Singapore March Trip 2024

Day 1: I will arrive in Singapore in the morning or at noon. I'll spend the day hanging out with my friends and at night, I will visit Night Safari. I intend to watch the Creatures of the Night show, so I will come around opening time. I usually walk from the T-devil trail to the Fishing Cat trail, because it's way less crowded than the other way around, which most people take. When I finish the trails, I'll take the tram, and finish up around 11:30 pm. This time, I may alter my course and go through the fishing cat trail first, because I've heard that if I go early, I may be able to spot the pangolin.
 
Day 2: I will visit the zoo with my friends which will probably take the whole day. Some species I will look out for are the free-roaming Javan Langur, Sumatran Orangutan, Reticulated Python, and wild species such as Sunda Colugo, Stork Billed Kingfisher, Lesser Whistling Duck, and Emerald Dove.
 
Day 3: I will wake up early in the morning to go to Pasir Ris Park for some birding. I hope I see the Spotted Wood Owls, Buffy Fish Owls, Stork Billed Kingfishers, Blue Eared Kingfishers, Collared Kingfishers, White Throated Kingfishers, Mangrove Pit Vipers, Striated Herons, and if we are lucky some otters too.

After that, I will visit Bird Paradise. I will look out for many species including the Philippine Eagle, Mangrove Pitta, Negros Bleeding Heart, Santa Cruz Ground Dove, Green Woodhoopoe, and many others. I loved this park the last time I went, and I am looking foward to visiting again!
 
Last edited:
Dr. Wolverine said:
Day 3: I will wake up early in the morning to go to Pasir Ris Park for some birding. I hope I see the Spotted Wood Owls, Buffy Fish Owls, Stork Billed Kingfishers, Blue Eared Kingfishers, Collared Kingfishers, White Throated Kingfishers, Mangrove Pit Vipers, Striated Herons, and if we are lucky some otters too.

After that, I will visit Bird Paradise. I will look out for many species including the Philippine Eagle, Mangrove Pitta, Negros Bleeding Heart, Santa Cruz Ground Dove, Green Woodhoopoe, and many others. I loved this park the last time I went, and I am looking foward to visiting again!
Click to expand...
tip when visiting nature parks, if you see leaves placed on the railing by other visitors, that means they found something interesting for others to see at that spot, eg. snakes
 
Day 4: I will wake up early, and visit Sungei Buloh for the entire day. I will spend my time circling the park, and hopefully see some Crocs. My goal species are smooth-coated otter, oriental pied hornbill, Eurasian Whimbrel, Lesser Adjutant, Saltwater Crocodile, White Bellied Sea Eagle, Stork Billed Kingfisher, Collared Kingfisher, and many shorebird species. I saw Terek Sandpiper last time which was quite a surprise since they are listed as "uncommon migrants". I may go to the Kranji Reservoir in search of Blue Eared Kingfisher.
 
Day 5: I will wake up early and visit Bukit Timah Nature Reserve, including Hindhede Nature Park and Bukit Timah Summit. I aim to see Oriental Darter, Grey Headed Fish Eagle, Blue Eared Kingfisher, Brown Boobok, Stork Billed Kingfisher, lesser mousedeer, and long tailed macaque.

After a couple hours here, I will visit Windsor Nature Park, which I have heard is a good birding spot. Species I aim to see are Oriental Honey Buzzard, Crimson Sunbird, Sunda Pygmy Woodpecker, Blue Tailed Bee Eater, Wild Boar, and Sunda Colugo.
 
@Dr. Wolverine , I can also recommend the Botanic Gardens at night if you want to see a Large-tailed Nightjar. Also, not sure about your fitness level, but it will be difficult to do Bukit Timah and another park in one day.
As for more specific tips, try to give Bird Paradise more time, from experience you have a 15 min grace period before they chase you out when the park closes, but ideally you should try to give the place 6 hours.
 
