Bird watching in Singapore - February 2025 - Sungei Buloh Wetland Reserve

OK, it has come to my knowledge that we have senior citizens visiting my web page. How hard can it be? So it's not very easy for them to see the blue coloured links to the next page.

Jiffy (also jiff)

noun [in SING.] informal a moment: we'll be back in a jiffy.

ORIGIN late 18th cent.: of unknown origin.

So as you understand, in a jiff pretty much depends on your internet.

So I put a “Next” button here and I hope that there isn't any problem to understand how to use that one. So just CLICK the “Next” button on your left hand side and you will be on the next page in a jiff!

Marunong ka mag-tagalog? Walang problema! Magpunta sa kabilang pahina pindutin ang “NEXT” button sa itaas

Faites vous parlez le français? Pas de problème! Pour arriver à la page suivante faites s'il vous plaît un déclic le bouton “Next” ci-dessus!

Haga usted dice el español? No hay problema! Ver la siguiente página sólo hacer clic el botón “Next” encima!

Farla parla l'italiano? Non problemi! Per vedere la prossima pagina lo scatto per favore giusto Il bottone “Next” sopra

Sprechen sie Deutsch! Kein problem! Wenn Sie die folgende Seite sehen wollen gerade klicken der Knopf “Next” oben!

คุณพูดภาษาไทยได้ไหม ไม่มีปัญหา ถ้าคุณต้องการไปหน้าถัดไป ให้กดปุ่ม “Next” ข้างบนนี้

Вы говорите по-русски? Просто нажмите синюю кнопку "Next" с левой стороны и Вы моментально переместитесь на следующую страницу!

E ni Svenskar och inte förstår Engelska så ska ni skämmas. J och Björn, med det menar jag inte att alla mina stavfel ska ältas varje gång vi träffas.

Well, the flag of Skåne, just a BONUS flag.

February 2025

Saturday 22 ^nd of February 2025 and I had tea and cheese in my room before going down to book a GRAB car. It was still dark but I expect the sun to come up soon.

GRAB arrived after a few minutes and we were soon on our way towards Sungei Buloh Wetland Reserve. And it will take about 30 minutes to reach the wetland.

Early morning and I wait for the taxi

Early morning and I wait for the taxi

The Driver drop me to the gate and I start my eBird app at 07:37. I find a place to sit down and I grease myself up with mosquito repellent before I continue.

The first birds I see is 4 Pink-necked Green-Pigeons. There is one Slaty-breasted Rail and one White-breasted Waterhen. The rail took cover in some vegetation.

Three bird watchers arrive in a taxi and I tell them about the rail and we go back to look. Now the bird is out in the open and we can take pictures.

Too dark for any good pictures and we have to use a crazy ISO speed.

Pink-necked Green-Pigeon

Slaty-breasted Rail

Slaty-breasted Rail

Slaty-breasted Rail

Listen to the Straw-headed Bulbul

Sound from www.xeno-canto.org

Remarks from the Recordist

Recorded with my mobile phone using my JBL microphone with the Merlin app. High Pass Filter applied with Audacity.

Recordings of this species are currently restricted.

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Why are recordings of certain species restricted?
Some species are under extreme pressure due to trapping or harassment. The open availability of high-quality recordings of these species can make the problems even worse. For this reason, streaming and downloading of these recordings is disabled. Recordists are still free to share them on xeno-canto, but they will have to approve access to these recordings.

We do not take this action lightly, and we wish it were not necessary, but we have been convinced that the negative impacts of offering easy access to these recordings outweigh the benefits.

If you would like access to these recordings, you may contact the recordist directly.

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Sensitive

Public information for Sensitive Species is restricted due to potential harmful impact to these birds. Site-specific information is visible only to the observer and eBird reviewer(s) for the region.

We encourage you not to share specific location information about this sighting via social media, public websites, or email listservs.

Learn more about Sensitive Species in eBird.

Listen to the Common Tailorbird

Sound from www.xeno-canto.org

Remarks from the Recordist

Recorded with my mobile phone using my JBL microphone with the Merlin app. High Pass Filter applied with Audacity.

Common Tailorbird, cut from the recording of the Straw-headed Bulbul XC974961. We can hear the spotted Dove and Asian Koel.

