Viator (Mike Hooper)'s 2009 List

[viator]

This is my second year recording my year list on bird forum and whilst I don't expect it to come anywhere near last year's 611 we'll see how we go. Edit Aug: this expectation has now been reset higher!

As of Nov 11 the total for 2009 stands at 665.

For comparison purposes:
Country 2008 2009
Singapore 234 203
USA 207
Australia 170 123
Malaysia 122 392
Indonesia 26
Hong Kong 1
Thailand 0 221

[viator]

Jan 1

The year starts with the continuation of a family holiday in the Port Macquarie area, NSW, Australia.

The first day of the year was a family picnic to Wilson's River Picnic Area in Willi Willi National Park. The birds below were either seen en-route from Wauchope or at the picnic area.

1. Galah
2. Welcome Swallow
3. Magpie Lark
4. Australasian Figbird
5. Common Myna
6. Dollarbird
7. Rainbow Lorikeet
8. Crested Pigeon
9. Red-browed Finch
10. Tree Martin
11. Fairy Martin
12. Variegated Fairy-wren
13. Forest Raven
14. Laughing Kookaburra
15. Spectacled Monarch
16. White-browed Scrubwren
17. Silvereye
18. Pied Currawong
19. Brown Cuckoo Dove
20. Brown Thornbill
21. Pale-yellow Robin
22. Australian Logrunner
23. Grey Fantail
24. Brown Goshawk
25. Rufous Fantail
26. Black-faced Monarch
27. Rufous Scrub-bird
28. Large-billed Scrubwren
29. Yellow-faced Honeyeater
30. Azure Kingfisher
31. Australian King Parrot
32. Regent Bowerbird
33. Purple Swamphen
34. Dusky Moorhen
35. Pacific Black Duck
36. Australian Wood Duck
37. Masked Lapwing
38. Australian Magpie
39. Sacred Kingfisher
40. White-breasted Woodswallow
41. Pheasant Coucal
42. White-necked Heron
43. Willie Wagtail
44. Little Corella
45. Black-faced Cuckoo-Shrike
46. Bar-shouldered Dove
47. Torresian Crow
48. Australian Raven
49. Little Lorikeet
50. Black-shouldered Kite
51. Eastern Osprey
52. Grey Butcherbird

[viator]

Jan 2
A cool, windy cloudy day that was still spent at a couple of different beaches to the north of Port Macquarie. Most of the birds below were seen whilst driving with the exception of the few coastal birds.

53. Satin Bowerbird
54. Eastern Cattle Egret
55. White-bellied Sea-Eagle
56. Silvereye
57. Noisy Friarbird
58. Noisy Miner
59. Little Wattlebird
60. Little Black Cormorant
61. Tawny-crowned Honeyeater
62. Spotted Turtle Dove
63. House Sparrow
64. Great Crested Tern
65. White-headed Pigeon
66. White-eared Honeyeater
67. Rainbow Bee-eater
68. Wedge-tailed Eagle
69. Common Starling
70. Grey Teal
71. Chestnut-breasted Mannikin
72. Eurasian Coot
73. Australian Darter
74. Pied Cormorant
75. White-faced Heron
76. Pied Butcherbird
77. Brown Falcon
78. Silver Gull
79. Australian Pelican
80. Lewin's Honeyeater
81. Great Cormorant
82. Little Pied Cormorant
83. Black-necked Stork
84. Australian White Ibis
85. Australian Pipit
86. White-bellied Cuckoo-Shrike
87. Yellow-tailed Black Cockatoo
88. Crimson Rosella
89. Sulphur-crested Cockatoo

[viator]

Jan 3

Countryside around Wauchope
90. Rock Dove
91. Striated Thornbill
92. Mistletoebird
93. Yellow Thornbill
94. Eastern Whipbird
95. Brown Honeyeater
96. Mallard
97. Pacific Koel
98. Superb Fairy-wren
99. Eastern Rosella
100. Spotted Turtle Dove
101. Straw-necked Ibis
102. Olive Whistler
103. Jacky Winter
104. Eastern Yellow Robin
105. Grey Shrike-thrush
106. White-naped Honeyeater
107. Scarlet Honeyeater
108. Red-backed Fairy-wren
109. Eastern Spinebill
110. Green Catbird

Port Macquarie breakwater
111. Little Tern
112. Common Tern
113. Whiskered Tern
114. Little Heron

Back on the outskirts of Wauchope.
115. Wonga Pigeon

[viator]

Jan 4
The following birds were seen on the drive down to Sydney to catch our late afternoon flight back to Singapore.

116. Swamp Harrier
117. Little Eagle
118. Brahminy Kite
119. Little Egret
120. Eastern Great Egret
121. Black Swan
122. Royal Spoonbill
123. Red Wattlebird

The Royal Spoonbill brought the trip total to 179 species.

[viator]

Back in Singapore and the first few common birds seen going to and from work

Jan 5

124. Asian Koel
125. Black-naped Oriole
126. House Crow
127. Javan Myna
128. Zebra Dove
129. Eurasian Tree Sparrow
130. Olive-backed Sunbird
131. Germain's Swiftlet
132. Asian Brown Flycatcher
133. Pacific Swallow
134. Yellow-vented Bulbul
135. Scarlet-backed Flowerpecker
136. House Swift

Jan 6

137. Asian Glossy Starling
138. Barn Swallow
139. Sunda Pygmy Woodpecker
140. Common Iora
141. Paddyfield Pipit
142. Glossy Swiftlet

Jan 7

143. Chinese Pond Heron
144. Long-tailed Parakeet
145. Arctic Warbler
146. White-breasted Waterhen

[viator]

Jan 8

Heading into the office on the bus yielded a couple of new 2009 birds at Kallang River.