Zhao yun said:
@Dr. Wolverine , I can also recommend the Botanic Gardens at night if you want to see a Large-tailed Nightjar. Also, not sure about your fitness level, but it will be difficult to do Bukit Timah and another park in one day.
As for more specific tips, try to give Bird Paradise more time, from experience you have a 15 min grace period before they chase you out when the park closes, but ideally you should try to give the place 6 hours.
Click to expand...

Thank you, I will take your advice for Bukit Timah and BP, but I have already visited the Botanic Gardens, and I am trying to go to other hotspots.
 
Day 6: I will visit Pulau Ubin, and go cycling around the island. I will also go to Chek Jawa wetlands for the shorebirds and other species. I aim to see Oriental Pied Hornbill, Blue Eared Kingfisher, a whole lotta Shorebirds, Otters, Wild Boar, and many more!
 
Day 7: I will visit Thomson Nature Park early in the morning in search of Raffles banded langur. I will aim to see that, Long Tailed Macaque, Emerald Dove, Greater Racket Tailed Drongo, and maybe Lesser mousedeer. I will also walk along Old Upper Thomson Road to increase my chances of seeing the Langurs.

After that, I will visit Bishan Ang-mo Kio park, to see Stirated heron, Purple Heron, Chinese Pond Heron, Smooth Coated Otter, White Breasted Waterhen, Blue tailed Bee Eater, and Orange Cheeked Waxbill.

After Bishan, I will visit Windsor Nature Park. I aim to see Crimson Sunbird, Sunda Colugo, Wild Boar, and many more.

While three parks in one day may seem hard, these three parks are in very close proximity to each other, so I will be able to manage.
 
I am going to leave Japan right now, and arrive in Singapore in the afternoon. I will be visiting Night Safari today. Fingers crossed for the colugo!

Note 1: I probably will not be able to post a review tonight so I will post one tomorrow.

Note 2: I will be changing my schedule, because of factors such as birding guides and my friend’s availability.
 
New Schedule:

Day 1: Night Safari

Day 2: Singapore Zoo

Day 3: Hindhede Nature Park and Pasir Ris Park

Day 4: Sungei Buloh

Day 5: Bukit Timah

Day 6: [Thomson Nature Park, Bishan Ang-mo kio park, Windsor nature park] or [Pulau Ubin]

Day 7: [Thomson Nature Park, Bishan Ang-mo kio park, Windsor nature park] or [Pulau Ubin]

Day 8: Hanging out with friends
 
Night Safari Review:

As always, Night Safari was wonderful, and something about seeing the animals in darkness, whether it was their behavior or just the sheer feeling, was amazing. First, we arrived around 7:30 and we couldn't go see the creatures of the night show, so no bearded pigs this time. We walked from the Tasmanian Devil trail first. The kiwi as always was very active, and all the devils were outside. Next in East Lodge Trail, the male babirusa was very active, and this kid passed by it's exhibit saying "Oh, its just a goat"!!! I could not spot the Bongo. This was the first time I ever saw the Aardvark in it's exhibit, it was always hiding. There was a mousedeer in the Sunda Scops owl enclosure at East Lodge. I went to the Indian Rhino feeding platform, and though I did not feed it, this was the closest I've ever been to one. Leopard trail was great as always, and I am noticing fewer rats than the last couple visits! I spotted a brownish red morph colugo above the Porcuipine exhibit, and another one, this time the greyish brown morph, right outside of East Lodge. I noticed the Servals are no longer there. I heard from a keeper that they are currently working on another enclosure solely for the pangolin, hopefully a better view! In fishing cat trail, I noticed that the Maned Wolf was gone, and there was no signage. The fishing cat was diving in, which is always a pleasant suprise.

After I finished the trails, I got on the tram. The tram ride went on as usual, and our driver was wonderful, and engaged the visitors on the journey. The only downside was that the tram became really loud. In between the Malayan Tapier and the Elephant was the newly reopened area for Gaurs! There were two individuals on display, and both were very muscular. This was my first time seeing gaur, so it was quite the excitement. Both bull elephants looked mighty as ever, and as the tram came to an end, I felt overjoyed and excited for the coming week.
 
