Bird Watching and Photography at Botanic Gardens (Singapore)

Being Productive on My Day Off

Singapore Botanic Gardens is one of those places that keeps popping up if you Google "best bird watching places in Singapore". So I knew I just had head over to do a spot of birdwatching / bird photography at the Singapore Botanic Gardens with my Nikon Coolpix P1000.

We had really good weather with really clear skies, and we arrived at the Botanic Gardens around 8:10 AM, which according to my mum, is a good time for birdwatching. We arrived at the Bukit Timah Gate, next to the Botanic Gardens MRT station. I was wondering how far in I had to go to start clicking away, but my very sharp-eyed husband spotted "something sitting on a tree", which turned out to be a pair of Pink-Necked Green Pigeons.

First Lineated Barbet Sighting

We spotted the Lineated Barbet after taking two rounds in the Healing Garden. I used to refer to the Lineated Barbet as the "old-looking bird", as the whiskers and the bird's behavior remind me of a kindly old gentleman. The Barbet was completely still at first, but the camera-shy bird started fidgeting once I started taking photos...LOL

Lineated Barbet sighting at Singapore Botanic Gardens

Light-colored head and breast with brown stripes, green wings and undersides. Black eyes with a yellow ring. Fine "whiskers" around the pinkish beak.

Woody Woodpecker

Another highlight of the morning was the Common Flameback Woodpecker. It is a medium-sized bird, with a beautiful golden back and bright red crest. The Common Flameback was an extremely difficult bird to photograph. It hardly stays put and kept climbing (or jumping) up the tree in steps, it was constantly pecking away, and it kept moving to the other side of the tree. Most of the photos I took ended up being photos of the tree trunk sans Woodpecker, or photos of blurry-head Woodpeckers!

Common Flameback Woodpecker at Singapore Botanic Gardens

White face with streaks of black, and a striking red crest. White underbelly with tints of black, black tail, and a beautiful golden back. The strong claws enable it to grip firmly to tree trunks while pecking away at the tree.

Fruitful Day

It turned out to be a very fruitful day of birdwatching as we spotted quite a few other birds at Singapore Botanic Gardens, such as the Hill Myna (Tiong Mas), Asian Glossy Starling, Oriental Magpie-Robin, Olive-Backed Sunbird, and the Yellow-Vented Bulbul. Some are more commonly seen than others, but being common doesn't diminish their beauty. We also saw an Asian Koel (female) sitting quietly on a branch, but alas she took off before we got a very clear shot of her.

Hill Myna at Singapore Botanic Gardens

The photos still need a lot of improvement, but I tested out the Bird Mode with the Nikon Coolpix P1000 today, which is already a new mode compared to day 1, haha! We also tested the camera on butterfly and flora shots, and I do like the results, if I say so myself.