It rained a lot during our last full day in Singapore, it was raining early in the morning then it stopped when we got up and came down with a vengeance later in the afternoon. It spoilt our plans a little, but we enjoyed a lovely walk around the Bay, we took a boat trip up the river and toured the huge shopping complex found beneath the Casino/Hotel (the one with a ship on its roof!) We also visited the Science/Arts centre to see a photographic exhibition.
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| The two most common species of Singapore - Common Mynah above and Javan Mynah below |
That just about summed up our last day because on returning to the hotel to check out at 2pm the heavens opened up - monsoon season was definitely here. We had booked 'high-tea' at Raffles to complete our stay but the rain made us cancel that.
As for birds, I added 3 species to my Singapore list, the first was House Swift, several were flying around our hotel this morning. The Blue-tailed Bee-eater and the Olive-backed Sunbird adorned the TV Ariel. My second new species was a Striated Heron seen in the bay, in fact it was the only bird I saw in this 'avian desert', not a gull, tern, duck or Cormorant, pretty sad really. The Heron was trying to fish in the bay, it would have been better off in the pool around the science centre it was full of goldfish!
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| Striated Heron |
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| the city buildings taken from across the bay at the Science and Arts Centre |
It is a pity that I never got a birding session arranged because for such a small island there have been over 300 species recorded. There are many parks and nature reserves to explore as well as off-shore islands. Maybe another time, I was happy to see over 30 species most of which were 'lifers'.
Now we have two 7 hour flights with a 2 hour break at Dubai to look forward to.
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| another view of city from where I saw the Heron |
And so ends my last blog of this trip, it has been a wonderful experience, we have both really enjoyed every minute of it. Now back to wet and cold of England.
If you are interested in joining my first Tour of Eastern Australia which will be in October 2016 please get in touch.
31. STRIATED HERON
32. CATTLE EGRET
33. HOUSE SWIFT
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