Telok Blangah Hill Raptor Watch 2015

15 Nov 2015.

This young Oriental Honey Buzzard was circling low over the hillside before dropping down to trees below to roost.

The overcast skies for most of the day could be one of the reasons for the low count at today’s Raptor Watch at all the sites. Leow Yoon Li, Lim Lee Lee and her son Clement joined Kenneth Kee and I at Telok Blangah Hill Terrace in the count today. We did not get the big flocks of Oriental Honey Buzzards like last year but nevertheless had enough raptors to keep us busy for a good part of the morning. 8 years old Lionel Neo came with his dad to the hill top to practice his gongfu moves but ended up helping us with the count as he was fascinated with our scopes, binoculars and the raptors.

This curious young Crested Goshawk made our day.

Black Bazas came up tops with 40 birds from 2 small kettles. We were rather surprised to see some flying north west instead of South and East. Did they know that forests in Indonesia are gone? All the 7 Japanese Sparrowhawks that we saw were flying high up. Only 5 Oriental Honey Buzzards were counted, all juveniles. One even came down to perched at the rain tree on the hill top. Resident raptors include 3 Brahminy Kites, I White-bellied Sea-eagle and 2 Black-shouldered Kites ( new location for this species which is normally found in open grasslands).

The day ended with great excitement when a young Crested Goshawk flew in and perched on the Rain Tree next to us. A lifer to Lee Lee, Clement and Yoonli.

A young pale morph female Oriental Honey Buzzard was able to find its way to our island on its own. They will be spending the summer in Indonesia.