Warbler Haven

Interestingly within the last month 2 new areas have been found in Singapore that contain some otherwise hard to find species. One in particular is the grassland I've been to a few times near where I live. It seems that every time someone else goes another desirable species is found enticing everyone to return and yet again find another noteworthy species. It has been interesting watching that develop and reminds me of the "Patagonia Picnic Table Effect".

Anyway, that's not where I went yesterday. I was in search of marsh birds, Reed-warblers to be exact, and they didn't disappoint.

They were very difficult to photograph as they were constantly on the move. The most common warbler in the marsh was the Black-browed Reed-warbler:

Second most common was the Oriental Reed-warbler which I didn't manage to photograph. So here's one from Wikipedia:

And the rarest of them all was this skulking Pallas's Warbler (aka Pallas's Grasshopper-warbler or as the Rusty-rumped Warbler .... why can't we just settle on one name???) - it's an uncommon species in Singapore but more often heard than seen:

Other interesting birds in the area were a Yellow-bellied Prinia, 2 Stork-billed Kingfishers and a Common Kingfisher.

A distant Stork-billed Kingfisher:

Common Kingfisher:

Yellow-vented Bulbul is one of the 10 most common birds in Singapore:

Rose-ringed Parakeet:

 Pallas's Warbler again: