Kingfishers I saw

There are three resident kingfishers at Singapore Botanic Garden (SBG) according to a sign. I saw two of them,  storkbilled kingfishers and collared kingfishers before. The third one  - white throated kingfishers had been elusive to me until last Sunday.

white throated kingfisher

On the late afternoon of the Sunday, we left home for a walk at  SBG before dinner. It was bright daylight so I carried my camera,  and the big Tamron lens with me in a backpack just in case. I did the same prior several weeks, and I did not even put the big lens on my camara because there were nothing to take pictures at.  

We entered SBG from Tanglin gate, walking around Swan lake, and then Keppel wetland. Nothing prompted to put the big lens on again. We walked back to the swan lake and crossed it through the causeway. Just then, Lily spotted a flying bird with blue wings landing on a tree branch by the pond. It was a white throated kingfisher! I put the Tamron lens on, and shoot away. The bird just perched there, not doing anything except looking around.

Hoping to see it diving for fishes, we stayed round.

Our patience paid off, it dived for fishes a couple times, but I could not capture the actions on my camera. Thinking about the inability, we decided that it was because  I zoomed in too much so I could not follow its flight. I finally caught it in action when it took off to dive the third time, but the quality of the photos were not ideal. I need to learn how to take pictures with the big lens.

When we were about to leave, I tunned off the camera, the kingfisher took off from its perch, flew to my direction, touched water, no catch,  and turned away.

Here are the two other resident kingfishers at SBG, collared kingfishers, and stork-billed kingfishers. I also spotted common kingfishers at SBG, and caught it diving for fishes on camera!

collared kingfisher

stork-billed kingfishers

common kingfisher

There are 10 species of kingfishers recorded at Singapore,  I saw 4 of them. Some of the kingfishers are really elusive, it takes serendipity to spot them.

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Notes

1. The first time I saw white throated kingfisher was in 2021 at Lower Peirce Reservoir Park

2. I mistaken a sunda pygmy woodpecker at Pulau Ubin as a Pied Kingfisher...and thought it was the 5th kingfisher I saw

Sunda Pygmy woodpecker

 

Singing in the Rain : A Day of Wildlife Delights at Jurong Lake Gardens

No, this post is not about the movie  Singin' in the Rain. It is about Magpie Robin singing in the rain.

Last Sunday (June 9th, 2024) we visited Jurong Lake Gardens in the morning. It started to rain heavily about 40 minutes after we began our walk, so we took shelter by the play ground Forest Ramble.

As the rain poured down, I heard the beautiful chirps of a Magpie Robin mingling with the sound of raindrops. I looked towards the bushes in the direction of the bird song but saw nothing but the bush's leaves lightly swaying under the impact of the raindrops.

Turning towards the playground, I finally spotted the Magpie Robin singing in the rain. It chirped for a few seconds, then paused, and chirped again. It turned in my direction, tilted its head slightly as if noticing that I was taking pictures, and then resumed its calls.

The bird song was beautiful, and the sight of the robin standing on a rope near a post was endearing. The photos capturing the scene with clearly streaking raindrops looked great as well.

Earlier in the morning, on the waterway walking bridge, I spotted a beautiful male Sunbird foraging in the crepe gingers. I stopped to watch it, and lucky for me, it moved in my direction, getting closer after each sip of nectars.

It was a male Brown Throated Sunbird. It had dull brown throat, metallic purple head and shoulder patch, pale yellow underbody, brown feathers, black tail and black bill. These colors together formed the brown throated sunbird's beautiful plumage.

The bird flew to a crepe ginger right next to me, drinking nectar, and looking around alternately. The green leaves with white crepe ginner flower, the reddish stems, provided a perfect background for it to pose for photos.

Another fascinating wildlife sighting that day involved interesting interactions between otters when one of them caught a big fish, and refused to share with the rest of the group.

One otter caught a big fish and swam away from its group to the shore to eat the fish. When other otters approached it to try to have a piece of the fish, the otter dived under water and swam away.

When the other otter caught up with the reemerged otter, it would turn to protect its food from being snapped sway, biting and then diving, reemerging to try to eat the fish again.

It was hilarious 

no sharing!

These are common wildlife in Singapore, but today they put on fascinating shows that I had not seen before. It was a day full of unexpected delights and beautiful encounters.

An Interesting Encounter with a Crimson Sunbird

This afternoon, on June 4th, 2024, I had an intriguing encounter with a Crimson Sunbird while I was photographing it. Typically, these birds are skittish and fly away at the slightest sense of disturbance. However, this time was different.

As I walked along the boardwalk at Keppel Wetland, I noticed a vibrant crimson bird foraging among the flower plants. It hopped around briefly before beginning to drink nectar from the flowers. Seizing the opportunity, I started taking pictures.

The sound of my camera shutter alerted the bird. Instead of flying away, it stopped drinking and turned around to investigate. It looked left and right, up and down, and even straight into the camera lens. Despite the noise, the bird did not see any movement, as I remained still and held my camera steady. I managed to capture a few more shots before pausing.

When the shutter noise ceased, the sunbird resumed its nectar-drinking before eventually flying away. I stood there for a few more minutes, hoping it would return. To my delight, it did. What happened next can be seen in the movie I made from my photos.

It was a fascinating and unexpected encounter, one that I was thrilled to document and share.

A Nightjar, from Nestling to Fledging

Definitions
Nestling - a bird that is too young to leave its nest
Fledging - a young bird having wing feathers that are large enough for flight, just able to fly

Four weeks ago, we encountered a group of photographers gathered around a leaf-covered ground between trees at the botanic garden. Curious, we looked in the direction of their cameras but saw nothing.

We were informed that a mother nightjar was nursing her chick there! Despite our previous sightings of nightjars, we couldn't spot it. The bird was perfectly camouflaged against the ground. With the help of a photographer's camera, we finally saw a nightjar sitting amidst the leaves. Once our eyes adjusted, we could see it with our own eyes as well.

A few days later, we passed by the same spot and found some photographers still there. This time, we saw the baby chick. It had grown slightly but still sported predominantly grey and light-colored feathers. The chick was emerging from under its mother's wings, walking on the leaves. The mother then moved to a different spot, about ten feet away. Within seconds, the chick, with raised wings, clumsily ran to its mother.

This led us to wonder how long it would take for nightjar chicks to fledge.

Upon checking the literature, we learned that nightjars nest on the ground and often roost or rest on roads. A female nightjar does not build a nest but lays her eggs directly on the ground. Nightjar chicks typically fledge in 3-4 weeks.

Last week, we spotted the nightjars in a different location near the original site. The baby bird was still small but had developed feathers matching its mother's coloration. Two days later, they were nowhere to be found—the baby nightjar had fledged, and they had moved on with their lives.

Nightjar - mom and its chick (side view)- click the photo to enlarge to see

Nightjar - mom and its chick (front view)- click the photo to enlarge to see

Most birds build nests in trees, lay eggs, and incubate them. The baby birds stay in the nest until they are ready to fledge. We've observed various birds' nesting habits, such as olive-backed sunbirds' nests with baby birds inside,  eagles nests with juvenile eagles and their parents, and fantails feeding their chicks in their nests. Some birds, like oriental pied hornbills, use tree cavities as their nests.

Our most complete observation of a bird's reproductive cycle, from laying eggs to young birds fledging, occurred four years ago at our house in Texas. We witnessed house finches through their entire cycle—incubation, hatching, nestling, and eventually, the empty nest—through daily observations at our front door.

It is endearing to observe baby birds growing, being fed, and eventually flying away.