Singapore and Cambodia, February 2019 (1 Viewer)

Over this last year I've been trying to put together a big trip for my 30th birthday; at various times it ended up being targeted at Chile, India, the US and Georgia but essentially things ended up not coming together in time to actually do it, but eventually we managed to force this trip forward through and the final destinations ended up being Singapore and Cambodia. We had to abandon an extension to Langkawi in Malaysia late on because we realised we'd spend too much of our two weeks on travel days.

The basic plan was that we would fly to Singapore, stay a couple of days with my girlfriend's aunt and uncle, before heading to Cambodia, and doing the same in reverse. Given this was specifically my 30th birthday trip I would have a bit more leeway for birding than usual, but my usual decidedly finite budget dictated I'd still have to pick my guided excursions carefully.

I'm going to do this in increments as I update my Bird-dex with the new species I saw sequentially. The downside of this is it might take a bit longer than I do these things over.

We had previously visited Malaysia two years previously under unfortunate family circumstance for Meg, so I had picked up a number of commoner SE Asian species, but had only really one day of birding as a result.

SINGAPORE
There were a number of fairly common species I had seen before an: Javan Mynah, Oriental Magpie Robin, Olive-backed Sunbird, Asian Palm swift, swiftlet sp. Barn Swallow, Asian Glossy Starling, Spotted Dove, Pink-necked Green Pigeon, Feral Pigeon, Tree Sparrow, and if near suitable habitat, a number of heron species, most notably, Grey, Purple, Chinese Pond and Little Egret. Less common stuff I'll try to cover in the main body.

Tuesday 12th February
We'd arrived the previous day and were staying within the Ang Mo Kio district (not going to be more specific as we are talking someone's private residence). We generally decided this would be a good day to acclimatise, and so just have a wander round locally, and perhaps try to see the otters at Bishan-Ang Mo Kio Park (spoiler: we failed on that front - we never find otters in any country we visit).

We first headed down to Lower Pierce Reservoir fairly early while it was still cool, and our first interesting encounter was a pair of Collared Kingfisher - a species I'd seen once before in Malacca, but would be a far more prominent feature of this trip. Wandering along the dam end of the reservoir, we also picked up a Brahminy Kite over the water, a plenty of Long-tailed Macaque in the surrounding fields.

We followed the reservoir south until it turned right towards a bridge to the golf course, and in a hedgerow here, I picked up my first lifer of the trip, a busy little Brown Shrike. We contemplated heading over the grass to see if we could go straight to Bishan-Ang Mo Kio Park that way, but decided as Singapore is a pretty law-heavy country, we'd just stick to walking back the way we came and do the forest trails. On the way back up, we spotted some Blue-tailed Bee-eater hawking over the lake - a new lifer for me, and what would turn out to be a common fixture of both countries as this time of the year. A single common sandpiper flew up from the rocks.

The forest trails turned out to be very difficult to bird - there was plenty of noise, but didn't really see much beyond the common species and squirrels. A huge thanks to the lady who offered to see if a large fruit-bat she'd seen the previous day was there still for us, even if it wasn't it was still a much appreciated gesture.

We had a quick break at a nearby hawker centre (The food kind, not the birds) before heading down Upper Thomson Rd. to have a walk through the afforemntioned Bishan-Ang Mo Kio park.

We had much better luck here: despite a conspicuos lack of otters, there were some Red Junglefowl (with white face patch) pecking away in the leaf litter with it's chicks, my first White-breasted Waterhen a species I'd somehow dipped on in Malaysia that went on to be a regular feature of this trip and a very handsome White-throated Kingfisher which while not new, gave vastly superior views to the fleeting ones I'd had in KL.

It began to get a bit too hot, so by the time we got to the Theraputic Garden we decided to turn back. As we stopped to pick up some cold drinks at a vending machine, two new lifers however! The first was a striking Scarlet-backed Flowerpecker that just flew into the nearest tree to me, while about five minutes later a single Oriental Honey Buzzard flew over, followed shortly later by two more. Given I've still yet to catch up with European, a definite pleasant lifer! We also saw several Asian Water Monitor throughout the park.

To be continued....

Pt. 2

I'm going to condense here a little with the return leg of Singapore to avoid going over the same casual locations multiple times, but essentially there were two other places I did some casual birding that I returned to later.

The first was casually walking around Ang Mo Kio, and in particular the avenue of trees down Thomson Hill, where a particular junction at various times of the day landed me a significant bunch of lifers including Large-tailed Nightjar, Asian Koel, Blue-crowned Hanging Parrot, Common Iora and Van Hasselt's Sunbird within a space of about 6 trees. Also got me my best views of Blue-tailed Bee-eater. Oddly, my only scaly breasted munia of the entire trip was a dead individual found along this road (on my previous visit to Singapore I'd seen a couple around just in one evening).