147. Grey Heron
148. Collared Kingfisher

As we arrived in the city centre a Peregrine Falcon was hunting amongst the office towers

149. Peregrine Falcon

A lunch time walk to Marina South - which is rapidly getting developed/destroyed depending on your viewpoint - added the following birds to my 2009 list

150. Brown Shrike
151. White-throated Kingfisher
152. Yellow-bellied Prinia
153. Common Tailorbird
154. Ashy Tailorbird
155. Common Sandpiper

This means I've now got 1 more bird in the first 8 days of Jan 2009 than I got for all of Jan in 2008!

[viator]

Jan 9

A first visit to my local patch at Marina East to discover that in the 4 or 5 weeks since my last visit its been largely destroyed - most trees felled and swampy areas filled in with roads being put in. Given I ignored guards to get in this could be the last visit since whilst its never really been an area open to the public the guards are no longer friendly....

With all the work no surprise that there was a very small number of species seen (33 when would expect 50-60) and all species in very small numbers.

156. Asian Palm Swift
157. Blue-tailed Bee-eater
158. Common Kingfisher
159. Large-tailed Nightjar
160. Ruddy-breasted Crake
161. Scaly-breasted Munia
162. Chestnut Munia
163. White-headed Munia
164. Red-rumped Swallow
165. Pied Fantail
166. Common Snipe
167. Oriental Reed Warbler
168. Pintail Snipe
169. Wood Sandpiper
170. Savanna Nightjar
171. Lanceolated Warbler
172. Yellow Bittern
173. Pink-necked Green Pigeon

[viator]

Jan 10
Spent a morning with my son going to Pulau Ubin for a hike. Started adding new birds from the taxi before we caught the ferry from Changi Village.

Changi Airport

174. Common Buzzard
175. Eastern Marsh Harrier

Changi Village
176. Tanimbar Corella
177. Red-breasted Parakeet
178. Purple-backed Starling

Pulau Ubin
179. Lesser Crested Tern
180. Red-legged Crake
181. Straw-headed Bulbul
182. Mangrove Whistler
183. Brown-throated Sunbird
184. Golden-bellied Gerygone
185. Rufous-tailed Tailorbird
186. Red Collared Dove
187. Common Flameback
188. Black Baza
189. Dark-necked Tailorbird
190. Large-billed Crow
191. Copper-throated Sunbird
192. Red Junglefowl
193. White-rumped Shama
194. Olive-winged Bulbul
195. Crimson Sunbird
196. Whimbrel
197. Pacific Golden Plover
198. Common Greenshank
199. Intermediate Egret
200. Oriental Magpie Robin

[viator]

Jan 11

Bhukit Timah/Hindehede Park

201. Oriental Honey Buzzard
202. Greater Racket-tailed Drongo
203. Ashy Minivet
204. Himalayan Swiftlet
205. Black-nest Swiftlet
206. White-crested Laughing-thrush
207. Hill Myna
208. Grey-rumped Treeswift

[viator]

Jan 12

Walking from the bus stop to my office this morning was surprised to see a Chinese Sparrowhawk fly by very low.

209. Chinese Sparrowhawk

[viator]

Jan 15

Had a day off and took the opportunity to go to Changi Cove with the primary target being the White-faced Plover, South East Asia's mystery plover species which a recent paper described as Charadrius dealbatus. With the now enforced closure to the public of Marina East a chance to also add to my 2009 with grassland species and the other commoner plover species.

The highlight of the day was undoubtedly the three White-faced Plovers on the sand spit but my first visit to Changi Cove also brought a satisfactory list of 63 species. The new ones for 2009 being below.

210. Sunda Scops Owl
211. Indian Cuckoo
212. Barred Buttonquail
213. Changeable Hawk Eagle
214. Black-winged Kite
215. Lesser Coucal
216. Long-tailed Shrike
217. Zitting Cisticola
218. White-shouldered Starling
219. Purple Heron
220. Great-billed Heron
221. Osprey
222. Red-wattled Lapwing
223. Rusty-rumped Warbler
224. Slaty-breasted Rail
225. Tiger Shrike
226. Dusky Warbler
227. Japanese Sparrowhawk
228. Red-throated Pipit
229. Malaysian Plover
230. White-faced Plover
231. Kentish Plover
232. Grey Plover
233. Ruddy Turnstone
234. Sanderling
235. Lesser Sand Plover
236. Pacific Reef Egret
237. Common Redshank
238. Baya Weaver

[viator]

Jan 18

Bukit Timah Nature Reserve/Hindehede Park

A short stay as too many people out for a Sunday morning walk resulted in very few birds being present.

239. Asian Paradise Flycatcher
240. Banded Woodpecker
241. Orange-bellied Flowerpecker
242. Oriental White-eye
243. Pin-striped Tit Babbler
244. Coppersmith Barbet

[viator]

Jan 19

A very brief stroll in a park near the office at lunchtime added 2 more to my 2009 list - very good considering saw only 14 species!

245. Yellow-rumped Flycatcher
246. Eastern Crowned Warbler

[viator]

Jan 25

Spent several hours strolling around in the forest on Pulau Ubin
247. Oriental Pied Hornbill
248. Forest Wagtail
249. Van Hasselt's Sunbird
250. Black-crowned Night Heron
251. Rose-ringed Parakeet

On the boat back from Ubin a single Black-headed Gull - a new bird for my Singapore list

252. Black-headed Gull

On return to Changi Village spotted several Yellow-crested Cockatoo's in amongst the more common Tanimbar Corellas.

253. Yellow-crested Cockatoo

[viator]

Jan 29

Walking to catch the bus home from work tonight was very surprised by a cuckoo flying just over my head and landing in a nearby tree. After much looking and walking around the tree was surprised to discover it was a Himalayan Cuckoo - a rare winter visitor/passage migrant - rather than the much more common Indian Cuckoo as I'd expected when it went over.

