Central Catchment Nature Reserve, Singapore
19 December 2005

I’ve just spent nine days at home on “standby” - ie not knowing where I’d get sent just before Christmas: it’s a worry, I tell you!

To cut a rather long story short (I can hear the cheers from here you ungrateful sods - these reports take ages to write you know) - after a gap of about six months I’m back in Singapore. And with more or less clear skies showing outside my room on the 49th floor of the hotel, I decided to spend the day having a really good look at the Central Catchment Nature Reserve, a mix of mainly old secondary forest, muddy footpaths, and dense undergrowth (once the jogging tracks and the boardwalks have been left behind anyway).

The birding here isn’t bad this time of year, particularly in the secondary forest between the observation tower and Rifle Range Road (where in the past I’ve seen Blue-winged Pitta, Siberian Blue Robin, and a handful of Forest Wagtails), and I had what I would definitely call a “good day”.

There are a number of different ways to get into the best parts of the Reserve - I for some reason didn’t go to one of the better ones: lack of sleep perhaps - that and getting refused entry into the Singapore Island Country Club, where I normally start from, on the grounds of “security” (perhaps the “security guard” mistook my binoculars for a limpet mine, or my camera for a grenade-launcher - who knows…) In the end I went to the main Macritchie Reservoir Car Park - along with several hundred joggers and hikers. Perhaps it was because of all these people that the first hour or two was fairly quiet, though a Stork-billed Kingfisher sat up in a tree with a large fish was a nice bonus.

After quite a long walk though (two or three hours) following the signs to ‘Bukit Timah’ along the edge of Macritchie and the bottom of the Country Club’s Golf Course I reached the older and quieter part of the forest on the far side of the reservoir and the birding began to get much better. At about 14:00 I found a small bird party: highlight was a Red-eyed Bulbul (an uncommon species here), and I had good views of a Short-tailed Babbler (another scarce bird, this one threatened by habitat clearance across its range) and Indian Cuckoo (plus an Arctic Warbler and the usual Striped Tit-babblers and squawking Greater Racket-tailed Drongos).

About ten minutes later in the same general area I unexpectedly disturbed a Hooded Pitta which gave good flight views - unmistakeably large white patches in the wings, greenish overall with a black face and a chestnut-brown crown - as it whirred off in front of me and disappeared into the undergrowth. I found a small track and went in after it. After fifteen minutes out of the corner of my eye I saw a bird drop down about 20m away: assuming it would be the pitta I got my bins on it and found myself looking into the startled yellow eyes of a small, sandy-grey, “eared” owl - an Oriental Scops. I’m not sure which of us was more surprised! As I reached for my camera it flew off. Despite what I guess is euphemistically called “intensive searching” (ie I had a good hunt around for it) I never got more than a few extra flight views - always low down as it flew from cover into more cover, and couldn’t get good enough views to get a photo (I figured that it’s an unusual species here, and I guessed a photo would have been useful).

Unfortunately I didn’t manage to see the pitta again either, but walking back to the main path I did find two Forest Wagtails - one of my favourite birds - trundling along quietly together…

UPDATE: I had an email from Lim Kim Seng stating that there are only five previous records of Oriental Scops Owl in Singapore and asking me to submit the record to the Nature Society of Singapore. I sent this the following the next day:

“At about 14:30 on December 19th 2005 I was birding in the Central Catchment Nature Reserve (in the area of forest not far from the end of Rifle Range Road) when I disturbed a Hooded Pitta (Pitta sordida) off the main path. I went into the forest on one of several tracks and after about ten minutes I caught a movement out of the corner of my eye as a bird dropped from a low perch towards the ground about 20m away.

Hoping that this would be the pitta I raised my binoculars (Leica Ultravids 8×42s) and found myself looking at a rather startled owl instead. I had the owl in full view for about three seconds before it flew off low over the ground towards cover.

The owl was immediately recognisable as being a Scops-type - most likely Oriental Scops Owl Otus sunia (I’m familiar with both European and Oriental Scops Owls, as well as Brown Hawk Owl and other species): it was “eared”, small-to-medium sized, and had bright yellow eyes. As the bird was in a pool of bright sunlight my initial thought was that the owl was a yellowish-sandyish-grey overall - though subsequent (and brief) flight views (three in all) in shady conditions revealed it to actually be more grey than sandy. Though I had little time to take in plumage details, I saw quite clearly the ear tufts, streaked underparts (formed by dark shaft streaks), and a rather plain-looking face.

I wasn’t sure which owl would be possible in Singapore, but was carrying both Robson’s “Birds of South-east Asia” and the current Singapore checklist, and this clearly suggested that on eye-colour and range it was unlikely to be any other species than Otus sunia.

Though I had my camera with me unfortunately the sighting was so unexpected and relatively brief that I didn’t take any photographs. The owl was not heard to call at any time either.”

As an additional comment, I posted my sightings on the (normally very civil and informative) Singapore Birding Yahoo-group - and got lambasted by a vociferous ex-pat for going “off the path”. I won’t go into details here, but the area of the forest I went into is well-used and has tracks all the way through it made by the military. The correspondent did make me think though, and the following day I posted some thoughts on “Forest Etiquette” which I’m posting below (just in case anyone reading this got the impression that I’m not the nice guy I make out that I am!):

My records in the Catchment Forest yesterday has sparked an uncomfortable debate on the usually friendly and informative local e-group, Singapore Birding. A member of the group asked me if I could be more specific about where I saw the Hooded Pitta and Oriental Scops Owl, and I gave a fairly lengthy reply explaining - as best as I could - which area I’d first seen them in. I did so because both species are rare visitors (not rare breeding species), the forest is public and heavily visited, and I was just lucky to have been in the right spot at the right time and I felt an obligation as a visitor to Singapore to provide information to local birders.

