Bird walk along the other side of the Pasir Ris coast

This time I went at sunset because my friend came over and we didn't know what else to do. July is almost ending so the raptors that I've been desperately trying to photograph are quite done with their nesting and public appearances. The visitors and passage migrants have long moved on except a very tardy few; I've been seeing a sizeable number of pacific swifts lately but unexpectedly far from the beach. They are too quick for my camera, which is just an excuse for me being too lazy to try harder, which is also a pity because those swifts are tagged as 'uncommon' here and they'll likely be on their way in a couple of weeks. Anyway, mostly only the lonely natives are left. This tropical concrete island seems bent on offering me sorry scenes just as I prepare to move into a university that disgusts me (NUS). But I have no choice and neither do the beautiful and savage migratory birds.

But as John Muir said, 'Nature is ever at work... allowing no rest but in rhythmical motion, chasing everything in endless song out of one beautiful form into another.' August is nearly here; in a few weeks, some very early birds from the far north will arrive for the next migratory season.

And to be fair we did spot one raptor from a great distance, the Brahminy Kite. But it is not a migrant; it's native to Singapore:

These aren't exactly birds but they're river otters in the sea! It's the first time I remember seeing them and it really cheered me up. But I still prefer sea otters and their more endearing ways.

 f/5.6, 1/400 s, ISO 500, 70-300@300 mm, Nikon D610

We spotted what I think were some grey herons in flight. They appeared orange in the sunset glow:

 f/5.6, 1/400 s, ISO 500, 70-300@300 mm, Nikon D610

It turned out that they were heading to the tree of heron paradise:

We made our way to the mysterious tree and found this heron having a scratch. I couldn't make out what it was but now I think it's a juvenile purple heron so the stripe down its neck hasn't appeared but is visible across its face. I'll find a better birder and ask for IDs on all my unidentified bird pictures.

 f5.6, 1/640 s, ISO 320, 70-300@300 mm, Nikon D610

Here it is again. I thought it might be a great-billed heron but its beak wasn't grey:

 f/5.6, 1/640 s, ISO 500, 70-300@300 mm, Nikon D610

And here's a grey heron flying so the one above certainly wasn't a grey heron. This mysterious heron paradise tree must be stunningly multiracial.

 f5.6, 1/640 s, ISO 1000, 70-300@300 mm, Nikon D610

Then in the twilight, we found this pacific swallow. My camera couldn't focus in the darkness and it got really frustrating but the bird kept returning to this branch after flying off, as if tryng to accomodate my poor photography. I finally got it on manual focus before it flew away. It's native to Singapore but from the name you know it's also found on the pacific islands. In fact its scientific name is Hirundo tahitica, a reference to the Maori island of Tahiti. It is sweet to feel the wideness of the Earth through a small bird.

f/5.6, 1/640 s, ISO 4000, 70-300@300 mm, Nikon D610