254. Himalayan Cuckoo

[viator]

Feb 1

Started the day with a walk in the Botanical Gardens to try and see the Blue-winged Pitta that has been present for the last few days. Working out where it was was easy with all the photographers around! A few brief views but didn't manage to get any good shots.

255. Crested Goshawk
256. Lesser Whistling Duck
257. Blue-winged Pitta
258. Pied Triller

In the afternoon went for a bike ride in Changi Cove (tide wrong for waders) but happy to get a lifer in a King Quail.

259. King Quail
260. Yellow Wagtail
261. Sand Martin

[viator]

Feb 7
Bidadari Cemetery

262. Brown-streaked Flycatcher

[viator]

Feb 16

In a small park by the office surprised to see a Square-tailed Drongo Cuckoo

263. Square-tailed Drongo Cuckoo

[viator]

Feb 20
Panti Forest, Johor, Malaysia

Headed over the border from Singapore for 4 days birding in Johor, starting with a couple of days in Panti Forest

First new bird for 2009 was a Grey-headed Fish Eagle just before Kota Tinggi

264. Grey-headed Fish Eagle

Parked the car at the start of the Bunker Trail, Panti Forest and decided to do a long hike rather than take the car and bird small stretches. A decision that meant I wasn't to see the car for 8 1/2 hours!

The first new bird for 2009 was also a lifer, a Fluffy-backed Tit Babbler. It was then a steady procession of new 2009 birds with lifer's thrown in regularly - the highlight of a day surprisingly short on woodpeckers and babblers was a Malaysian Rail Babbler.

265. Fluffy-backed Tit Babbler
266. White-bellied Yuhina
267. Crow-billed Drongo
268. Whiskered Tree Swift
269. Cream-vented Bulbul
270. Red-eyed Bulbul
271. Yellow-bellied Bulbul
272. Hairy-backed Bulbul
273. Grey-cheeked Bulbul
274. Buff-vented Bulbul
275. Puff-backed Bulbul
276. Purple-naped Sunbird
277. Green Iora
278. Blyth's Hawk Eagle
279. Blue-winged Leafbird
280. Spectacled Bulbul
281. Red-crowned Barbet
282. Black-winged Flycatcher-shrike
283. Large Woodshrike
284. Raffle's Malkoha
285. Red-beared Bee-eater
286. Greater Green Leafbird
287. Lesser Green Leafbird
288. Red-throated Barbet
289. Blue-eared Barbet
290. Chestnut-breasted Malkoha
291. Black-bellied Malkoha
292. Chestnut-bellied Malkoha
293. Crimson-breasted Flowerpecker
294. Spotted Fantail
295. Yellow-breasted Flowerpecker
296. Malaysian Rail Babbler
297. Grey-headed Canary Flycatcher
298. Dark-throated Oriole
299. Ashy Bulbul
300. Blue-throated Bee-eater
301. Asian Fairy Bluebird
302. Silver-rumped Needletail
303. Slender-billed Crow
304. Crested Serpent Eagle
305. Sooty-capped Babbler

[viator]

Feb 21
Bunker Trail, Panti Forest

Arrived before dawn in search of Malaysian Eared Nightjars and Javan Frogmouth but couldn't find a frogmouth. Thereafter took the car up the track birding likely locations including some from the previous day plus also going further in.

306. Malaysian Eared Nightjar
307. Maroon Woodpecker
308. Dusky Broadbill
309. Chestnut-winged Babbler
310. Black Bittern
311. Great Argus
312. Bronzed Drongo
313. Scarlet Minivet
314. Chestnut-necklaced Partridge
315. Checker-throated Woodpecker
316. Crimson-winged Woodpecker
317. Rufous-fronted Babbler
318. Velvet-fronted Nuthatch
319. Spectacled Spiderhunter
320. Fiery Minivet
321. Grey-capped Woodpecker
322. Chestnut-backed Scimitar Babbler
323. White-rumped Munia

Before leaving Panti Forest I decided to do a short hike up the trail at the 270km milestone which was much quieter but produced three excellent additional species.

324. Bushy-crested Hornbill
325. Black Magpie
326. Black Hornbill

By mid-afternoon it was simply too hot so I drove to Mersing to check the mudflats and spend the night. The drive added Green Imperial Pigeon on the outskirts of Jemaluang.
327. Green Imperial Pigeon

On arrival in Mersing went straight to the mudflats for the last hour of light. Lots of waders but most already seen in 2009 in Singapore.

328. Greater Sand Plover
329. Terek Sandpiper

[viator]

Feb 22, Mersing and Parit Jawa, Malaysia

Started the morning by checking out the mudflats at dawn. Less birds than the previous evening but a single Chinese Egret was feeding on the mudflats.
330. Chinese Egret

Driving from Mersing to Parit Jawa stopped on the Jemaluang - Kluang Rd to bird up a logging track into the forest.

331. Bar-winged Flycatcher-shrike
332. Grey Wagtail
333. Black-throated Babbler
334. Jungle Myna
335. Blue-rumped Parrot
336. Streaked Bulbul
337. Long-billed Spiderhunter
338. Dark-sided Flycatcher
339. Wrinkled Hornbill
340. Siberian Blue Robin

Parit Jawa
The main target in Parit Jawa were the resident Lesser Adjutants of which there were 10 in the bay.

341. Lesser Adjutant
342. White-winged Tern
343. Red-necked Stint
344. Grey-tailed Tattler
345. Marsh Sandpiper

After finding somewhere to stay I then went from a walk in the surrounding countryside which is predominantly canals and palm plantation.

