Singapore Raptor Report February 2019
Common Buzzard, adult pale morph, at Holland Drive, on 5 Feb 2019, by Zacc HD
Summary for migrant species:
In February, 90 raptors of 8 migrant species were recorded. After going 'missing' for two months, the Common Buzzard Buteo buteo 're-appeared' at Holland Drive from 4th to 12th February. Three Jerdon's Bazas Aviceda jerdoni continued to winter at Changi Business Park, one wintering at Coney Island, and another two were spotted at Pulau Ubin.
Only one Chinese Sparrowhawk Accipiter soloensis was recorded, at MacRitchie Reservoir Park on the 3rd. There were a total of six Japanese Sparrowhawks Accipiter gularis, including an adult male and a juvenile at the Lim Chu Kang area. Three migrant Peregrine Falcons Falco peregrinus were recorded, one at Boon Lay Way on the 1st, one at Holland Drive on the 5th mobbing the Common Buzzard and one at Kranji Marshes on the 17th. Three Western Ospreys Pandion haliaetus were recorded, including one at the Botanic Gardens, away from the usual northern coastal areas.
Twenty one Black Bazas Aviceda leuphotes were recorded in the month, including a group of seven at Lorong Halus on the 6th. Forty seven Oriental Honey Buzzards Pernis ptilorhyncus, which included a group of eight at Coney Island on the 9th, rounded up the migrant raptors for the month.
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Black-winged Kite, showing its striking red eye, at Lim Chu Kang, on 9 Feb 2019, by Zhang Licong.
Highlights for sedentary species:
There were two breeding-related records in February: a pair of White-bellied Sea Eagles mating at West Coast Park on the 21st and a Changeable Hawk-Eagle calling on its nest at Kranji Marshes on the 16th. The only record of the Crested Serpent Eagle was at Pulau Ubin on the 23rd. Two ernesti Peregrine Falcons were recorded in the CBD area on the 2nd.
The other sedentary raptors recorded included four Grey-headed Fish Eagles, eight Crested Goshawks, five Black-winged Kites, and the common Brahminy Kites.
Table 1 S/N Species No. S/N Species No. 1 Western Osprey 3 Residents / Sedentary Species 2 Jerdon's Baza 6 9 Black-winged Kite 5 3 Black Baza 21 10 Brahminy Kite 6 4 Oriental Honey Buzzard 47 11 White-bellied Sea Eagle 6 5 Chinese Sparrowhawk 1 12 Grey-headed Fish Eagle 4 6 Japanese Sparrowhawk 6 13 Crested Serpent Eagle 1 7 Common Buzzard 1 14 Crested Goshawk 8 8 Peregrine Falcon 5 15 Changeable Hawk-Eagle 4
Unidentified 16 Unidentified Accipiters 1 Total for Migrants 90 Grand Total 133
Page 2 of 6 1. Western Osprey Pandion haliaetus (3)
Date No. Location and Details Reported By 3 1 Singapore Veronica Foo 3 1 Ketam Quarry, Pulau Ubin Art Toh 8 1 Sungei Buloh Wetland Reserve Kelvin Leong 9 1 Sungei Buloh Wetland Reserve Kelvin Leong 9 1 Sungei Buloh Wetland Reserve Jean-Pierre Bousquet 24 1 Botanic Gardens Paul Salaman
2. Jerdon's Baza Aviceda jerdoni (6)
Date No. Location and Details Reported By 7 2 Pulau Ubin Russel Boyman 10 3 Changi Business Park Ramesh T. 20 1 Changi Business Park, 8:40am Steven Cheong 28 1 Coney Island Wong Keng
3. Black Baza Aviceda leuphotes (21)