The second was the Gardens by the Bay which produced Sunda Woodpecker and Malaysian Pied Fantail in addition to many of the species mentioned earlier. It also produced a small bittern sp. probably yellow that would have been a lifer if I could identify it in the half second before it vanished.

CAMBODIA

So, we got to Cambodia early in the afternoon after... lets say... a painful experience of queueing at customs of Siem Reap airport. I REALY REALLY strongly suggest that you get an e-visa for Cambodia, the queues at the airport are really long and really slow, and having an e-visa would allow you to skip the first one. It's only about $7US different anyway.

It then also turned out that our hotel had got mixed up in our airport shuttle and so we had to get a taxi (despite me messaging them specifically to avoid this scenario) and by the time we got to the hotel we were too tired to do much than stumble around the area looking for somewhere for dinner.

What our hotel did provide that was excellent was they had specific tuc-tuc drivers on registry and specific prices for different day trips. We wanted to do the "small circuit" of Angkor Wat on the first day, which would be $15, plus an extra $10 for getting there early.

At this point, let's get the standard fare out of the way:
Honestly, the common birds of Siem Reap were actually more limited than those of Singapore, but the following were fairly common in most locations:
Tree Sparrow, Asian Palm Swift, Swiftlet sp. Yellow-vented Bulbul, Black-naped Oriole, Oriental Magpie Robin

Angkor Wat
There are bird guides available for Angkor Wat, but really the day was about the architecture, history and cool overgrown trees with birds as a bonus feature, so we just went with the tuc-tuc driver provided. We asked to go to the East gate on account of the West gate being apparently heaving with people for dawn, trying to get a great shot, so we were dropepd off there, but because we had forgotten to bring a decent torch, ended up walking through the night and ended up at the North Gate which we had entirely to ourselves - just us sitting seeing the sun come up with only the occassional other person passing by. Also, because the North Gate is a lot closer than the West, it also meant that we were one of the first people to get inside the complex.

You don't really go to Angkor Wat for birding, but Blue Rock Thrush and Common Mynah are common amongst the buildings and plenty of swifts overhead (I'd resolved not to spend too much time investigating swifts this holiday because of how time intensive it can be to ID things, and I didn't manage to pick out any needletails which would have been the main highlight.)

What you can also do however is from the outer sections of the wall, view the treeline for species, which netted me a few lifers; Black Baza, Hair-crested Drongo and a Racket-tailed Drongo sp I didn't get a photo of, plus a brief view of two very large birds that were probably storks or pelicans. Additionally, some mammals were present in the environs - Long-tailed Macaque out the front, Variable Squirrel in the surrounding trees and some bat sp. (see my ID post in the bat forum if you feel you might be able to help) that my best guess from wikipedia research is long-tailed tomb bat.

As we headed back to the tuc-tuc, there were a pair of Dollarbird above where our tuc-tuc was waiting. There were also one or two smaller birds in the undergrowth, but I failed to pick them out.

We then headed on to the Angkor Thom section, which is more fragmentory and forested. First stop was Bayon, which sits in the middle of it - and crowds of tourists aside, I actually found the most visually compelling of the temples. There wasn't much birding here beyond regular Shikra and occassional drongos and parakeets flying over briefly, but not long enough to identify. Bat species could be heard in the temple, but unlike at Angkor Wat itself, not actually spotted, though loads of dragonflies were overhead.

We then looped round on our own walk, and visited Baphuon (which provided me with a couple of Ashy Mivet) and more Shikra, followed by Phimeanakas, the Terrace of the Elephants and the edge of the Terrace of the Leper King. I did get birds overhead, but I was now reminded why birding in tropical forest is hard work, especially when splitting your time with some major historical stuff.

We stopped for lunch opposite Ta Keo before continuing on to Ta Prohm which proved to be simultaneously the most birdy and highest tourist density of the big name temples. I picked up Asian Brown Flycatcher, Streak-eared Bulbul, Common Hill Mynah, Red Breasted Parakeet and Alexandrine Parakeet, mostly from the perimeter of the temple - the parakeets particularly being unavoidable as they have a colony directly overhead.

We ended up bailing as the coach tour groups just made it too busy, but our tuc-tuc driver then took us to Banteay Kdei as a final stop, which was much quieter save for cicadas. There were birds about, but as it was hot and we were tired by this point, I didn't really stop around to pick them out as much as I might have on other day, but I did get a nice Grey-headed Canary Flycatcher plus a nice Yellow-striped Tree skink.

After that we headed back to the hotel and basically crashed,

SIEM REAP
The next day we went around Siem Reap a bit as a less intensive day. I woke up a bit early, and so decided to sit watching the trees outside our window and picked up a few lifers: Dusky Warbler, Yellow-browed Warbler and Black Drongo.

