laurrai tammee gerhardina
Kiliano Ratha
Not that many as it turned. Only 11 out of a total of 26 families with 5 or more species in it. I was missing the Little Green Pigeon for the 14 Pigeons and Doves Columbidae family. But now with the acceptance of the Oriental Turtle Dove, a national first, it will be that much harder to complete.
A big thank you and shout out to all my friends, past and present for the timely alerts and help. Many of you will recall the happy memories of when we got these species together. Special mention to all my mentors and my long time birding friends Alfred Chia, Kenneth Kee and Yang Pah Liang for being with me in this journey since the early 1990s. These are the stories of the sighting of the last species of each of the eleven families.
It was a late afternoon phone call from Vincent Ng that an Indian Pond Heron was seen at Bidadari Cemetery. Joseph Tan had photographed it on 11 April 2015 but did not processed it until Er Bong Siong posted his a week later. It was subsequently identified by Francis Yap. Link. Our first record was from Senoko on 20 March 1999 by Lim Kim Seng and Lim Kim Chuah. It was listed in Category D ( Wild birds but possibility of released or escaped cannot be ruled out). Since then, we had 8 more records from Farmway 3 in 2012 and 2016, Bidadari 2015 and 2018, Bishan Park 2018, Jurong Lake in 2019, Windsor Park and Transview Golf Course in 2020. This should not be a difficult family to complete.
I was late to tick the Grey-headed Lapwing at SBWR on November 2011, found by Lim Kim Chuah. But when news that one was scoped inside Kranji Marshes on 23 October 2016, we went running in to the tower to look for it. I remembered missing it by 5 minutes as it flew over the open field outside the Marshes. Geoff Lim and I decided to drive into Harvest Lane to look for it. We flushed it just after we got out of the car. For most the Common Ringed Plover will be your nemesis in this family.
January 2016. Another late afternoon phone call this time from See Toh that almost knocked me off my seat. A juvenile Barred Eagle Owl was spotted again at the car park at Bukit Timah NR. I missed the last appearance as I was away and was glad to have completed this difficult family which has the vagrant Short-eared Owl, Northern Boobook and the most sought after Brown Wood Owl in it. I had an old entry in my notebook of a BEO sighting on 16 Nov 1996 near the summit of BTNR during a survey, but I do not have any strong recollection of this sighting.
The migrant Black-capped Kingfisher is known to be super skittish, secretive and hard to find here. Most of the old records were from Pulau Ubin, hidden in between the mangroves. That was where I got mine. For many of the birders it was the most wanted kingfisher. Most should have this family grand slam by now with the Ruddy Kingfisher ever presence at Kranji.
I was lucky to be birding when the White-bellied Woodpeckers were still around. Then the former resident Great Slaty Woodpecker made a spectacular reappearance on May 2018 at BTNR. But it was the Buff-rumped Woodpecker that eluded most of us until Adrian Silas Tay found one at Pulau Ubin on May 2019. Good thing it stayed around long enough for us to tick it.
The rare forest wanderer, Blue-rumped Parrot numbers have remained small all these years. They can be seen flying across the Central Catchment Forest in small flocks on good days. It was only the discovery of a fruiting Star Fruit tree at Venus Loop that we were able to see them close up. This should be an easy grand slam for all.
None of us expected to see an Indian Paradise Flycatcher here as it was not their usual wintering range. But Oliver Tan photographed one at SBWR on 2 December 2017 which was later identified by Dave Bakewell. Link. Our second and third records the following year were at SBWR as well.
Both martins in our Checklist were hard to find, Surprisingly I got the rarer Asian House Martin before the more common Sand Martin. Both can be easily overlook unless you pay attention to any flocks of flying swallows.
The Dusky Warbler would be the missing warbler for this family for most but I was around when Peter Kennerley mist netted one at Tuas in 1994. Instead my warbler to complete this family was the Sakhalin Leaf Warbler that was heard calling along Dairy Farm Loop by Lim Kim Keang on March 2014. We had the Pale-legged Warbler in our Checklist, but the sub song was clear enough for us to replace it.
This is an easy family to complete as all the 6 species are our common residents. Among them the forest edge Rufous-tailed Tailorbird was the hardest to find and photographed for some time. But their presence at Dairy Farm and Venus Loop made it much easier now.
