Singapore Raptor Report – Mar 2021
Singapore Raptor Report March 2021
Jerdon’s Baza, living up to its alternate name Lizard Hawk, feeding on a Changeable Lizard, Coney Island, 19 Mar 2021, by Kelvin Ng Cheng Kwan
Summary for migrant species:
In March 2021, 210 raptors of eleven migrant species were recorded. A Black Kite fitted with a transmitter was recorded at Dairy Farm Nature Park on the 1st, and Singapore Quarry on the 2nd. The only Eastern Marsh Harrier was recorded on a northeastern island on the 5th, and a Rufous-bellied Eagle at Bukit Timah Nature Reserve on the 6th.
Amazingly, seven Grey-faced Buzzards were reported, one at Kent Ridge Park on the 14th, three on the 15th, two on the 16th, and another at Bukit Timah Nature Reserve on the 16th,
Page 1 of 14 Singapore Raptor Report – Mar 2021 all seemingly on passage. Five Jerdon’s Bazas were recorded, one at Changi Business Park on the 8th and up to four at Coney Island from 17th to 19th.
Five Chinese Sparrowhawks were recorded, singles at Ubin on the 6th, Kent Ridge Park on the 17th, Coney Island on the 17th (female) & 18th (male), and Lorong Halus on the 19th. There were also five Western Ospreys at various locations, including Upper Peirce Reservoir Park, and nine Peregrine Falcons. In addition, there were 31 Black Bazas, 43 Japanese Sparrowhawks, and 102 Oriental Honey Buzzards.
A pair of Crested Serpent Eagles mating, the 1st mating record for Singapore, Goldhill Avenue, 7 Mar 2021, Julian Wong
Highlights for sedentary species:
At Goldhill Avenue on the 7th, Julian Wong recorded a video of a pair of Crested Serpent Eagles mating – probably the first record of this species mating in Singapore! Breeding- related activities were also noted for four other diurnal resident raptors. At Seletar, where a pair of Black-winged Kites nested, one adult was seen passing a rat to another adult on the 6th, on the 10th two chicks fledged, and on the 25th and 26th, a fledgling was observed taking prey from the adult in mid-air.
At Sungei Buloh Wetland Reserve on the 26th, an adult White-bellied Sea Eagle was sitting on its nest together with two chicks. At Turut Track on the 14th, two Brahminy Kite fledglings were observed. For the Crested Goshawk, the pair at West Coast Park was rebuilding their nest on the 1st and 3rd, and mated on the 4th. At Sin Ming, an adult was
Page 2 of 14 Singapore Raptor Report – Mar 2021 sitting on its nest on the 15th, and on the 31st, a chick covered in white down was seen, together with the adult female, in the nest.
For nocturnal raptors, a Brown Fish Owl was seen feeding its hybrid chick at Hindhede Nature Park on the 3rd, and a Buffy Fish Owl chick at Hampstead Wetlands fledged on the 14th. There were also two Barred Eagle Owls at Rifle Range Link.
In terms of prey items, a Crested Serpent Eagle at Goldhill Avenue caught two Paradise Tree Snakes at one go, on the 4th; and a juvenile water monitor lizard on the 17th. A White-bellied Sea Eagle at SBWR caught a juvenile water monitor lizard on the 13th.
All in, there were eight records of the Crested Serpent Eagle - at Goldhill Avenue, Ubin, Jalan Gemala 2, Kent Ridge Park and Old Holland Road; ten Grey-headed Fish Eagles; 11 Black-winged Kites; 14 Crested Goshawks; ten Changeable Hawk-Eagles; and two torquatus Oriental Honey Buzzards.