Not much in the way of notable wildlife, except the Lyle's Flying Fox Colony at the Royal Gardens, which is worth a visit - particularly if you've never seen fruit bats before.

This was a more general tourist day, but we had a pretty good time - we did Artisans Angkor, which is a shop that houses/supports local poor crafts people, several of the markets, pub street and went to "Bugs Cafe" which served, unsurprisingly, invertibrates. Worth a go if you aren't too squeamish! In the evening we went to Phare the Cambodian Circus which was a really great choice and I'd also recommend.

Next up: Tonle Sap!

Prek Toal

The first (essentially) dedicated bird day of three on the overall trip, we were to do a day trip consisting of a morning trip birdwatching, followed by a trip around the floating village in the afternoon. We had hired a guide with Cambodia Travel Trails after a recommendation on these forums - our guide, Sophoan Rath was excellent, picking us up early and warm and informative throughout, he was also the best value and most reliably responding person to offer this tour, so would definitely recommend him.

A tour of Prek Toal at this time of the year essentially consists of getting in a boat with your guide and a ranger and travelling through the channels, seeing what you can spot. We did also go up a tower at the end to view the nesting colony, but most of the closest views were had from the boat.

Prek Toal is definitely a destination about seeing a comparatively small range of species, but they are largely BIG species and seen in huge quantities. I probably saw more individual birds on this morning than any other birding trip of my life. Rather than listing individually sightings in order, a general gist is as follows. Counts are vague because trying to tally them all would be an exercise in madness.

Whiskered Tern - Common en route.
Great Cormorant - Abundant throughout
Indian Cormorant - Common, one sighting of a feeding flock
Little Cormorant - Common, lots seen
Asian Openbill - Hugely abundant, potentially thousands seen
Painted Stork - Hugely abundant, potentially thousands seen
Lesser Adjutant - Uncommon, but probably 10+ seen
Oriental Darter - Fairly common, probably 50+ seen
Spot-billed Pelican - Fairly common; probably 100+ seen, mostly in the air
Black-headed Ibis - Fairly common, mostly in flight, probably 100+ seen
Eurasian Kingfisher - Pretty common, 10+ seen
Great White Egret, Grey Heron, Purple Heron, Blue-tailed Bee-eater, Swallow sp. - Common
Intermediate Egret - Common
Little Egret
Pond Heron sp. - Probably the most abundant birds, but wrong plumage to ID
Grey-headed Fish Eagle - Superb views of this bird twice
Crested Serpent Eagle - A very confiding bird was apparently a surprise site addition for both our guide and ranger
Greater Coucal - Briefly glimpsed around 5 times in flight
Cinnamon Bittern - Briefly glimpsed around 7 times flying between cover
Black Bittern - A single bird flying from cover for a few moments at the furthest point of the trip.
Little Green Heron - A couple about
Yellow Bittern One bird clearly seen, a few others glimpsed in flight.
Black-capped Kingfisher A single bird glimpsed in flight to cover
Crimson Sunbird A female of this bird visited us at the top of the tower
Oriental Magpie Robin - Fairly frequent within the reserve
Green-billed Malkoha - One seen

The next day we were back in Siem Reap having a recovery day to catch up from our alternating 5am starts a bit. No real birding this day, and only really regular species. We visited the War Museum and one of the Killing Field sites in the morning, then in the afternoon we stumbled upon a rather impressive Buddhist festival parade and went round the shops of Central Siem Reap a bit more. We got back early for our guide for the next day to drop in and have a chat about exact plans for the following day including how we wanted to balance specific target focus vs. getting a bigger list, and the odds on the various targets I had. A much appreciated service that helped know what the expectations would be!

The only lifer of the day wasn't a bird at all, but a reptile, a Common Sun Skink in the leaf litter at the War Museum.

I had booked a full day tour with the Cambodia Bird Guide Association in two parts, morning would be the Florican Grasslands with Bengal Florican and Sarus Crane being the prime targets with a number of secondary species I'd like to see but wasn't specifically bothered about investing time into if they didn't turn up on their own. Our guide had told us he'd spoken to the locals and unfortunately odds on the Sarus were probably poor, but Florican should be fine.