Listen to the Spotted Dove

Sound from www.xeno-canto.org

Remarks from the Recordist

Recorded with my mobile phone using my JBL microphone with the Merlin app. High Pass Filter applied with Audacity.

And as always, the Asian Koel destroy the recording.

I manage to make a few recordings before I continue out in the wilderness leaving the Sungei Buloh Wetlands Reserve Visitor Centre. The Straw-headed Bulbul are currently restricted on xeno-canto and in eBird it is an Sensitive Species

Reaching the water front and there is a wall between the trail and the water front. Construction in progress. I walk along the trail and I hear some birds sounding like cats.

I prepare my sound recorder and I start recording. There is another bird watcher and he point out two Stork-billed Kingfisher.

They make a sound I had never heard before so it might be flirting. I get one picture that I can use, the rest goes straight to the garbage bin.

Stork-billed Kingfisher

Listen to the Stork-billed Kingfisher

Sound from www.xeno-canto.org

Sound from www.xeno-canto.org

Remarks from the Recordist

Recorded with my mobile phone using my JBL microphone with the Merlin app. High Pass Filter applied with Audacity.

Two Stork-billed Kingfishers sitting in a tree above me and I think they are flirting. Never heard a Stork-billed Kingfisher giving this sound before.

Listen to the Mystery Bird

Sound from www.xeno-canto.org

Remarks from the Recordist

Recorded with my mobile phone using my JBL microphone with the Merlin app. High Pass Filter applied with Audacity.

Two Stork-billed Kingfishers sitting in a tree above me and we can hear one Collared Kingfisher. There is one bird sounding like a kingfisher barking like a dog at 0.08 for the first time and we can hear it a couple of times after that.

I will post the recording at eBird and xeno-canto to see if I can get help with the ID

The Stork-billed Kingfishers are the same we can hear in recording XC974968 and XC974969

Continuing towards the Eagle Point and I get out on the bridge over the water going along the mangrove. The bridge to the Eagle Point and there is a guy standing with a camera on a tripod taking pictures.

I think he is taking pictures of Johor Bahru in Malaysia. There are some Pacific Swallow and I approach. I see that the birder is taking pictures of the Pacific Swallow and I go back to avoid disturbing the birds.

He had been taking pictures for 10 minutes at least, just a few meters from the birds and they did not bother at all.

I manage to get one picture before I leave the bridge for the mangrove.

Johor Bahru, Malaysia

Johor Bahru, Malaysia

Walk along the mangrove

Pacific Swallow

Bird watcher taking pictures of the Pacific Swallow

Bird watcher taking pictures of the Pacific Swallow

Continue towards the Sungei Buloh Wetland Reserve Centre and I stop to chat with a couple of bird watchers. There is a guy 15 meters in front of us and he calls us.

He have spotted one Spotting Cobra and I would never have thought that I would run towards a cobra. I walk around the wilderness looking for birds and all kinds of wildlife.

I have always thought that the snakes would run away when they hear me. But this is obviously not the case as I could see with the Spitting Cobra.

Someone said they could spit 100 meters.
- WHOA WHOA!!! Easy now! Maybe 2 meters!

Anyway, the snake was very close to us and it was less than 2 meters away. The snake was hunting and it did not care about us looking at it.

Spitting Cobra

Spitting Cobra

Spitting Cobra

Spitting Cobra

Spitting Cobra

Continuing towards the Sungei Buloh Wetland Reserve Centre and I pass one Little Egret. That is the only bird I can see on my way to the Sungei Buloh Wetland Reserve Centre.

But I can hear a lot of Collared Kingfishers walking there and I make a recording and I can hear at least four Collared kingfishers.

I am thirsty and I really hopethey have water for sale at the Sungei Buloh Wetland Reserve Centre. They had vending machines last time I was here.

Reaching the parking and I sit down to relax a little. Plunging down the mangrove, 2 km in the pounding heat.

Little Egret

Listen to the Collared Kingfisher

Sound from www.xeno-canto.org

Remarks from the Recordist

Recorded with my mobile phone using my JBL microphone with the Merlin app. High Pass Filter applied with Audacity.