Table 1 S/N Species No. S/N Species No. 1 Western Osprey 5 Residents / Sedentary Species 2 Jerdon's Baza 5 12 Black-winged Kite 11 3 Black Baza 31 13 Brahminy Kite C* 4 Oriental Honey Buzzard 102 14 White-bellied Sea Eagle C* 5 Black Kite 1 15 Grey-headed Fish Eagle 10 6 Eastern Marsh Harrier 1 16 Crested Serpent Eagle 8 7 Chinese Sparrowhawk 5 17 Crested Goshawk 14 8 Japanese Sparrowhawk 43 18 Changeable Hawk-Eagle 10 9 Rufous-bellied Eagle 1 10 Grey-faced Buzzard 7 Nocturnal Raptors 11 Peregrine Falcon 9 19 Barred Eagle Owl 2 20 Brown Fish Owl 1 21 Buffy Fish Owl 5
Total for Migrants 210 Grand Total 271
* C = Common
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1. Western Osprey Pandion haliaetus (5)
Date No. Location and Details Reported By 3 1 Upper Peirce Reservoir Park Keith Hutton 4 2 Upper Peirce Reservoir Park Alex Low 5 1 Upper Peirce Reservoir Park Terence Tan 6 1 SBWR Wong Chung Cheong 7 1 Rifle Range Link Robin Arnold 9 1 Upper Peirce Reservoir Park SB Lim 11 1 Upper Peirce Reservoir Park Ash Foo 13 1 Upper Peirce Reservoir Park, 4:29pm Lee Chin Pong 18 1 Upper Peirce Reservoir Park Wong Keng 27 1 Kranji Marsh Tan Kok Hui 27 1 Hindhede Nature Park Fadzrun A. 29 1 Seletar Khoo Meilin 30 1 Simpang Kiri Park Connector Marcel Finlay
2. Jerdon's Baza Aviceda jerdoni (5)
Date No. Location and Details Reported By 8 1 CBP Wong Wai Loon 17 1 Coney Island Meena Vathyam 17 4 Coney Island Alvin Tan 18 1 Coney Island Ash Foo 19 1 Coney Island Terence Tan 19 1 Coney Island Keith Hutton
3. Black Baza Aviceda leuphotes (31)
Date No. Location and Details Reported By 6 2 TEG Rene Sun 8 2 SBWR Khoo MeiLin 10 2 Malcolm Road Steven Cheong 12 6 Lorong Halus Francis Chia 12 6 Singapore Aviation Academy, Loyang Road Raghav N. 14 2 Ubin Kaeden Sim 15 2 PRP Alvin Seng 15 3 CBP Kaeden Sim 17 1 KRP Raghav N 18 1 PRP Alvin Seng 19 1 JLG Tay Kian Guan 21 1 CCNR Lim Kim Chuah 21 1 PRP car park B, 4:21pm Chen Boon Chong 22 4 KRP Choong YT
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4. Oriental Honey Buzzard Pernis ptilorhyncus (100+2) orientalis unless indicated otherwise
Date No. Location and Details Reported By 1 1 Jalan Wangi, immature female pale morph Siew Mun 1 1 WCP, female pale morph Brenda Chua, Agnes Chua 1 1 CBP, immature female pale morph SB Lim 1 1 Old Bukit Timah Railway Station, adult male pale Keith Hutton morph 2 1 SBG Cheng Li Ai 2 1 Singapore Quarry, torquatus Francis Yap 3 1 LCK L3, juvenile pale morph Ash Foo 3 2 Fort Road Kok M Lee 4 1 Goldhill Avenue, adult male pale morph SB Lim 4 1 Jelutong Tower Herman Phua 6 2 WCP Sylvester Goh 7 2 Springleaf Nature Park Kaeden Sim 7 1 WCP, adult male pale morph Philip Toh 7 3 BAMK Yi-Fan Chen 8 2 Kallang Riverside Park Tuck Loong 9 1 Goldhill Ave Avadi L Parimalam 9 2 NTHL Tuck Loong 14 2 CBP Kaeden Sim 15 1 Tyersall Avenue, immature Cheng Li Ai 16 3 JLG Yip Jen Wei 16 1 Bishan Park, adult male dark morph Esther Ong 16 13 Henderson Waves Raghav N. 17 1 Pasir Ris Town Park, adult female pale morph Alvin Seng 17 4 KRP Raghav N 17 1 KRP, torquatus Raghav N 19 3 TBHP Fadzrun A. 20 20 Upper Peirce Reservoir Park, 9am – 11am Darren Leow 21 6 Sembawang Road Raghav N. 21 3 Dover Road Fadzrun A. 21 13 KRP Krishna G. 21 2 Eastwood Estate Herman Phua 28 2 DFNP Russell Boyman 28 1 SBG vicinity, adult male Cheng Li Ai 29 1 Hampstead Wwetlands, immature female pale Vincent Yip morph 30 1 CBP, immature female pale morph SB Lim 31 1 CBP, immature female pale morph SB Lim