346. Greater Flameback
347. Stork-billed Kingfisher

[viator]

Feb 23, West Coast Peninsula Malaysia

Parit Jawa
348. Cinnamon Bittern
349. Greater Coucal
350. Black-capped Kingfisher

Parit Yusof
351. Black Kite
352. Black Drongo

[viator]

Mar 5
Bedok

353. Javan Munia

[viator]

Mar 7, Pulau Ubin

I spent a pleasant morning and early afternoon hiking various trails until heavy rains arrived which meant I was drenched by the time I got back to the ferry terminal. In all I saw 59 species of which 4 were new for 2009.

354. Brown-chested Jungle Flycatcher
355. Chestnut-winged Cuckoo
356. Laced Woodpecker
357. Emerald Dove

The highlight though were the 10+ Oriental Pied Hornbills I saw particularly the male below who was delivering food to a mate in one of the nesting boxes put up by the Singapore Hornbill Project.

[viator]

Mar 14, Sungei Buloh

Mixed flock of Painted and Milky Storks were the only new birds.

358. Painted Stork
359. Milky Stork.

[viator]

April 6, Bukit Timah Nature Reserve

An afternoon walk yielded a single new bird for 2009, a Malaysian Hawk Cuckoo.

360. Malaysian Hawk Cuckoo

[viator]

April 16

Set off on a 10-day trip into Peninsula Malaysia which is a family holiday but with some dedicated birding sites in the last half.

Today we drove up from Singapore to Kuala Selangor and only saw a couple of new birds for 2009.

361. Pied Harrier
362. Oriental Pratincole

[viator]

April 17

Today we continued driving north along the coast to Penang and along the way added

363. Green-billed Malkoha
364. Little Cormorant

Having arrived in Penang we went on the railway up Penang Hill in the late afternoon and added a couple more species

365. Crested Myna
366. Black-headed Bulbul

[viator]

April 18

A morning walk in the rice paddies at Tikam Batu in southern Kedah added a couple more new birds

367. Javan Pond Heron
368. Von Shrenck's Bittern

The afternoon was then spent at Carnivall water theme park at Sungei Petani which was not bird friendly but did provide a lifer in three Brown-backed Needletails passing overhead!

369. Brown-backed Needletail

[viator]

Apr 19

The first new bird of today was an early morning surprise, an Eastern Barn Owl, which was sitting on the side of the N-S highway in mainland Penang.

370. Eastern Barn Owl

Continuing south into northern Perak added two new raptor species for the year list

371. Grey-faced Buzzard
372. Greater Spotted Eagle

Later in the afternoon checked out the rice paddies around Juru, Penang and surrounding country-side. In amongst the many Blue-throated Bee-eaters in Kg. Juru was a single Chestnut-headed Bee-eater.

373. Chestnut-headed Bee-eater

[viator]

20 April

Started a day with a visit to Air Hitam Dalam, Penang with the primary focus of looking for owls and Mangrove Pitta which was very successful with two lifers! In total 44 species were seen in the 11 acre site.

374. Oriental Bay Owl
375. Abbott's Babbler
376. Lineated Barbet
377. Mangrove Blue Flycatcher
378. Spotted Wood Owl
379. Ruby-cheeked Sunbird
380. Mangrove Pitta

It was then over to Penang island for lunch and to look for waders - before both those though a Pied Imperial Pigeon was spotted not longer after crossing the bridge!

381. Pied Imperial Pigeon

Checked out several places for waders but the most were at Tanjung Tokong - the vast majority of birds were Common Redshanks however I added a couple more lifers in a single Spotted Redshank and a Eurasian Curlew

382. Spotted Redshank
383. Eurasian Curlew
384. Asian Dowitcher

[viator]

21 April

Despite a miserable wet morning drove out to Sungai Sedim Forest Reserve, Kedah to spend the day. This site has what is claimed to be the longest canopy walk (925m) in the world which at the highest point is 26m above the fast flowing river.

I had the place to myself - in fact had to find someone to unlock the gate to the canopy walk - and didn't see anyone except the staff for the whole day. Apparently on the weekend it is over-run with people but it certainly isn't the case on week-days.

In the end I did 4 'laps' of the canopy walk and hiked several trails and saw a total of 44 species including 10 lifers.

385. Brown Fulvetta
386. Verditer Flycatcher
387. Pale Blue Flycatcher
388. Rhinoceros Hornbill
389. Yellow-vented Flowerpecker
390. Rufous-winged Philentoma
391. Chestnut-naped Forktail
392. Ferruginous Flycatcher
393. Yellow-crowned Barbet
394. Yellow-bellied Warbler
395. Orange-backed Woodpecker
396. Grey-bellied Bulbul
397. Buff-rumped Woodpecker
398. Taiga Flycatcher

[viator]

April 21, update

Thanks to BF members have another lifer to add, a Finsch's Bulbul

399. Finsch's Bulbul

[viator]

April 22

Today was spent driving up to Lake Pedu, Kedah and hiking various locations.

The first couple of new birds for the year were seen in rice paddies and ponds before reaching the rainforest.

400. Indian Pond Heron
401. Common Moorhen

At Lake Pedu the following birds new for 2009 were seen

402. Lesser Fish Eagle
403. Blue Whistling Thrush
404. Black-thighed Falconet
405. Black-crested Bulbul
406. Great Iora
407. Red-billed Malkoha
408. Red-throated Sunbird

Took the back roads to head back and stopped to check out some fish ponds at Ulu Legong. Surprisingly little there however did manage to add Fork-tailed Swifts to the year list

409. Fork-tailed Swift

[viator]

April 23
Gurung Jerai, Kedah

410. Vernal Hanging Parrot
411. Cinereous Tit
412. Stripe-throated Bulbul
413. Yellow-browed Warbler
414. Everett's White-eye
415. Lesser Racket-tailed Drongo
416. Narcissus Flycatcher
417. Mountain Fulvetta
418. Blue-Rock Thrush

[viator]

April 24, Fraser's Hill

This morning was an a early start leaving at 4am to drive to Fraser's Hill and it's great birding!