At least four Collared Kingfishers in the recording

eBird Report

Sungei Buloh Wetland Reserve - East inc. Kranji Nature Trail, Singapore, SG
Feb 22, 2025 07:37 - 09:13
Protocol: Traveling
2.02 kilometer(s)
15 species (+2 other taxa)

Spotted Dove 1
Pink-necked Green-Pigeon 4
Asian Koel 1 Heard all over the area
Slaty-breasted Rail 1
White-breasted Waterhen 1
Little Egret 1
Great White Egret 1
white egret sp. 12 Too far away for proper ID
Black-winged Kite 1
Stork-billed Kingfisher 2 Two bird in same tree. Flirting? Listen to attached recordings.
Collared Kingfisher 6
Black-naped Oriole 4
House Crow 3
Common Tailorbird 1
Pacific Swallow 2
Straw-headed Bulbul 1 LIFER
bird sp. 1 Mystery Bird, listen to attached recording

View this checklist online at https://ebird.org/checklist/S214744208

This report was generated automatically by eBird v3 (https://ebird.org/home)

Today's track at Sungei Buloh Wetland Reserve

I turn off my eBird app and one guy come to ask me if I had seen the Buffy Fish-Owl behind me.
- No

They show me the owl and I get a few pictures before I start my eBird app, now using the eBird hotspot: Sungei Buloh Wetland Reserve and I walk down to the Wetland Reserve Center.

It is about 100 meters to walk. I will look for water before getting out in the mangrove to look for crocodiles and birds.

Walking to the Reserve Center and there are two Black-naped Orioles above me flying around in the top of the tree. I get some poor pictures that went to the garbage. But I got a recording.

Buffy Fish-Owl

Listen to the Black-naped Oriole

Sound from www.xeno-canto.org

Remarks from the Recordist

Recorded with my mobile phone using my JBL microphone with the Merlin app. High Pass Filter applied with Audacity.

Two birds in the tree above me and it looks like they are flirting

Male Crimson Sunbird

I find refreshments

Coming down from the parking and there is a bond with a small bridge to cross to reach the building with the vending machines. This house is famous for the bats sleeping under the roof.

The bridge was full of people taking pictures of sunbirds and I get a picture of a male Crimson Sunbird before I go to the vending machines.

I bought two bottles of water and a can of coconut water. And I found a bag of peanuts in the vending machine next to the vending machines with drinks.

I sit on a bench looking out over the pond when one of the birders come over to have a look at my Thai Buddha amulet (พระเครื่อง) He is wearing one amulet and it turns out that he is a collector.

He know my amulets, he actually knew a lot about all the temples and monks. So it was no problem for him to recognize my Prá Sŏm Dèt (พระสมเด็จ) by Luang Poo Suk (หลวงปู่ศุขเกสาโร) that I was carrying on my back.

He told me that this should be on the front and my Golden Boy (กุมารทอง) by Loang Poo Yaem (ของหลวงพ่อแย้ม) should be on the back

We had a chat while I enjoyed my refreshments and we went back to the bridge over the pond to look for sunbirds.

My new friend tells me that there is an Schrenck's Bittern in the pond on the other side of the house. We were now alone on the bridge and all the birders had gone to look at the Schrenck's Bittern at the back of the house.

Schrenck's Bittern

Schrenck's Bittern

Schrenck's Bittern

Schrenck's Bittern

Ashy Tailorbird

Ashy Tailorbird

Schrenck's Bittern

Schrenck's Bittern

Singapore Rare Bird Alert

A bittern, I have seen many in my days, and they have always been very scared and I had never been close to a bitter. So, I did not expect much of this bittern.

But the bird could not care less about us taking pictures. It was to dark and I had to use a crazy high ISO speed.

There was one Ashy Tailorbird landing in one of the bushes and I managed to get two pictures of the Ashy Tailorbird before I continued with the Schrenck's Bittern.

I go back to the sunbird tree and I got a picture of one female and one juvenile Crimson Sunbird.

Juvenile Crimson Sunbird

Female Crimson Sunbird

I got a few pictures of two Scarlet-backed Flowerpeckers, but they went straight to the garbage bin. I left to go explore the mudflats and mangroves. I passed the pond with the Schrenck's Bittern to get on the bridge across the river to reach the mudflats.

I ended up on a viewing platform. Where is the bridge? I got back to the bridge to ask for the bridge. They had moved the bridge and the gave me directions and I was soon on my way.

I find the bridge and it looks to be quite new. I walk across and there are the crocodile warning again.