Date No. Location and Details Reported By 3 2 Chinese Garden Tuck Loong 4 1 Kranji Marshes, 8:40am Veronica Foo 6 1 Changi Business Park Ramesh T. 6 7 Lorong Halus Lim Hong Yao 9 2 Sungei Buloh Wetland Reserve Mike Hooper 11 1 Admiralty Park Fadzrun A. 12 1 Holland Drive Tay Kian Guan 16 1 Kranji Marshes Tan Kok Hui 17 3 Pasir Ris Park Peng Ah Huay 21 2 Tampines Eco Green Feroz Ghazali 23 1 Pasir Ris Park Wong Sangmen 25 1 Botanic Gardens Morten Lisse 26 1 Pasir Ris Park Wong Sangmen
4. Oriental Honey Buzzard Pernis ptilorhyncus (47) orientalis unless indicated otherwise
Date No. Location and Details Reported By 1 1 East Coast Parkway hawker centre, juvenile Thio HB 2 1 Fort Canning Park Noam Markus 2 2 Botanic Gardens Noam Markus 3 1 Sembawang, adult male Esther Ong 3 1 Sentosa John Marriott 3 1 MacRitchie Reservoir Park Francis Yap 9 3 Changi Business Park, at least 1 female & 1 male Chen Boon Chong 9 10 Coney Island, 1 at 10:29am, 1 at 10:43am, 8 at Kerry Pereira 11:02am 10 1 Changi Business Park, adult male dark morph Ramesh T. 10 4 Kranji Marshes Martin Kennewell 11 1 Southern Ridges, juvenile pale morph Steven Cheong
Page 3 of 6 11 1 Pasir Ris Park, juvenile pale morph Alvin Seng 12 1 Pandan, juvenile pale morph Steven Wong 12 1 Holland Drive, adult male pale morph Tay Kian Guan 12 1 Lower Pierce Reservoir Park, juvenile Fadzrun A. 13 1 SAFRA Punggol, 12:55pm Kerry Pereira 13 1 Sungei Buloh Wetland Reserve Feroz Ghazali 13 4 Bishan Park Alex Holt 14 2 Holland Drive, pale morph juveniles Art Toh 15 1 Chinese Garden, adult male Tay Kian Guan 15 1 Gardens by the Bay Alex Holt 17 1 West Coast Drive Tay Kian Guan 17 1 Jelutong Tower, immature, 9:11am Goh Cheng Teng 17 1 Singapore, adult female Kelvin Leong 17 4 Springleaf Nature Park Ng Wei Khim 23 1 Kranji Marshes, juvenile Fadzrun A. 23 1 Satay by the Bay Oliver Tan 23 1 Windsor Nature Park Mike Hooper 25 1 Lorong Halus, juvenile pale morph Steven Cheong 25 1 Changi Business Park, adult male dark morph Ramesh T. 26 1 Pandan, juvenile pale morph Steven Wong 28 1 Changi Business Park, adult male Julie Wee
5. Chinese Sparrowhawk Accipiter soloensis (1)
Date No. Location and Details Reported By 3 1 MacRitchie Reservoir Francis Yap
6. Japanese Sparrowhawk Accipiter gularis (6)
Date No. Location and Details Reported By 1 1 Lim Chu Kang Lane 3, adult male Fadzrun A. 1 1 Lorong Halus Karyne Wee 3 1 MacRitchie Reservoir Francis Yap 6 1 Hort Park, 9:15am Veronica Foo 6 1 Sengkang Riverside Park Feroz Ghazali 10 1 Sungei Buloh Wetland Reserve, juvenile, 11am Francis Yap 16 1 Kranji Marshes, male Tan Kok Hui
7. Common Buzzard Buteo buteo (1)
Date No. Location and Details Reported By 4 1 Holland Drive, adult Art Toh 5 1 Holland Drive, adult, mobbed by a Peregrine Art Toh, Zacc HD, Falcon and a juvenile Brahminy Kite Pary Sivaraman 7 1 Holland Drive, adult Zacc HD 12 1 Holland Drive, adult Tay Kian Guan
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8. Peregrine Falcon Falco peregrinus (5)
Date No. Location and Details Reported By 1 1 Boon Lay Way Low Choon How 2 2 CBD, ernesti Lee Ee Ling 5 1 Holland Drive, adult migrant, mobbing a Gahyathree Arasu, Common Buzzard Pary Sivaraman 17 1 Kranji Marshes Con Foley
Resident raptors
9. Black-winged Kite Elanus caeruleus (5)
Date No. Location and Details Reported By 1 1 Lim Chu Kang Lane 3 Fadzrun A. 9 1 Lim Chu Kang, adult Zhang Licong 13 2 Sungei Buloh Wetland Reserve Feroz Ghazali 16 1 Lorong Halus Mike Hooper 11 2 Kranji Marshes Martin Kennewell 17 2 Tanah Merah Coast Road Ramesh T.
