Singapore Raptor Report March 2017 Oriental Honey Buzzard, pale morph (left) at Alexandra Road on 9 Mar 2017 & dark morph (right) on at the Botanic Gardens on 18 Mar 2017, both by Laurence Eu. Summary for migrant species: In March, 176 raptors of 8 migrant species were recorded. The Black Baza was the most numerous with 70 birds, of which 39 were recorded at the Kranji Marshes on the 4th and another 20 at the National University of Singapore (NUS) on the 20th. The Oriental Honey Buzzard, with 54 birds, was the next in line and 11 were recorded at the NUS on the 21st, all heading north. Of the 32 Japanese Sparrowhawks recorded, 11 were seen at the NUS on the 22nd. Ten Chinese Sparrowhawks were recorded this month, good numbers for this uncommon migrant. Apart from one bird at Jelutong Tower, the other nine were all recorded at the NUS. Four Ospreys were recorded, at the Seletar Dam and Sungei Buloh - Kranji Marshes areas. On the 9th, one Osprey at Sungei Buloh had its catch stolen by a White-bellied Sea Eagle. Four Peregrine Falcons were recorded; none of the resident race. A Grey-faced Buzzard at Kranji Marshes on the 19th was a very good record for this rather uncommon migrant. Lastly, an Oriental Scops Owl, unfortunately, flew into a glass panel at the NUS on the 9th. Page 1 of 9 Crested Goshawk, juvenile, feeding on a young Monitor Lizard, at Satay by the Bay, 18 Mar 2017, by Saravanan Krishnamurthy Highlights for sedentary species: A huge nest on a tall tree at Pasir Ris holding two young chicks of the White-bellied Sea Eagle was reported on the 3rd. At the Botanic Gardens, the Crested Goshawk pair was seen mating on the 7th and reinforcing their nest with sticks, around one month after their first brood of chicks had fledged. Over at Punggol, the Black-winged Kites were seen mating on the 18th, also about a month after their chick had fledged. As for the Grey-headed Fish Eagle, there were records from Kranji Marshes (4th & 5th), Sungei Serangoon (5th) and Seletar (19th) but none from Little Guilin, where it was reported on the 7th that the nest tree had fallen. A rare Crested Serpent Eagle was recorded at Pulau Ubin on the 12th. At Sungei Buloh Wetland Reserve on the 17th, a juvenile pale morph Changeable Hawk-Eagle was seen raiding the nest of a Striated Heron and flying off with a chick in its talons. A loose flock of 17 Brahminy Kites was reported at Kranji Marshes on the 5th. Lastly, a torquatus tweeddale morph Oriental Honey Buzzard was recorded at Pasir Ris Park on the 2nd and another juvenile torquatus tweeddale moph at Jelutong Tower on the 26th. Page 2 of 9 Addendum to February 2017 Singapore Raptor Report: A rufous morph Oriental Scops Owls (OSO) was recorded at Dairy Farm Nature Park in a well concealed position on 10 Feb 2017, by Keita Sin (Note: two OSO - a grey and a rufous morph - were reported at the same locality from 10 to 22 Jan 2017). Additional records on 19 Feb 2017 at Kranji Marshes: 4 Black Bazas, 1 Brahminy Kite, 1 White-bellied Sea Eagle, 1 Grey-headed Fish Eagle, plus 4 un-identified raptors, suspected to be Oriental Honey Buzzards, all recorded by Henrietta Woo. Table 1 S/N Species No. S/N Species No. 1 Osprey 4 Residents / Sedentary Species 2 Black Baza 70 9 Black-winged Kite 9 3 Oriental Honey Buzzard 54 10 Brahminy Kite 28 4 Chinese Sparrowhawk 10 11 White-bellied Sea Eagle 16 5 Japanese Sparrowhawk 32 12 Grey-headed Fish Eagle 5 6 Grey-faced Buzzard 1 13 Crested Serpent Eagle 1 7 Peregrine Falcon 4 14 Crested Goshawk 8 8 Oriental Scops Owl 1 15 Changeable Hawk-Eagle 8 Unidentified 16 Unidentified Raptors 21 17 Unidentified Accipiters 14 Total for Migrants 176 Grand Total 286 Page 3 of 9 1. Osprey Pandion haliaetus (4) Date No. Location and Details Reported By 4 2 Kranji Marshes Con Foley 5 3 Kranji Marshes Con Foley 9 1 Sungei Buloh Wetland Reserve, had its fish stolen Ted Ng by a White-bellied Sea Eagle 10 2 Seletar Dam Marcel Finlay 10 1 Seletar Dam Martin Kennewell 14 1 Kranji Marshes Keita Sin 18 1 Sungei Buloh Wetland Reserve Ted Ng 19 2 Kranji Marshes Keita Sin 21 1 Sungei Buloh Wetland Reserve Ted Ng 29 1 Sungei Buloh Wetland Reserve Ted Ng 2. Black Baza Aviceda leuphotes (70) Date No. Location and Details Reported By 3 8 Telok Blangah Hill Park, morning Keita Sin 4 39 Kranji Marshes, 7:55am Martin Kennewell 5 7 Kranji Marshes, 10:30am Martin Kennewell 5 2 Sungei Serangoon, morning Tan Kok Hui 5 6 Telok Blangah Hill Park, morning