Well, at least I spotted some 12 species of birds! True, nothing compared to the day when we went out together with Si Gium (21 species). The difference would be that I note down the bird only when I can see and differentiate them. Si Gium on the other hand, can spot the difference with the callings of the birds!
Here's the not so short list (26th Feb 08):
1. Swiftlets
2. many White-vented Myna
3. many Yellow-vented Bulbul
4. many Sunbirds
5. Pink-necked Pigeon (once on a tree on the ridge, once outside Co-op at LT 27)
6. Brahminy Kite (caused quite a commotion every time it appears, with the sunbird leaving their roost)
7. White-throated Kingfisher (spotted by Dexiang)
8. Cuckoo (heard)
9. Cockatoo (heard)
10. Koel (heard)
11. Crow (seen and heard consistently)
12. Oriole (over NUH)
Tuesday, February 26, 2008
Mammal Trapping plots
Acacia plot - forest plot at NUH, near KE VII Hall (5 traps: 2 and 3 traps on each side of the stairs)
Simpoh air (mixed) plot - forest plot near IMCB, across the road from S2 (5 traps)
Tiup tiup plot 1 - forest plot behind University Hall (5 traps)
Tiup tiup plot 2 - forest plot on the left of drain directly opposite Tiup tiup plot 1 (5 traps)
Tiup tiup plot 3 - forest plot on the right of drain directly opposite Tiup tiup plot 1 (4 traps)
Total number of traps: 24
Traps used are the common rat traps that snap close when an animal pushes against the bait. Size of trap: 28x18cm
Baits used: banana, papaya, you char kway.
Simpoh air (mixed) plot - forest plot near IMCB, across the road from S2 (5 traps)
Tiup tiup plot 1 - forest plot behind University Hall (5 traps)
Tiup tiup plot 2 - forest plot on the left of drain directly opposite Tiup tiup plot 1 (5 traps)
Tiup tiup plot 3 - forest plot on the right of drain directly opposite Tiup tiup plot 1 (4 traps)
Total number of traps: 24
Traps used are the common rat traps that snap close when an animal pushes against the bait. Size of trap: 28x18cm
Baits used: banana, papaya, you char kway.
The truth about... You Char Kway
Among all the baits I've heard of: banana, papaya, jackfruit, salted fish, peanut butter on bread and cuttlefish, I had thought they were interesting enough. Little did I know that deep fried dough sticks (you char kway) can work marvelously as well!
All thanks to Benjamin Lee who advised this bait and recommended reading Richard Corlett's paper on Rodent diversity in a highly degraded tropical landscape: Hong Kong, South China.
On 21st Feb 08 evening, Audrey and I went out to put the mammal traps and I tried 3 traps: 1 at the Acacia plot near KE VII Hall, 2 at the simpoh air plot near S2. The one at the Acacia plot was fixed with banana while the 2 at the simpoh air plot was fixed with you char kway.
The next day, Audrey and Alicia shouted for me 5 meters away just to say that I had a rat one of the traps at the simpoh air plot, while the one fixed up with banana did not get anything. I am guessing the fried dough sticks are nice smelling and can be noticed from afar.
The inquisitive rat.
Check out the short tail (Kelvin said its probably bitten off by something).
The next thing I did was to weigh the rat, measure its length and its tail before setting it loose again. My first hand experience with a rat. An adjective for it would be - curious. It was just sniffing at our hands and was not frightened or agitated. When released, it did not even run off immediately, just hopped off slowly as Alicia made a last attempt to hold it in her hands.
Weight of the trap without rat. This rat weighed 200g.
Reference:
Kylie P.S. Chung, Richard T. Corlett, Rodent diversity in a highly degraded tropical landscape: Hong Kong, South China., Biodiversity and Conservation (2006).
All thanks to Benjamin Lee who advised this bait and recommended reading Richard Corlett's paper on Rodent diversity in a highly degraded tropical landscape: Hong Kong, South China.
On 21st Feb 08 evening, Audrey and I went out to put the mammal traps and I tried 3 traps: 1 at the Acacia plot near KE VII Hall, 2 at the simpoh air plot near S2. The one at the Acacia plot was fixed with banana while the 2 at the simpoh air plot was fixed with you char kway.