Having arrived at The Gap 2-3 hours was spent birding the main road and up the Old Road.

419. Little Pied Flycatcher
420. Red-headed Trogon
421. White-bellied Munia
422. Hill Blue Flycatcher
423. Bay Woodpecker
424. Pygmy Blue Flycatcher

The Resthouse which is currently closed for renovations also added two swallow species to the year list
425. Rufous-bellied Swallow
426. Asian House Martin
427. White-throated Needletail

Having driven up Fraser's Hill checked into the Jelai Hotel and birded the carpark before heading to find some lunch.

428. Large Niltava
429. Long-tailed Sibia
430. Silver-eared Mesia
431. Streaked Spiderhunter
432. Chestnut-capped Laughingthrush
433. Malayan Laughingthrush

Walking from the hotel down to the foodcourt and then on to the Bishop's Trail head added

434. Grey-chinned Minivet
435. Black-eared Shrike Babbler
436. Black Laughingthrush
437. Blue-winged Minla
438. White-throated Fantail

Bishop's Trail continued the new birds

439. Lesser Shortwing
440. Streaked Wren Babbler
441. Mountain Leaf Warbler
442. White-browed Shrike Babbler
443. Golden Babbler
444. Chestnut-crowned Warbler
445. Mountain Bulbul
446. Black-throated Sunbird
447. White-tailed Robin

Finished a long day by then walking around Telekom Loop before going in search of beer!

448. Black-and-crimson Oriole
449. Speckled Piculet
450. Little Cuckoo Dove
451. Yellow-vented Pigeon
452. Fire-tufted Barbet
453. Long-tailed Broadbill
454. Ochraceous Bulbul

[viator]

April 25, Fraser's Hill

Started the morning by being in the Jelai Resort capark before dawn for the morning's birds. Unfortunately the hotel is now under different management and they don't leave the lights on all night anymore - result is less insects and hence the numbers of birds are way down from the reports you read online!

455. Orange-bellied Leafbird
456. Lesser Yellownape
457. Wedge-tailed Green-Pigeon
458. Javan Cuckoo-Shrike
459. Mountain Imperial Pigeon
460. Black-browed Barbet
461. Thick-billed Green-Pigeon
462. Lesser Cuckoo-Shrike

After breakfast in the foodcourt I then hiked down the first 3km or so of the New Road (still closed due to landslides).

463. Great Hornbill
464. Banded Broadbill
465. Crested Jay
466. Fire-breasted Flowerpecker

After lunch it was then a hike along the first 3-4km of the Pine Tree Trail. This hike yielded surprisingly few birds!
467. Buff-breasted Babbler
468. Black Eagle

I then headed out to the waterfall with two targets, Slaty-backed Forktail and Malayan Whistling Thrush. Before heading up the waterfall path I walked up the over-grown continuation of the road and eventually ended up in an abandoned golf course! I was watching a Bamboo Woodpecker in bamboo by a stream when I was stunned to see a Malayan Whistling Thrush hop out of the thick undergrowth along the stream onto the path barely 10 feet from me! Alas it didn't hang around for a photo session!
469. Bamboo Woodpecker
470. Malayan Whistling Thrush

I then headed back to the start of the waterfall trail as the last of the tourists were leaving. I'd gone no more than 10m along the path when the first of two Slaty-backed Forktails appeared.

471. Slaty-backed Forktail
472. Banded Kingfisher
473. Silver-breasted Broadbill

[viator]

April 26, Fraser's Hill

I spent the first few hours birding the top of the Old Road before starting the drive back to Singapore. A relatively quiet morning but still a few new birds

474. Grey-throated Babbler
475. Dark Hawk Cuckoo
476. Mountain Tailorbird

The last species for the trip list was a Common Flameback on the outskirts of Johor Bahru which brought the trip list to a very satisfactory 262 species. Another way to look at it is I still have approx 180 lifers on Peninsula Malaysia to find :-) Hopefully at least another couple of short trips this year will reduce that.

[viator]

April 21, Addendum

Realised my counts on this list didn't match my database and eventually worked out that I'd left off a male Black-naped Monarch seen at Sg. Sedim on the Treetop walk.

477. Black-naped Monarch

[viator]

May 15, Central Catchment, Singapore

Went for an afternoon hike from Venus Drive through the forest to Bukit Timah Nature Reserve - around 9-10km hike in the end.

478. Jambu Fruit Dove
479. Blue-crowned Hanging Parrot
480. Blue-eared Kingfisher
481. Plain Sunbird

When I got home I was surprised to discover that this was my first sighting of a Blue-eared Kingfisher in Singapore.

[viator]

June 3, Ferry crossing between Mersing and Pulau Tioman, Malaysia

Headed to Tioman island for a short family holiday which as expected didn't yield many new species for 2009. However the 2 hour ferry crossing yielded the 3 relatively common seabirds for the area.

482. Bridled Tern
483. Lesser Frigatebird
484. Black-naped Tern

[viator]

June 8, Panti Forest, Johor, Malaysia

Thanks to a terrible ferry service and a slow truck driver I picked up a lifer on the bus trip back from Mersing to Larkin in Johor Bahru!

The first 'thanks' is to the ferry service with my scheduled 6:30pm ferry from Tioman to Mersing which eventually left around 8:45pm which meant we arrived too late for a bus to JB and hence Singapore and no long distance taxi drivers were interested. Probably a first for me with no one even offering to go for a ridiculous price - they simply weren't interested! As a result we were stranded and had to get a hotel for the night - wish we'd simply stayed on Tioman and got an early ferry the next morning! Beyond me how a ferry company can use 'the tide' as an excuse for being late - its not like it should have been a surprise when low tide was!

