MIKE'S MEGA BIRDING TRIP PART TWO!!
Day 7 (October 6 2014) - After a day's sabbatical in KK, I flew back to Singapore for the second stage of the mega birding trip. There I was to meet up with Kim Seng Lim, a well known bird guide for the Singapore/Malaysian Peninsula region. Our plan was to spend a day birding around Singapore and then head to the Panti Forest, located about an hour's drive north of Singapore, on the southern Malaysian peninsula. Malaysian Borneo had more than met all of my expectations and I was hoping that the next four days would be just as rewarding.
Day 8 (October 7 2014) - Kim Seng met me at the hotel early the next morning. I was able to give him a run down of what I had already seen in Malaysian Borneo, and he then gave me a run down of the next four days - with the promise of lots of lifers! "Bring it on!", thought Pots as we headed to the MacRitchie Reservoir. As we started our walk we were greeted by a Brown Hawk Owl calling, which was very cool, and we eventually found one close to the track. Short-tailed Babblers appeared in the undergrowth as the sun came up, and two Common Flamebacks landed on a dead tree next to the reservoir providing a reasonable photo opportunity. We were up and running.
Standing at the edge of the reservoir we heard and then saw Grey-headed Fish Eagle (very nice!), and also discussed the almost impossible task of distinguishing the Edible-nest Swiftlet from the Black-nest Swiftlet without finding their nesting sites and checking the colour of the nests! There were dozens of them flying about ten to twenty metres above the surface of the water. We then climbed the nearby viewing tower and had a great time spotting Dark-sided Flycatcher, Thick-billed Green Pigeon, Oriental Honey-Buzzard, Daurian Starling, and Blue-winged Leafbird (simply beautiful!). On the walk back to the car we also had great views of Eastern Crowned Warbler and Chestnut-bellied Malkoha. A very promising start to the day!
Kim Seng then took me to a former Muslim cemetery that had been cleared ready for future development! I was rather sceptical about the birding and a little concerned that I might end up being swallowed by some unseen grave! Well, the birding was awesome and I did have to watch where I was walking! It was here that I was introduced to the semi-professional bird photographer. We came across a number of Singaporeans (all male), walking around the old cemetery with enormous camera lenses chasing down bird specialties. They were not bird-watchers as such, Kim Seng explained, but they were passionate about photographing birds and then selling them to birding magazines. What it did mean was that wherever they were, it was likely that a cool bird was as well. And cool birds there were indeed! We were fortunate enough to pick up Brown Shrike (what a striking bird!), Brown-chested Jungle Flycatcher (now listed as globally threatened, so seeing one was very cool), Arctic Warbler, Asian Paradise Flycatcher, Yellow-rumped Flycatcher, Tiger Shrike and White-throated Kingfisher. The list was growing! Oh, and we also saw a push-up pumping lizard!
Brown Shrike Common Flameback
Brown-chested Jungle Flycatcher (globally threatened)
Lizard doing push-ups!
Our next stop was the Larong Halus Wetland, where Kim Seng announced that we were looking for Savanna Nightjar. It was now mid-morning, hot and humid and I was dubious - a nightjar in these conditions? I was even more dubious when we arrived and started walking through scrubby grasses in rocky, dry "ponds". But, to my surprise, these lovely small nightjars began to appear, sweeping up from their rest under a grassy clump as we disturbed them, and landing a few metres further away. Very cool indeed. We headed back to the car and drove to the Pasir Ris Park where Kim Seng was hopeful of another night bird. By this time my scepticism had gone and we headed into the park scanning the trees intently. I was not prepared for what we found though .... a magnificent pair of Spotted Wood Owl sitting high up in a tree in the middle of the park. They were awesome! BIG tick!
Spotted Wood Owl
"Time for lunch", announced Kim Seng, so we drove a few kilometres to Changi Village and settled down for noodles and beef. As we did so, we were joined by two Taminbar Corellas working hard at developing a nest in a nearby tree, a pair of Orinetal Pied Hornbills, Javan Mynas and flocks of Red-breasted Parakeets. To say that we had a very pleasant lunch would be an understatement!
Taminbar Corella Javan Myna
Red-breasted Parakeet
After lunch we jumped on to the boat to Pulau Ubin, enjoying the chance to experience the cool sea breeze as we crossed the channel between the two islands as well as seeing a number of White-bellied Sea Eagles and Crested Terns. Pulau Ubin is now managed by a very small community of elderly islanders. Most of the young people have moved to the main island of Singapore and many of the houses on the island are now deserted. However, those we met were very pleasant and we enjoyed a few quiet hours wandering around the island. I picked up Laced Woodpecker and White-rumped Shama, and we also spotted an Oriental Whip Snake which was very cool! It was then a leisurely drive back to my hotel where I prepared for the three day jaunt into Panti Forest on the Malaysian Peninsula. Trip Total - 199; Lifers - 147
Oriental Whip Snake
Day 9 (8 October 2014) - Up early (again), and we headed north to the Malaysian border. Discovered that the Singaporean authorities randomly check cars to ensure they have at least 3/4 full petrol tanks to stop folk from crossing the border and filling up in Malaysia where petrol prices are significantly lower. Strange, but true! We drove for about an hour and then had breakfast (noodles and chicken) at a road side restaurant, not far from the forest. We then drove on to Panti - it's funny how you have an impression in your mind of what a place is going to be like. I must admit I expected Panti Forest to be similar to Sepilok and the RDC. They are nothing alike! Panti was quite dry and, at times rather scrubby, and large trucks rumbled past on the main track quite frequently. And the birding was quite difficult at times, and required more patience, and that's what makes birding so brilliant!