From some photo I saw these days, it seems the bearded pigs were moved to animal show of Singapore Zoo, so you may still have chance. :p


Dr. Wolverine said:
Night Safari Review:

As always, Night Safari was wonderful, and something about seeing the animals in darkness, whether it was their behavior or just the sheer feeling, was amazing. First, we arrived around 7:30 and we couldn't go see the creatures of the night show, so no bearded pigs this time. We walked from the Tasmanian Devil trail first. The kiwi as always was very active, and all the devils were outside. Next in East Lodge Trail, the male babirusa was very active, and this kid passed by it's exhibit saying "Oh, its just a goat"!!! I could not spot the Bongo. This was the first time I ever saw the Aardvark in it's exhibit, it was always hiding. There was a mousedeer in the Sunda Scops owl enclosure at East Lodge. I went to the Indian Rhino feeding platform, and though I did not feed it, this was the closest I've ever been to one. Leopard trail was great as always, and I am noticing fewer rats than the last couple visits! I spotted a brownish red morph colugo above the Porcuipine exhibit, and another one, this time the greyish brown morph, right outside of East Lodge. I noticed the Servals are no longer there. I heard from a keeper that they are currently working on another enclosure solely for the pangolin, hopefully a better view! In fishing cat trail, I noticed that the Maned Wolf was gone, and there was no signage. The fishing cat was diving in, which is always a pleasant suprise.

After I finished the trails, I got on the tram. The tram ride went on as usual, and our driver was wonderful, and engaged the visitors on the journey. The only downside was that the tram became really loud. In between the Malayan Tapier and the Elephant was the newly reopened area for Gaurs! There were two individuals on display, and both were very muscular. This was my first time seeing gaur, so it was quite the excitement. Both bull elephants looked mighty as ever, and as the tram came to an end, I felt overjoyed and excited for the coming week.
Click to expand...
 
Singapore Zoo review

I first went to Treetops Trail, and the otters were indoors and only two proboscis monkeys could be seen. The male babirusa was out which was nice, and there was a beautiful male peafowl in the Anoa exhibit.
I quickly passed by the pygmy hippo area, and went to Australiasia. Both the grey kangaroos and tree kangaroos(indoor) were very active, but I did not spot anything in the outdoor cassowary/tree kangaroo area. I did not spot the Nubian Ibex in the GRV area :(. The serval was sleeping.
I saw a colugo in between Garden Pavillion and the baboons. No Javan Langur spotted. I completely missed Elephants of Asia, and went around the whole primate kingdom instead.
After that we walked to the Orangutans, and then to Wild Africa. The painted dogs were out but no pups. The nyalas are completely phased out, and I did not spot the first Marabou Stork in the Zebra exhibit. One fossa has a bobby tail, does anyone know why?
The reticulated pythons are being housed with the Burmese python, and I just walked past Reptopia. I walked over to the Sumatran orangutan, and this time I finally saw them. Their golden beards are really spectacular! I walked over to the Chimp area, then to Fragile forest. Mandai lists their Spotted Whistling Ducks as lesser whistling ducks for some reason. There was a wild Common Hill Myna inside the biodome. We took a tram to get back, and the speaker still mentions the Mandrills that were housed next to the chimps.

Wildlife I spotted:
Sunda Colugo
Plantain Squirrel
Crested Goshawk
White Bellied Sea Eagle
Asian Glossy Starling
Oriental Magpie Robin
Crimson Sunbird
Ornate Sunbird
Lesser Spiderhunter
Scarlet Backed Flowerpecker
Rufous Tailed tailorbird
Red Junglefowl
Spotted Dove
Javan Myna
Common Hill Myna
Olive Winged Bulbul
Straw Headed Bulbul
Water Monitor
Draco Lizard
 
Hindhede Nature Park review

On Monday, I decided to hire a professional birding guide, because I was not used to birding in Singapore. We first visited Hindhede Nature Park early in the morning, and stayed at the quarry for about an hour. We spotted many wildlife around the quarry and in the forest. The highlight was undoubtably the Brown Boobook that I spotted after "weeks of disaperance" according to our guide.

