Birds of 2020
As we head towards Christmas and the New Year, I have been taking some time to reflect on my photography over the course of 2020. This has, for all of us, been a challenging year on so many levels, a year where we have all had to make sacrifices and changes to how we live our lives. I shall not dwell on that too much, but for me that included less travel, more time in Singapore and a greater appreciation of this island that I call home. Throughout 2020 I have visited new places in Singapore, revisited old ones and spent more time trying to photograph local wildlife. This blog will share images of birds I have seen over the year, most of which I had never seen before, let alone photographed.
I shall qualify this by saying I am in no way a bird or wildlife photographer, it is merely a past-time that I enjoy and in which I find peace and a break from the pressures of everyday life. I hope, even in some small way, a few of these images bring you some pleasure.
If they do, I have more wildlife images along with landscapes, street photography, flowers and other collections you can see on my other website.
You can see those images on my Fine Art Collection. Please do have a look :-) Other images can be seen on my Displate page.
For more specialised and professional nature photography and a possible Christmas present for yourself or another, I would recommend 365 Days in Nature.
This book “is a collection of images taken from all around the United Kingdom, throughout the year. Each day is represented by a unique photograph, showcasing some of the amazing wildlife the UK has to offer. For the wildlife and nature enthusiast, this book will show different times of year and suggest various locations to see a variety of subjects and to witness different behaviour. Whilst for the photographer it gives advice and ideas, including the camera settings used to obtain every image.”
That done with, on to my own snaps. Coincidentally, there are 20 birds included in this collection - “20 for 2020”, if you like. For each image I shall give some brief info. Read if you like, otherwise, please just enjoy some of the beauty nature has to offer! Ok, on with the show…
A personal fave from 2020, this is a not-so-common Common Kingfisher and I was so happy to snap an image of him in flight, having just made a dive. Yes, it could be better, yes he could have a fish in his mouth - but for my level, I was very happy with this shot. I had been stalking him for a few weeks before getting this image - the story of my Kingfisher Adventures, along with more images of this beautiful wee bird, can be found on another blog entry, The Kingfisher Project.
Here we have a Grey Heron, a fairly common bird around parks and wetlands here in Singapore. This image was taken in Pasir Ris Park and I was lucky enough to snap with with a wee fish in his beak.
This wee fella is a Black-Crowned Night Heron, more commonly referred to just as a night heron. These birds can be found across the world, they are not specific to Singapore or Asia. But they avoid colder regions, a trait with which I can sympathise :-)
This handsome chap is a Crested Goshawk and is native to Singapore. A bird of prey, he can be found across Tropical Asia.
An olive-backed sunbird, perched over her nest. Another image of this beautiful bird, along with other wildlife images from Singapore, can be seen on my Wildlife In Singapore blog post. Please do have a read!
Look, I know this isn’t a great photo, but hopefully the beauty of this Grey Crowned Crane provides some compensation for my abysmal efforts. Not native to Singapore, some online digging suggests that Cranes either escaped or were released from a pet farm a few years ago. This is the National Bird of Uganda, a useful piece of info I picked up today. Remember who told you, if that question ever comes up in a trivia quiz. Me, Fatman, that’s who!
An Oriental Pied Hornbill, a bird that has increased in numbers in Singapore in recent years. Hornbills can be found across he Indian subcontinent and Southeast Asia. Please ignore the metal fence, he was just taking a wee breather after catching a gecko.
My most recent observation, a Blue-tailed Bee-eater. As it happens, I saw him just yesterday morning, in the Seletar area of Singapore. A good tip for bird/nature photographers is to follow appropriate local Facebook groups to get ideas on locations and species near you. When shooting a bird that is not much bigger than a tennis ball and in flight, please avoid one-shot spot focus - that’s an exercise in futility! Zone focus, pre-focus or try continuous autofocus/AF continuous to improve your chances of getting a decent shot. You would need to look more into the functionality of your specific camera to determine the best mode for this type of photography. It’s a challenge and no mistake..!
A female weaver bird, feeding some unfortunate insect to her chick. The female supervises her male as he builds their nest - and she is not shy in rebuking him if standards slip!
A male weaver bird, building his nest
An Oriental Magpie-Robin, common across the Indian Subcontinent and parts of Southeast Asia.
A White-breasted Waterhen, snapped in the Singapore Botanic Gardens
I think my fave bird of 2020, a Stork-Billed Kingfisher. He looks like something a child may draw of you said “draw a colourful, pretty bird”. He’s just wonderful. This shot was taken in Singapore Quarry, near Bukit Timah nature reserve, but this species can be seen in other parts of Singapore. Large as kingfishers go, he can reach 14 inches in length.
For the story behind this image, and for more pictures of him, please do visit my Stork-Billed Kingfisher blog.
A Common Flameback, also known as a Common Goldenback, a member of the woodpecker family. This shot was also taken near Singapore Quarry.
Don’t blame me for this, I didn’t name him. But here we have a Pin-striped Tit-babbler, a bird found in South and Southeast Asia.
An Olive-winged Bulbul
A Yellow-vented Bulbul
A Crimson Sunbird. Gosh, this guy was a challenge! Possible the toughest bird for me to snap this year - small, fast and seemed to enjoy being tucked away in the bushes and trees. This was about the best I could manage and, to be honest, I’m pretty happy with it!
I didn’t realise pigeons could be this pretty - a Pink-necked Green pigeon, found in tropical/subtropical mangroves or lowland forests.
A Buffy Fish Owl, also known as a Malay Fish Owl. This one-eyed beauty is well known in Pasir Ris Park here in Singapore.
Well, that concludes my “20 for 2020”. I do hope that you have enjoyed some of these images as much as I have enjoyed taking them. The variety and accessibility of birdlife over this wonderful island has been a surprise to me over the year - the species shared on this blog only represent a small proportion of the birdlife to be found in Singapore. I shall seek out more in 2021!
In case I do not manage another blog before the year end, I would like to wish you all the safest of Festive Seasons. Trying times, but reach out to friends and family, take care and be kind to one another. We need compassion more than ever.
Stay strong, stay safe, be kind
Fatman xxx