Nus library handbook of the birds of the world
The previous late date was on 3rd May 2016 from Compass Vale Sec. Richard White had been monitoring the Hooded Pitta Pitta sordida at the SBG. This is about week later than the previous late date. The deeper blue color almost had it misidentified.Īnother over stayer was this Chestnut-winged Cuckoo Clamator Coromandus that crashed into the W Residences at Sentosa Cove on 2nd ( Photo right provided by Sarah Chin). Photographed at Chinese Gardens by Looi Ang Soh Hoon. This Common Kingfisher was in no hurry to fly back. This is 40 days later than the previous late date of 3rd April. Siew Mun heard it calling a week earlier. Topping the list was a Common Kingfisher Alcedo atthis photographed on 13th by Piyong and Looi Ang Soh Hoon. There were a host of over-stayers this month. Left: Lau Jiasheng’s photo of Bulwer’s Petrel taken at the Straits of Singapore. On the 6th, a third Bulwer’s Petrel Bulweria bulwerii was reported at the Straits of Singapore, a multi-national stretch of water, south of the Eastern Anchorage (pers com with Lau Jiasheng). Unfortunately the gloomy weather hampered the identification. Tony Greer was on his way to Batam when he saw a shearwater flying alongside his ferry near Sister’s Island. Their stronghold is at Pulau Tekong although we have been getting periodic records from Chek Jawa at Pulau Ubin. If accepted this rare resident will be our fifth mainland record. Sharindar Singh and his friend Ramesh Nadarajan reported a Mangrove Blue Flycatcher Cyornis rufigastra at Lorong Halus on 13th. This is the rarest of our three leafbird species.Ī rare photograph of a Lesser Green Leafbird taken from Jelutong Tower by Francis Yap For an encore Francis photographed one of the few surviving Lesser Green Leafbirds Chloropsis cyanopogon, a male from Jelutong Tower on 17th.
Francis Yap timed his visit to Seletar Grasslands to perfection when he found the Horsfield’s Bronze Cuckoo Chrysococcyx basalis, a summer migrant from Australia, perched among the scrubs on 27th. This is one day earlier than the last recorded departure date. This rare winter visitor must have been forced down by a thunderstorm earlier. Martin Kennewell was birding at the Hindhede Quarry on the 15th evening when he scoped a resting Pheasant-tailed Jacana Hydrophasianus chirurgus. May turned out to be pretty interesting month. This entry was posted in Breeding ecology and tagged Yellow-bellied Prinia. A Naturalist Guide to the Birds of Singapore. Yong Ding Li, Lim Kim Chuah and Lee Tiah Khee. My thanks to Aldwin for sharing the find with me. So glad to be able to get these sets of photos of these hard to see prinias producing a new generation of these delightful grassland birds in nature parks. This parental feeding last only one day as the family was not around when I went back again on the 19th. I managed to shoot the parent bringing back an insect for the chicks but could not get shots of the actual feeding as the chicks stayed hidden. The parents were feeding it outside the nest among the lalangs.
I went back the next day and the nest was empty. I did not know then that the chick was ready to leave the nest. This was the only photo of the parent bird feeding the young taken on 17 June. It was quite near from the foot path but still well hidden inside with just a small “window” to look in.
It was hanging from a small dried twig less than a foot off the ground among the tall lalangs and reed beds. The round nest was made up of dried lalang leaves and root fibers bound loosely together. Aldwin and I can consider ourselves lucky to be able to capture the final days of nesting of this confiding species. Breeding had been recorded but not fully documented. It is the only Prinia species here often heard in open grasslands. The Yellow-bellied Prinia is native to the Asian sub-continent and the Greater Sundas and a common resident in SEA including Singapore. That was until the 17 June when I saw Aldwin Recinto shooting a low nest at the Lorong Halus grasslands. I came across many nestings of the Yellow-bellied Prinia Prinia flaviventris at my backyard at Pasir Ris Park in the past but was not able to find the nest as they are always well hidden inside the grass thickets.