The Asian Golden Weaver (Ploceus hypoxanthus) is a species of bird in the Ploceidae family. It is found in Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Myanmar, Thailand, and Vietnam. Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical seasonally wet or flooded lowland grassland, swamps, and arable land. It is threatened by habitat loss. – Wikipedia

Over in Singapore, Asian Golden Weaver was found to be thriving in our nature parks and we believed it should be an escapee. It had attracted scores of photographers to the park as we have never seen these birds in the wild before. I hope it could survive and multiply down the road.
All images © Copyright Steven Tor and Storphotography. Unauthorized use and/or duplication of this material without express and written permission from this blog’s author and/or owner is strictly prohibited.

PausePlayPrev|Next

Asian Golden Weaver

Asian Golden Weaver

I was selected to be one of the featured photographer for the FOCUS Project Photo Competition. Click on this LINK to view the featured photographers works.

Focus Project Featured Photographer

Large-tailed Nightjar are also known as Caprimulgus macrurus for their scientific name. They could be found in Singapore among the forested areas and one can hear their distinct call in the night with a sound ..Tok..Tok. I am sure some people could have hear them in our housing estate areas but never knew it is a Large-tailed Nightjar in their mist.

Large-tailed Nightjars feed on moths and other night-flying insects as they are most active in the night. During the day, one could see them resting on the ground and not even realizing they are next to you. The slideshow photos were taken a few weeks back when I discovered a Large-tailed Nightjar while going for my round of macro shooting. I did not realized the Nightjar was next to me until it flew off when I went too near. Upon taking a closer look, I discovered there were two eggs on the floor. I immediately backed away and left the place so that the Nightjar will not feel threaten. Nightjars don’t make a nest and simply lay 1-2 mottled buffy/pinkish eggs on the ground. This presented a problem. The eggs are very vulnerable to be eaten up by predator or someone not realizing it might step onto the eggs. The eggs were well camouflaged and both parents take turns brooding the eggs which hatch in 16-18 days.

In this observation, one of the eggs did not make it as I suspected it might have been eaten by a predator. Luckily, the other egg survived and the chick was out. Unfortunately, I could not take a shot of the chick as I was too late to arrived at the site after a delay of a few days. I hoped the chick did fledged and become an adult Nightjar.

All images © Copyright Steven Tor and Storphotography. Unauthorized use and/or duplication of this material without express and written permission from this blog’s author and/or owner is strictly prohibited.

PausePlayPrev|Next

Large Tailed Nightjar incubating eggs

Large Tailed Nightjar incubating eggs

Large Tailed Nightjar eggs

The last posting on my blog was the topic on Ethics in Nature Photography. Now I would like to share the frustrating experience in bird photography related to ethics in nature shooting. This incidence have been on going for many weeks now and I witnesses the selfish act of some photographers early today.Take a look at the slides. There is a pair of rare Blue Eared KingFisher in the process of building a nest in the nature reserve of Singapore and was spotted by photographers over the weeks and being photographs on their daily activities round the clock.

The problem arises when some photographer went over the designated walking platform and into the vegetation to get closer shot. In doing so, they damaged the vegetation that acts as a protective layer for the birds against predators. At the same time, they intruded into the comfort zone of the birds especially during nesting time. This is highly inconsiderate and selfish act in the attempt to get their “Dream Shot” I urge all who cares for the well being of the subject to call Nature Park Board of Singapore at 18004177300 to report such intrusion.

PausePlayPrev|Next

Unethical photographers climbed over the railings for better shot

Patches of vwgetation being cleared to get a better view at the bird

The intrusion into the reserve out of bound areas

Following up my previous post on the Life of Little Terns, the approaches to capture these images must take careful considerations not to intrude into the comfort zone of the birds or subject. Intruding into the comfort zone of the nesting sites could cause the mother bird to abandon the nest and chicks for good. It will result in the chicks having to suffer hunger and eventually die.

Such incidence happened to over zealous “nature photographers” whose objective is to get the “Dream Shot” at the expense of the interest and well being of the subject. Unfortunately, these incidences happened and as more took up nature photography as a hobby, it is even more critical to bring this issue to light so that more awareness could be created. Nature photographers whose interest lies in birds and mammals photography must have long telephoto lenses or no less the 300mm focal length under general cirmcumstances.

The ideal is to own a 600mm lens so that one could keep a comfortable distance from the subject. If situation calls for the photographer to camouflage himself to blend with the surrounding, one should do so. Photographers could easily purchase such camo cloth to wrap over his entire body and stay at the position that is a comfort zone from the subject. The Little Terns was shot from a distance using a 600mm telephoto lens and with a 1.7 X tele converter to give a better reach. We used the camouflage cloth to cover ourselves even under the hot sun and we arrived there early to take up the position well before the bird starts their feeding routine.

