The Singapore Birds Project held our first raptor watching booth across three Sundays: 23 October, 30 October and 6 November at Henderson Waves Bridge. We would like to thank all who dropped by and participated in our raptor count – we hope you picked up a tip or two on raptor identification or raptor spotting!
Across the three weekends, we spotted a total of 52 Crested Honey Buzzards, 60 Japanese Sparrowhawks, 29 Chinese Sparrowhawks and resident raptors like the Changeable Hawk-Eagle, White-bellied Sea Eagle and Brahminy Kite. We also snagged a few goodies like a Besra, Eastern Marsh Harrier, Greater Spotted Eagle, Rufous-bellied Eagle, Grey-faced Buzzards and Jerdon’s Bazas. It’s already a great feeling seeing these rare birds, and sharing their directions to a bridge full of enthusiastic birdwatchers makes that even better!
Raptors will still continue to pass through Singapore (in lower numbers) across the migratory season, you can check out our raptoring e-resources on how to identify the birds you see: RAP101: How to Identify Common Raptors, RAP201: How to Identify Uncommon Raptors and RAP301: What is that raptor? You can also check out our bar charts to find out when your favourite raptor peaks or our On This Day function, featuring rarities seen in the day or week. Some raptors you haven’t seen yet might come over the next two weeks or so!
Lastly, we would like to thank Max Khoo for giving us permission to use his raptor identification poster as a resource, the National Parks Board for their support and logistical help, Hui Zhen and Jing Ying for designing the migratory movement poster and our booth guides, Adrian, Cheng Teng, Dillen, Francis, Geraldine, Jing Ying, Keita, Movin, Raghav, Sandra and Zachary for the tireless work across the three weekends. See you all at the next event!
Signing off,