The second thanks to the truck driver who couldn't stay in his own lane and drove at 20km/hr meaning our bus was stuck behind him and drove slowly past by far the most interesting habitat of the return journey.

The end result, good views of a bird that I've never added to my list despite several good probable sightings, a Bat Hawk. An individual was perched in a dead tree not far from the road and since by design I was sitting on the right side of the bus I had a great view of it for far longer than you'd expect on a Malaysian bus!

485. Bat Hawk

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June 20, Pulau Ubin

A morning walk on Ubin yielded my 175th Singapore bird for 2009 - the rare resident Mangrove Blue Flycatcher.

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Jun 28, Cameron Highlands, Malaysia

Singapore is currently in its hottest time of the year so we decided a few days relaxing in the cooler climate of the Cameron Highlands was in order - obviously the birders choice would be Fraser's Hill but this was a family holiday!

We decided to stay at The Equatorial Hotel ( @ 1600m nice and cool compared to Singapore) which meant I could have a 1/2 day of solid birding walking down from the summit of Gunung Brinchang at 2032m after driving the 8km from the hotel with the family. But thats for tomorrow's report!

The first new bird of the year was at the unlikely location of the Strawberry Park Resort: a Barred Cuckoo Dove

486. Barred Cuckoo Dove

After lunch we walked to Parit Falls which were fairly disappointing - not surprising but the area around the falls is just covered in rubbish although the height of the plastic bags etc in the tree shows the amount of water that could go over the falls during the rainy season. The walk to the falls yielded two more lifers: a Malaysian Hill Partridge seen crossing the path and a Yellow-eared Spiderhunter.

487. Malaysian Hill Partridge
488. Yellow-eared Spiderhunter

The last new bird of the day was also a lifer, a Common Green Magpie, seen when walking in the bottom of the valley of the Cameron Valley Tea Plantation.

489. Common Green Magpie

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Jun 29, Gunung Brinchang

A perfectly clear day for walking down Gunung Brinchang - every other day we were in the Highlands the summit was obscured by clouds. The walk started brilliantly with 3 lifers in the first 250m!

490. Golden-throated Barbet
491. Pygmy Wren Babbler
492. Yellow-breasted Warbler
493. Rufous-browed Flycatcher
494. Chestnut-tailed Minla
495. Snowy-browed Flycatcher
496. Rufous-winged Fulvetta
497. Rufous-vented Niltava
498. Temminck's Sunbird

A total of 48 species were seen whilst walking down the mountain.

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Jun 30

Three lifers were picked up on the trail from the Power Station to Robinson Falls

499. Moustached Babbler
500. Bar-bellied Cuckoo-Shrike
501. Blue Nuthatch

After the falls we relaxed with tea and scones at the Cameron Valley Tea Plantation before going for a walk down in the valley. By the stream we surprised a couple of feral Hwamei having a bath.

502. Hwamei

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Jul 1

Time is up and its the ~500Km drive back to Singapore. Since we had all day we took our time and headed back down the old road road rather than the quicker (but 50+km longer) route via Simpang Pulai. This meant frequent stops to check out the view as we descended and some road side birding opportunities.

During the descent from the highlands added a lifer I was consciously looking for, a Gold-whiskered Barbet which was calling from the side of the road at a spot it was convenient to stop.

503. Gold-whiskered Barbet
504. Rufous-capped Babbler

The last new 2009 bird for the trip, also a lifer was a big surprise. We stopped for lunch at one of the rest places on the N-S highway in Selangor and 2 Silver-backed Needletails were circling the place. This is supposed to be a winter visitor/passage migrant to Pen Malaysia - summering over in Malaysia or very early returnees?

505. Silver-backed Needletail

In the end a satisfactory record of 119 species for the trip.

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Jul 5, Pulau Ubin, Singapore

Back in Singapore and spent the day hiking around Ubin with its varied habitat. Two new year birds found, first a Rufous Woodpecker followed later by a juvenile Banded Bay Cuckoo.

506. Rufous Woodpecker
507. Banded Bay Cuckoo

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Aug 1

Picked up a lifer today in one of Singapore's rarer residents, Thick-billed Spiderhunter.

508. Thick-billed Spiderhunter

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Sep 6

Headed to Mt. Kinabalu in Sabah, Malaysia for short break with my son taking advantage of Tiger Airways cheap tickets. This is my first visit to Borneo since getting serious about birding - hence some strange birds here which are lifers and some that aren't (if I'd previously photographed something it was already on the list - others no doubt I must have seen but weren't on the list).

The first lifer of the trip, a small flock of Dusky Munia was picked up getting from the budget terminal at Kota Kinabalu airport to the regular one to pick up our hired car having discovered it and us were a fair way apart.

509. Dusky Munia

We then drove up to Mt Kinabalu and dropped our gear where we were staying and had a short period of daylight to check out the roads around park HQ with a few birding stops along the way. Things seem to be quite a bit more developed than what I remember from my previous visit in early 1996 to climb the mountain.

510. Bornean Swiftlet
511. Black-capped White-eye
512. Mountain Wren Babbler
513. Short-tailed Green Magpie
514. Eyebrowed Jungle Flycatcher
515. Black-sided Flowerpecker
516. Bornean Stubtail
517. Bornean Forktail
518. Ashy Drongo

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Sep 7, Mt Kinabalu

The day started with a lifer from our balcony
519. Sunda Cuckoo-Shrike
520. Chestnut-hooded Laughingthrush

First birding of the day was done around the powerstation before heading down Bukit Ular trail.