Keita Sin 11 12 Kranji Marshes, 7:40am Martin Kennewell 12 8 Kranji Marshes, 8am Martin Kennewell 12 1 Kranji Marshes, 10:30am Martin Kennewell 18 1 Kranji Marshes, 8:02am Martin Kennewell 18 1 Pulau Punggol Danny Lau, Tan Kok Hui 19 8 Kranji Marshes, 7:48am Martin Kennewell 22 20 National University of Singapore, 19 at 12:50pm, Keita Sin 1 hunting 23 1 National University of Singapore, hunting Keita Sin 3. Oriental Honey Buzzard Pernis ptilorhyncus (54) Date No. Location and Details Reported By 1 1 Chinese Garden, orientalis pale morph, morning Siew Mun 2 1 Pasir Ris Park, torquatus tweeddale morph, Michael Smith 1:40pm 2 1 Henderson Waves, morning Jaime Tan 2 1 Singapore, Pale morph David Tay 2 2 Kent Ridge Park, 9:58am Henrietta Woo 3 1 Little Guilin, 9:45am Ulf Remahl 5 1 Clementi Woods Park, adult female orientalis, Jaime Tan afternoon 5 2 Kranji Marshes Con Foley 5 4 Telok Blangah Hill Park, singles northbound, at Keita Sin 10:09am, 10:16am, 10:35am & 11:36am 5 1 Seletar Aerospace Drive Keita Sin Page 4 of 9 7 1 Chinese Garden, orientalis pale morph Siew Mun 8 1 National University Hospital area, midday Keita Sin 9 1 Alexandra Road, immature female orientalis pale Laurence Eu morph 10 4 Kent Ridge Park, singles northbound, at 11:52am, Keita Sin 11:55am, 12:10pm & 12:14pm 11 3 Kent Ridge Park, heading northwest, 4:03pm Henrietta Woo 12 1 Gardens by the Bay, adult male orientalis pale Anthony Collerton morph 13 5 Kent Ridge Park, all northbound, 4 at 11:01am & Keita Sin 1 at 11:15am 14 1 Kranji Marshes Keita Sin 15 1 Bishan Park, adult male orientalis pale morph Lee Chuin Ming morning 17 1 Kent Ridge Park, circled a few times and flew Keita Sin southwest, noon 18 1 Botanic Gardens, adult male orientalis dark Laurence Eu morph 19 1 Kranji Marshes Martin Kennewell 19 1 Kranji Marshes, 9am Keita Sin 21 11 Kent Ridge Park, all northbound, 1 at 1:42pm, 2 at Keita Sin 3:19pm, 5 at 3:21pm, 1 at 3:23pm, 2 at 3:25pm 22 3 National University of Singapore, northbound, Keita Sin 12:45pm 23 3 National University of Singapore, singles at Keita Sin 10:43am and 10:45am, northbound; another flying around low, in the morning 23 4 National University of Singapore, singles at Keita Sin 2:44pm and 3pm, northbound; another 2 flying around low, in the afternoon 26 1 Kranji Marshes Martin Kennewell 26 1 Jelutong Tower, juvenile torquatus tweeddale Lee Chuin Ming morph morning 28 1 Woodlands St 82, juvenile, perched on rooftop Lynn Thio edge of a multi-storey car park 31 1 Jelutong Tower, flying low towards the south Keita Sin -- 1 Pasir Ris Park, adult female orientalis pale morph Aldwin Recinto 4. Chinese Sparrowhawk Accipiter soloensis (10) Date No. Location and Details Reported By 22 1 Jelutong Tower, adult female, morning Francis Yap 22 3 National University of Singapore, mixed kettle Keita Sin with 4 Japanese Sparrowhawks, 1:01pm 23 5 National University of Singapore, northbound, in a Keita Sin mixed kettle with a Japanese Sparrowhawk and other un-identified Accipiters totaling 11 birds, 10:54am 23 1 National University of Singapore, northbound Keita Sin Page 5 of 9 5. Japanese Sparrowhawk Accipiter gularis (32) Date No. Location and Details Reported By 3 1 Pasir Ris Park, female Ted Lee 5 1 Kranji Marshes Martin Kennewell 5 1 Telok Blangah Hill Park, morning Keita Sin 11 2 Kranji Marshes Martin Kennewell 12 2 Kranji Marshes Martin Kennewell 13 1 Kent Ridge Park, female, hunting Keita Sin 14 1 Dempsey Laurence Eu 14 1 Sungei Buloh Wetland Reserve Keita Sin 17 1 Kent Ridge Park, female, midday Keita Sin 20 1 Dairy Farm Nature Park Martin Kennewell 21 1 MacRitchie Reservoir Park Marcel Finlay 21 1 Kent Ridge Park, female, afternoon Keita Sin 22 11 National University of Singapore, all northbound, Keita Sin 7 at 12:45pm; another 4 at 1:01pm in a mixed kettle with 3 Chinese Sparrowhawks 23 2 National University of Singapore, 1 at 10:29am Keita Sin northbound, 1 hunting 23 1 National University of Singapore, northbound, in a Keita Sin mixed kettle with Chinese Sparrowhawks and other un-identified Accipiters totaling 11 birds, 10:54am 23 2 National University of Singapore, both flying west Keita Sin together at 5:11pm 24 2 National University of Singapore, singles at Keita Sin 1:02pm and 1:09pm, northbound 25 2 Jelutong Tower Martin Kennewell 31 1 Jelutong Tower Keita Sin 6. Grey-faced Buzzard Butastur indicus (1) Date No. Location and Details Reported By 19 1 Kranji Marshes, 11am Martin Kennewell 7.