In mid-December 2009 I went to Heliconia Walk at Singapore Botanic Gardens to observe and photograph the sunbirds feeding on the heliconia flowers together with Jean René Croguennec. I had my camera focused on a particularly promising Heliconia psittacorum ‘Lady Di’ flower cluster. Not long after we arrived and to our astonishment, a male Olive-backed Sunbird flew into the flower I was targeting and began his mating display. Although I’d never witnessed this before it was unmistakable what he was doing.

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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.

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