Raptor Sightings

There is something that I admire about large birds of prey. May be it’s their majestic look and stature that fascinate me to no end. I had two chanced meeting with two local raptor species – a Buffy Fish Owl and a White-bellied Sea Eagle.

I wouldn’t have spotted the Buffy if not for the small birds mobbing it. Mobbing is a typical behavior of birds when they find a raptor is their midst. The owl then started to call softly which made locating it easier.

The next chanced meeting was with a White-bellied Sea Eagle, the largest raptor in Singapore. This bird was just sitting in a large tree resting after a long day of hunting. After resting for some time, it and its mate treated me to a fantastic aerial dance which was beautiful to watch as the pair flew close to each other and circled above as they climbed higher and higher on the thermocline.