I find the bridge

Coming off the bridge and I turn left and I start to walk along the Migratory Bird Trail, a 2,3 km long trail around the Buloh Tidal Ponds. There are bird hides and screens along the trail.

Migratory Bird Trail

This trail is excellent for bird watching. With bird hides and shelters along the trail, you will be able to spot resident birds such as herons, kingfishers, sunbirds, and egrets. Between August to April, get a chance to spot migratory birds that have travelled from as far as the Arctic region to rest and feed at the Reserve.

Click on the map for full size map

There is a screen (Wall to hide behind with holes to look at the birds) close to the bridge but there was nothing exciting to look at, well, actually ZERO to look at. I continue towards the first bird hide, the main hide, about 150 meters away.

The bird hide is empty and I take a seat. There are 8 Milky Storks resting in the. Too far away for any good pictures, but I got a few pictures and the Milky Stork was my target species for this trip. I am also looking for crocodiles.

One guy is joining me in the bird hide and he tells me that there is a crocodile on the other side of the trail outside the bird hide.

Leaving the hide and I find the crocodile after having searching for a few minutes. And it is a huge crocodile.

Milky Stork and Grey Heron

Milky Stork and Grey Heron

Milky Stork

Milky Stork

Crocodile

Continuing on the trail and I stop at the next bird screen to look for the Common Redshanks. I had ran in to some bird watchers and they told me that there were redshanks at the next screen

Buloh Tidal Ponds are empty and it was very hard to see the Common Redshanks on the mudflat. There is also one Great White Egret.

There was not many birds in the Buloh Tidal Ponds, the Milky Storks and the Common Redshanks. And some white egrets are seen, many of them too far away for any proper ID.

Great White Egret

Common Redshank

Entering the second bird hide I pass and I am soon joined by three other bird watchers. There were little, medium and great egrets on the mudflats in front of the hide.

Walking along the trail and there is actually not many birds seen, but I hear a lot of birds that I cannot see. So, I know there is a lot of birds around.

I make two recordings and maybe someone at xeno-canto or eBird can help to provide a correct ID. I think the first recording is a sunbird.

Listen to the Brown-throated Sunbird

Sound from www.xeno-canto.org

Remarks from the Recordist

Recorded with my mobile phone using my JBL microphone with the Merlin app. High Pass Filter applied with Audacity.

Most likely a sunbird. I post the recording on xeno-canto and eBird to see if anyone can help with the ID

Thanks to Henrietta Woo at xeno-canto for the correct ID.
posted on May 20, 2025 at 18:43
Hi. This is a Brown-throated Sunbird.

Listen to the Ashy Tailorbird

Sound from www.xeno-canto.org

Remarks from the Recordist

Recorded with my mobile phone using my JBL microphone with the Merlin app. High Pass Filter applied with Audacity.

I post the recording on xeno-canto and eBird to see if anyone can help with the ID

Thanks to Henrietta Woo at xeno-canto for the correct ID.
posted on May 20, 2025 at 18:49
Hi. Your recording is that of at least two Ashy Tailorbirds.

One of the bird screens along the trail

One of the bird screens along the trail

One of the bird screens along the trail

Looking through the hole in the screen

Continuing along the trail and I spot a group of maybe 5 people in front of me and I approach slowly to avoid flush whatever it is they see.

They tell me that there are two Large-tailed Nightjars and I am looking. Even though they are only about 1 meter from the trail it is next to impossible to see the birds

The nightjars are very well camouflaged and they are made for sleeping on the ground during the day time. And the Large-tailed Nightjar is my fourth LIFER for today.

• Straw-headed Bulbul
• Buffy Fish-Owl
• Schrenck's Bittern
• Large-tailed Nightjar

We were joined by two other birders that came to see what we were looking at. They told us that there was a king cobra a little bit up the road. I was left alone as everyone took off to look at the king cobra. I stayed behind to get a few pictures of the nightjar.

Two guys came down the trail and I recognised them. I had showed them the Buffy Fish-Owl earlier this morning. I gave them to internationally recognised sign for “quiet” and “here is something special”

They could not see the nightjars, and it is not easy to see them on the ground. But as soon as you see the bird it is really sticking out. They were happy when I left as the nightjar is not an everyday bird to see. And it was a LIFER for me.

