Bird spotting at the Construction Tender briefing - Kranji Marshes

Held the Construction Tender briefing at Kranji Marshes yesterday.
As I was giving the briefing I was interrupted at one point by 2 very noisy Parakeets flying overhead. 
Looking forward to getting the Contractor on board and starting the construction work on the Nature Reserve.

Some of the birds of interest we spotted on our visit:

3 Purple Swamphens (Porphyrio porphyrio)
1 Grey Heron (Ardea cinerea)
1 Yellow Bittern (Ixobrychus sinesis)
A flock of Red-wattled Lapwings (Vanellus indicus atronuchalis)
Several Long-tailed Parakeets (Psittacula longicauda) - our native Parakeet
1 Kingfisher - just a glimpse, probably a White-throated Kingfisher (Halcyon smyrnensis)

We managed to get some (slightly blurry) long distance photos of the Purple Swamphens (Porphyrio porphyrio) that are one of the bird species the project will conserve and protect in this freshwater marsh habitat. 

Swamphen Kranji Marshes SCLD

The walk from the future entrance area down the existing single track lane to the Marsh. The lane has the canal / drain on one side and a secondary woodland area on the other.

Neo Tiew Lane 2 - Kranji Marshes

The water in the reservoir and the Marsh is very low at present after almost a month without rain.  

Kranji Marshes dry

The main area to be improved to retain it as Marshland. 

Main Marsh area at Kranji

Purple Swamphen (Porphyrio porphyrio) foraging in the shallow water 

Purple Swamphen foraging at Kranji Marshes

The pond area that will be retained and is popular with the Bitterns and the Herons (we designed this back in 2006). 

The pond at Kranji Marshes

The Yellow Bittern (Ixobrychus sinesis) in the Pond area (bit blurry)

Yellow Bittern at Kranji Marsh Pond