Singapore – A major bird migration hub + Bird migration season is coming soon 

Even though Singapore is a small country by land size, we are a major bird migration hub, just like our international hubs for aviation and shipping. Singapore is part of the East Asian-Australiasian Flyway, migratory birds making a pitstop in Singapore, giving bird photographers here in Singapore many opportunities to photograph them in action, the diversity and beauty of those migratory bird species. 

Recent research findings have also indicated that Singapore’s status as a major migratory bird hub has grown in stature, Singapore now has become the intersection of 2 major flyways, adding the Central Asian-Indian Flyway to the East Asian-Australiasian Flyway.

Bird Photography with Canon EOS R6 Mark II

In my earlier #WMBD2023 article, I shared about my bird photography with Canon EOS cameras, from Canon cameras that I previously owned or those cameras that I reviewed. For #WMBD2023 14th October, I would be sharing about my bird photography with the Canon EOS R6 Mark II camera that was recently added not too long ago into my Canon photography setup. 

My bird photography/wildlife photography tips are published earlier in May 2023 article that you can check it out, have a read if you are starting out on your bird photography adventures with Canon EOS cameras and lenses.

As the bird migration season in Singapore is just round the corner of year end 2023, I would set aside more time for bird photography with my Canon EOS R6 Mark II whenever I am able to, visiting the various nature reserves (Sungei Buloh Wetland Reserve, Central Catchment), parks (Pasir Ris Park, Jurong Lake Gardens) and beaches for bird migration season in Singapore.

World Migratory Bird Day 2023 (October Edition)

To all fellow bird and wildlife photographers, nature and wildlife conservationists and supporters, we all can do a part in spreading the awareness for our birds, water and nature areas, not just on World Migratory Bird Day itself. 

Let’s continue to spread the word, awareness, conservation and protection for our wildlife and nature areas, in Singapore and around the world.

* A TGH Photography x Canon EOS R6 Mark II Explorer Series Production *

The post World Migratory Bird Day 2023 (October 14th) appeared first on TGH Photography and Travel Portal/Blog.

On the other hand, I haven’t been writing about bird photography as much as I should, even though I have a strong interest in this field. Therefore, in conjunction with WMBD 2023, I am finally putting together my bird photography adventures and experiences over the years. 

World Migratory Bird Day 2023 Theme: Water

The theme for WMBD 2023 is Water and the importance for migratory birds. Water is fundamental to all living on planet Earth. Water is a scarce natural resource, human beings are increasing demand for water, placing huge stress on our land and nature ecosystem. With our aquatic ecosystem under huge stress and threats, our flora and fauna are also affected as well. 

To all bird photographers and bird watchers,, let’s celebrate World Migratory Bird Day 2023, as well as eBird Global Bird Day 13th May 2023, share the birds you spot on eBird, photograph the birds if you can, spread awareness on conservation – birds, water and nature spaces.

Singapore – A major migratory bird hub / stopover destination 

Just like Singapore is a global air transit hub for the world with our iconic internationally famous Changi Airport, we are also a major migratory bird hub / stopover destination. Singapore is part of the East Asian-Australiasian Flyway, migratory birds making a pitstop in Singapore, giving bird photographers here in Singapore many opportunities to photograph them in action, the diversity and beauty of those migratory bird species. 

Recent research findings have also indicated that Singapore’s status as a major migratory bird hub has grown in stature, Singapore now has become the intersection of 2 major flyways, adding the Central Asian-Indian Flyway to the East Asian-Australiasian Flyway.

Singapore, a small country by land size, now can play a bigger and wider international role in the migratory birds journey with those 2 major flyways, a transit hub for migratory birds. 