The next day, Audrey and Alicia shouted for me 5 meters away just to say that I had a rat one of the traps at the simpoh air plot, while the one fixed up with banana did not get anything. I am guessing the fried dough sticks are nice smelling and can be noticed from afar.
The inquisitive rat.
Check out the short tail (Kelvin said its probably bitten off by something).
The next thing I did was to weigh the rat, measure its length and its tail before setting it loose again. My first hand experience with a rat. An adjective for it would be - curious. It was just sniffing at our hands and was not frightened or agitated. When released, it did not even run off immediately, just hopped off slowly as Alicia made a last attempt to hold it in her hands.
Weight of the trap without rat. This rat weighed 200g.
Reference:
Kylie P.S. Chung, Richard T. Corlett, Rodent diversity in a highly degraded tropical landscape: Hong Kong, South China., Biodiversity and Conservation (2006).
Wednesday, February 20, 2008
RBZ Supplement no. 15
The book: Wang L K, C J Hails, Raffles Bulletin of Zoology Supplement number 15 An International Journal of Southeast Asian Zoology: An Annotated Checklist of Birds in Singapore, 2007.
What a mouthful!
This book is of great help to me as it is the most recent compilation of a checklist for birds in Singapore. Out of which, a 2 hour intensive search in the museum (they have kindly lend it to me, but was not to be taken out of the museum) revealed 127 species of birds that could possibly be found in Kent Ridge or Kent Ridge Park.
The status of each bird mattered as well as "passage migrant", "winter visitor", "resident" and "introduced" gives an idea of how easily it can be found and when is the period to look for the respective birds.
What a mouthful!
This book is of great help to me as it is the most recent compilation of a checklist for birds in Singapore. Out of which, a 2 hour intensive search in the museum (they have kindly lend it to me, but was not to be taken out of the museum) revealed 127 species of birds that could possibly be found in Kent Ridge or Kent Ridge Park.
The status of each bird mattered as well as "passage migrant", "winter visitor", "resident" and "introduced" gives an idea of how easily it can be found and when is the period to look for the respective birds.
Spotted by Alicia
Yesterday Alicia text me the fact that she saw 2 long neck white birds with orange beaks around the Arts canteen and reported that she saw them last semester at the tennis courts at Sports and Recreation Centre (SRC) too. She was so detailed she gave me the exact time she saw them, once at 1140 and another time on the same day at 1415. They were suspected to be the same 2 birds, most likely to be Egrets but not sure which species of the lot.
Personally, I have also seen Egrets in school but that will be during the semester break periods where they are found near the soccer field at SRC. A coffeeshop talk with Si Gium and Mr Siva at the famous Block 40 revealed that the Egrets are probably looking for food like toads and insects on the field. If the Egrets were to be denied entry in any way, the population of anurans will increase. Alicia see, maybe this is the reason you do not find frogs and toads around easily!
I just received another message from Alicia stating that she saw another brown changeable lizard, a Calotes versicolor outside LT27 Co-op. This brings up the number of lizards to 5 which Alicia has spotted for this semester (including the one which died in her room).
Always keeping my eyes peeled.
Personally, I have also seen Egrets in school but that will be during the semester break periods where they are found near the soccer field at SRC. A coffeeshop talk with Si Gium and Mr Siva at the famous Block 40 revealed that the Egrets are probably looking for food like toads and insects on the field. If the Egrets were to be denied entry in any way, the population of anurans will increase. Alicia see, maybe this is the reason you do not find frogs and toads around easily!
I just received another message from Alicia stating that she saw another brown changeable lizard, a Calotes versicolor outside LT27 Co-op. This brings up the number of lizards to 5 which Alicia has spotted for this semester (including the one which died in her room).
Always keeping my eyes peeled.
Tuesday, February 19, 2008
Birdwatching on the ridge
Date: 16th Feb 08
Group: Goh Si Gium, Dexiang and me.
Equipments: 2 8x42 Opticron Binoculars
Route taken: A linear walk from Centre for Development in Teaching and Learning (CDTL) to Prince George's Park (PGP).
List of birds spotted:
1. Common Goldenback Woodpecker, 1 on dead tree in the background of forest facing LT32 and University Hall.
2. Sunbirds, about 4 or 5, recognised by their calls by Si Gium from the patch of the forest when we were walking through Ridge View Residences (RVR).
