11Th Singapore Raptor Watch Report
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11th Singapore Raptor Watch Report 11th Singapore Raptor Watch Report Autumn 2018 Migration - 3 Nov 2018 compiled by TAN Gim Cheong Chinese Sparrowhawk, juvenile, at Puaka Hill, Pulau Ubin, 3 Nov 2018, by Henrietta Woo The 11th Singapore raptor watch was held on Saturday, 3 November 2018 and involved 42 participants. The weather was mostly partly cloudy. There were seven raptor watch sites and the numbers counted at each site varied from a high of 193 to a low of 19 birds. A total of 556 raptors were counted, including 437 raptors representing 8 migrant species and 69 raptors of 6 resident species. A further 50 raptors could not be identified to species level. Summary: Number of raptors - 556 - 437 migrant raptors. - 69 resident raptors. - 50 un-identified raptors. Number of species - 14 - 8 migrant species. - 6 resident species. 1 of 7 11th Singapore Raptor Watch Report Most of the sites were the same ones as previous years, thanks to all the site leaders for their faithful support! The minor changes were the shifting of the Japanese Gardens site to Jurong Hill, due to ongoing works at the Japanese Gardens, and the shifting of the Tuas site slightly north to Tuas View Drive. Halus Wetlands Puaka Hill, Pulau Ubin Changi Business Park Jurong Hill Kent Ridge Tuas View Drive Telok Blangah Hill Park Figure 1 : 2018 Raptor Watch Sites. (source of basemap – maps.google.com.sg) The highest number of raptors recorded was at Telok Blangah Hill Park (193 birds), followed by Puaka Hill, Ubin (108 birds) and Jurong Hill (105 birds). Note that the count at Jurong Hill ended earlier, at 2:15pm, due to manpower constraints. Rather surprising was the low numbers at Tuas for the second year running. SITE Tuas Jurong Kent Telok Halus Ubin Changi Grand View Hill Ridge Blangah Wetlands Puaka Business Total Drive Park Hill Park Hill Park SITE TOTAL 28 105 72 193 31 108 19 556 Figure 2 : Total count by Site 2 of 7 11th Singapore Raptor Watch Report The peak hours for migrant raptors were between 10am to 2pm, with a high of 133 migrant raptors in the 11am to 12pm period. In the morning, 16 migrant raptors were recorded in the first hour between 8-9am, and in the later part of the afternoon, another 16 were recorded in the last 2 hours of observation. Raptor Watch 2016 - Numbers by 1-hr Time Period (Migrants only) 140 133 120 100 101 100 80 71 60 40 16 20 12 4 0 9-10 10-11 11-12 12-1 1-2 2-3 3-4 Figure 3 : Raptor numbers by 1-hour time periods (migrant raptors only) The Oriental Honey Buzzard (OHB) reclaimed the top spot, with 248 birds counted. The largest number of OHB were at Jurong Hill (81 birds) despite the count ending earlier, Telok Blangah Hill Park (72 birds) and Kent Ridge Park (38 birds). There were 120 Japanese Sparrowhawks, similar to last year. The main bulk of the Japanese Sparrowhawks (66 birds) were counted at Telok Blangah Hill Park. There were 30 Chinese Sparrowhawks, and most of them were recorded at Telok Blangah Hill Park (15 birds), and Puaka Hill, Pulau Ubin (14 birds). 23 Black Bazas were recorded, mostly at Puaka Hill, Ubin (19 birds), three at Telok Blangah Hill Park and one at Jurong Hill. 3 of 7 11th Singapore Raptor Watch Report Oriental Honey Buzzard, at Puaka Hill, Pulau Ubin, 3 Nov 2018, by Henrietta Woo Grey-faced Buzzards put up a good show this year, with 11 counted across four sites: six at Puaka Hill, two each at Telok Blangah Hill Park and Lorong Halus Wetlands, and an individual at Jurong Hill. Three Peregrine Falcons were recorded: singles at Jurong Hill, Telok Blangah Hill Park and Lorong Halus. Only one Western Osprey was recorded - at Jurong Hill and one Black Kite - at