wetlands
a publication of Sungei Buloh Wetland Reserve
Vol 9 No 1
Apr 2002

a new beginning
for sungei buloh wetland reserve!

young naturalists of sungei buloh

a new take on art
bird ringing in 2001

the journey of
a volunteer guide

shorebird monitoring 2001

the day a hornbill flew over 		 
shorebird monitoring
in sungei buloh wetland reserves in 2001
james gan
senior conservation officer
ramakrishnan r. k.
assistant park officer

In 2001, shorebirds were counted regularly throughout the year during census sessions with telescopes and binoculars. The species and their corresponding numbers were recorded and are shown in Table 1.

During a typical session, trained staff go to the reserve's ponds on a randomly scheduled day within the month. They may conduct as many as 4 sessions on separate days within the month. All census sessions are conducted during daylight hours usually within a 2-hour period around the maximum tide for the day.

The census for 2001 revealed, not unexpectedly, that your best chance of seeing large flocks of shorebirds (above 1,000) is between September and April during high tide. In May, June and July, only a few species of shorebirds in very small numbers (usually and often much less than 30 for each species) can still be found, comprising mainly of Common Redshank and Whimbrel.

The Sungei Buloh area is a good place to view shorebirds. Preliminary observations suggest that the area is favoured by perhaps at least half the Singapore population of Whimbrel, Common Redshank, Common Greenshank, Marsh Sandpiper, Pacific Golden Plover and Mongolian Plover on any given day in the year. More studies are required to substantiate these observations. However, one thing is certain: Visit the reserve around high tide between September and April and chances are you will be entertained by the flocks of shorebirds.

Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec
Common Greenshank
220
118
58
124
5
0
1
12
41
111
118
189
Common Redshank
115
44
7
116
17
7
32
154
305
190
221
152
Curlew Sandpiper
67
0
0
0
0
0
0
220
545
624
1022
940
Marsh Sandpiper
376
372
129
223
3
0
0
3
84
314
134
486
Mongolian Plover
786
213
104
112
10
2
2
183
675
555
440
606
Pacific Golden Plover
348
450
327
1081
0
0
0
220
545
624
1022
940
Whimbrel
139
186
118
219
10
13
14
20
113
176
157
198
No. of census sessions conducted
2
1
1
4
3
3
3
4
4
4
2
3
Max no. of shorebirds counted per session*
1738
1391
755
1622
45
20
32
407
1787
1968
2213
2470
*All species including the 7 species listed above

Notes:
1) Shorebirds counted are from the family Scolopacidae; the 7 most abundant species have their maximum counts for the session in the month indicated in the table
2) Figures indicate the highest maximum number of shorebirds for the session in the month
   
© Sungei Buloh Wetland Reserve