Singapore is the first stop of the two-month bird-backpacking trip across southeast Asia Darío Gijón and I have just embarked on. I have grown interest on visiting some of its urban gardens, especially Gardens by the Bay and Singapore Botanic Gardens. From a European perspective, the fact that such places in the middle of a megacity would boast some 200-250 bird species recorded is just unbelievable. Even more unbelievable was finding that both places could be explored free of cost!
On our first full day in the island country, we started our morning headed to the bay area. It didn’t take long until we enjoyed great views of some common species including spotted dove (Spilopelia chinensis), zebra dove (Geopelia striata), house crow (Corvus splendens), Asian glossy starling (Aplonis panayensis), Pacific swallow (Hirundo javanica) and black-naped oriole (Oriolus chinensis). Among introduced species, we found Javan myna (Acridotheres javanicus), feral pigeon (Columba livia) and red junglefowl (Gallus gallus) to be particularly common as well, even around green areas in the street.
Our first morning stop was Gardens by the Bay, which we accessed from the Floral Fantasy area on the west after strolling through the whole bay. The place is magical and features a futuristic concept of gardening that we both really enjoyed. The place provided great looks of noisy Asian koels (Eudynamys scolopaceus), pink-necked green-pigeon (Treron vernans), white-breasted waterhen (Amaurornis phoenicurus), Swinhoe’s white-eye (Zosterops simplex), yellow-vented bulbul (Pycnonotus goiaiver), Malaysian pied-fantail (Rhipidura javanica), Oriental magpie-robin (Copsychus saularis) and introduced red-whiskered bulbul (Pycnonotus jocosus) — none of them in high numbers, I must say. As we left, a Sunda pygmy woodpecker (Yungipicus moluccensis) gave brief looks among the trees of a parking lot.
We reached Singapore Botanic Gardens by metro after a late lunch in Little India. Albeit not as futuristic, the asthetics of this tropical garden are equally appealing, with themed areas and some botanical jewels. Right at our arrival around the lake north of the gardens, we connected with common iora (Aegithina tiphia), Brahminy kite (Haliastur indus), gray-headed fish-eagle (Icthyophaga ichthyaetus) and chestnut munia (Lonchura atricapilla).
Olive-winged bulbul (Pycnonotus plumosus) and brown-throated sunbirds (Anthreptes malacensis) provided good looks, and we found a spiny turtle (Heosemys spinosa) with a broken shell. We were quite shocked to bump into our first collared kingfisher (Todiramphus chloris) in the middle of the woods, far from any water body. A banded woodpecker (Chrysophlegma miniaceum) was another great sight.
Another crazy find was a paradise flying snake (Chrysopelea paradisi) climbing on some wooden railing — a man from Sichuan used his phone for translation and explained how railing is built with corners in his region so snakes cannot climb it easily. Closeby, some adult and young ornate sunbirds (Cinnyris ornatus) posed for me while feeding on flower nectar.
Bird numbers were not too high and the number of species seen was definitely lower than on a typical outing in Spain — note that we were unfamiliar with sounds, but it still surprised us. This was even more evident once we entered a dense, high-canopy rainforest area on a side of the garden. We did see different plantain squirrels (Callosciurus notatus), common treeshrews (Tupaia glis) and clouded monitors (Varanus salvator), but as of birds, we only noted the distinctive calls of a lineated barbet (Psilopogon lineatus) which we eventually glimpsed. Tough one!
By the following day, we counted with some more experience of rainforest after a late afternoon hike in Bukit Timah where we observed a playful troop of long-tailed macaques (Macaca fascicularis) and connected with different birds on a large fruiting tree on top — including local specialties like red-crowned barbet (Psilopogon rafflesii) and chestnut-bellied malkoha (Phaenicophaeus sumatranus).
A quick morning peak again in the bay area brought us to Marina East, which was unfortunately under renovation. This prevented us from bagging some targets of this spot. However, walking on a grassland area next to the beach, we connected with a white-morph striated heron (Butorides striata), white-throated kingfisher (Halcyon smyrnensis), Pacific reef heron (Egretta sacra), some little terns (Sternula albifrons), a couple of white-headed munias (Lonchura maja), paddyfield pipit (Anthus rufulus) and zitting cisticola (Cisticola juncidis) — which called “double-zitting”, as its local form is known.
Back in Gardens by the Bay, a quick downpour stopped us for a bit under a veranda with a bar where we grabbed some fruit juices. The rain allowed us to enjoy close looks of different birds, including white-breasted waterhen, Pacific swallow, blue-throated bee-eater (Merops viridis), red-breasted parakeet (Psittacula alexandri), chestnut munia or scarlet-backed flowerpecker (Dicaeum cruentatum).
The best these gardens had to offer happened later in the evening when we visited Singapore Botanic Gardens again. An open area with a large palm tree garden offered a good viewpoint for passing-by birds, where we had only briefly glimpsed a personal target, the pied imperial-pigeon (Ducula bicolor) — an incredibly gorgeous pigeon which forages in offshore islets and only visits mainland in some spots for roosting, this being a prime place to spot it worldwide.
Our luck changed when we walked past an orchid garden which did not prove too productive under the sun the day before. Many different birds fed on the fruiting palm trees next to it, including gorgeous long-tailed parakeet (Psittacula longicauda) and an obliging pied imperial-pigeon!
Pink-necked green-pigeons and common hill mynas (Gracula religiosa) also made an appearance. And the cherry on top: four oriental pied-hornbills (Anthracoceros albirostris) obliged with their impressive looks, jumping between branches while feeding on fruits. We knew beforehand that these birds lived in the city, but it still feels somewhat unbelievable.
The lake in the north resulted in fantastic views of foraging scaly-breasted munias (Lonchura punctulata) and a massive stork-billed kingfisher (Pelargopsis capensis) on the watch while we sheltered from yet another shower.
Heading to the palm grove, we made some new additions to the garden list: greater racket-tailed drongo (Dicrurus paradiseus), a vocal laced woodpecker (Picus vittatus) and several equally vocal blue-crowned hanging-parrots (Loriculus galgulus). Finding a gray-rumped treeswift (Hemiprocne longipennis) flying over us before sunset was quite unexpected but highly welcome.
Right before night time, some flyby dollarbirds (Eurystomus orientalis) and introduced rose-ringed parakeets (Psittacula krameri) and coconut lorikeets (Trichoglossus haematodus) were last minute sights. A white-bellied fish-eagle (Icthyophaga leucogaster) prepared to roost in one of the lakes and flew, allowing us to spot it in the faint light.
Only during our stay in Singapore had I understood the advantage of starting a trip like ours from a place like this. Casual birding while sightseeing long-awaited places allowed us to get the hang on tropical Asia birds from a beginner level and get prepared for what was to come. The looks, sounds and jizz of many widespread species in southeast Asia had become familiar after our short stay in Singapore, and we also enjoyed some nice surprises.
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