian Curlew
Pacific Golden Plover
Grey Plover
Little Ringed Plover
Kentish Plover
Bar-tailed Godwit
Temminck's Stint
Pied Avocet
Black-winged Stilt
Dunlin
Black-headed Gull
Northern Shoveler
Northern Pintail
Garganey
Tufted Duck
Osprey

Birdwatching at Pasir Ris Park

Pasir Ris Park is a very large park, with a 6.6km stretch of coast and is located at the North-eastern part of Singapore. It has 3 sections. The first section stretches from the Pasir Ris Farmway area until Sungei Api-api (Sungei means river in Malay). The 2nd section is located between Sungei Api-api and Sungei Tampines. The 3rd section is connected to Downtown East, a playground with holiday chalets.

My favourite section of the park is the 2nd section, where there is a small plot of mangrove forest next to Sungei Tampines. This area has been very happening for the last few years because many bird species have been spotted here. They include the Spotted Wood Owl, Buffy Fish Owl, Sunda Scops Owl, Oriental Pied Hornbill, Red Junglefowl, Stork-billed Kingfisher, Black-crowned Night Heron, Malaysian Pied Fantail and a Grey Heron heronry. If you are really lucky, you may even see wild boars and Smooth-coated Otters! It is not unusual to find bird photographers with their bazooka lenses looking for their favourite birds there at any time of the day.

Getting here is easy. Take the MRT East-West line to Pasir Ris Station and walk towards Pasir Ris Park. Look for Car Park B or Car Park C. These two places are good locations to start your birdwatching.

Happy birding!

Mangrove forest at Sungei Tampines.

Red Junglefowl. Isn't he handsome?

Nesting Malaysian Pied Fantail.

Black-crowned Night Heron.

Laced Woodpecker.

White-throated Kingfisher.

Smooth-coated Otters.

Birdwatching at Gardens by the Bay

It may surprise many to hear that Gardens by the Bay is quite a good location for birdwatching, considering the fact that it is right in the heart of the city. The many water features at the Gardens are attractive to both local residents and migrants. On a good day, one can see as many as 25 to 30 species of birds during a morning birding session.

My favourite site at the Gardens is the area near or at the Satay by the Bay. There is a lotus pond right next to the food centre and a larger Kingfisher Lake nearby. Standing on the bridge overlooking the Kingfisher Lake can yield local residents such as the White-throated Kingfisher, Ashy Tailorbird, Oriental White-eye, White-breasted Waterhen, Asian Koel and Olive-backed Sunbird. During the migratory months, you may even see the Brown Shrike, Common Kingfisher and Asian Brown Flycatcher.

Birdwatcher in action at the lotus pond.

Kingfisher Lake.

Female Asian Koel (Eudynamys scolopacea).

The Asian Koel is a noisy bird, often calling at the break of dawn. The easily recognisable male territorial call is a very loud KO-EL, with emphasis on the second note and repeated with increasing emphasis. The male bird may be mistaken for a crow, except that it has glossy blue-black plumage, a stout greenish bill and red eyes. An increase in the population of House Crows in Singapore also means more Koels because they are brood parasites. The female Koel lays her eggs in another bird's nest, usually the House Crow's, and lets the other bird bring up her chicks.

Oriental White-eye (Zosterops palpebrosus).

Pied Fantail (Rhipidura javanica).
This bird is easy to recognise because it has a habit of fanning out its tail.

Pied Triller (Lalage nigra) .

Male Olive-backed Sunbird (Cinnyris jugularis).

Female Olive-backed Sunbird feeding from the Scarlet Spiral Flag flower.

The Olive-backed Sunbird is commonly found in our parks and gardens. One can easily find them at the Gardens, busily drinking nectar from the Scarlet Spiral Flag (Costus woodsonii) flowers. Their call sounds like tswi-tswit-tititititi, or twit-twit-twit-twit. Small bird, loud voice!

White-bellied Sea eagle. Often found soaring above Marina Bay area.

This particular male Laced Woodpecker likes to peck on metallic lampshades.

An elusive resident - Ruddy-breasted Crake.

Another elusive resident - Red-legged Crake.

Some of the birds I have seen at the Satay by the Bay area were:

Javan Myna
Common Myna
Asian Glossy Starling
Pink-necked Pigeon
Rock Pigeon
Olive-backed Sunbird
Brown-throated Sunbird
Scarlet-backed Flowerpecker
Oriental Magpie Robin
Asian Koel
Yellow-vented Bulbul
Common Tailorbird
Ashy Tailorbird
Common Iora
Red-breasted Parakeet
Rose-ringed Parakeet
Eurasian Tree Sparrow
House Crow
Spotted-necked Dove
Zebra Dove
Greater Coucal
Little Bronze Cuckoo
Plaintive Cuckoo
Little Tern (at the reservoir)
Grey Heron
Great-billed Heron
Yellow Bittern
Pacific Swallow
Barn Swallow
White-breasted Waterhen
Red Junglefowl
Pied Triller
Pied Fantail
Large-tailed Nightjar
White-throated Kingfisher
Collared Kingfisher
Stock-billed Kingfisher
Black-naped Oriole
Scaly-breasted Munia
Yellow-bellied Prinia
Sunda Woodpecker
White-bellied Sea-eagle
Brahminy Kite
Changeable Hawk-eagle

Migrants
Common Kingfisher
Tiger Shrike
Brown Shrike
Asian Brown Flycatcher
Yellow-rumped Flycatcher
Asian Paradise Flycatcher
Arctic Warbler
Oriental Reed-warbler
Black-browed Reed-warbler
Common Sandpiper
Oriental Honey Buzzard

Happy birding!