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1 NSS Bird Group Report NSS Bird Group Report – Sep 2015 Yellow-vented Flowerpecker at Dairy Farm Nature Park taken by Wong Koon Yoke on 26th. The migration season is in full swing with many passerines making their first arrival here and three species establishing new extreme dates. For easy reading I will list the first arrivals with dates, species, location and name of observer. Eastern Crowned Warbler. A difficult species to photograph. Taken at Bidadari on 24th by Alan Ng. (1/9/15) Grey Wagtail, Motacilla cinerea, at Mimosa Walk by Heather Goessel. (2/9/15) Blue Rock Thrush, Monticola solitarius, at Pinnacle by Vivien Lee Min. (Previous extreme date 14 Oct). (6/9/15) Brown Shrike, Lanius cristatus, at Jurong Eco Gardens by Lee Van Hien. (16/9/15) Ruddy Kingfisher, Halcyon coromanda, at Bidadari by Alan Ng. (17/9/15) Siberian Blue Robin, Luscinia cyane, adult male at Lasia Track by Alan 1 OwYong. (Previous extreme date 21 Sept) (17/9/15) Dark-sided Flycatcher, Muscicapa sibirica, at Bukit Timah Summit by Lim Kim Seng. (21/9/15) Black-backed Kingfisher,Ceyx erithacus, at Bidadari by Vincent Ng. ( One week ahead of previous extreme date) (21/9/15) Daurian Starlings,, Sturnus sturninus, (<200) at SBWR by Francis Yap. (28/9/15) Pond Heron spp, Ardeola spp, at Bishan Park by Abdul Shukor. An adult male Tiger Shrike taken at Bidadari by Frankie Lim on 18th. We normally get only the juveniles during the autumn migration. Unfortunately the Ruddy Kingfisher stayed only for a day at Bidadari. Photo Alan Ng on 16th. Other passerine migrants of note were an influx of Yellow-rumped Flycatchers, Ficedula zanthopygia. Both male and females at Venus Drive on 4th (Koh Lian Heng and Dean Tan), Singapore Botanic Gardens and Bidadari. Two reports of Eastern Crowned Warblers, Phylloscopus coronatus, one photographed by Alan Ng at Bidadari on 24th and another at Dairy Farm on 28th by Francis Yap. The newly split Blyth’s Paradise Flycatcher, Terpsiphone paradisi affinis, was the first record for Bidadari seen by YK Loke on 24th. We also had several sub adult and adult male Tiger Shrikes, Lanius tigrinus, passing through Bidadari during the month. Frankie Lim photographed one on the 18th. An orientalis OHB over at Pasir Ris Park by Seng Alvin on 16th. We finally got our orientalis Oriental Honey Buzzard, Pernis ptilorhyncus, with one photographed at Pasir Ris Park on 16th by Seng Alvin. An early juvenile Rufous Bellied Eagle, Hieraaetus kienerii, and a Japanese Sparrowhawk, Accipiter gularis, 2 were photographed from Jelutong Tower on 16th by Francis Yap. Both were first for the season. A migratory Peregrine Falcon was the first for Tuas South as per report from Low Choon How on 26th. Non-breeding visitors includes three Jambu Fruit Doves, Ptilinopus jambu, at Dairy Farm Nature Park feeding on the False Curry Leave Plant on 16th and a sub adult Malaysian Hawk Cuckoo, Hierococcyx fugax, at Upper Seletar Reservoir on 30th (both by Lee Van Hien). Hard to see Chestnut-winged Babbler at Dillenia Hut. Photo by See Toh Yew Wai Residents that are of interest are a Plaintive Cuckoo, Cacomantis merulinus, and a juvenile Rusty-breasted Cuckoo, Cacomantis sepulcralis, being fed by a Malaysian Pied Fantail, Rhipidura javanica, both at Tampines Eco Garden on 1st by Seng Alvin, a calling Red-legged Crake, Rallina fasciata, and a Grey-rumped Treeswift, Hemiprocne longipennis, at Ulu Pandan Canal by Ho Hwa Chew on 14th and Alan OwYong on 15th respectively and a sub adult Mangrove Pitta, Pitta megarhyncha, Sungei Buloh WR on 21st reported by Geoff Lim and photographed by Lim Ser Chai. Lim Kim Keang and Yong Yik Shih came back from Chek Java, Ubin on 21st with a partial shot of what looks like a Black Magpie, Platysmurus leucopterus. This was a former resident but now extinct. The Records Committee will have to deliberate on this sighting. But there was no mistaking the photo of one of our rare flowerpecker, the Yellow-vented Flowerpecker, Dicaeum chrysorrheum, taken by a visiting Ipoh birder Wong Koon Yoke at a fruiting fig at Dairy Farm on the 26th. Many thanks to Subha for this report. We normally had to hike up to the Bukit Timah Summit to look for this species. 3 One of the three Eurasian Curlews that was first reported by Ben Lee on 20th. A flight shot by Lee Tiah Khee showing the unmarked under wing coverts. White-winged Tern at Serangoon Reservoir by Kwee Chang Ling on 26th. The shorebird sightings was reported in our earlier blog “Of Godwits, Dowitchers and Curlew” with the exception of a Grey Plover, Pluvialis squatarola, in summer plumage seen by Francis Yap and See Toh at P. Ubin on 1st and a late but first arrival White-winged Tern, Chlidonias leucopterus, shot by Kwee Chang Ling over at Serangoon Reservoir on 26th. Reference: The Avifauna of Singapore. Lim Kim Seng 2009. A field Guide to the Birds of Thailand and South-east Asia, Craig Robson 2000. Edited by Francis Yap. The above records are taken from the various bird FB groups. pages, reports and forums. Many thanks for your postings. Many thanks to Lee Tiah Khee, See Toh Yew Wai, Alan Ng, Wong Koon Yoke, Kwee Chang Ling, Seng Alvin and Frankie Lim for the use of the photographs. Website Link: https://singaporebirdgroup.wordpress.com/2015/10/01/singapore-bird-report- september-2015/ 4 .
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