Singapore Raptor Report January 2018
Peregrine Falcon, juvenile, at Kranji Marshes, on 14 Jan 2018, by Goh Cheng Teng
Summary for migrant species:
In January, 75 raptors of 9 migrant species were recorded. Apart from singles at Coney Island and Pasir Ris Park, a flock of 8 Jerdon's Baza Aviceda jerdoni was recorded at Lorong Halus Wetlands on the 20th. The grey morph Oriental Scops Owl Otus sunia found on 9 Dec at Dairy Farm Nature Park was still around on 19 Jan. A juvenile Black Kite Milvus migrans (lineatus), a scarce migrant, was photographed at Bulim Avenue on the 15th and 21st.
A female Chinese Sparrowhawk Accipiter soloensis was still wintering at Ang Mo Kio, while another sub-adult female was photographed at Lorong Halus on the 20th. Only three Japanese Sparrowhawks Accipiter gularis were recorded: one at Sentosa on the 3rd, one at Tampines Eco Green on the 20th and another at Mount Faber on the 26th, all were juveniles.
Two Western Ospreys Pandion haliaetus were recorded, at the usual spots: one at Sungei Buloh - Kranji area and the other at Seletar Dam. Of the four Peregrine Falcons Falco peregrinus, one juvenile was at Pulau Ubin on the 7th, another juvenile at Jurong West also on the 7th, one at Sungei Buloh - Kranji area on multiple days, and the last one at Seletar Airport on the 27th.
For the Black Baza Aviceda leuphotes, up to 13 were in the Lorong Halus - Tampines area, 2 at Telok Blangah and another 5 at One North. Lastly, a total of 34 Oriental Honey Buzzards Pernis ptilorhyncus were recorded in January.
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Oriental Honey Buzzard, torquatus tweeddale morph, at Ang Mo Kio, on 2 Jan 2018, by Terence Tan.
Highlights for sedentary species:
January was a good month for the torquatus form of the Oriental Honey Buzzzard as four of these showed up, all of the tweeddale morph, one at Ang Mo Kio on the 2nd, one at Pasir Ris - Tampines area between the 2nd to 8th, one at Bukit Timah on the 18th, and one at Chinese Garden on the 31st.
The Crested Goshawk Accipiter trivirgatus pair at Sentosa was observed breaking off twigs for their nest and feeding on rodents at the beginning of the month; and as the leaves on the tree grew back, their nest high up the upper branches probably became more difficult to observe. Individuals were recorded at Pasir Ris, Mandai, and Telok Blangah, and another three at the Botanic Gardens.
The other sedentary raptors recorded included two Grey-headed Fish Eagles, two Black- winged Kites, nine Changeable Hawk-Eagles and the common White-bellied Sea Eagles and Brahminy Kites.
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Table 1 S/N Species No. S/N Species No. 1 Western Osprey 2 Residents / Sedentary Species 2 Jerdon's Baza 8 10 Black-winged Kite 2 3 Black Baza 20 11 Brahminy Kite 9 4 Oriental Honey Buzzard 34 12 White-bellied Sea Eagle 7 5 Black Kite 1 13 Grey-headed Fish Eagle 2 6 Chinese Sparrowhawk 2 14 Crested Goshawk 8 7 Japanese Sparrowhawk 3 15 Changeable Hawk-Eagle 9 8 Peregrine Falcon 4 9 Oriental Scops Owl 1 Unidentified 16 Unidentified Raptors 1 17 Unidentified Accipiter 1 Total for Migrants 75 Grand Total 114
Page 3 of 7 1. Western Osprey Pandion haliaetus (2)