3. Swiftlets were seen throughout the sky from CDTL till PGP.
4. Flowerpeckers were noticed by Si Gium through their callings.
5. White crested mynahs punctuated our birdwtching session both with their callings and their appearance of quick flashes of black and white through the sky the whole morning.
6. A white throated kingfisher was recognised through its call by Si Gium, near the simpoh air bush at CDTL. who shared that there are 2 noises made by these species as compared to the rest of the kingfishers.
7. A cockatoo was heard at the point 270 water tank with its unmistakable calling. This is an escape species in Singapore. Later in the day, we heard and saw another one near the tembusu forest at PGP and suspected it being the same one.
8. Just past the stairs to S2, near the junction of Kent Ridge Road and the road leading to houses 9 and 10, 5 Black Bazas made our day by flying overhead, circling thhe sky and then making plunges near Pasir Panjang. Black Bazas are migrant, and to be able to see a flock of 5 really brightened up our day.
9. A Brahminny kite was seen circling the same area just after our excitement with the Black Bazas and was recognised by the pale underneath near the primaries. Another magnificent sight.
10. A blue-throated Beeeater was spotted by Si Gium on the dead tree behind house 10, which was just a black silhouette to me and was said that they do not fly far within a short time so we stood there, at the junction admiring the beeeater for some time.
11. Unknown to us, a quiet dollarbird was on the tree, at the junction, waiting to be spotted, and it was the dollarbird. I could not recognise it but trusted Si Gium as he is a far more experienced birdwatcher. I would have to wait till I see the undersides when it takes flight, which is going to take forever as it was just resting on the tree.
12. The singing of the sunbirds was suddenly disturbed by 2 large-billed crows in the sky, all agitated about something, which Dexiang said could be an eagle. Si Gium deduced the possibility of a crows nest on the tree in front of house 6 and something, if not a bird, was thretening the crows. The episode lasted for quite a while and the crows kept calling out to one another while circling the area.
13. As we walked on towards PGP, we saw and heard a Black-naped Oriole.
14. An Asian Brown Flycatcher, on a dead tree resting just in front of Brenner Centre for Molecular Medicine.
15. At the acacia dominated woodlands near National University Hospital (NUH), a Collared Kingfisher was spotted and did something spectacular before our very own binoculars. It left the branch it was on, swopped down at something in midair, and flew back to the branch almost immediately.
16 and 17. In the same small patch of acacia trees, 2 Striped Tit-babblers and a Tiger Shrike prettily perching in full view just a few meters away from us.
18. A Greater Racket-tailed Drongo was found in the tembusu forest patch just in front of PGP. The shy bird saw me pointing and shifted itself quickly to blend into the leaves.
19. The Common Koel was consistently heard the whole day.
Group: Goh Si Gium, Dexiang and me.
Equipments: 2 8x42 Opticron Binoculars
Route taken: A linear walk from Centre for Development in Teaching and Learning (CDTL) to Prince George's Park (PGP).
List of birds spotted:
1. Common Goldenback Woodpecker, 1 on dead tree in the background of forest facing LT32 and University Hall.
2. Sunbirds, about 4 or 5, recognised by their calls by Si Gium from the patch of the forest when we were walking through Ridge View Residences (RVR).
3. Swiftlets were seen throughout the sky from CDTL till PGP.
4. Flowerpeckers were noticed by Si Gium through their callings.
5. White crested mynahs punctuated our birdwtching session both with their callings and their appearance of quick flashes of black and white through the sky the whole morning.
6. A white throated kingfisher was recognised through its call by Si Gium, near the simpoh air bush at CDTL. who shared that there are 2 noises made by these species as compared to the rest of the kingfishers.
7. A cockatoo was heard at the point 270 water tank with its unmistakable calling. This is an escape species in Singapore. Later in the day, we heard and saw another one near the tembusu forest at PGP and suspected it being the same one.
8. Just past the stairs to S2, near the junction of Kent Ridge Road and the road leading to houses 9 and 10, 5 Black Bazas made our day by flying overhead, circling thhe sky and then making plunges near Pasir Panjang. Black Bazas are migrant, and to be able to see a flock of 5 really brightened up our day.
9. A Brahminny kite was seen circling the same area just after our excitement with the Black Bazas and was recognised by the pale underneath near the primaries. Another magnificent sight.
