[Photography] Birds Stand-off at the Pasir Ris Park

After a brief hiatus, I am back to bird-watching. Today I went to Pasir Ris Park.

I explored this park a few times before and did not cover the whole park. This park was huge, and because of this, there could be many types of birds to be spotted, which was very much dependent on the location. There was an area for fantails, an area for kingfishers, etc. There were some long canal with mangroves that were ideal for birds to perch and hunt.

Here are some pictures I took this morning.

When I reached the park, I saw this. This area is very popular amongst the birders. I followed a group and spotted a barbet before. 

So I looked up...

It's a pretty rare sight. A Crested Goshawk and a Spotted Wood Owl in a "stand-off". The owl is a resident in the park, so everyone was actually got excited by the hawk, which is nationally critically endangered. Some saw the hawk was consulting  the wise.

A closer look at the Crested Goshawk.

Another shot of the Crested Goshawk. The feather behind the head is kinda cute.

A closer look of the Spotted Wood Owl.

Another shot, more elegant perhaps, of the Spotted Wood Owl. Look at the talons!

So... apparently, the hawk was eyeing on one of the owlets perching on the same tree. But with the parent keep watch, the smaller hawk dared not advance, but everyone, including myself, was anticipating something. It was very much like NatGeo! In the end, the hawk just flew away.

One of the two owlets. The other was higher up. Cute eh?

This was not the only interesting sight I encountered. I also spotted the Banded Bay Cuckoo for the first time!

At first, I thought it was a Tiger Shrike, but the bird was too big to be a shrike.

The same cuckoo, with a prey in its mouth. It was fast, and caught that fly in am instant.

Also I got trolled (well, somewhat) by this Collared Kingfisher...

The Collared Kingfisher perching. In retrospect, this is one of the closest shot I've got. Normally, they would have flew away when I tried to walk closer.

This is where the troll began...

The bird started to prone down, and I anticipated it to strike at some insect it saw, but in the end it did not...

All in all, it was a fruitful trip. I was glad I made the trip to Pasir Ris Park, especially after the recent spate of dead farm fish in the eastern region.

For higher resolution of all the photos, visit the following links:
https://www.flickr.com/photos/cheehuat/
http://yzhifa.smugmug.com/

~ZF