Small Wader roost @ Jeram, Selangor - 17Nov2018

Another few moments at this tiny roost spot. Quite a number of small waders at this spot with curlew sandpipers, red-necked stints, little stints, broad-billed sandpipers, terek sandpipers, common redshanks, sanderlings, lesser sand plovers and greater sand plovers amongst others.

It's not often one gets to see small migratory waders in such numbers and this site is endangered due to increased human prescence and activity.

Nordmann's Greenshank @ Mersing, Johor 4Nov2018

Strangely the previous week saw about 60 common greenshanks at the shore but there were zero seen on 4 Nov. There was just one lone greenshank with the grey plovers and barwits. I had initially glossed over the greenshank thinking it would just be one of the many common greenshanks. It was only later when David started exclaiming excitedly that there was an unusual Terek Sandpiper (he was using his bins from a long way off) in the bunch of birds and that it could be a Nordmann's Greenshank that I turned my attention to it again. Scoping it out, we had to wait until it turned to show us its bill and started walking along the shore in order to confirm what it was. It did look similar to a Terek in that it was hunched although its bill was noticeably bicoloured and its legs were slightly off yellow. It did not raise its neck to stand tall much like how the Common Greenshanks would.   

Nordmann's Greenshanks (Tringa guttifer) are rare and there might only be between about 600 to 1300 mature birds left (according to the IUCN website). This is apparently due to breeding habitat degradation in Russia and also the loss of important coastal feeding areas along the East Asian coastline due to development. 

This was certainly a welcomed sighting and on my first Wader Conservation Watch #WCWW5. Check out waderquest.net/wader-conservation-world-watch/ for more information.

This group of shorebirds is rather sensitive to people on the shore or even other birds such as white-bellied sea eagles and house crows. You have to maintain a good distance from them so that they do not get spooked and fly off. Once spooked, it is unlikely that they will come back to the same spot as the shore is a very long one and there would be other spots to choose from. There are also nearby islands and rocky outcrops which they could roost. Birders should be careful about this to avoid spooking the birds.

nordmann's greenshank with friends @ mersing, johor 4Nov2018 from SgBeachBum on Vimeo.

More info :
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nordmann%27s_greenshank
https://www.iucnredlist.org/species/22693225/93391729
http://datazone.birdlife.org/species/factsheet/spotted-greenshank-tringa-guttifer
https://www.arkive.org/nordmanns-greenshank/tringa-guttifer/image-G14593.html
https://singaporebirds.com/species/nordmanns-greenshank/
http://www.besgroup.org/2008/11/22/nordmanns-greenshank-at-sungei-buloh-wetland-reserve/
http://www.thaibirding.com/news/toptenresults7.htm

Whimbrel flypast @ Kingfisher pod-SBWR-22Sep2018

It was already 6.40pm and close to closing time for Singapore's Sungei Buloh Wetland Reserve. I had noticed the flock of whimbrels as they landed at the sandbar near Eagle Point. With the tide rising, it was only a matter of time before the sandbar would be covered with water and the birds would have to fly towards and into the reserve's controlled ponds for a safe roost on dry land. 

Luckily, the birds flew off at 6.50pm just when it was getting dark. They took just about a minute to traverse the about 1 kilometer of their flight path from the sandbar to just past Kingfisher Pod as they went behind the trees. This means they were flying at about 60km/hr just above sea level with a zero wind factor. That's fast! It's not obvious until about the end of the clip that the birds were flying in a V formation.

The whimbrels and some of the other shorebirds such as the common greenshanks and pacific golden plovers prefer to fly out to feed at the rich mudflats near the Singapore-Malaysia causeway at the mouth of the Sungei Pang Sua, Mandai Besar and Mandai Kecil estuaries. This is one of Singapore's last remaining northern mangrove mudflats. Although all three are short rivers and the mudflat is not wide, the area provides for sufficient food for a variety of these long-distance migratory shorebirds. 

Some of the shorebirds do also alternate visiting sites such as Sungei Danga and Sungei Sekudai across the Johor Straits roughly opposite of Sungei Buloh. Johorean birders have documented redshanks with Singapore green over white flags at Sungei Danga roosts.

Let's hope that the entire ecosystem triangle (taking into account future upriver and shoreline developments) is sufficiently protected for future generations of shorebirds.*

[UPDATE 7 Oct 2018 : It's been announced that the Mandai mangrove and mudflats will have the protection as a park managed by the National Parks Board. This is indeed fabulous news. Click these links for more info : 

https://www.nparks.gov.sg/news/2018/10/mandai-mangrove-and-mudflat-will-be-conserved-as-a-nature-park

https://www.straitstimes.com/singapore/environment/mandai-mangrove-and-mudflat-to-open-as-nature-park-in-2022

https://www.todayonline.com/singapore/mandai-mangrove-and-mudflats-be-singapores-newest-nature-park

marsh sandpipers & a curlew sandpiper @ SBWR-30Sep2018

Came across this bunch of sandpipers at the island across from the main hide at SBWR earlier in the afternoon as the tide was rising. The rising waters had caused the bunch to move up the slope on the island and they were moving out of their comfort zone.

