Pelagic Outing November 2011
Meeting at 6:00 am at the One Degree North marina, we began the last of the NParks sponsored surveys of the Singapore Straits.
Meeting at 6:00 am at the One Degree North marina, we began the last of the NParks sponsored surveys of the Singapore Straits.
On October 15 we met again at One Degree North for our monthly pelagic survey. These trips have really been like a box of chocolates, you never know what you are going to get.
On September 17, 2011, thanks to the efforts of Colin Poole and Geoff Davison we convened again at ONE°15 Marina Club and boarded our boat shortly after 6am. The dawn light promised a good start to the day with partly cloudy skies. Some time passed while waiting to clear immigration formalities, finally getting underway past 7am. The plan was to proceed along our usual track but go a bit further East towards Horsburg hoping to see another frigatebird. It wasn’t long before we rounded St. John’s island and started picking up Swinhoe’s Storm Petrels, not knowing that it would be a bumper crop!
Nine seafaring individuals gathered as usual at 6:00am at One Degree Fifteen Marina and were off for our monthly outing. It is amazing the difference a month can make. Our July outing was a low point in numbers and diversity, we were not sure what to expect for this trip, but felt it also might be low in count, and hence a not very important month. Perhaps for that reason, this trip was selected to be the long trip out to Horsburgh Lighthouse, and Geoff Davison put in yeoman’s effort gaining approval from all the relevant authorities.
The July outing started at 6:00am on 16 July 2011. We didn’t expect much as all the pelagic birds show be on their Northern nesting grounds. And sure enough, we saw mainly just resident birds. The usual numbers of swiftlets, a Brahminy Kite, a White Bellied Sea Eagle, several Grey Herons. The only terns seen where several Little Terns and Swift Terns, but there were no terns perched on the usual buoys. The bird of the day was a single Great billed Heron on St. John’s island.
The 2010/2011 migration season saw a sharp uptick of interest in the pelagic birds of the Singapore Strait, a few groups organized outings. I was lucky to go on several of these trips. On the 2nd of October 2010, we set off before dawn in the first of a series of outings organized by Colin Poole.
The highlight of this trip on 16 Apr 11 was a pod of several Indo-Pacific Bottlenose Dophins!
A good day with another new species for Singapore waters on 14 May 11! May was the month we expected the peak passage of Swinhoe’s Storm Petrels and we weren’t to be disappointed, logging about 25 petrels. But on the way back was when we got our best action, usually this portion of the trip is quiet. Close to St. John’s island we were heading into a squall and a large number of petrels were running in front of the squall, and then just behind a group of 8 Short-tailed Shearwaters, which should be a first record for Singapore. The shearwaters were doing what their name implies and putting on a majestic flying display, swooping down close to the waves and then soaring back into the air, all following one another.
In the continuing series of boat trips into the Straits of Singapore organized by Colin Poole, a group of us gather at 1 Degree North yacht club on a stormy Saturday morning 18 Jun 11. We delayed our departure thirty minutes to give the rain a chance to pass, and weren’t bothered by rain the rest of the day. But the sea was very choppy and several of us weren’t feeling in peak form. We got our minute of excitement early in the day, around 8:20am when two Swinhoe’s Storm Petrels were spotted floating on the water. They took off and we gave chase, but it’s wasn’t the best photo opportunity. Anyway, we can confirm a new late date for this species in Singapore waters, what they are still doing here in June is anyone’s guess.
