CONSERVATION Brown-chested Jungle Flycatcher (Rhinomyias brunneatus). A globally- threatened species that visits Bidadari around October. This bird is seldom encountered even within its nyone headed in the its days perceptibly numbered and, who there. Despite these draws, I somehow breeding range in China. direction of town along knows, awaiting impending transfor- never found the time nor the inclina- Upper Serangoon Road mation into spanking new blocks of tion to visit the site since Bukit Timah or Upper Aljunied Road condominiums? Certainly not, if you Nature Reserve, Bukit Batok Nature may occasionally notice do bother to stop here and scrutinize Park and MacRitchie were the more a little stretch of ‘jungle’ after passing the view. You will walk out amazed at convenient options for me. It was only theA Woodleigh MRT station and some nature’s diversity and resilience. in September 2009 when I saw pho- backdrop of flats. No more than just a tographs of many uncommon or rare patch of secondary woodland that has A Personal Discovery migratory birds on Facebook and other regenerated in an exhumed old Muslim I first learnt about Bidadari from an online forums that Bidadari beckoned cemetery (Goh, 2002), it is dominated article by Goh Si Guim in Nature Watch once more. Perhaps it was not a bad by non-native Albizia (Falcataria moluc- magazine years ago. (Goh, 2002). idea to visit the place after all, even if I cana) and Acacia (Acacia auriculiformis) As a keen birdwatcher myself, I was had to endure three MRT transfers or trees. Many local naturalists deem these attracted to the fact that ‘sought-after incur a hefty taxi bill! species to be of minimal conservation birds’ including Spotted Wood Owl value. Is this green patch not just one (Strix seloputo), Indian Cuckoo (Cuculus Bidadari’s Wild Denizens of the many botanically-similar ‘waste- micropterus) and Slaty-breasted Rails Together with regular birdwatching lands’ that dot Singapore’s landscape, (Gallirallus striatus) could be found buddies Tiah Khee, Mick Price, Francis Ruddy Kingfisher (Halcyon coromanda). Ten years after Goh Si Guim’s article on the exhumation of Bidadari in Nature Watch 10.1, what has become of the place? How much of the site do we still remember and treasure today? Yong Ding Li revisits the former cemetery and takes a timely look at the precarious bird life as it awaits an uncertain future. Text by Yong Ding Li Photos by Cheng Heng Yee, Low Choon How, Quek Oon Hong, Goh Si Guim, Teo Siyang, Nicholas Tan & Walad Jam Thousands of photos were reportedly taken An uncommon in October 2012 when one such colourful Hodgson’s Hawk Cuckoo Oriental Dwarf Kingfisher (Ceyx erithacus) (Hierococcyx nisicolor) – a made big birder news in Bidadari. young bird of its kind. A post-exhumation view of Bidadari. 2 Nature Watch Jul - Sep 2013 Jul - Sep 2013 Nature Watch 3 Yap and Kim Chuah, I visited the Brahminy Kites, Asian Koels and Blue- find even well within its breeding range area more than two dozen times sub- crowned Hanging-parrots, Bidadari in China (Yong et al., in press). sequently, sometimes leaving office in is clearly a major migrant hotspot, or With real luck, a birder could encoun- the midst of work to see what turned ‘migrant trap’ in birdwatching lingo. ter the uncommon Hodgson’s Hawk up after a night of torrential rain. You can spot two to three Brown- (Hierococcyx nisicolor), Chestnut-winged ‘Staggering’ is, indeed, a good word to chested Jungle Flycatchers (Rhinomyias Cuckoo (Clamator coromandus), Square- describe the abundance and diversity of brunneata) at any one time in October tailed Drongo (Surniculus lugubris) birds uncovered by nature-lovers explor- (Yong & Liu, in review), while as many and Indian Cuckoo, all at most tens White morph Asian Paradise Flycatcher ing Bidadari’s woodland. The place is as six birds may be present on some of metres from each other. On quieter (Terpsiphone paradisi). especially alive during the autumn bird mid-October days. To think that this days, shy pittas and thrushes appear. migration months. Besides the resident globally-threatened species is hard to When an Oriental Dwarf Kingfisher ‘Staggering’ is, indeed, a good word to describe the abundance and Yellow-rumped Flycatcher (Ficedula zanthopygia) diversity of birds male in breeding season. uncovered by nature- lovers exploring Bidadari’s woodland. Black Baza (Aviceda leuphotes). Pale morph Changeable Hawk-Eagle (Nisaetus cirrhatus). Chinese Sparrowhawk (Accipiter soloensis) female feeding on a cicada. 