10. Brahminy Kite Haliastur indus (6)
Date No. Location and Details Reported By 3 1 Singapore Veronica Foo 4 2 Sungei Buloh Wetland Reserve, 1 adult, 1 juvenile Kelvin Leong 5 1 Holland Drive, juvenile Pary Sivaraman 8 1 Sungei Buloh Wetland Reserve, adult Kelvin Leong 9 3 Coney Island, 2 adults, 1 immature, 10:36am Kerry Pereira
11. White-bellied Sea Eagle Haliaeetus leucogaster (6)
Date No. Location and Details Reported By 3 2 Singapore, 1 juvenile, 1 adult Veronica Foo 6 1 Sungei Buloh Wetland Reserve, immature Jean-Pierre Bousquet 7 1 Sungei Buloh Wetland Reserve, immature Kelvin Leong 8 1 Sungei Buloh Wetland Reserve, immature Kelvin Leong 9 1 Sungei Buloh Wetland Reserve, immature Kelvin Leong 9 1 Coney Island, 10:21am Kerry Pereira 10 1 Lorong Halus, adult Herman Phua 21 2 West Coast Park, observed mating on nest Wong YY 14 1 Pasir Ris Town Park, adult, ringed Alvin Seng
Page 5 of 6 12. Grey-headed Fish Eagle Haliaeetus ichthyaetus (4)
Date No. Location and Details Reported By 2 1 Pandan area, adult Francis Chia 8 1 Springleaf Nature Park, adult Kelvin Leong 9 1 Coney Island, 10:26am Kerry Pereira 24 1 Botanic Gardens Paul Salaman
13. Crested Serpent Eagle Spilornis cheela (1)
Date No. Location and Details Reported By 23 1 Pulau Ubin Lim Kim Chuah
14. Crested Goshawk Accipiter trivirgatus (8)
Date No. Location and Details Reported By 4 1 Botanic Gardens, immature John Rose 4 1 Telok Blangah Hill Park Zacc HD 17 1 Jelutong Tower, juvenile, 10:06am Goh Cheng Teng 17 3 Pasir Ris Park Jane Rogers, Doreen Ang, Peng Ah Huay, Ian & Freda 23 1 Bishan Park, immature Chen Boon Chong 24 1 Botanic Gardens Paul Salaman 26 1 Sentosa John Marriott
15. Changeable Hawk-Eagle Nisaetus cirrhatus (4)
Date No. Location and Details Reported By 13 1 Pulau Ubin, pale morph Thio HB 16 1 Pasir Ris Park, juvenile pale morph Alvin Seng 16 1 Kranji Marshes, on nest and calling Tan Kok Hui 24 1 Botanic Gardens Paul Salaman
16. Unidentified Accipiters (1)
Date No. Location and Details Reported By 15 1 Singapore Zoo, 10:10am Henrietta Woo
Compiled by Tan Gim Cheong
Note: The numbers in brackets beside the bird names indicates the total number seen for this month. Different 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 also thanks to Zacc HD and Zhang Licong for the use of their photos.
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