Singapore Botanic Gardens
07:30 - 12:00, 09 August 2005

With just a few hours spare before a flight down to Melbourne I decided to have a look around the renowned Singapore Botanic Gardens (SBG) - a mix of manicured plantings and remnant rainforest located about twenty minutes by taxi from the city centre.

It’s probably worth pointing out from the start that the birding here is not especially rewarding, but it is relatively relaxing and the Gardens are easy enough to get to and to leave from again (though bear in mind if it’s easy for an itinerant, car-less birder to reach, it’s just as easy for everyone else: the Gardens are a very popular place indeed).

Whilst few rarities have been recorded here, many of the island’s commoner birds are more conveniently found - and photographed - in the SBG than elsewhere and it’s not a bad place to come if time is limited or if on a first visit to the region. Species that are practically unavoidable include a mix of native and introduced birds, such as White-vented Myna, Asian Glossy Starling, Spotted Dove, Pink-necked Pigeon, Large-billed Crow, Black-naped Oriole, and Eurasian Tree Sparrow.

Spotted Dove Streptopelia chinensis

The SBG’s website, by the way, gives prominence to the fact that a small patch of rainforest was enclosed within the Garden’s original boundaries. Greater Racket-tailed Drongos do occur here but the more interesting forest species are not really well represented. Online reports do suggest that hornbills and migrant flycatchers turn up occasionally but are infrequent: whether that’s a reflection of their genuine scarcity here (most of Singapore’s lush forest cover has been cleared in the last forty years and the Gardens are more or less isolated now) or lack of observer activity is hard to say, but naturally most local birders looking for forest birds prefer sites such as Bukit Timah (a tree-covered reserve not far from the city centre) or the secondary forests in the Catchment Area. That’s not to say that it’s not worth looking at the taller trees withing the Gardens of course. This is one of Singapore’s better sites for parrots - especially Long-tailed - and it should be fairly easy to find a Broad-billed Roller or two perched high on an exposed branch.

Symphony Lake looking north

The Gardens contain a number of freshwater ponds and lakes, and these do of course attract birds. The Symphony Lake, a lotus pond several hundred metres long with a reedy patch in one corner, is a short walk from the main visitor entrance at Cluny Road and is popular with birders. It attracts kingfishers (I only saw White-breasted on this occasion), herons (unfortunately none seen), and White-breasted Waterhens, as well as having (what I assume is) a small resident flock of Lesser Whistling Duck. (The promising-sounding Swan Lake, on the other hand, appeared as a bare, rather forlorn stretch of water that was birdless except for two introduced Mute Swans and a domestic goose.)

From top: White-breasted Waterhen Amaurornis phoenicurus, Lesser Whistling-duck Dendrocygna javanica,
and White-breasted Kingfisher Halcyon smyrnensis

The reason I’d decided to visit the SBG though was to try to photograph the sunbirds that visit a broad swathe of heliconia (photo left) close to the Symphony Lake - thus again within just a few minutes walk of the visitor centre.

Three sunbird species are said to be common here - Olive-backed (which is the commonest species of sunbird in Singapore), Crimson (the island’s national bird), and Brown-throated (the largest of the three and also known as Plain-throated).

Singapore’s legion of bird photographer’s have been coming to this site for many years, and when the sun is out the photographs that can be obtained here are wonderful: the sunbirds are very territorial and - providing the usual field-craft skills of keeping still and staying quiet are used - they come close and seem relatively unconcerned.

In cloudier weather - which unfortunately was the prevailing conditions on my visit - the birds are a little less active and visible, but the photos below were taken over about an hour and it was worth visiting the SBG just to stand on the pathway amongst the heliconia having sunbirds whipping around my head…

Olive-backed Sunbird Nectarinia jugularis: from top - adult male, eclipse-plumaged male, female.

Crimson Sunbird Aethopygia siparaja.

The Singapore Botanic Gardens (SBG): a brief history. Sir Stamford Raffles, the founder of Singapore and a keen naturalist, established the first botanical and experimental garden on Government Hill (Fort Canning Hill) in 1822, shortly after his arrival in Singapore. He aimed to introduce cultivation of economic crops such as cocoa and nutmeg. However, without a full-time salaried director and sufficient funding, the garden languished and was closed in 1829, after Raffles’ death. The Gardens at its present site was founded in 1859 by an Agri-Horticultural Society. Planned as a leisure garden and ornamental park, the Society organised flower shows and horticultural fetes. In 1874, the Society handed over management and maintenance of the site to the government. The scientific mission of the Gardens evolved when the colonial government assumed management and deployed Kew-trained botanists and horticulturists to administer the Gardens. Professor Eric Holttum, Director of the Gardens from 1925 -1949, set up laboratories and conducted the first experiments in orchid breeding and hybridisation. The resulting free flowering and hardy orchid hybrids laid the foundation for the multi-million dollar cut flower industry. By the mid 1960s, the Gardens was taking a leading role in the greening of Singapore, and in 1973 it merged with the Parks and Trees branch of the Public Works Department, which became the Parks and Recreation Department. In June 1990, SBG came under the management of the newly formed National Parks Board. Today the Gardens is geared towards entrenching itself as a tropical botanical institution of international renown and a flagship park. New attractions, such as the Ginger Garden, Evolution Garden, Coolhouse and the Children’s Garden are being added to keep the Gardens relevant as a key tourist destination. (Text adapted from, and copyright of, Singapore Botanic Gardens. Photo © Charlie Moores)

All photos © Charlie Moores

Useful info:

SBG is open daily from 05:00 - to allow the crowds of joggers and tai-chi practitioners an early start - until midnight and entrance is free, though there is a small charge to access the world-famous Orchid Gardens.

A taxi from the city-center cost me about 7 Singapore dollars each way, and there is a well-attended taxi stop right by the main entrance of Cluny Road. Buses and coaches run frequently to the Gardens - though be aware that “city tours” stop at the SBG for only about 30 minutes.

Full details are on the Singapore Botanic Gardens website.

Reference:
Seng L.K. Pocket Checklist of the Birds of the Republic of Singapore. Nature Society (Singapore) 1999.

A couple of other websites worth checking:

• naturestops.com/gallery
• naturephotosociety.org.sg