All images © Copyright Steven Tor and Storphotography. Unauthorized use and/or duplication of this material without express and written permission from this blog’s author and/or owner is strictly prohibited.

PausePlayPrev|Next

The 600mm telephoto lens with camo cloth

Using car as a hide

The Nikon 600mm F4 Telephoto Lens

My intention of this article is to reflect how wildlife and nature photography could capture and project to the world the beauty of nature in our mist. Singapore is well known to be a concrete jungle where finding pockets of nature is pretty tough due to intense urban redevelopment for the past 50 years. Yet, it was last year that myself and a small group of nature photographers took time and efforts to documents a series of breeding process of a bird called Little Terns or also known as Scientific name: Sterna albifrons. It was documented at a waste land but not too far from urban living in Singapore.

Little Tern breeds in North America, Europe, Western Africa and Australia. They are mainly found in coastal areas along beaches, lagoons, river mouths and deltas. However, in this documentation, we found the Little Tern at a waste land near the coastal part of Singapore and a pair of them was seen in their breeding cycles where they successfully laid eggs and brought up a young Little Terns.

The Little Tern hunts for small fish and insects. It prefers to feed over shallower coastal waters and can hover briefly before plunging into the water to catch prey. The Little Tern breeds in small colonies, with each mating pair producing a single chick. The slideshow here shows how they feed and care for their young which successfully fledged after a week since it was hatched . The nest is a shallow scrape in sand. The next posting will show how we photographers approached the subject with care and how we camouflage yourself with our photographic gear to ensure the birds are at ease with our presence and not intruding into their privacy by keeping a safe distance. This is the top priority that every nature photographer should observe while photographing wildlife. Nothing is more important then the welfare of the bird or subject.

Some of my works on Little Terns can be viewed at FOCUS PROJECT

All images © Copyright Steven Tor and Storphotography. Unauthorized use and/or duplication of this material without express and written permission from this blog’s author and/or owner is strictly prohibited.

PausePlayPrev|Next

Little Terns arrived to feed the chick

Adult Little Terns taking off after feeding the chick

Juvenile Little Terns with fish that was brought in by the parent

Juvenile Little Terns learning how to fly

My recent visit to Jurong BirdPark gave me an impression it was not doing well. The main restaurant was closed and even the Weaver Birds at the Waterfall Aviary was caged instead of free ranging within the waterfall areas. Not a very goodsight. Birds are born to be free….not caged.

All images © Copyright Steven Tor and Storphotography. Unauthorized use and/or duplication of this material without express and written permission from this blog’s author and/or owner is strictly prohibited.

PausePlayPrev|Next

Free ranging Egret with fish

Raptor landing

During migration period, they can be found with other shore birds at mudflats, estuaries and prawn ponds. As Sungei-Buloh-Wetland-Reserve is a prime site for them, they used to congregate in flocks of a few hundreds. They probes the mud surface frantically for food at low tide for minute invertebrate prey.

All images © Copyright Steven Tor and Storphotography. Unauthorized use and/or duplication of this material without express and written permission from this blog’s author and/or owner is strictly prohibited.

Marsh Sandpiper

Common Greenshank

A small, slender egret with thin black bill and yellow feet a frequent year end visitor at Sungei Buloh Wetland Reserve. They are  silent most of the time and can be found at freshwater and tidal wetland. An attractive and elegant bird that feeds by walking quickly or running through shallow water, stirring up and chasing aquatic prey.

All images © Copyright Steven Tor and Storphotography. Unauthorized use and/or duplication of this material without express and written permission from this blog’s author and/or owner is strictly prohibited.

PausePlayPrev|Next

Little Egret Reflection

Little Egret take off

Birds of the same feathers flocks together

During migration, the RedShank frequent prawn farm, mudflats and mangroves edges. They form dense flocks along high tide roosting sites and spread out during low tides. They make a series of loud ringing notes, teu-hoo when taking off. The pictures show some of their recent activities at the wetland SBWR.

All images © Copyright Steven Tor and Storphotography. Unauthorized use and/or duplication of this material without express and written permission from this blog’s author and/or owner is strictly prohibited.

PausePlayPrev|Next

Redshank

Redshank landing

Redshank flypast

The Eurasian Curlew is a rare winter visitor to Singapore. This year, we are fortunate to have this Curlew paying a visit to the Sungei Buloh Wetland Reserve where previously they were spotted at Changi Cove.

They can be found at mugflats, seaward of mangrove forest and offshore islets. They usually can be found among other shore birds as this Curlew was founded to be among the rest of the waders at SBWR. It feeds using its specialised bill for probing deep into the soft mud for worms and crustaceans.

All images © Copyright Steven Tor and Storphotography. Unauthorized use and/or duplication of this material without express and written permission from this blog’s author and/or owner is strictly prohibited.

Eurasian Curlew