Exploring What's Left of Bidadari

Bidadari was a wonderland for birders but it is no longer the place we know because the area is now in the midst of being developed into a residential area. I decided to see what's left of it.

Bidadari was one of the first places I went to when I started watching and photographing birds. The first time I visited Bidadari was a late afternoon, close to evening. For those who do not know, Bidadari was a cemetery, and going there alone in the evening alone was definitely an adventure to me. Soon enough, Bidadari became one of my favourite places because it is apparently the only place that I could get hold of a flycatchers and other passerines, which I love to watch. I can't seem to see them elsewhere. 

Now, there is only a small patch of land left, I could see that there were some new trees being planted. I felt a dull ache in my heart seeing a massive area of the place being hoarded up and cleared.

This is near the columbarium, probably the only entrance to Bidadari now. Can you see the hoarding further up?

I still like the scenic and quiet this place possesses. Take more pictures like this before it changes drastically.

Nevertheless, Bidadari still surprised me this morning with some of the encounters I have had.

A Blue-throated Bee-eater perching.  

A Brown Shrike, with that unmistakable eye-liner. It disappeared before I could get a closer shot.

A futile attempt of a Scarlet-backed Flower Pecker. Again it flew away and disappeared before I could get a better shot.

A Dollar Bird. This guy been perching there for quite sometime.

And there is this bald tree that has many interesting things happening. I accidentally spotted a Coppersmith Barbet.

Then a small group of Asian Glossy Starlings.

And.. I do not know what they are but I believe they are migratory birds. Update: Thanks to reader Gavan Leong, I now know these are Purple-backed Starlings, or Daurian Starlings :DDD (love it when I learnt something new)

Another futile attempt to take a sunbird in flight like this. Many people think they are hummingbirds but they are not. Hummingbirds do not exist here in our region.

An Asian Brown Flycatcher. I was observing this guy for a very long time. I got lucky because it perched on the branch close to me and enabled me to take this shot.

Because the sunlight was shining on it. I thought these where saga seeds, the ones that people pick to profess their love. But they are not. They are fruits of the raintree. Thanks to reader Gaven Leong confirming that these were indeed saga seeds. OMG.

More exciting photos I took prior to the clearing here.

~ Huat