Singapore here we come!

Singapore Breakfast

After a great nights' sleep, finally got up at 10 am, for an interesting breakfast of Kama toast with soft boiled eggs and tea.   The toast was sweet and rather interesting, with spread butter and also huge chunks that refused to melt - looked like cheese, but tasted odd and was definitely some sort of butter.   The eggs were barely cooked but very good and the tea excellent.

After putting the luggage into deposit for the day we went off in a mini-bus to Singapore botanical gardens, some 20 km away.   The striking things about our journey were the lack of traffic jams, the cleanliness, and the amazing architecture of the buildings.

The gardens are a great public facility, where you are free to wander around some beautiful landscapes and hopefully catch up with some birds!

Bathroom with a see-through wall!

By the Entrance we found Javan Mynah, Tree Sparrow, and Spotted Dove.   The latter being a particularly attractive dove similar in size and design to our Collared Dove.   Asian Glossy Starling were also around, with the females causing some indecision on ID to start with.

We started off looking for the rainforest area, passing by a large lake with an outdoor auditorium in an island.   This conveniently faced a banked area of ground which must be a great venue for an evening concert.   Here Olive-backed Sunbird fed on heliconia-type flowers within feet of us as we tried to capture it's beauty in a photograph.

Javan Mynah

We finally found the rainforest area, by now we were all feeling the heat and humidity a little distracting, but the prospect of some birds spurred us on.   Greater Raquet-tailed Drongo, Magpie Robin, and House Swift were spotted.

By an attractive bandstand two ladies in wedding dresses were posing for photographs - it was hard to tell if they were brides or there for a photoshoot.   Nearby were some ornamental ponds with White-breasted Waterhen creeping about on the edges.   A Scarlet-backed Flowerpecker gave us a run for our money, but eventually showed well to the group.

We carried on towards a suitable lunch stop, adding Asian Paradise Flycatcher, Collared Kingfisher and Mute Swan (on the appropriately named Swan Lake).  On this lake a sculpture of a flock of swans flying added to the stylistic ambience, and on one of the wing tips a Pacific Swallow perched, preening as

Olive-backed Sunbird

it's peers fed overhead.

Along the next part of our walk we added Plain-throated Sunbird, Yellow-vented Bulbul, Glossy Swiftlet, Arctic Warbler, Brown Flycatcher and Tree Oriole.   A monitor lizard and a couple of squirrels added themselves to our list also.

After a break for lunch, with chicken and rice or chips being the main options taken, we were off back out into the heat of the day - by now it was after 3 pm, and we were all starting to feel the effects of a days travel.   We continued onward, adding Black Swan, Lesser Whistling Duck, Pied Fantail, White-Throated Kingfisher, Black-crowned Night-heron, Brahminy Kite, Ashy Tailorbird and Hill Mynah.

Dragonfly

During the day we also found several beautiful dragonflies (all nameless so far) and two species of turtle, one the red-eared which has been released into British ponds and lakes over the years and the other a rather pretty snout-nosed variety with a flexible "skirt" around its shell.

The Auditorium

Soon it was time to find our driver and return to the airport for our flight to Port Moresby, Papua New Guinea.   After we had a rather confusing couple of telephone calls to track the driver down, we were on our way back through the rush hour traffic to Changi Airport.   Baggage retrieved, hand luggage sorted out and we were soon off to Terminal 1, early check-in and a long wait for our flight.

Fed and watered, and although the flight time had been delayed until 11.40, we were off for our final destination. . . . Papua New Guinea.