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5. Black Kite Milvus migrans (1)
Date No. Location and Details Reported By 1 1 DFNP, “with tracker” Max Khoo 2 1 Singapore Quarry, there was a transmitter on the Francis Yap birds’ back
6. Eastern Marsh Harrier Circus spilonotus (1)
Date No. Location and Details Reported By 5 1 NE island, Singapore, male Frankie Cheong
7. Chinese Sparrowhawk Accipiter soloensis (5)
Date No. Location and Details Reported By 6 1 Ubin Mike Hooper 17 1 KRP Raghav N, Tay Kian Guan 17 1 Coney Island, adult female Alvin Tan 18 1 Coney Island, immature male Ash Foo 19 1 Halus Wetlands Khoo MeiLin
Chinese Sparrowhawk, immature male, Coney Island, 18 Mar 2021, by Ash Foo
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8. Japanese Sparrowhawk Accipiter gularis (43)
Date No. Location and Details Reported By 3 1 Sentosa Krishna G. 7 1 CBP, sub-adult male Ramesh T. 9 1 SBWR, female Tuck Loong 9 1 WCP, female Philip Toh 11 1 BAMK Martin Kennewell 11 1 Malcolm Road Tuck Loong 14 1 Marina East Wong Chung Cheong 15 6 KRP Raghav N. 16 1 Henderson Waves Raghav N. 17 7 KRP, female, mid-morning Raghav N, Tay Kian Guan 17 1 Jelutong Tower, female Francis Yap 18 1 Upper Peirce Reservoir, caught an Asian Glossy Wong Keng Starling 18 1 Coney Island Norhafiani A Majid 19 1 Lorong Halus Wetlands, adult female Keith Hutton 19 1 Sembawang Road, female Fadzrun A. 20 1 JLG, adult female Martti Siponen 21 1 TBHP Betty Shaw 21 1 CCNR Lim Kim Chuah 22 5 KRP Choong YT 23 1 KRP, adult male Norman Wu 24 1 CBP Ramesh T. 26 1 DFNP Choong YT 27 1 Lorong Halus, adult female Lua Wai Heng 27 1 KRP, adult male Johnathan Wu 28 1 DFNP Fadzrun A. 29 1 TBHP, adult female Steven Cheong 29 1 Jelutong Tower, female Choong YT 31 1 PRP Car Park B pond, adult female Soumen Mondal
9. Rufous-bellied Eagle Lophotriorchis kienerii (1)
Date No. Location and Details Reported By 6 1 BTNR, immature Richard White
10. Grey-faced Buzzard Butastur indicus (7)
Date No. Location and Details Reported By 14 1 KRP, adult Raghav N. 15 3 KRP Raghav N. 16 2 Henderson Waves, 11:45am Raghav N. 16 1 BTNR Richard White
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11. Peregrine Falcon Falco peregrinus (9) migrants unless otherwise stated
Date No. Location and Details Reported By 1 1 Blk 14, Bedok South, adult Ash Foo 2 1 Geylang East Tuck Loong 3 1 Blk 334C, Yishun Ave 6 Khoo Meilin 6 1 Hindhede Nature Park Krishna G. 9 1 Upper Peirce Reservoir, juvenile SB Lim 11 1 BAMK, adult, evening Darren Leow 14 1 254, Bangkit Road, juvenile Avadi L Parimalam 16 1 Bishan Park Esther Ong 21 1 Sembawang, juvenile Derrick Wong 27 1 Kranji Marsh Tan Kok Hui