10. A blue-throated Beeeater was spotted by Si Gium on the dead tree behind house 10, which was just a black silhouette to me and was said that they do not fly far within a short time so we stood there, at the junction admiring the beeeater for some time.
11. Unknown to us, a quiet dollarbird was on the tree, at the junction, waiting to be spotted, and it was the dollarbird. I could not recognise it but trusted Si Gium as he is a far more experienced birdwatcher. I would have to wait till I see the undersides when it takes flight, which is going to take forever as it was just resting on the tree.
12. The singing of the sunbirds was suddenly disturbed by 2 large-billed crows in the sky, all agitated about something, which Dexiang said could be an eagle. Si Gium deduced the possibility of a crows nest on the tree in front of house 6 and something, if not a bird, was thretening the crows. The episode lasted for quite a while and the crows kept calling out to one another while circling the area.
13. As we walked on towards PGP, we saw and heard a Black-naped Oriole.
14. An Asian Brown Flycatcher, on a dead tree resting just in front of Brenner Centre for Molecular Medicine.
15. At the acacia dominated woodlands near National University Hospital (NUH), a Collared Kingfisher was spotted and did something spectacular before our very own binoculars. It left the branch it was on, swopped down at something in midair, and flew back to the branch almost immediately.
16 and 17. In the same small patch of acacia trees, 2 Striped Tit-babblers and a Tiger Shrike prettily perching in full view just a few meters away from us.
18. A Greater Racket-tailed Drongo was found in the tembusu forest patch just in front of PGP. The shy bird saw me pointing and shifted itself quickly to blend into the leaves.
19. The Common Koel was consistently heard the whole day.
Lessons learnt from this enriching day would be the firstly the technical skill. The usage of an 8x42 Opticron Binoculars as compared to Si Gium’s 10x25 is very different. An 8 times would be of lower zoom but a 42 is better in the sense that it lets more light in and hence better view in the dark and wider perimeter. However, it adds on to the bulk as well, and it would be more advisable to travel light. Another technical issue or rather, trick would be that a magnifying glass is redundant when one hold onto a binoculars. This is because, when inverted and seen through the other side, the binoculars automatically become a magnifying instrument.
Personally, I would not say I have picked up a great deal of the expertise of bird watching on my first ever trip but honestly, the excitement and interest rubbed off me. The ability to pinpoint the bird to the call from Si Gium also never fails to amaze me. The most inspiring part was that of the Collared Kingfisher in the acacia patch. Try as we could, me and Dexiang could never get its location until Si Gium’s intervention. Patience is one thing, but to be able to accurately and swiftly put a name to a silhouette or point out the exact location of a bird will really need more practice.
Trying to spot the Collared-Kingfisher before Si Gium does, to no avail.
Reference:
- C. Hails, F Jarvis, Birds of Singapore, 1987
- C. Briffett, A Guide to Common Birds of Singapore, 1986
- C. Briffett, Kent Ridge Environs: A proposal for conserving nature at the National University of Singapore Campus, 1991.
Lessons from: Birds of Singapore
The book: Birds of Singapore by Christopher Hails, Frank Jarvis.
The bird activities will be at its peak 1 hour after dawn, which is around 8am in Singapore, and it will become quieter from 11am to 4pm, after which activities resume for their last morsel before resting the night.
Breeding seasons will be from February to July for the resident species, and Singapore willbe playing host to the migrants from the month of Spetember till April.
It is stated that it would not matter that one wears bright colours for bird-watching since the birds would be able to see you from afar, having trained its eyes for the minute details of an insect or lizard. As long as it is not threaten or not very shy, it will remain in its position until it has spotted something else.
Reference:
C.Hails, F.Jarvis, Birds of Singapore, 1987.
The bird activities will be at its peak 1 hour after dawn, which is around 8am in Singapore, and it will become quieter from 11am to 4pm, after which activities resume for their last morsel before resting the night.
Breeding seasons will be from February to July for the resident species, and Singapore willbe playing host to the migrants from the month of Spetember till April.
It is stated that it would not matter that one wears bright colours for bird-watching since the birds would be able to see you from afar, having trained its eyes for the minute details of an insect or lizard. As long as it is not threaten or not very shy, it will remain in its position until it has spotted something else.
Reference:
C.Hails, F.Jarvis, Birds of Singapore, 1987.
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