Shortly afterwards a mail was posted back in which it was implied that I’d only seen the birds I had by causing disturbance in a fragile habitat by going “off the path” and flushing them like some one-man rent-a-crowd.

I was a little stung, but reading back what I wrote on the blog yesterday and the mail I posted I guess I can see why there might have been a mis-understanding. In fact the forest I went into is (or was) used by the military in Singapore as a training-area and is therefore a warren of tracks, and I did write yesterday’s post in a sort of shorthand, where “I went in after” the Hooded Pitta could perhaps be read as “I decided to crash into the undergrowth and charge around like a bull elephant hoping that I might see it again briefly before it scarpered south into Indonesia”.

Anyone who’s ever looked for a bird like a pitta will know that the least effective way to see one is to make any noise whatsoever - I didn’t see it again, so perhaps I was noisier than I’d hoped but then I didn’t really expect to: the Catchment Forest is large enough and dense enough in parts to envelop a hundred pittas. Still, I can say with absolute surety that the Short-tailed Babbler wasn’t disturbed by me in any way at all, and that the Forest Wagtails were still trundling along quite happily when I walked off in the opposite direction…

I hope that anyone who knows me would agree that I take the welfare and conservation of birds and habitats very seriously. I also fully understand that the way I can go birding all over the world in effect puts me into someone else’s local patch once a week and I’m very conscious of not treading on anyone’s toes. With both those things in mind, I’ve decided to gather and post my thoughts on “forest etiquette” - a summary of behaviour that I believe is appropriate when I consider visiting or birding in a forest. I’m not saying for one minute that this is a set of guidelines that I think everyone should adopt, but if I’m challenged to think about my birding - or the effect my birding might have on the habitat that I’m in - then it’s important (and useful) for me to do so…

• Think. A forest is a precious and wondrous place. Worldwide they’re shrinking fast and increasingly disturbed. A forest doesn’t need me, but I need it. I feel alive and recharged when I’ve been in a forest. I don’t ever want to lose that feeling, so I don’t: I think about where I am, I try to learn all the time.
• Forests are fragile. I always try to be responsible. Forests exist as a complex web - upper storeys protecting lower storeys, which in turn protect life on the forest floor. I try not to do anything to damage that web. If there isn’t a path, I don’t make one. I look where I walk - I do what I can to avoid snapping or treading on seedlings or - Heaven forbid - a threatened plant species. I’m careful. Yes, obviously my being there and walking around is a disturbance in itself, and I’m certain I’ve trodden where I shouldn’t have, but I do what I can: I don’t ever go into posted areas, climb fences, or ignore advisory signs. And I never litter.
• Wildlife comes first. I want to see as many birds, mammals, insects etc as I can - but I want to see them behaving naturally. I want to see them well - and that means being quiet, wearing dull clothing, walking slowly. Disturb the habitat, and you inevitably disturb the wildlife. I’m not a tracker, supernaturally silent, or an invisible presence - but I try to be. I fail a lot of the time, but I always try.
• The forest isn’t mine. I’m usually more of an uninvited guest than a stakeholder. For all I know local conservationists may have fought long battles so that I can walk here. I always respect what local birders ask of me. I share my data - it may be important and it may be useful. It may not be - but I don’t assume that it isn’t, because I just don’t know.
• Give back as much as I take. It’s a privilege to be able go to so many of the most beautiful places on the planet. If I can help in their conservation - even it’s just by a write-up on a blog like this one - then I should do. If I can help in any way, just ask me!

Macritichie Reservoir from the observation tower

 

Stork-billed Kingfisher Pelargopsis capensis

 

Male Pink-necked Green Pigeon Treron vernans (For a Gallery go here)

 

Banded Woodpecker Picus miniaceus

 

Indian Cuckoo Cuculus micropterus

 

Short-tailed Babbler Malacocincla malaccensis

 

Forest Wagtail Dendronanthus indicus

 

Cruiser Vindula dejone erutella

Day List (Bird names taken from “Pocket Checklist of the Birds of the Republic of Singapore”, Lim Kim Seng 1999):

Banded Woodpecker Picus miniaceus 1; Dollarbird Euystomus orientalis 1; Stork-billed Kingfisher Pelargopsis capensis 1; Blue-tailed Bee-eater Merops philippensis 2; Indian Cuckoo Cuculus micropterus 1; Asian Koel Eudynamys scolopacea 2; Swiflet sp 50+; Oriental Scops Owl Otus sunia 1; Emerald Dove Chalcochaps indica 1; Pink-necked Green Pigeon Treron vernans c) 20; White-bellied Sea-eagle Haliaeetus leucogaster 1; Hooded Pitta Pitta sordida 1; Large-billed Crow Corvus macrorhynchus 4; Black-naped Oriole Oriolus chinensis 3; Greater Racket-tailed Drongo Dicrurus paradiseus 4-5; Asian Glossy Starling Aplonis panayensis 6-8; Javan Myna Acridotheres javanicus 100+; Yellow-vented Bulbul Pycnonotus goiavier 10+; Olive-winged Bulbul Pycnonotus plumosus 1; Red-eyed BulbulbPycnonotus brunneus 1; Arctic Warbler Phylloscopus borealis 2; Short-tailed Babbler Malacocincla malaccensis 2; Striped Tit-babbler Macronous gularis 3-4; Orange-bellied FlowerpeckerDicaeum chrysorrheum 2-3; Scarlet-backed FlowerpeckerDicaeum cruentatum 2-3; Forest Wagtail Dendronanthus indicus 2.

All photographs copyright Charlie Moores