Date No. Location and Details Reported By 12 1 Seletar Dam, 2:50pm Veronica Foo 14 1 Kranji Marshes, 4pm Esther Ong 15 1 Kranji Marshes, 11:20am Veronica Foo 28 1 SBWR-Kranji Marshes area Esther Ong
2. Jerdon's Baza Aviceda jerdoni (8)
Date No. Location and Details Reported By early 1 Coney Island Cindy Yeo 20 8 Lorong Halus Felix Chan 28 1 Pasir Ris Park Low Choon How
3. Black Baza Aviceda leuphotes (20)
Date No. Location and Details Reported By 2 2 Tampines Eco Green, morning Mick Jerram 11 5 One North, morning Alan OwYong 14 13 Lorong Halus, including a flock of 10 Wong Chung Cheong 17 2 Telok Blangah Forest Walkway, morning Alan OwYong 20 2 Lorong Halus Felix Chan 22 1 Lorong Halus, 10am Felix Chan 28 1 Punggol Point Feroz Fizah
4. Oriental Honey Buzzard Pernis ptilorhyncus (34) orientalis unless indicated otherwise
Date No. Location and Details Reported By 1 2 Tampines Central, at least 1 juvenile pale morph Mac Ng 1 2 Singapore, 1 male and 1 female pale morph Thio Hb 2 1 Satay by the Bay, juvenile pale morph Teo Chee Kee 2 1 Ang Mo Kio Town Garden West, torquatus Terence Tan tweeddale morph 2 1 Fort Siloso, Sentosa, female pale morph Veronica Foo 2 5 Tampines Eco Green, including 1 torquatus Mick Jerram tweeddale morph, morning 6 1 Singapore Botanic Gardens, juvenile pale morph Laurence Eu 6 2 Haig Road Market, 11:50am Henrietta Woo 6 1 Pasir Ris Park, torquatus tweeddale morph Geraldine Lee
7 3 Pekan Quarry, Pulau Ubin See Toh Yew Wai 8 1 Pasir Ris Park, adult male torquatus tweeddale Felix Chan morph 9 1 Kranji Marshes, adult male Zacc HD 14 1 Mandai, juvenile pale morph Da Tan 14 1 Farrer Park, Kent Road, female pale morph, Eszter Kacsandi 4:20pm 15 1 Kranji Marshes, juvenile pale morph, 11:20am Veronica Foo
Page 4 of 7 17 2 Telok Blangah Forest Walkway, morning Alan OwYong 18 2 Bukit Timah Nature Reserve, including 1 Keita Sin torquatus tweeddale morph 20 1 Pasir Ris Town Park, immature pale morph Alvin Seng 20 1 Bishan Park, juvenile pale morph Lam Jen Wee 21 1 Changi Court, adult male pale morph, 10:30am Mac Ng 23 1 Kent Ridge Park, adult female dark morph Tsang Kwok Choong 26 1 West Coast Park Timothy Lim 27 1 Tampines Eco Green, juvenile pale morph Alvin Seng 27 1 Dairy Farm Nature Park Zhang Licong 28 1 Toa Payoh Sensory Park, female, mobbed by two Henrietta Woo crows, 3:32pm 29 1 Lorong Chuan, adult male pale morph Tsang Kwok Choong 31 1 Coney Island, 10:01am Kerry Pereira 31 1 Punggol Promenade, 11:24am Kerry Pereira 31 1 Chinese Garden, adult torquatus tweeddale John Khoo morph, 11:25am
5. Black Kite Milvus migrans (1)
Date No. Location and Details Reported By 15 1 Bulim Avenue, juvenile, morning Alan OwYong 21 1 Bulim Avenue, juvenile Low Choon How
6. Chinese Sparrowhawk Accipiter soloensis (2)
Date No. Location and Details Reported By 2 1 Ang Mo Kio Town Garden West, adult female Terence Tan early 1 Coney Island, sub-adult female Cindy Yeo 22 1 Lorong Halus, sub-adult female, 10am Felix Chan
7. Japanese Sparrowhawk Accipiter gularis (3)
Date No. Location and Details Reported By 3 1 Fort Siloso, Sentosa, juvenile Francis Yap 20 1 Tampines Eco Green, juvenile Wang HengMount 26 1 Mount Faber, juvenile Joyce Chia
8. Peregrine Falcon Falco peregrinus (4)