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Resident raptors
12. Black-winged Kite Elanus caeruleus (11)
Date No. Location and Details Reported By 3 1 Seletar Aerospace Drive Philip Ng 4 4 Tuas South Yip Jen Wei 6 2 Seletar Aerospace Drive, adults passing a rat in Pan Denan the air 7 1 Seletar, harassed by crows Eis Mann 9 1 Seletar, adult caught a Javan Myna Danny Khoo 10 4 Seletar, 2 chicks fledged Danny Khoo 13 2 Lim Chu Kang Lane 3 Leslie Loh 15 2 Seletar, fledglings Keith Hutton 16 1 JLG Yip Jen Wei 25 2 Seletar, adult transferring a rat to a fledgling in Danny Khoo flight 26 2 Seletar, adult transferring a skink to a fledgling in Kelvin Leong flight 27 1 Seletar Aerospace Drive, adult Aps Kumar
A fledgling Black-winged Kite (left) in the process of taking prey from its parent, in mid-air, Seletar, 26 Mar 2021, by Kelvin Leong
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13. Brahminy Kite Haliastur indus
Date No. Location and Details Reported By -- Common raptor -- 7 1 Chek Jawa, Ubin, adult harassing a Grey Heron Tuck Loong that caught a fish, 11:40am 14 2 Turut Track, fledglings Lua Wai Heng
14. White-bellied Sea Eagle Haliaeetus leucogaster
Date No. Location and Details Reported By -- Common raptor -- 6 1 Singapore, WBSE caught a ribbon fish, which had Kelvin Leong a smaller fish in its mouth 13 1 SBWR, adult caught a juvenile water monitor Lawrence Koh lizard 26 3 SBWR, 1 adult on nest with 2 chicks Benny Ng
White-bellied Sea Eagle, caught a young water monitor lizard, SBWR Eagle Point, 13 Mar 2021, by Lawrence Koh
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15. Grey-headed Fish Eagle Haliaeetus ichthyaetus (10)
Date No. Location and Details Reported By 4 1 SBWR Koh Wen Min 6 1 Singapore, adult caught a big catfish Vincent Lim 6 1 Upper Peirce Reservoir, adult Teo SoonHaur 7 1 Ulu Pandan, adult Teo Chee Yong 7 2 Chek Jawa, Ubin Tuck Loong 18 1 Upper Peirce Reservoir Wong Keng 20 1 SengKang Riverside Park Wong Chung Cheong 26 2 Springleaf Park Keith Hutton 28 1 Halus Wetlands Oliver Tan 30 1 Bukit Batok Nature Park, adult Ash Foo
Grey-headed Fish Eagle, swooping down on a fish, Ulu Pandan, 7 Mar 2021, by Teo Chee Yong
16. Crested Serpent Eagle Spilornis cheela (8)
Date No. Location and Details Reported By 1 1 Old Holland Road, adult Lee Chin Pong 4 1 Goldhill Avenue, adult, caught 2 Paradise Tree SB Lim Snakes at one go, late afternoon 5 2 Goldhill Avenue, evening Art Toh
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7 2 Goldhill Avenue, adults, mating observed, Julian Wong probably the first mating record for Singapore 9 1 KRP, adult, 10:45am Jared Tan 17 1 Goldhill Avenue, adult caught a juvenile water Cheong Khan Hoong monitor lizard 23 2 Jalan Gemala 2 Marcel Finlay 24 2 Ubin Sreekar Rachakonda
A Crested Serpent Eagle, catching 2 Paradise Tree Snakes (which may have been mating) at a go, Goldhill Avenue, 4 Mar 2021, by SB Lim
17. Crested Goshawk Accipiter trivirgatus (14)