We got that 5am pick up by our guide and driver and were driven for about an hour and a half to the site of the Floricans, and saw a lot of birds, although largely fairly distantly. The following is an approximate sequential order of species other than the usual suspects mentioned earlier:

Oriental Skylark: Fairly common feading on the road.
Paddyfield Pipit: Also feeding on the road.
Hen Harrier - A partially moulted individual was circling as we got stopped.
Pied Kingfisher - A number seen, first when we parked and a family as we walked.
Painted Stork - Were flying over relatively regularly.
Various heron/egret sp: A large flock was feeding at the opposite end of the fields.
Pied Harrier: A couple seen, always distantly
Plain Prinia, Striated Grassbird, Zitting Cisticola - A selection of these around
Indian Spot-billed Duck - Seen in flight a few times.
Red Advadat - A striking male ahead of us on the path.
Pied Starling - A single bird perched on a bush along the track.
Chestnut Munia - A handsome pair along the track.
Siberian Stonechat - A male was hanging out near the Pied Kingfisher Family.
Black Drongo - Common.
BENGAL FLORICAN - A single male flushed from the field, and circled round us, giving some stunning views of this critically endangered species.
Oriental Reed Warbler - A single bird singing while we tried to see pick out where the Florican had landed.
Wood Sandpiper - A single bird near the track - only my second ever sighting of this species.
Greenshank - A flock that was probably this species flew over
Pied Bushchat - A few were along the road as we departed.
Oriental Pratincole - A single bird very high.
Wooly-necked Stork - Our guide impressively picked out a very distant pair of this species coming in to land as we were leaving.

No Sarus Crane unfortunately despite travelling a bit further along to look for them, but with the Florican and a really great supporting cast I was very happy. I must admit I didn't quite understand the specifics of how the local investment worked, but we were more than happy to tip the site specific local guides for helping locate the florican.

Additionally, as we returned to Siem Reap for lunch before heading on to part 2, I had mentioned that I'd like to see Indian/Indochinese Roller, and our guide and driver happened to spot some along the road back. As a bonus, as we stopped to watch them, they also picked up a Plain-backed Sparrow, another lifer.

We stopped for lunch at a restaurant in Siem Reap before heading on to Phnom Kroam, which I will cover next update.

Cambodia is a place that has tempted me for a while - enjoying your write-up, and congratulations on seeing the Florian.

Cheers
Mike

MKinHK said:

congratulations on seeing the Florian.

Click to expand...

Mike, although Florian (Dalat) does sometimes get to Cambodia it would have been a big coincidence for Alex to see him there! 8-P

Phnom Kroam

After lunch, we began to head towards Phnom Kroam, a much shorter trip that the Florican reserve from Siem Reap, and something that I'd particularly recommend if you only have a small budget for birds when visiting. We did however make a brief stop - as we were still in the outskirts of Siem Reap, we passed a very low flock of Asian Openbills over a tiny set of fields between various roads and it was filled with these birds. Not new for the trip having seen plenty at Prek Toal, but a stunning view of this perculiar looking species!

Anyway, Phnom Krom (or Kroam - I've sen both spellings used) is a set of paddy fields/wetland near a weirdly isolated little mountain with a temple on top and approaching the North edge of Tonle Sap. I didn't have dedicated targets as such although the two Jacanas and Rubythroat had been ones I'd mentioned to our guide as ones I'd be pleased to see - this was going to be more about picking up a range of species.

The actual walk was largely just a casual and easy walk along the flat dykes between fields, most of which were growing lotus. Over the afternoon we saw the following:

Red Collared Dove - A flock on some power lines not far from the entrance.
Dusky Warbler - A single bird in a bush.
Plain Prinia - A single bird in the same bush.
Pheasant-tailed Jacana - Fairly numerous, frequently flushed from lotus fields and good numbers on the lake area at the top.
Indian Cormorant - One in the lake area at the top.
Pin-tailed Snipe - Some snipe I picked out were identified as this species by our guide.
Common Sandpiper - A few about.
Little Grebe - A single distant bird on the lake.
Little-ringed Plover - A few on the lake.
Black-winged Stilt - A few on the lake.
Whiskered Tern - A few resting on lake islands.
Painted Stork - One on the ground with an injured leg, regular fly overs.
Oriental Pratincole - One bird flying over.
A Yellow Wagtail sp. - In ambiguous plumage.
Pied Bushchat - A showy pair.
Bronze-winged Jacana - A single, skulking bird amongst lotuses in one area.
Great Myna - One on the back of a water buffalo on the way back.
Asian Brown Flycatcher - A single bird as we pulled over on the way back.

All in all, a lot of enjoyable birds! I'd originally asked only for the Florican half day, but the pitch was that adding in this Phnom Krom afternoon was negligibly more expensive (can't remember the exact amount, but it wasn't much at all) so added it on. Very glad I did, made for a very nice afternoon with some more lifers!

The next day we flew back to Singapore, so I'll do one more section on this - I did mention a few species out of order (Van Hasselt's Sunbird for instance) that were seen then around where we were staying, so my last full day will focus on Sungei Buloh, where I spent an entire day birding!

Congratulations on the Bengal Florican. I didn't make it to the grasslands last time I was there.

Thanks! Definitely one to head straight to the top of highlights of my birding career!