Date No. Location and Details Reported By 7 1 Pekan Quarry, Pulau Ubin, juvenile See Toh Yew Wai 7 1 Jurong West, juvenile Goh Cheng Teng 9 1 Sungei Buloh Wetland Reserve, main hide, Zacc HD juvenile 14 1 Kranji Marshes, juvenile, 10am Goh Cheng Teng 14 1 Kranji Marshes, 4pm Esther Ong 27 1 Seletar Airport, adult, morning Francis Yap 28 1 SBWR-Kranji Marshes area, adult Esther Ong
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9. Oriental Scops Owl Otus sunia (1)
Date No. Location and Details Reported By 1 1 Dairy Farm Nature Park, grey morph Martin Kennewell 17 1 Dairy Farm Nature Park, grey morph Martin Kennewell 19 1 Dairy Farm Nature Park, grey morph Martin Kennewell
Resident raptors
10. Black-winged Kite Elanus caeruleus (2)
Date No. Location and Details Reported By 10 1 Kranji Marshes Alvin Seng 28 1 SBWR-Kranji Marshes area Esther Ong Jan 1 Tampines Eco Green Wang HM
11. Brahminy Kite Haliastur indus (9)
Date No. Location and Details Reported By 2 1 Fort Siloso, Sentosa, female pale morph Veronica Foo 6 2 West Coast Park Zhang Licong 14 1 Kranji Marshes, adult, 4pm Esther Ong 20 1 Lorong Halus Felix Chan 20 1 Yio Chu Kang, adult Sy Ong 20 1 Bulim Avenue, adult Zhang Licong 21 1 Little Guilin, adult, 10am Ulf Remahl 31 2 Coney Island, morning Kerry Pereira
12. White-bellied Sea Eagle Haliaeetus leucogaster (7)
Date No. Location and Details Reported By 14 1 Kranji Marshes, 4pm Esther Ong 16 2 Unity Secondary School, juveniles, 12:12pm Kerry Pereira 20 1 Lorong Halus, juvenile Felix Chan 22 1 Lorong Halus, 10am Felix Chan 24 2 Singapore Quarry, 10:40am Ulf Remahl 29 1 Punggol SAFRA, 12:15pm Kerry Pereira 31 1 Punggol Promenade, 11:15am Kerry Pereira
13. Grey-headed Fish Eagle Haliaeetus ichthyaetus (2)
Date No. Location and Details Reported By 21 1 Little Guilin, heard calling twice, 9:30-10:30am Ulf Remahl 28 1 SBWR-Kranji Marshes area, adult Esther Ong
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14. Crested Goshawk Accipiter trivirgatus (8)
Date No. Location and Details Reported By 1 1 Sentosa, adult female photographed holding a Lee Chuin Ming broken twig in its beak 2 1 Sentosa Geoff Lim 3 1 Sentosa, male eating a Plantain Squirrel Terence Tan 6 2 Singapore Botanic Gardens, a pair Laurence Eu 8 1 Pasir Ris Park Felix Chan 19 1 Mandai (Zoo), adult Laurence Eu 27 1 Singapore Botanic Gardens Ko Engwee 28 1 Telok Blangah, adult male Joyce Chia
15. Changeable Hawk-Eagle Nisaetus cirrhatus (9)
Date No. Location and Details Reported By 2 1 Yio Chu Kang, adult pale morph Terence Tan 6 1 Rail Corridor opposite Rail Mall, pale morph, Ulf Remahl 10:15am 9 1 Bukit Batok Nature Park, dark morph, 1:15pm Ulf Remahl 14 1 Kranji Marshes, dark morph, 4pm Esther Ong 16 1 Singapore Botanic Gardens, 11am Veronica Foo 19 1 Singapore, adult pale morph Meena Vathyam 20 1 Yio Chu Kang, adult pale morph Lam Jen Wee 28 3 SBWR-Kranji Marshes area, 2 juvenile pale Esther Ong morph, 1 dark morph 31 1 Lorong Halus, dark morph, 10:47am Kerry Pereira
16. Unidentified Raptors (1)
Date No. Location and Details Reported By 14 1 Farrer Park, Kent Road, 4:20pm Eszter Kacsandi
17. Unidentified Accipiter (1)
Date No. Location and Details Reported By 5 1 Hume Avenue, very high up flying south, 5pm Ulf Remahl
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 Goh Cheng Teng and Terence Tan for the use of their photos.
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