Species list:

Mammals

Sunda Colugo
Plantain Squirrel
Common Treeshrew

Birds

House Swift

Spotted Dove

Pink Necked Green Pigeon

Red Legged Crake

Oriental Darter

Brahminy Kite

Brown Boobook

Stork Billed Kingfisher

Collared Kingfisher

Blue Eared Kingfisher

Blue Tailed Bee Eater

Long Tailed Parakeet

Ashy Minivet

Pied Triller

Black Naped Oriole

Greater Racket Tailed Drongo

Olive Winged Bulbul

Straw Headed Bulbul

Yellow Vented Bulbul

Pacific Swallow

Barn Swallow

Ashy tailorbird

Asian Fairy Bluebird

Asian Glossy Starling

Javan Myna

Common Myna
 
Pasir Ris Review

After Hindhede, our guide took us to Pasir Ris Park in search of the Owls. We first parked at Carpark E and in no time, spotted the two Buffy Fish Owls. After Admiring their beauty for a while, we drove to Carpark D and looked around for the Spotted Wood Owls. We crossed the bridge in hopes of spotting them, but instead we saw another pair of Buffy Fish Owl. Feeling dissapointed, we walked back to Carpark D where our guide spotted a female Oriental Pied Hornbill. I was taking pictures of it when it flew down behind a nearby tree. As I was trying to find it, I spotted three brown fluffy lumps of a branch. I finally spotted the wood owls, thanks to the Hornbill! We just stood there for a while, all while the juvinile, now in fully mature feathers, was facing backwards. The two parents where awake and stared at us. Our guide thought we had luck, so we decided to drive all the way to Begonia Carpark (beause Carpark B is now closed), and tried our luck with the Sunda Scops Owl. We met a couple other birders at the three trees next to the Kingfisher Pond, and in no time, our guide spotted a tiny brown lump inside the tree. The scops owl was facing backwards and we could only see its back. While it was not the best view, we managed to see 4 owl species, and 8 individuals. It was a great way to start off this trip!
 
Dr. Wolverine said:
Singapore Zoo review

I first went to Treetops Trail, and the otters were indoors and only two proboscis monkeys could be seen. The male babirusa was out which was nice, and there was a beautiful male peafowl in the Anoa exhibit.
I quickly passed by the pygmy hippo area, and went to Australiasia. Both the grey kangaroos and tree kangaroos(indoor) were very active, but I did not spot anything in the outdoor cassowary/tree kangaroo area. I did not spot the Nubian Ibex in the GRV area :(. The serval was sleeping.
I saw a colugo in between Garden Pavillion and the baboons. No Javan Langur spotted. I completely missed Elephants of Asia, and went around the whole primate kingdom instead.
After that we walked to the Orangutans, and then to Wild Africa. The painted dogs were out but no pups. The nyalas are completely phased out, and I did not spot the first Marabou Stork in the Zebra exhibit. One fossa has a bobby tail, does anyone know why?
The reticulated pythons are being housed with the Burmese python, and I just walked past Reptopia. I walked over to the Sumatran orangutan, and this time I finally saw them. Their golden beards are really spectacular! I walked over to the Chimp area, then to Fragile forest. Mandai lists their Spotted Whistling Ducks as lesser whistling ducks for some reason. There was a wild Common Hill Myna inside the biodome. We took a tram to get back, and the speaker still mentions the Mandrills that were housed next to the chimps.

Wildlife I spotted:
Sunda Colugo
Plantain Squirrel
Crested Goshawk
White Bellied Sea Eagle
Asian Glossy Starling
Oriental Magpie Robin
Crimson Sunbird
Ornate Sunbird
Lesser Spiderhunter
Scarlet Backed Flowerpecker
Rufous Tailed tailorbird
Red Junglefowl
Spotted Dove
Javan Myna
Common Hill Myna
Olive Winged Bulbul
Straw Headed Bulbul
Water Monitor
Draco Lizard
Click to expand...

The Hill Myna in the biodome is part of Mandai's collection. They recently acquired a few individuals as part of the European breeding programme. There are also wild Hill Mynas on Zoo grounds of course.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top