Anyway, returning to
Singapore

I did a few extra minor walk in between other things and picked up some other new species (the afforementioned Van Hasselt's Sunbird, plus an identified post-sighting from it's call Banded Woodpecker)

But the highlight of Singapore for birding was definitely Sungei Buloh. It took a bus, a train and then another bus to get there, so by Singapore standards quite out the way, but a very positive trip. I got off at Kranji carpark B, walked to the visitor centre then followed the path round into the reserve.

In order of sighting, notable species were:

Ashy Tailorbird: One just past the visitor centre, more further in.
Collared Kingfisher: Probably the definitive bird of the visit for me. Loads seen.
Common Flameback: One showy individual in the mangroves.
Oriental White-eye - A single bird appeared as I was watching the flameback.
Whimbrel - Good numbers inside the reserve.
Pacific Golden Plover - Good numbers inside the reserve.
Free Flying Painted and Milky Storks from the zoo.
Oriental Pied Hornbill - A single bird seen in the canopy from the tower. My first ever hornbill.
Copper-throated Sunbird - A pair seen while walking the mangrove boardwalks. A kind gentleman who was watching them with me enthusiastically told me I was very lucky, as not everyone manages to see them on a visit.
Intermediate Egret - Got a chance for some very close views of these birds I'd seen more distantly at Prek Toal.
Scarlet Sunbird - A stunning male was drinking out of the drinking fountain!
Scarlet-backed Flowerpecker - A female of these was eating fruit near the inner visitor centre.
Common Sandpiper - A few around.
Lineated Barbet - One turned up on an exposed branch near the bridge.
Stork-billed Kingfisher - This massive kingfisher made a late appearance right as I was thinking of going, flying under the bridge and landing behind me.

Also, not to go unoticed were the non-avian inhabitants. I had several species of crab, some dragonfly species, several unusual fish including mudskippers, a lot of huge spiders the exact species of which I haven't clarrified yet, but the highlight was the reptiles.

In addition to geckoes and a plethora of asian water monitors, I encountered a local who had found an Asian Vine Snake and was showing a child, and offered me the opportunity to hold it, which was fun. I also waited until the tide went out a bit by the bridge so I could see the Saltwater Crocodiles: my first ever crocodilian and by far the largest predator I've ever seen in the wild.

There were also a number of bird calls I couldn't locate the source of, but didn't recognise from the rest of the trip that may well have also constituted lifers for me had I been able to spot them.

When I get a bit of time I might do some more posts with total lists and some logistical notes to help anyone who might use this thread for reference later.

OK, so to do part 1 of the wrapup, total list of sightings:

To condense, I'll tag each species with C and/or S for Cambodia and Singapore respectively.

BIRDS
Pt. 1 - Non Passerines
Little Grebe (C) - One and Phnom Krom

Spot-billed Pelican (C) - 15+ seen at Prek Toal

Great Cormorant (C) - Abundant at Prek Toal, odd sightings elsewhere
Little Cormorant (C) - Common at Prek Toal, odd sightings elsewhere
Indian Cormorant (C) - Common at Prek Toal, odd sightings elsewhere
Oriental Darter (C) - Common at Prek Toal, one over at Florican Reserve

Grey Heron (S,C) - Seen at Prek Toal, Bishan Park, Sungei Buloh and more
Purple Heron (S,C) - Seen at Prek Toal and Bishan Park particularly
Chinese Pond Heron (S,C) - Probables abundant near water, only a few positively identifiable
*Javan Pond Heron (S,C?) - Based on range, some of the many pond herons at Prek Toal were this species, but impossible to identify
(Eastern) Cattle Egret (S) - A few seen from the car on grassy areas
(Eastern) Great Egret (S,C) - Common, abundant at Prek Toal
Intermediate Egret (S,C) - Only seen at Prek Toal and Sungei Buloh, where common.
Little Egret (S,C) - Common throughout
Black-crowned Night heron (C) - A couple at Prek Toal
Yellow Bittern (C) - One confirmed view at Prek Toal
Cinnamon Bittern (C) - Several birds seen diving between cover at Prek Toal
Black Bittern (C) - A single bird at Prek Toal seen in flight

Milky Stork (S) - Some free-flying zoo birds at Sungei Buloh, including hybrids
Painted Stork (C,S) - Abundant at Prek Toal, common over Florican reserve + Phnom Prom, free flying zoo birds at Sungei Buloh
Asian Openbill (C) - Abundant at Prek Toal, also in Siem Reap and Phnom Krom
Wooly-necked Stork (C) - Two distantly at florican reserve
Lesser Adjutant (C)- 10+ seen at Prek Toal, only 1 or 2 at a time

Black-headed Ibis (C) - Fairly common at Prek Toal

Indian Spot-billed Duck (C) - Only duck of the trip, a flock over Florican reserve