Date No. Location and Details Reported By 1 2 WCP, adults, nestbuilding Steven Cheong 2 1 WCP, juvenile Philip Toh 3 4 WCP, 2 adults and 2 fledglings, adults were Tan Tze Siong rebuilding nest 4 2 WCP, adults mating Alex Tay 4 1 Ulu Pandan Park Connector Philip Howell 7 1 TEG Shashank Mohan 15 1 Sin Ming, adult sitting on nest Tan Gim Cheong 17 1 JLG, immature Fadzrun A. 17 1 KRP, adult Tay Kian Guan 20 1 NTU, sub-adult Bear Jia 21 1 PRP Shuna Maekawa 25 1 Dover Road, sub-adult Lim Joseph 26 1 TBHP Ivana Thng
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31 2 Sin Ming, adult female on nest with 1 chick in Tan Gim Cheong white down
18. Changeable Hawk-Eagle Nisaetus cirrhatus (10)
Date No. Location and Details Reported By 8 1 SBWR, adult pale morph in flight with half eaten, Tan Gim Cheong de-feathered avian prey, chased by House Crows 14 1 Central Boulevard, pale morph Angie Cheong 19 2 Jelutong Tower Francis Yap 20 3 Coney Island Sreekar Rachakonda 24 1 Bukit Batok Nature Park, pale morph Ash Foo 26 1 Punggol Barat, pale morph Keith Hutton 29 1 Bukit Batok Nature Park, pale morph Vincent Yip 30 1 Pang Sua Canal Lim Kim Chuah
19. Barred Eagle-Owl Bubo sumatranus (2)
Date No. Location and Details Reported By 6 1 CCNR, adult harassed by a drongo Darren Leow 19 2 CCNR Francis Yap
20. Brown Fish Owl Ketupa zeylonensis (1)
Date No. Location and Details Reported By 3 1 Hindhede Nature Park, observed feeding the Julie Edgley hybrid fledgling, afternoon 4 1 Hindhede Nature Park, afternoon Julie Edgley 5 1 Hindhede Nature Park, afternoon Julie Edgley 8 1 Hindhede Nature Park, dawn Krishna G.
21. Buffy Fish Owl Ketupa ketupu (5)
Date No. Location and Details Reported By 8 1 Hampstead Wetlands, chick on nest in a birds’ Jimmy Wong nest fern 13 2 SBWR, 1 adult, 1 juvenile Tan Kok Hui 14 3 Hampstead Wetlands, chick fledged and Alex Low subsequently landed on the ground, chick was retrieved and placed on a branch on a tree 28 2 Hampstead Wetlands, 1 adult, 1 fledgling Andrew William
Abbreviations BAMK – Bishan Ang Mo Kio Park BTNR – Bukit Timah Nature Reserve CBD – Central Business District CBP – Changi Business Park
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CCNR – Central Catchment Nature Reserve DFNP – Dairy Farm Nature Park GBTB – Gardens by the Bay JLG – Jurong Lake Gardens KM – Kranji Marsh MED – Marina East Drive NTHL – Neo Tiew Harvest Lane NTU – Nanyang Technological University PRP – Pasir Ris Park SBG – Singapore Botanic Gardens SBTB – Satay by the Bay SBWR – Sungei Buloh Wetland Reserve TBHP – Telok Blangah Hill Park TEG – Tampines Eco Green WCP – West Coast Park
Compiled by Tan Gim Cheong
Note: The numbers in brackets beside the bird names indicates the month's total number. Reports of the same raptors from the same area have been discounted to avoid duplication.
Many thanks to everyone who had reported their sightings in one way or another, and especially to Kelvin Ng Cheng Kwan, Julian Wong, Ash Foo, Kelvin Leong, Lawrence Koh, Teo Chee Yong and SB Lim for the use of their photos.
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