However, this did not mean that we did not see many birds - there was still plenty of action and my life list grew rapidly! Highlights on the first morning were Little Green Pigeon, Large Wood Shrike, Banded Kingfisher and Greater Green Leafbird, and we also picked up the white morph of the Asian Paradise Flycatcher. I was also able to get decent photos of Greater Racquet-tailed Drongo, Raffles Malkoha and Greater Green Leafbird.
Greater Green Leafbird Greater Racquet-tailed Drongo
Raffles Malkoha
Lunch and a siesta were had in Kota Tinggi, the major town of the region located a few kilometres south of the forest, and then it was back to Panti. The birding was relatively quiet, but we did see White-footed Gibbon and Southern Pig-tailed Macaque - adding two new mammal species to my world list. I did pick up Yellow-breasted and Crimson-breasted Flowerpeckers, Chestnut-breasted Malkoha, Malayan Brown Barbet, Everett's White-eye. Pin-striped Tit-babbler, Asian Fairy Bluebird, Rufous-crowned Babbler and Whiskered Treeswift, so that wasn't too bad! As evening approached, we headed back to Kota Tinggi, had a lovely meal (noodles and beef) and then headed back to the hotel for a well-earned rest! Trip Total - 213; Lifers - 161
White-footed Gibbon
Southern Pig-tailed Macaque
Day 10 (9 October 2014) - We were back in the forest early the next morning, hoping to spot some "night birds", and within a few minutes we jagged Malayan Eared Nightjar (insert happy smile here!). And then we found a small fruiting tree and the birds went OFF! Lifers included Red-crowned Barbet (splendid!), Ashy Bulbul and Maroon Woodpecker (chased this one through the forest until I got a decent look!). Dusky Leaf Monkeys also came down for a feed - these are very cute little critters!
Dusky Leaf Monkeys
We then headed down the main track and heard a Black-capped Babbler calling. We had searched for this fellow the day before without luck, although we had a couple of them calling quite close. A tough little bird to find! So we sat quietly staring into the undergrowth for ages until it finally and reluctantly appeared. Yes! Heading further on, we then came across my favourite little bird of the trip, although its name left me rather cold. A pair of Fluffy-backed Tit-Babblers were very unhappy with our close proximity and came out to tell us off! But they gave me an opportunity to get a very pleasing photo, so I wasn't upset!
Red-crowned Barbet
Crimson-breasted Malkoha
Fluffy-backed Tit-Babbler
A quick drive back to Kota Tinggi for lunch and another siesta, but by mid-afternoon we were back in the forest. The weather was a tad overcast and this meant that photography was limited but the birds did the right thing and kept turning up. A Changeable Hawk Eagle landed nearby, and then Dark-necked Tailorbirds appeared, along with Red Junglefowl (a fine male flew across the track and then a female came out of the forest and began strutting nonchalantly ahead of us!), Asian Palm Swift (circling overhead), Purple-naped Sunbird, Black-throated Babbler, and then Banded Woodpecker. A great afternoon!
That night was my last on my SE Asian leg of my mega birding trip, and so Kim Seng and I splashed out and went to the local Chinese Restaurant. The food was brilliant and it was great chilling out and chatting about birding and lots of non-birding stuff as well. Kim Seng is a terrific bloke - I had been very fortunate to spend ten days with two such pleasant gentlemen. Happy Pots! Trip Total - 225; Lifers - 173
Kim Seng Lim
Day 11 (10 October 2014) - my final day of SE Asia birding dawned and we were up early to make the most of the morning. We started with two Woodpeckers (Buff-rumped and Checker-throated), and then the rest of the morning belonged to the Bulbuls! Within a couple of hours we had chalked up Grey-bellied (now my favourite Bulbul), Buff-vented, Hairy-backed, Finsch's, Streaked and Yellow-bellied and I was stoked! And then Kim Seng had a bright idea - let's go looking for one more bird along a leech-infested part of the forest. Why did I not decline? Because I am a fanatic, and the allure of ticking off another species of bird was too much. Beware the sirens of Panti. Suffice to say, the total was one dragon-fly, no birds and two leeches. Rats.
A cool-looking dragon-fly!
And then it was back in the car and, for this part of the world, a lengthy drive back to Singapore and Changi Airport. On the way, Kim Seng suggested we "pop" into the Botanic Gardens to see if we could find the Lesser Whistling Duck .... one last lifer maybe? We jumped out of the car and made our way down to one of the man-made lakes. As we arrived, three LW Ducks cruised passed us and then stopped for a better look at us while we had a better look at them. I also had cracking views of a White-throated Kingfisher.
White-throated Kingfisher
Lesser Whistling Duck
And suddenly, that was it! Kim Seng dropped me at the airport, we said farewell and I was soon inside, making my way through immigration. I felt a tad flat, but also incredibly blessed that I had experienced such an amazing number of adventures and done so with such experienced and amiable gentlemen. And the final total? Trip Total - 236; Lifers - 182. VERY happy POTS. And so, my attention began to slowly turn to Southern Africa, the third leg of the mega tour, and the number of target species that I had been dreaming of ...... and the thought of seeing my wife again after two weeks ...... but that has nothing to do with birding, so I shall say no more. On to Johannesburg!
