Zhenghua Park Bird-watching (13-Mar-10)

Went for Zhenghua Park for a beginner course on Bird-watching. It is organised by Nparks and guided by Dr Ho Hua Chew from Nature Society (Singapore) Bird Group. Including me and Alicia, there were only 4 participants!!! But it had been a fruitful experience.

Here's some pictures of the scaly-breasted munias feeding on the seed of the elephant grasses, and the close-up pictures of the elephant grasses.
Then a picture of the green-crested lizard on the branch. This is a native species to Singapore. I also seen at least 4 of the alien species, the changeable lizard in the park as well, but I din take pictures of them. The ones that I've seen are the males with bright orange head to attract the females during the breeding seasons. And they communicate by one another by doing push-ups.
Then a small pretty flower caught my eye~
And finally the best find of the day! The changeable hawk eagle! It was perching on the Albizia tree. Dr Ho said he thinks that even though Albizia is not a native species, it should not be cut off despite the fact that it falls easily as it still play an important ecological function. Only those around the neighbourhood that will pose a danger to human should be cut off, those in the wild like the ones in Zhenghua Park should be preserved! This is especially so when the endangered species in Singapore, the changeable hawk eagle make use of the tree!
That's all for the photos I've taken during the trip. But I also made a note of the list of birds spotted!

List of birds spotted during the trip~
1. White-throated Kingfisher
- It was just perching on the roof of the carpark next to us!
2. Pied-triller
- I've seen this bird at kent ridge but din know the ID, thanks Dr Ho for the correct ID of the birds!
3. Olive-backed Sunbird
4. Javan Myna
5. Eurasian Tree Sparrow
- Seen them on the way to the park
6. Black-naped oriole
7. Swiftlets
- According to Dr Ho, swiftlets have a narrower wings, swallows have broader ones. And also swiftlets have a more regular circling methods, whereas swallows fly erratically.
8. Asian Glossy Starlings
- LOTS of them! The juveniles got a whitish breasts with streaks, whereas the adults have the glossy black plummage!
9. Spotted Dove
10. Yellow-vented Bulbul
11. Large-billed crow
- This crow is twice the size of the house crow and found near forested areas.
12. Common Iora
- Lifer, 1st time seeing!
13. Tiger Shrike
- Also lifer, din really seen it, heard the calls on the grass patch in front of us.
14. Scaly-breasted Munia
- Lifer, they are seen feeding on the seeds of the elephant grasses. (picture above)
15. Striped-tit Babbler
- A whole flock of them hopping about in the bushes and when we turned back, they flew very near to us but was too fast to take a picture.
16. Common Goldenback (Male)
- Also known as the Common Flameback. I've seen the female one with the black crest. This is the 1st time seeing the male with a red crest. It was on one of the Albizia tree!
17. Changeable Hawk Eagle (1 Juvenile and 1 Adult with a light moult)
- It is changeable because there are two types of moult, the light brownish one and the darker brown ones. The adult light moult one was perching on the Albizia tree and the juvenile was seen circling . The adult also flew past us but I did not have a good look at it.
18. Rufous-tailed tailorbird
- Spotted by Dr Ho, I din managed to catch a glimpse. He said it had a long tail.
19. Greater Racket Tailed Drongo
- Also spotted by Dr Ho, I only seen it flying off.
20. Pink-Necked Green Pigeon
- Spotted by Kian Boon, the Nparks staff, while waiting for the rest of the participants.
21. Zebra Dove
- Lifer. It is smaller than the spotted dove and has a distinctive pattern on its wings.