Black Baza (C) - One over Angkor Wat
Oriental Honey Buzzard (S) - Four total over different parks in Singapore
Black Shouldered Kite (C) - 1 distantly at Florican Grasslands
Brahminy Kite (S) - One over Bishan Park, several at Sungei Buloh
White-bellied Sea Eagle (S) - Over Sungei Buloh and Gardens by the Bay
Grey-headed Fish Eagle (C,S) - Two at Prek Toal very close, a very brief view at Sungei Buloh
Crested Serpent Eagle (C) - One at Prek Toal, a new site record for our guides
Shikra (C) - Common over Angkor Thom

Red Junglefowl (S) - Adult pair + chicks at Bishan Park

*Ruddy Breasted Crake (C) - A glimpse at Florican Grasslands was probably this species
White-breasted Waterhen (S) - Common at Bishan Park and Sungei Buloh visitor centre

Pheasant-tailed Jacana (C) - Numerous but shy at Phnom Krom
Bronze-winged Jacana (C) - A single bird at Phnom Krom
Pacific Golden Plover (S) - Common at Sungei Buloh
Little Ringed Plover (C) - A few at Phnom Krom
Whimbrel (S) - Common at Sungei Buloh
Common Redshank (S) - A flock at Sungei Buloh
Common Greenshank (C) - A flock over Florican Reserve
Wood Sandpiper (C) - One at Florican Reserve, one at Phnom Krom
Common Sandpiper (C,S) - One at Lower Pierce Reservoir, a few at Sungei Buloh, some at Phnom Krom
Pin-tailed Snipe (C) - A few at Phnom Krom
Black-winged Stilt (C) - Two or three at Phnom Krom
Oriental Pratincole (C) - One over at each both Florican Grasslands and Phnom Krom

Whiskered Tern (C) - Common at Tonle Sap, a few at Phnom Krom

Pink-necked Green Pigeon (S) - Most common pigeon encounter in Singapore
Red Collared Dove (C) - A few around Siem Reap, mostly outskirts
Spotted Dove (C,S) - Small numbers present in many locations
Zebra Dove (S) - Fairly common

Alexandrine Parakeet (C) - A colony over Ta Prohm
Red-breasted Parakeet (C) - A colony over Ta Prohm
Blue-crowned Hanging Parrot (S) - Odd birds seen around Ang Mo Kio

Asian Koel (S) - Heard most places, rarely seen
Green-billed Malkoha (C) - One showy bird at Prek Toal
Greater Coucal (C) - Several birds glimpsed at Prek Toal
Lesser Coucal (C) - A few heard at Phnom Krom

Large-tailed Nightjar (S) - Several heard, one seen around Ang Mo Kio

Swiftlet sp. (C,S) - Lots seen at various locations
Asian Palm Swift (C,S) - The only common identifiable swift sp seen.

Pied Kingfisher (C) - A number seen at Florican Grasslands
Common Kingfisher (C) - 10+ at Prek Toal
Stork-billed Kingfisher (S) - A single bird at Sungei Buloh
White-throated Kingfisher (S) - A single bird at Bishan Park
Black-capped Kingfisher (C) - A glimpse in flight at Prek Toal
Collared Kingfisher (S) - A pair at Lower Pierce Reservoir, very common at Sungei Buloh

Blue-tailed Bee-eater (C,S) - Common at Prek Toal, fairly common elsewhere
Indochinese Roller (C) - Several on powerlines outside Siem Reap
Dollarbird (C) - Two by East entrance to Angkor Wat

Oriental Pied Hornbill (S) - One at Sungei Buloh

Coppersmith Barbet (C) - One at Ta Prohm
Lineated Barbet (S) - One at Sungei Buloh
Sunda Pygmy Woodpecker - One at gardens by the bay
Common Flameback - One at Sungei Buloh
Banded Woodpecker - One over at Lower Pierce Reservoir, identified by colour/call combo

BIRDS
Pt. 2: Passerines

Barn Swallow (S,C) - Common throughout
Pacific Swallow (C) - A few scattered at various locations
Sand Martin (C) - A dying bird on the ground at Siem Reap Royal Gardens

Common Iora (S) - One in Ang Mo Kio

Yellow-vented Bulbul (S,C) - Common at both
Streak-eared Bulbul (C) - Seen in Siem Reap and at Prek Toal

Black Drongo (C) - Odd birds in Siem Reap, common at Florican Grasslands
Ashy Drongo (C) - Fairly common around Angkor Thom
Greater Raquet-tailed Drongo (C) - A single bird over Angkor Wat
Hair-crested Drongo (C) - Seen distantly on a flowering tree at Angkor Wat