4 Nature Watch Jul - Sep 2013 Jul - Sep 2013 Nature Watch 5 Green-backed Flycatcher (Ficedula elisae) female. Careful recording by veteran birdwatcher Alfred Chia has Japanese Sparrowhawk (Accipiter gularis). documented over 140 Dark morph Crested Honey Buzzard (Pernis ptilorhynchus). Bidadari species (Chia, 2012), an impressive total for a piece of ‘wasteland’ that does not even contain remarkable water features. Orange-headed Thrush (Geokichla citrina). (Ceyx erithacus) arrived one grey October day in 2012, crowds gathered to admire its colourful plumage and many thousands of photographs were reportedly taken! Careful recording by veteran birdwatcher Alfred Chia has documented over 140 Bidadari species (Chia, 2012), an impressive total for a piece of ‘wasteland’ that does not even contain remarkable water features. Birds are, undoubtedly, Bidadari’s main draw, but people from different fields also appreciate other aspects of the woodland concealed by its unkempt grassy fringes. Our local Orthopteran Tan Ming Kai identifies over 30 species of grasshoppers and crickets, including Oriental Cuckoo Tarbinskiellus portentosus and a cer- (Cuculus optatus). tain Trigonidium possibly endemic to 6 Nature Watch Jul - Sep 2013 Jul - Sep 2013 Nature Watch 7 Singapore (Tan, 2012). The Butterfly ticularly so during nights of inclement Preservation of so-called degraded Interest Group of Nature Society weather, as many fast-tiring migrants secondary habitats like Bidadari, Bukit REFERENCES Baker, N. & Lim, K.K.P. (2008). Wild Animals of (Singapore) has noted the uncommon are forced to seek temporary shelter. Brown and Pasir Ris Greenbelt is a Singapore. Nature Society (Singapore), Singapore. King Crow (Euploea phaenareta) flut- The exhumation process altered the Such migratory birds, including even ‘tacky issue’ that has been hotly debated Battin, J. (2004). When good animals love bad tering around Pong Pong trees (Cerbera entire Bidadari character of old. Now forest-dependant species, do not have in our local conservation scene of recent habitats: ecological traps and the conservation of odollam) and the strikingly-coloured the newer rise of concrete blocks around the the time or energy to deviate from their times. We hope to persuade land-use animal populations. Conservation Biology, 18(6): Common Rose (Pachliopta aristolo- migratory trajectory in search of better planners to view such sites of apparently 1482–1491. chiae), among a growing list of park- neighbourhood is another clipping of Nature’s habitats elsewhere. They opportunisti- ‘low’ secondary value differently in a Chia, A. (2012). Checklist of Birds recorded at land and open country species (Jain, toehold in a Singapore that never ceases to cally utilize any apparently degraded more holistic and robust approach to Bidadari. Privately published. in litt.). Teo Siyang, a blogging expert transform itself. Bidadari’s diminished landscape or remnant habitats available en route, conservation. Goh, S.G. (2002). Twilight for Bidadari. Nature Watch, 10(1): 10–15. on urban flora, surveys the numer- is, however, a locality still worth saving as a respite for example, secondary woodlands ous large Waringin (Ficus benjamina), (Ruth et al., 2012). Birds that breed Closing Notes Gutiérrez, R.J. & Harrison, S. (1996). “Applying from the humdrum of our urban drudgery.” Metapopulation Theory to Spotted Owl Mango (Mangifera indica) and Tembusu in fairly open larch-dominated for- Bidadari holds dear in the hearts of Management: A History and Critique.” in (Fagraea fragrans) trees that define ests of Siberian Taiga, such as Arctic people who have perceived its unique- McCullough, D.R. (ed.) Metapopulations and Bidadari’s landscape (Teo, 2012). Warbler (Phylloscopus borealis) and Asian ness, one way or another. Future plans Wildlife Conservation, pp. 167–185. Island Press, Washington D.C. Surreptitious mammals and reptiles may Goh Si Guim, who wrote in Nature Watch about Bidadari Brown Flycatcher (Muscicapa dauurica) to replace the woodland with more con- ten years ago, sharing his thoughts as of today. Hanski, I. (1998). Metapopulation dynamics. be less conspicuous, but they are surely (Knystautas, 1993) are not too fussy crete blocks and manicured lawns will Nature, 396: 41–49. there. Snakes and lizards abound. On about whatever stopovers they can make mean the end of those precious Bidadari Knystautas, A. (1993). Collins Guide: Birds of one of my birdwatching adventures, do with. It is likely that the high density sights and sounds for jogging/strolling Russia. HarperCollins Publishers, UK. I saw instead a perky Green Crested of migratory songbirds I have sampled residents, photographers, birdwatchers Koh, L.P. & N.S. Sodhi (2004). Importance of Lizard (Bronchocela cristatella) scurry- to date in Bidadari may represent a and other nature-lovers. Are we happy reserves, fragments and parks for butterfly con- ing up the branches with a beetle in larger wave passing through woodland- to be left with fond memories and the servation in a tropical urban landscape. Ecological its mouth. Thank goodness that most deprived eastern Singapore, as com- mere name of a place? In the case of Applications, 14: 1695–1708. Singapore snakes are harmless – some pared to the central and western parts, Bidadari’s wild denizens — a home van- McCullough, D.R. (1996). “Introduction” in McCullough, D.R. (ed.) Metapopulations and friends once experienced the unpleas- hectare for hectare. Unfortunately, we ished and gone forever? Wildlife Conservation, pp. 1–10. Island Press, ant proximity of a venomous Sumatran are hampered by the scant research data Washington D.C.