Large-tailed Nightjar

Large-tailed Nightjar

Leaving the nightjar to go look for the King Cobra, but no sign of anyone on the trail and I was a wee bit worried that I will miss the King Cobra.

I was running in to two birders and I told them about the nightjar and where to find them, but I knew it would be very hard for them to find the birds. They told me that the King Cobra was 50 meters up the trail.

I am soon seeing a group of people taking pictures and I understood that this was the King Cobra. And the snake was huge, I never seen such a big snake before, well, maybe the Black Mamba in Africa that was jumping across the road in front of my jeep.

Anyway, I was also surprised by the colour, I thought that it would be black, but it was more brownish/ beige coloured.

The snake was hunting moving around slowly and the bird really did not bother about us watching the snake. And this scared me a little bit.

King Cobra

King Cobra

King Cobra

King Cobra

King Cobra

King Cobra

King Cobra

Click the picture for full size

This is my second cobra for today and none of them had been scared. And I have been walking around stamping my feet while looking for birds in the bushes thinking that I am scaring away any snakes. I remember in India, I had to make sure to be more than 10 meters from the river.

Within 10 meters and the crocodile is like a bullet from a gun, not even a horse can out run a crocodile. But after 10 meter the crocodile falls flat to the ground.

Looking for crocodiles while stomping my feet, enough to scare the snakes, but not enough to scare away the birds. Now I feel stupid, the snake just doesn’t give a damn, so walking along stomping your foot and suddenly you stomp on a cobra and you are dead.

I left the King Cobra behind walking towards the bridge. There were so many people coming from the bridge. Never seen so many people coming down a trail before, all of them were carrying big cameras. And almost all of them stopped me to ask about the “KING”.
- Did you see the “KING”?
- Is the “KING” still there?
- Where is the “KING”?

So, the “KING” had become famous very quickly. Reaching the bridge and I sat down to have a rest. I spotted a couple of monkeys crossing the bridge and there was a crocodile resting in the mud under the bridge.

I spotted the couple I had told about the nightjar and I asked if they had seen the birds. They were happy, they had seen the birds but they had to have help to find them.

Monkey with a baby

Making more monkeys

Second crocodile for today

eBird Report

Sungei Buloh Wetland Reserve, Singapore, SG
Feb 22, 2025 09:27 - 13:08
Protocol: Traveling
5.22 kilometer(s)
20 species

Large-tailed Nightjar 2 LIFER
White-breasted Waterhen 2
Common Sandpiper 1
Common Redshank 29
Milky Stork 8
Schrenck's Bittern 1 The first bittern I have seen that is not scared LIFER
Little Egret 17
Great White Egret 5
Medium Egret 4
Grey Heron 3
White-bellied Sea-Eagle 1 Most likely same bird that I saw earlier this morning at previous hotspot. Flying around the whole Sungei Buloh Wetland Reserve
Buffy Fish-Owl 1 LIFER
Blue-tailed Bee-eater 3
Collared Kingfisher 1 Heard all over the area
Black-naped Oriole 2
House Crow 20
Ashy Tailorbird 3
Brown-throated Sunbird 1
Scarlet-backed Flowerpecker 2
Crimson Sunbird 3
sunbird sp. 1 Most likely a sunbird. I post the recording on xeno-canto and eBird to see if anyone can help with the ID
bird sp. 1 I post the recording on xeno-canto and eBird to see if anyone can help with the ID

View this checklist online at https://ebird.org/checklist/S214757291

This report was generated automatically by eBird v3 (https://ebird.org/home)

Today's track at Sungei Buloh Wetland Reserve

Getting back to the parking and I book a GRAB, not all that easy and I have to wait for a long time before I get a car. I brought cheese from Thailand to have in my room trying to didge the restaurants.

Previous two days and it have failed big time, but today I will stay in my room. Well, I did not even go to my room to leave my camera, straight to the shopping mall and I felt bad with myself coming back to my room.

I was really angry and disappointed with myself. But there have been a lot of walking today so it wa snot so bad.

But it is kind of stupid to fly between Thailand and Singapore with my luggage full of cheese.

It was a chock to take off my shoes

I had some pain in my toes, but taking off the shoes and socks and I got a chock. My big toe is totally trashed and I was really worried about my bird watching tomorrow. I really do not fancy to stay in my room all day long

But you just need to click HERE to find out how it goes tomorrow.

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