In search of resident birds.
With the migration season winding down, there are not many rarities to chase so I usually work on finding rarer resident birds. I decided to try another shot at finding the Barred Buttonquail at Jurong Lake Gardens (last spotted in Jan 2026 based on eBird).
The key is to arrive very early in the morning when the birds are more likely to come out from the tall grass to forage in the open. Reaching the grassland area around 7AM, there were some Slaty-breasted Rail and Ruddy-breasted Crake foraging in the open but no Quail. This Rail was so pre-occupied with foraging it did not notice my presence.
As I wandered around the area, I spotted a flock of Javan Munia. This pair was preening each other – an activity where the birds help each other to clean the feathers around hard-to-reach areas of the face and head.
As the day drew on, I decided to give up on the Quail and move on to other parts of the park. There is a patch of greenery near the allotment garden area which I have consistently spotted the Large-tailed Nightjar. Today did not disappoint as there were two in the area.
Sunbirds are always fun to photograph as they fly from flower to flower feeding on nectar in the late morning. Usually, they’re usually quite tolerant of human proximity when feeding.
Then the weather turned and it started to rain. It looked like a passing shower, so I decided to wait it out at a sheltered area. No such luck for this Lineated Barbet though that got drenched in the rain.
eBird checklist: https://ebird.org/checklist/S344400542
The Salaryman Birder 