521. Bare-headed Laughingthrush
522. Sunda Laughingthrush
523. Bornean Treepie
524. Mountain Blackeye
525. Golden-naped Barbet
526. Crimson-headed Partridge

It was then back down to the roads around park HQ for some easier birding
527. Bornean Whistler
528. Chestnut-crested Yuhina
529. Yellow-rumped Flowerpecker
530. Indigo Flycatcher

In the late afternoon birded the upper part of Silau Silau Trail
531. Bornean Whistling Thrush
532. White-browed Shortwing

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Sep 8, Mt Kinabalu National Park, Sabah, Malaysia

Headed to Poring Hotsprings first thing in the morning and did the canopy walk as soon as it opened. After the canopy walk did the lower part of the trail to the first waterfall.

533. White-crowned Shama
534. Hair-crested Drongo
535. Rufous-tailed Shama
536. Bornean Black Magpie
537. Streaky-breasted Spiderhunter
538. Little Spiderhunter

The drive back to Mt. Kinabalu added one of the birds I really wanted to find, two White-fronted Falconets in a dead tree right by the road allowing great views.

539. White-fronted Falconet

Back at Mt. Kinabalu hiked the upper part of the Silau Silau trail in the late afternoon and a had a great walk picking up 2 of the 3 whitehead's! The last, the spiderhunter, was to elude us on this trip.

540. Wreathed Hornbill
541. Maroon-breasted Philentoma
542. Whitehead's Trogon
543. Whitehead's Broadbill
544. Temminck's Babbler

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Sep 9, Sabah, Malaysia

An early start and headed to the Tambunan Rafflesia Centre on the way picking up two lifers - the first Mountain Serpent Eagle over the road and the second Black-headed Pitta in a stand of bamboo we'd had a rest stop at.

545. Mountain Serpent Eagle
546. Black-headed Pitta

Picked up some of the endemics, dipping on the barbets, which this site is famous for in a fruiting tree by the road near the centre.

547. Bornean Bulbul
548. Fruit-hunter
549. Bornean Leafbird
550. Sunda Bush Warbler

This proved the last 2009 bird for the trip as the next morning it was an early morning start back to Kota Kinabalu for our flight back to Singapore. A total of 124 species were sighted for the trip.

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Sep 13, Chiang Mai, Thailand

First new bird for 2009 was seen upon arrival at Chiang Mai airport, Great Myna.

551. Great Myna

After dropping things off at the hotel made a quick trip out to Huai Hong Khrai for the Green Peafowl and surprised to see some Brown Prinia along with the common Plain Prinia around the lake.

552. Green Peafowl
553. Plain Prinia
554. Brown Prinia

Heading back to Chiang Mai added two more birds to the 2009 list

555. Green Bee-eater
556. Indian Roller

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Sep 14

Up early and headed out to Mae Hia Agricultural College on the outskirts of Chiang Mai for some open country birding

557. Pied Bushchat
558. Wire-tailed Swallow
559. Grey-breasted Prinia
560. Black-necked Starling
561. Indochinese Bushlark
562. Red-whiskered Bulbul
563. Streak-eared Bulbul
564. Sooty-headed Bulbul
565. Burmese Shrike
566. Plain-backed Sparrow
567. Racket-tailed Treepie
568. Ashy Woodswallow
569. Rufescent Prinia

After lunch drove to Doi Inathon, spending the night at the Highland Resort before heading up the mountain the next day to camp for a couple of nights. The excellent grounds of the hotel added

570. Rufous Treepie
571. Red-billed Blue Magpie

Spent the last hour or so of light out at the "Parakeet Roosting" site (minus the parakeets) and added

572. Striated Swallow
573. Crested Treeswift
574. Purple Sunbird

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Sep 15, Doi Inathon, Thailand

Up before dawn and saw a calling Brown Wood Owl in the grounds before leaving to head up the mountain

575. Brown Wood Owl

First birding stop of the morning was the Ridge top trail at km13. Very quiet until I'd actually walked almost to the top of the ridge when encountered several bird waves.

576. Black-headed Woodpecker
577. Chestnut-vented Nuthatch
578. Slender-billed Oriole
579. Golden-fronted Leafbird
580. Chestnut-bellied Nuthatch
581. Black-hooded Oriole
582. Collared Falconet
583. White-rumped Falcon

It was then up to Park HQ to pay the camp site fee and then set up camp. After a quick lunch it was up to the summit...

584. Flavescent Bulbul
585. Dark-backed Sibia
586. Rufous-backed Sibia
587. Green-tailed Sunbird
588. White-tailed Leaf Warbler
589. Ashy-throated Warbler
590. Yellow-bellied Fantail
591. Silver-eared Laughingthrush
592. Mrs Gould's Sunbird
593. Blyth's Leaf Warbler
594. Grey-cheeked Fulvetta

Heading back down the mountain was a misty stop at the 2 Chedis...

595. Grey Bushchat

A hike at the 37.5km jeep trail added another couple of lifers - very hard to see what could be heard in here

596. Hume's Treecreeper
597. Lesser Necklaced Laughingthrush

Back in camp added one last lifer for the day

598. Hill Prinia

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Sep 16, Doi Inathon, Thailand

Up early to reach the second checkpoint before dawn for morning feast by the birds on all the bugs attracted to the lights. The first bird though was 10m from my tent, a Black-tailed Crake

599. Black-tailed Crake

Having reached the checkpoint birds started coming from everywhere with plenty of new birds.

600. Yellow-bellied Flowerpecker
601. Yellow-cheeked Tit
602. Long-tailed Minivet
603. Stripe-breasted Woodpecker

After a few hours headed downhill to the 34.5km Jeep trail for a short hike in the mist before the rain set in

604. Black-throated Parrotbill
605. Hume's Treecreeper
606. Orange-breasted Trogon
607. Striated Yuhina

As the rain got too much headed further down the mountain to Mr Daeng's cafe for lunch. Since it then cleared up headed back to the 34.5km trail for more...