With two outs in the fourth inning and the bases loaded, Singapore infielder Huzaifie Bin Mohammad sent a Kfair Leon pitch deep over the centre field fence that highlighted Singapore's 6-1 win over Israel in the final game of the WBSC U-23 Men's Softball World Cup Placement Round.
The Asian squad took an early lead in the first inning, with an RBI single off the bat of Audric Chia. Bin Mohammad's grand slam gave Singapore a comfortable 5-0 cushion in the fourth and an inning later the Asian side scored their last run as Chian crossed the plate on a wild pitch.
Jeron Tan and Mathew Tan combined for the one-hitter. Jeron pitched five innings and 10 strikeouts, allowing one hit, one run and three walks. Mathew pitched in the next two innings with three strikeouts.
The Singapore Grand Prix has provided Formula 1 with one of the most difficult races on the F1 calendar. Marina Bay Circuit test teams and drivers as they attempt to maneuver their way through the tight streets of the city.
A small error can send you into the walls, ending your race in a heartbeat. Drivers must cope with the extreme heat and keep their focus sharp as they battle twenty-three corners and their rivals to earn a victory.
Safety cars have been deployed in every single race at least once and have been used a total of twenty-two times in twelve races. In 2008 the Singapore Grand Prix made its debut in F1 and here is the history of their Grand Prix.
Fernando Alonso, driving for Renault who pitted prior to the safety car, took the lead and never looked back, leaving Nico Rosberg in second place and Lewis Hamilton in third. Singapore was also the last race where David Coulthard scored the last points of his F1 career.
Sebastien Vettel and his Red Bull came closest to beating Hamilton that day, but the stewards got involved, issuing a drive-through penalty to Vettel for speeding in the pit lane ending any hope of catching the Brit.
With the Red Bulls out of the way (Webber spun out) it allowed Timo Glock to finish runner up to Lewis Hamilton and Fernando Alonso once again made it on the podium in third. Timo Glock scored his last podium and points at the Marina Bay Circuit.
Alonso and Vettel thrilled the crowd as they took turns exchanging the fastest laps throughout the race. Vettel, who was chasing the Spaniard, managed to get within less than a second of Alonso only to have a yellow flag negate any passing opportunities on the last lap.
Vettel had just begun his winning streak on the Marina Bay Circuit in 2011 and in 2012 won his second race in Singapore. In this race, Vettel benefited from a little luck when pole-sitter Lewis Hamilton was forced to retire after leading the race for twenty-three laps due to gearbox issues.
In 2013 Vettel was already a three-time world champion and was also on his way to his fourth title by the end of the racing year. Vettel knocked a grand slam out of the park at Marina Bay taking Pole Position, led every single lap, had the fastest lap, and won the race.
Vettel felt no pressure from Alonso who finished over thirty seconds behind the German. Kimi Raikkonen stepped onto the podium for the first time in his career, finishing in third with Lotus. Vettel, even if he had won for a third straight year, was not appreciated by the Singaporean fan base who booed him during the podium trophy presentations.
Mercedes had dominated the season by the time the Singapore GP took place in 2015. Both Mercedes and Hamilton sat in comfortable leads for their respective championships with a handful of races left on the schedule.
Vettel, who did not finish on the podium, pulled off a remarkable feat of passing seventeen cars after starting the race in last place landing him in fifth. Vettel showed his mastery of a track where passing can be challenging.
The early exit proved costly to Vettel who had to watch Hamilton easily win the race and extend his championship lead over the German. Daniel Ricciardo for the third consecutive time finished in second place with red bull and Valtteri Bottas made his first Singaporean podium appearance in third place for Mercedes.
In 2018 Lewis Hamilton got his second win in a row in Singapore after claiming pole position and leading the race comfortably to the chequered flag. Max Verstappen joined Hamilton on the podium in second place, it was a first for the dutchman at Marina Bay.
Sebastien Vettel by 2019 had proved to be the master of Marina Bay, which was one of the most difficult tracks in Formula 1. Even if his teammate at Ferrari Charles Leclerc captured pole position, Vettel managed to win for the fifth time in Singapore.
Deng Yaping, Olympic champion, table tennis grand slam winner, who won eighteen world championships and four Olympic championships during her fourteen years illustrious career. She was the top-ranked woman in the world for eight consecutive years from 1991 (The longest time for continuously top-ranked female table tennis player, the record was kept by her).
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