Jamie's

This small sliver of land used to be a landfill, from construction materials to military items, basically all forms that can’t or not economically viable to recycled goes there. During my military days, I had on some occasion, headed down here to be a neutral witness of the dumping of condemned military items. Not munitions or decommissioned weapons but more mundane things like old boots, military fatigues and such.

Now, its an oasis left to its own to settle. Plenty of local fauna and flora flourishes here with water species close to the canal to others in the forested areas. The area is only accessible by vehicle which you’ll have to park along to road and then do a trek in from there. Unsealed walking paths makes it easy to walk on the fringes of this area. Do wear long sleeves and pants as well as a hat, it gets hot and there’s mosquitoes to content with.

The canal that runs through this place cuts this area into half. I only managed to walk one part of this place and here are a couple of birds I’ve unable to identify so I’ll have to make a trip back to do more observations.

View the Flickr set or subscribe to the Flickr feed for this set which I’ll update periodically.

Back to Bukit Brown and we did quite a walk on the paved roads and tracks. Didn’t see as much today owing to the rain but spotted a lifer nonetheless.

View the Flickr set or subscribe to the Flickr feed for this set which I’ll update periodically.

These are a couple of common birds spotted around my neighborhood. Luckily for me, I stay close to two small parks and thankfully there are lots of flora there either by National Parks folks or by the residents.

View the Flickr set or subscribe to the Flickr feed for this set which I’ll update periodically.

So we wanted to head to Sungei Buloh Wetland Reserve, we ended up going to the Panti Bird Sanctuary (Suaka Burung Panti) up in Kota Tinggi instead, there’s nothing nicer then a sponteanous change of plans. The hour and a half foggy drive up from Singapore to Kota Tinggi was uneventful and we had a stop over in the town for breakfast and some supplies. Whilst having breakfast, as the swallows whiz around overhead, I saw this bird on the wire and thought to myself why isn’t it joining its friends in flight.

All done with the stopover, we made our way up to the sanctuary passing by a road side stall selling Bak Tuk Teh which was just packed with people. Should’ve stopped here for breakfast instead, the Bak Tuk Teh in Malaysia wins Singapore’s version hands down, IMHO of course. Spotting the old World War II bunkers which flank the entrance to the sanctuary, we made the turn in. The gate was opened and there was no one in the guard house. Which is a good thing as I found out we actually needed a permit to enter it, I just hoped we didn’t bumped into any rangers. I don’t mind getting a permit though I wonder why would they require one.

Immediately stepping of the car, we spotted two other birders who were busy photographing something up in the trees. A quick visual query and we were treated to the sight of a Chestnut-crested Malkoha, welcome to Panti! Further along we spotted a red coloured woodpecker and I can’t identify it, reminder of the long road ahead of acquiring the necessary skills to identify birds. Walking further we came across a kingfisher perched on a vine which invariably flew away as we go closer.

As we wandered further into Panti, the calls of birds and insects filled the air, it seems as if this tiny little sliver of reserved increased the bio density. Needless to say, I was excited and practically all the birds I saw were lifers to me since I’m really new to birding. We stopped at a clearning with a small stream, along with other folks birding or simply enjoying nature, where there was a short fruiting tree which attracted a couple of beautiful leaf birds. We decided it was time for a coffee break and I whipped out my burner to brew us some to sip and slowly take in the sights and sounds of the forest. As the sun rose higher into the late morning sky, the activity began to drop and soon it was time for lunch. We drove back to town for a meal which was cheap and good.

Heading back to the sanctuary in the afternoon heat and a full stomach made things a little tiring. Around noon time there wasn’t much action and we moved around trying to spot what best we could. A little leech decided to have a quick meal out of my hand before I flicked it off. We spotted another woodpecker but couldn’t really make out what it was. Heading back to the clearning, we chilled a little and waited for the action to return. Along the little stream that I mentioned earlier was a family roasting what appeared to be a wild board over an open pit!

