Great Cormorants spotted in Singapore.
On Sunday, I decided to go birding at the Marina Grove pond. My aim was to find the Javan Pond Heron which was the last remaining unchecked Pond Heron in my life list. I took my usual route via public transportation and alighted at the Gardens by the Bay MRT station.
As I was setting up my camera and binocular at the station exit, I saw, from a distance, a flock of birds flying in a loose V-shaped formation… which was odd because I was not aware of birds in Singapore that exhibit this behavior. After taking some photos and examining them, I was surprised to see they were Great Cormorants!
The Great Cormorant is not known to be found in this part of the world. Past sightings are believed to be escapees from the then Jurong Bird Park. Are these descendants of those escapees or are they vagrants that have ventured too far south? I have seen Great Cormorants before in Japan and South Korea but to see them in Singapore felt truly special.
This whole experience had me thinking how I had to be at the right place and at the right time to cross paths with these birds. If I had made one decision differently like board an earlier train or set up my equipment later. I would have missed the entire encounter.
Anyway, moving back to my original objective of finding the Javan Pond Heron. It didn’t take long to spot one foraging at the edge of the pond. This was another skittish bird though. It gradually retreated to the back of the pond after noticing my presence.
The Little Grebe family that was previously seen here seemed to have moved on as I was only able to spot one adult that day.
It was my first time spotting a pair of Ruddy-breasted Crakes there though. I was surprised at how they did not seem to mind my presence at all. They came so near while feeding that I had trouble getting the camera to focus.
eBird checklist: https://ebird.org/checklist/S327552420
The Salaryman Birder 