All but one of the group was of the same species. Can you tell how many marsh sandpipers there are and can you also spot the lone curlew sandpiper?

This number of marsh sandpipers seems to be a recent record as they have not been recently seen at SBWR in such numbers.

The curlew sandpiper can also be considered a rare visitor now as it is difficult to spot especially at a distance.

These birds used to be more common and in much greater numbers about a decade or more earlier. 

Seeing the lone curlew sandpiper at SBWR in 2018 is indeed a rare opportunity.

marsh sandpipers & a curlew sandpiper @ SBWR-30Sep2018 from SgBeachBum on Vimeo.

feral dogs, river dogs, a croc (five actually), 35 redshanks & 2 common sandpipers @ SBWR - 12Aug2018

feral dogs, river dogs, a croc (five actually), 35 redshanks & 2 common sandpipers @ SBWR - 12Aug2018 from SgBeachBum on Vimeo.

These feral dogs were furiously barking at some unseen target whilst another within their group was swimming towards them after apparently investigating two otters which made a fast sprint past it underwater towards the main bridge. The dogs were sufficiently distracted long enough for the otters to make it away safely without being chased. (Dogs have been seen to chase after and attack otters. Although the otters are in their element in water, they can be cornered on land.)

The unseen element eventually showed itself as it peeked out from the shallows. Although it did not seem like it was of significant length, it was enough to prevent the dogs from going after it. The one that had swum after the otters was lucky to run the gauntlet of crocs in the shallows. Stumpy croc would have been somewhere nearby too.

The two otters had been seen exiting the river earlier in the morning and they must have explored a good part of the North-Western coastline the whole day as they only returned as the sun was setting. They swam to a spot about 20m just before the main bridge to survey the surrounding mudflats no doubt to see if the dogs had followed them. Seeing that it was safe to carry on, the otters swam past the main bridge much to the delight of visitors who had already been treated to observing Tailless and another smaller (but still formidable) croc waiting patiently in the lagoon near the sluice gate by the bridge.

The otters must have been tired as they did not stop to say hello to the two crocs. Instead, they swam straight past the bridge under water and towards the central sandbar in the river before running up the sandbar and crossing it before returning to the safety of the water and disappearing out of sight around the bend away from another set of gnarly teeth in the shallows to the left of the sandbar and watched by the line of common redshanks which had only recently arrived from their Northern summer grounds. (Can you spot the two common sandpipers flying off?).

The dog-croc-otter relationship triangle is a complicated one but Sungei Buloh can certainly do without invasive feral dogs. Let's hope the two otters decide, despite the dogs, that it is safe enough to start a family. Sungei Buloh has not seen any resident otter families for a few years now and this is likely due not because of the crocs but because of the dogs which can track down the otters to their holts which are necessarily above ground.

Sand Plover @ SBWR 9 Aug2018

Lesser or Greater?

Sand Plover @ SBWR Hide 1D - 9Aug2018 from SgBeachBum on Vimeo.

Had a bit of a problem identifying this sand plover. The weight of opinion seems to be that this is a Lesser Sand Plover. It's got a rounded crown, legs which are not quite grey but slightly yellow-green. The feet were black but this could be due to being soaked in dark mud. The bill is also not as long as it should be if it was a "Greater SP'. Without a better picture, it'll have to be an LSP.

chain reaction fish wave @ Eagle Point, SBWR - 3 Dec2017

The tide was out and the water level around the Eagle Point observation deck was very low. The little egrets and striated herons were stationed at both ends of the circular stand of sticks and they were making quick work picking out the tiny fish which had been corralled within the vertical sticks. The mounds of tiny clams which had fallen off the sticks and accumulated at the base of the sticks were effectively a wall keeping the fish within the circular patch. There were only a few gaps through which the fish could escape.

chain reaction fish wave @ Eagle Point, SBWR - 3Dec2017 from SgBeachBum on Vimeo.

Everyone at the Eagle Point observation deck were surprised by the fish wave which started from the right and moved towards the left and then repeated itself in a counter-clockwise manner as the fish kept jumping no doubt in panic. This lasted for a few minutes before the fish settled down. Is there a moral to this fish tale? Perhaps not all types of schooling is good :p.