Black-naped Oriole (C,S) - Fairly common at both

House Crow (S) - Reasonably frequent, most common at Sungei Buloh
Large-billed Crow (C) - One at Prek Toal village

Oriental Magpie Robin (S,C) - One of the most common birds at most locations

Siberian Stonechat (C) - One at each of Florican Reserve and Phnom Krom
Pied Bushchat (C) - Several at both Florican Reserve and Phnom Krom
Blue Rock Thrush (C) - Common on the ruins of Angkor Wat

Oriental Reed Warbler (C) - One at Florican Reserve
Common Tailorbird (S) - A few around Ang Mo Kio
Ashy Tailorbird (S) - Seen a few times around Sungei Buloh
Plain Prinia (C) - Seen at both Florican Reserve and Phnom Krom
Zitting Cisticola (C) - A number heard at Florican Grasslands
Striated Grassbird (C) - A few at Florican reserve

Asian Brown Flycatcher (C) - Seen at Ta Prohm and en route to Phnom Krom
Grey-headed Canary Flycatch (C) - One at Banteay Kdei
Pied Fantail (S) - Several at gardens by the bay

Eastern Yellow Wagtail (C) - One at Phnom Krom
Paddyfield Pipit (C) - Fairly common at Florican Reserve along the road

Brown Shrike (S,C) - One at Lower Pierce Reservoir, one at Florican Reserve

Asian Glossy Starling (S) - Common, though not quite the mainstay it is in KL
Asian Pied Starling (C) - One at Florican reserve
Common Myna (S,C) - Potentially the most common species seen in both countries
Great Myna (C) - One just outside Phnom Krom
Hill Myna (C) - One at Angkor Wat

Olive-backed Sunbird (C,S) - Most common sunbird at both, and one of most common Singaporean birds in general
Van Hasselt's Sunbird (S) - A pair in Ang Mo Kio
Scarlet Sunbird (C,S) - A female at Prek Toal, a stunning male at Sungei Buloh visitor centre
Copper throated Sunbird (S) - Several pairs seen around Sungei Buloh
Scarlet-backed Flowerpecker (S) - One at Bishan park, one at Sungei Buloh

Oriental White-eye (S) - One at Sungei Buloh

Eurasian Tree Sparrow (S,C) - A common species
Plain-backed Sparrow (C) - Two outside Siem Reap
Red Avadavat (C) - Several at Florican reserve
Chestnut Munia (C) - Two at Florican reserve
Scaly-breast Munia (S) - A single dead bird in Ang Mo Kio

MAMMALS
Lyle's Flying Fox (C) - A huge colony at Royal Palace Gardens of Siem Reap
Small Bat sp. possb Tomb Bats? - Several conspicuous colonies around Angkor Wat
Slender Squirrel (S) - Common at Lower Pierce Reservoir
Variable Squirrel (C) - Odd invididuals in forest around Angkor Wat
Plantain Squirrel (S) - Common at Lower Pierce Reservoir
House Shrew (S) - Several at East Coast Park at night

REPTILES and AMPHIBIANS
Saltwater Crocodile (S) - Two at Sungei Buloh
Red-eared Terrapon (S) - Individuals at both Sungei Buloh and Bishan Park
Asian Water Monitor (S) - Common at Bishan Park and Sungei Buloh
Common Sun Skink (C) - One at War Museum
Changeable Agama (S) - Seen in Ang Mo Kio and Gardens by the Bay
Yellow-striped Tree Skink (C) - One at Banteay Kdei
Common Gliding Lizard (S) - One at Sungei Buloh
Common Vine Snake (S) - One at Sungei Buloh
Flat-tailed Gecko + Common House Gecko - Various small domestic geckoes seen would have probably been these species

Banded Bullfrog (C) - A single individual outside out hotel at 5am

I did see some interesting Fish at Sungei Buloh, including Spotted Scat, Stripe-nosed Half-break and Mudskippers

I wasn't really doing invertibrates as such, but noted new species included:
Blue Riverdamsel, Purana Usnani (a cicada), Common Parasol, Common Picture Wing, Cruiser, Pink-fingered Vinegar Crab, Plain Tiger, Tawny Coster and Violet Vinegar Crab

foresttwitcher said:

Mike, although Florian (Dalat) does sometimes get to Cambodia it would have been a big coincidence for Alex to see him there! 8-P

Click to expand...

:-O

Congratulations indeed! I've yet to see that Florican...
Florian

Just to conclude this out, some general notes:

SINGAPORE

Singapore has a reputation for being very expensive, but for us, once we were there it was actually a lot cheaper than the UK. Obviously we didn't have to pay for accomodation which obviously is a major boon in terms of spend, but the other two major costs: food and transportation, were a bunch cheaper.

At the time of the visit it was approximately £1 = SING$1.7.