The clearing had a nice area had nice tall trees and wide spaces that were cleared of undergrowth and we saunter within it, enjoying the respite from the late afternoon sun. Soon it was once again time for them birds to come out to play. A fruiting provided a feed fest for a group of Ioras and Leafbirds as we stood by and watch it. A flock of Black Hornbills flew overhead, too fast for us to snap pictures but providing us a glimpse of their majestic flight. We had them on and off but was certainly way too deep from the trail for us to see them. We left the area and headed to the entrance to do some cool down and washing up. From the carpark, I was able to spot a Whiskered Treeswift and a Oriental Cuckoo and that was the last for the day before we departed back to Singapore. Will certainly be back for more.

Couple of pictures I took. View the complete set on Flickr.

William buzzed me today and asked if I wanted to head down to Nature’s Niche to have a look at some bins. Didn’t hesitate cause I’ve been eyeing on the Opticron Oregon LE 10×42 for awhile since I only have one bin and G is always ‘left out’, it was a pleasant surprise for her. Touted as a beginner nitrogen-filled and water proof binocular, I didn’t take the usual advice on getting a 8×42 for less shake and having a Nikon 7×50, I just wanted more magnification.

I also got Rojak and William interested, we ended up getting three bins and some discount thanks to the lovely lady boss. Rojak got an 8×42 for his wife, William also took the 8×42 and I ended up with the last 10×42.

We whizzed over to Upper Peirce Reservoir to do some quick birding. G was happy with her new bins and we had a relatively quiet and peaceful time roaming. It was a little quiet on the birding front, did not get to see as much as we did the last time we were there. We did spot a Oriental Pied Hornill pearched on a street lamp at the entrance. Further in, we spotted a flock of Pink-necked green pigeons, the usual Asian Palm Swifts, a Lesser Racket-tailed Drongo and in a distance, a Grey Heron lands majestically into the trees. Peter, Kim and Will had slightly better luck at a fruit tree, spotted a Tailor bird, Nightjar (possibly) and a Woodpecker. On the way back to the car, we heard a call and peeked through the trees to spot the culprit, it was a Crow-Billed Drongo.

Off we went to Carrefour to have dinner and for Peter to get a dry box but luck was not on his side, it was out of stock for the moment. We did come across portable 3-leg stools going at SGD $6 each. Having spend a day at the Panti Bird Sanctuary, we relised some form of small creature comfort for breaks would be great.

Took a weekend trip up to

Bukit Fraser, Pahang, Malaysia for some bird watching. I’m new to birding and was lucky to have a season hand guide me along the way. Located about 500km, by road, from Singapore. Took us about close to 7 hours of driving with stops along the way for food and drinks.

Heading up from The Gap proved unsettling for one and we had to make frequent stops for her. I think its motion sickness from all the short and tight turns up. As we went up the air slowly but surely got cooler till at the top it was a nice cool 23C. We quickly settled in at the Jelai Highland Resort, which I’ve heard was a birders favourite. Its not 5-star and I was ok with it but if you do go, do set you expectations to basic.

Best way to explore Bukit Fraser is to walk, there’s a good variety of trails from easy to advance. Be warn though, it can get damp and wet from being a lower montane range. As with a wet areas, leeches abound! So do dress well, a long pants, hiking boots and long wooly socks will do that trick.

Here’s some of birds that I managed to catch with an Olympus, a model that boast a 26x optical zoom, which I’m not very pleased with but that’s another story. Peter, the seasoned birder, kindly pointed out to me exactly what I was looking at. I must admit that I wasn’t really keen on bird watching until I tried to identify birds. Usually I’ll just tag along and look for insects. This time though I seem to have ‘caught the bug’.

Here’s some of the birds I managed to snap.

Most of the other birds I did not managed to capture of the images came out poor. So I’m on the hunt to get another Point-N-Shoot camera, no SLRs for the moment, I don’t have the kinda funds for the lens.

Though its my third time up to Bukit Fraser, its my first real birding experience and I can feel the joy. I’ll definitely be back for more and will definitely bring my new copy of Birds of South-East Asia from Craig Robson.