Tuas. S/N Species (Migrants) Count 1 Oriental Honey Buzzard Pernis ptilorhyncus 248 2 Japanese Sparrowhawk Accipiter gularis 120 3 Chinese Sparrowhawk Accipiter soloensis 30 4 Black Baza Aviceda leuphotes 23 5 Grey-faced Buzzard Butastur indicus 11 6 Peregrine Falcon Falco peregrinus 3 7 Western Osprey Pandion haliaetus 1 8 Black Kite Milvus migrans 1 Total Migrant Raptors 437 1 Un-identified Accipiter 44 2 Un-identified Raptor 6 Total Unidentified Raptors 50 Figure 4 : Migrant and Unidentified Raptors Counted 4 of 7 11th Singapore Raptor Watch Report Watching raptors at Puaka Hill, Pulau Ubin, 3 Nov 2018, photo courtesy of Jacky Soh For the resident species, the total count was 69 birds of 6 species. The count for the resident raptors comprised 34 Brahminy Kites, 15 White-bellied Sea Eagles, 10 Changeable Hawk Eagles, 5 Grey-headed Fish Eagles, 4 Crested Goshawks, and 1 Crested Serpent Eagle. S/N Species (Residents) Count 1 Brahminy Kite Haliastur indus 34 2 White-bellied Sea Eagle Haliaeetus leucogaster 15 3 Changeable Hawk Eagle Nisaetus cirrhatus 10 4 Grey-headed Fish Eagle Haliaeetus ichthyaetus 5 5 Crested Goshawk Accipiter trivirgatus 4 6 Crested Serpent Eagle Spilornis cheela 1 Total Counts of Resident Raptors 69 Figure 5 : Resident Raptors Counted 5 of 7 11th Singapore Raptor Watch Report The figure below provides a snapshot of the number of raptors according to the three categories - migrant, un-identified & resident raptors, at the 7 sites. A larger proportion of the migrant raptors were detected in the southwest stretch from Jurong Hill to Kent Ridge Park to Telok Blangah Hill Park, with a peak of 159 migrant raptors at Telok Blangah Hill Park. RW 2018 - Raptor sub-totals by Site Migrants Un-Identified Residents 180 159 160 140 120 100 90 76 80 61 60 40 26 20 20 13 14 13 20 6 12 10 9 12 6 0 2 2 5 0 0 Tuas View Drive Jurong Hill Kent Ridge Park Telok Blangah Hill Halus Wetlands Ubin Puaka Hill Changi Business Park Park Figure 6 : Raptor Sub-totals by Category (migrant /unidentified /resident) by Site A complete breakdown of the species counted at each site is shown in the table below: SITE Tuas Jurong Kent Telok Halus Ubin Changi Grand View Hill Ridge Blangah Wetlands Puaka Business Total Drive Park Hill Hill Park Park SITE TOTAL 28 105 72 193 31 108 19 556 Migrants = 437 Total Osprey 1 1 Black Baza 1 3 19 23 Oriental Honey Buzzard 25 81 38 72 7 16 9 248 Black Kite 1 1 Chinese Sparrowhawk 15 14 1 30 Japanese Sparrowhawk 5 23 66 2 21 3 120 Grey-faced Buzzard 1 2 2 6 11 Peregrine Falcon 1 1 1 3 Residents = 69 Brahminy Kite 1 7 1 10 4 7 4 34 White-bellied Sea Eagle 1 2 1 1 3 6 1 15 Grey-headed Fish Eagle 1 1 Crested Serpent Eagle 4 4 Crested Goshawk 2 2 1 5 Changeable Hawk Eagle 2 1 2 1 3 1 10 Un-identified = 50 Unid. Accipiter 1 5 20 7 11 44 Unid. Raptor 1 1 3 1 6 Figure 7 : Raptor numbers by Site and break down of Species 6 of 7 11th Singapore Raptor Watch Report The team of raptor watchers/counters at Puaka Hill, Pulau Ubin, photo courtesy of Jacky Soh Thanks to all the 42 wonderful birders, both leaders and participants, which included National Parks Board staff, for spending their Sunday out in the open to count raptors. The following fantastic people led or assisted in the raptor count: Alan OwYong Kenneth Kee Phua Art Toh Kerry Pereira & family Richard White Bao Jun Kit Boey Shon Boon Kiat Lau Jia Sheng Srivalli Clement Lim Lee Ee Ling Susan Knight Danny Lau Leow Yoon Li Tan Gim Cheong Esther Ong Lim Hood Keng Tan Kok Hui Francis Yap Lim Kim Keang Tan Teck Beng Ginny Cheang Lim Lee Lee Timothy Liew Henrietta Woo Lioe Kim Swee Veronica Foo Herman Phua May Teo ML Wilson Leung Jacky Soh (Nparks) Patricia Lorenz Woo Lai Choo John Spencer Peach Won Yap Teck Gin Debra 7 of 7 .