We didn't do insane amounts of travel, but I probably spent a total of around $15 over the entire visit which included visiting Sungeih Buloh and Downtown Singapore twice, and included bus journeys to the nearest station to where we were staying.

Similarly food was also surpisingly cheap. Not quite as much as in Malaysia or Cambodia - my other experience of South East Asia - but still you could easily get a good size meal in a food court or hawker centre for only a couple of dollars.

Out of the locations I visited, Sungeih Buloh was definitely the standout, but given how densely packed it is overall, there is some really great wildlife with the benefit of being compact and with good transport links.

I'd also like to shout out the very friendly wildlife lovers of Singapore. I honestly rarely interact with strangers while wildlife watching in the UK in more than a cursory way, but was very impressed with how enthused the people I met were in terms of actively wanting to share wildlife sightings with others.

Particular thanks to: lady who looked to find a fruit bat she'd seen the previous day for us, man who showed me the Asian vine snake he'd found, gentleman who showed me the copper-throated sunbirds and gentleman who started chatting to me and gave advice/pointed out stuff.

CAMBODIA
Cambodia is a definite contrast to Singapore - it's decidedly a very poor country in comparison and as a result, the basics are very cheap indeed.

It uses a weird hybrid currency system where US dollars (notes only) is used for larger transactions, and their own currency is used for smaller ones at the perculiar rate of 4020 riel = $1.

Tuck-tuck drivers are ubiquitous and by far the easiest way to get around. I would recommend two things: first that you go with your hotels recommended drivers where possible as that gives them a bit of accountability, and secondly pre-agree on prices for journeys before you set off. I would also say that if you are asking a tuck-tuck driver to take you round for the entire day, it's not obligatory but nice to tip them; given for how little they work even one or two dollars or your spare riel is an amount of money that will be worth a lot more to them than you.

Food is similarly very cheap, and even fairly fancy meals are going to be a lot cheaper than the UK. One of the most expensive meals we had was at Bug Cafe in Siem Reap (definitely an experience I'd recommend for those who feel up to it) and even that probably came to under £20 for the two of us including drinks. Smaller establishments on the street side can be only a few dollars.

One thing to remember: carry bottled water/drinks with you always. You will need to drink a lot, and the water isn't necessarily safe to drink. When going on trips, the driver and/or guide always provided some water for us, but we took our own too and generally went through most or all of both.

Where the prices begin to rack up is in trips.

Angkor Wat will probably be on the agenda for most people, and it worked out $37 each for a day pass. This was in addition to the price of our tuk-tuck driver. The price we paid at our hotel was $15 for the day trip, plus an extra $10 to get there for dawn. As mentioned earlier, we went for the East gate for a quieter visit start, and I definitely endorse that as a choice, though, be smarter than us and bring a torch! You'll have to walk from the tuk-tuk stop to the temple!

As mentioned earlier, for Prek Toal, we went with Cambodia Travel Trails after a recommendation and proved the best price and most responsive in enquiries (to be fair, I ask a lot of questions and am probably fairly annoying to correspond with). But note that that price doesn't include the reserve admission ticket or lunch, but even with these included it still was cheaper than other options and did include car journeys, boat trip and guide. The lunch was REALLY good, and though simple, probably one of my favourites of the entire trip, and supports a poor community. A plus was also that we paid in person, which saved on expensive international transfer fees.

For the Florican Reserve/Phnom Krom Trip, we went with Cambodia Bird Guide Association. It was the most expensive guided trip I've had, and worked out in the region of £270 plus international transfer fees of around £30 for a total of £300. But that being said, given the skill of our guides in identifying species, and the fact we had a separate driver too, and were very responsive to my target list, definitely worth the money.

As with food I strongly recommend tipping - it will definitely be appreciated, and especially with assistant guides at the Florican Reserve who helped spotting, it's definitely important.

As a side note, a few extra non-bird things I recommend to do in the area:

Phare: An acrobat based circus in Siem Reap that helps support local poor communities. Really impressive!
Bug Cafe: Mentioned earlier - if you want to experience Cambodia's insect based cuisine, this is a good place to do it.
Artisans Angkor: Another community project to product hand-made products to help employ people. A great place to get gifts for people back home if you are in the market, particularly silk items.
War Museum: Harrowing, but eye opening look at the conflict that shaped modern Cambodia so much.

Additionally, definitely don't go to the following:
Pyongyang Restaurant When I was first looking at the area near my hotel, a North Korean restaurant sounded like a really cool opportunity to try food from a notoriously insular nation. Unfortunatly, on reading up on it discovered that it basically launders money to North Korea and it's employees are not allowed to leave the premises and are under scrutiny by government agents. We decided against going.


If anyone has any other questions about either location I may be able to help with, either post here or PM me, and I'll help if I can!