608. Slaty-bellied Tesia
609. Small Niltava
610. Short-tailed Minivet
611. Yellow-browed Warbler
612. Small Minivet
613. Chestnut-fronted Shrike Babbler
614. Black Bulbul
615. Puff-throated Bulbul
616. White-gorgeted Flycatcher
617. Slaty-backed Flycatcher
618. Spectacled Barwing

After a long day is was back to camp before dinner and picked up two more lifers!

619. Collared Owlet
620. Shikra

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Sep 17, Thailand

Time to leave Doi Inathon and do the long drive to Doi Ang Khang.

The first 2009 bird of the day was seen at around the 14km mark of the descent

621. Black-winged Cuckooshrike

Having arrived at Doi Ang Khang the first new birds were in the village of Ban Luang

622. Ashy Bulbul
623. Crested Finchbill
624. White Wagtail
625. Eye-browed Thrush

After sorting out accomodation is was time for some birding, starting with the km21 trail...

626. Plain Flowerpecker
627. Striated Bulbul
628. Brown-breasted Bulbul
629. Spot-throated Babbler
630. Red-tailed Laughingthrush

The last 45min or so of daylight was spent on the trail from Ban Koom through the farmlard adding one last bird

631. Rusty-cheeked Scimitar Babbler

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Sep 18, Thailand

An early morning start with a hike along Mae Per Forest Trail on Doi Ang Khang and picked up a few more lifers

632. Ashy Wood Pigeon
633. Maroon Oriole
634. Grey-headed Parrotbill
635. Mountain Bamboo Partridge

It was then back to the trail at the km21 mark where I got brief views of three Scarlet-faced Liocichla for which this trail is known

636. Scarlet-faced Liocichla
637. Blossom-headed Parakeet

Having seen my target I started to drive down the mountain and only got a couple of km to the army camp when a bird wave crossed the road so a quick stop and 45min birding with birds everywhere!

638. White-browed Laughingthrush
639. Giant Nuthatch

I then took the scenic route down the mountain to Chiang Dao which took 1/2 day including a few stops for birds/rest

640. Grey Treepie
641. Rufous-winged Buzzard

Having arrived at Chiang Dao, checked into Malee's guesthouse and had a bite to eat and headed to the Temple and the Gully Trail. In the end didn't even make the short distance to the Temple without a couple of lifers!

642. Chestnut-tailed Starling
643. Golden-crested Myna

The gully trail then added a few more new birds in very wet conditions - both because of more rain and the trail was all but non-existant and consisted of wading up the fast flowing stream!

644. Grey-eyed Bulbul
645. Blue-bearded Bee-eater
646. Blue-throated Flycatcher

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Sep 15, An update

Discovered that the split Great Tits which I'd been assuming were Cinereous Tits as per Peninsula Malaysia which I've already seen this year are in fact Japanese Tits.

647. Japanese Tit

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Sep 19, Chiang Dao, Thailand

Most of today was spent birding various locations above the checkpoint on the road to Muang Kong checking different habitats at various altitudes.

648. Puff-throated Babbler
649. Blue-throated Barbet
650. Eastern Jungle Crow
651. Olive-backed Pipit
652. Great Barbet
653. Indochinese Cuckooshrike
654. Brown-cheeked Fulvetta
655. Eurasian Jay
656. Green Cochoa

After leaving Chiang Dao it was time to head back to Chiang Mai. Just outside Chiang Dao I stopped for a quick check of some paddy fields and added

657. Oriental Skylark

That proved the last new bird for the year on this trip. In total 221 species were seen for the week.

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Sep 30, Lower Pierce Reservoir

Back in Singapore and did a little owling around Lower Pierce Reservoir.

658. Buffy Fish Owl

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Oct 3, Pulau Ubin

I spent the morning looking for migrants and didn't find very many. However did get my first Violet Cuckoo for a couple of years.

659. Violet Cuckoo

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Oct 10, Sungei Buloh Wetlands Reserve, Singapore

Headed out for an afternoon looking at all the visiting waders and picked up 3 new birds for 2009.

660. Curlew Sandpiper
661. Little Ringed Plover
662. Broad-billed Sandpiper

Also of note was my first Saltwater Crocodile for 3 years which was sunning itself with a flock of uninterested Whimbrels.

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Oct 20, Dairy Farm Nature Park

My first visit to this new park which opened last month which backs onto Bukit Timah Nature Reserve. Starting to get more migrants passing through and picked up two rare passage migrants in a Grey-streaked Flycatcher and a Brown-chested Jungle Flycatcher.

Besides curious to see the new park the other reason for going is that the long abandoned quarry here is home to several Little Grebe's - a bird that before today wasn't on my Singapore list!

663. Little Grebe
664. Grey-streaked Flycatcher

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Nov 11, Singapore

Walking to the bus stop today to go to work and some insistent calling from a tree eventually got me on to a juvenile Little Bronze Cuckoo - even with the calling was difficult to spot until its foster parent, a Golden-bellied Gerygone, gave it away by flying in and feeding it.

665. Little Bronze Cuckoo

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Nov 12, Bedok, Singapore

Not a new bird for 2009 but a new bird for Singapore were two immature Greater Spotted Eagles riding a thermal.

This is now my 200th Singapore bird for 2009 and 282nd on my Singapore lifelist.

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Nov 15, Pulau Ubin

Seem to be doing well with new birds for my Singapore lifelist at the moment with migrating raptors. Picked up my 283rd Singapore bird in the form of a Grey-faced Buzzard.

Also added to my 2009 Singapore list were Whiskered Tern and White-rumped Munia. Bringing the 2009 SG total to 203.