Article References:

• NParks article Feathered Global Ambassadors: https://www.nparks.gov.sg/nparksbuzz/issue-42-vol-3-2019/conservation/feathered-global-ambassadors 
• Mothership https://mothership.sg/2020/12/migratory-bird-central-asian-flyway-singapore/ 
• Nature Portfolio Scientific Reports: https://www.nature.com/articles/s41598-020-77897-z 

Bird Photography with Canon EOS cameras 

Over the years, I have enjoyed my bird photography with various Canon EOS cameras and lenses, from my own camera equipment to review units. For WMBD 2023, I would like to share curated bird photography works from my more recent bird photography shoots.

West Coast Park / Sungei Ulu Pandan Kechil 

Sungei Ulu Pandan (Clementi / Sunset Way)

Pasir Ris Park / Sungei Tampines 

Labrador Park

Botanic Gardens 

Windsor Nature Park

The above collection of bird photographs were shot with various Canon mirrorless cameras that I am currently using or tested/reviewed them most recently over the past 1-2 years. such as the EOS R3, EOS R7, EOS RP and EOS R50 cameras. 

I have more bird photography shots curated inside this photo album, a small collection of Birds in Singapore (Flickr album), you can view them here – https://flic.kr/s/aHsjBnNjyL 

Bird Photography Tips

Here are some handy and useful bird photography tips for those who are starting out on their bird photography journey.

Camera Equipment

Based on my Canon cameras usage, reviews and experiences, you can read more about my reviews on those Canon cameras listed below:

Cameras

Canon EOS R3 | EOS R5 | EOS R6 | EOS R7 | EOS-1D X Mark III | EOS-1D X Mark II | EOS-1D X |

If you have the budget, go for the EOS R3 (FF mirrorless) or EOS-1D X Mark III (FF DSLR), the EOS R5 and EOS R6 are also very capable FF mirrorless cameras, well liked and received by bird photographers. The EOS R7 (APS-C mirrorless) has recently been added, becoming a popular mid level camera suitable for bird photography. 

Lenses

• Fast lens (big aperture lens if you own one e.g. 400mm f/2.8)
• Telephoto zoom lens: RF100-500mm f/4.5-7.1L | EF200-400mm f/4L with 1.4x Extender | RF100-300mm f/2.8L | EF or RF 70-200mm f/2.8L
• Telephoto prime lens: RF600mm f/4L or EF600mm f/4L | EF500mm f/4L | RF400mm f/2.8L or EF400mm f/2.8L | RF600mm f/11 | RF800mm f/11 |

Settings

• AI Servo (Canon) | AF-C (Nikon) | Continuous AF (Sony) |
• Subject tracking: Animal 
• High FPS (e.g. 20fps)
• Fast shutter speed (1/1250s to 1/2500s depending on the action and activity)
• Tripod (for the big prime lens)

Beyond the technical specifics and hardware

• Read, learn, know and understand more of the birds that you are photographing. 
• Observe the birds, their surroundings, actions, and patterns. 
• Be patient, don’t make too much noise. 

Bird Photography Locations in Singapore

While Singapore is a very small country in terms of land size, we do have our own nature reserves and outdoor nature areas that we can be proud of. For bird photography, there are a number of destinations that bird photographers like to visit for their bird photography action.

Sungei Buloh Wetland Reserve is the most well-known bird photography location in Singapore, this wetland reserve tucked away in the north west corner of Singapore is the hub for migratory birds, taking a pitstop for rest break and refuelling their body for further flight down south. 

Other popular bird photography locations in Singapore include Central Catchment (Bukit Timah to MacRitchie, Windsor Nature Park), Kranji Marshes, Pasir Ris Park, Singapore Botanic Gardens, Hampstead Wetlands Park, Lorong Halus / Coney Island, Pulau Ubin, Jurong Lake Gardens, Bishan-AMK Park, Marina Bay East/Gardens By The Bay. 

West Coast Park, Labrador Park, Southern Ridges, Fort Canning Hill, Tampines Eco Green, are also bird photography locations that bird photographers would also visit and check out.

World Migratory Bird Day Information 

If you like to know more about World Migratory Bird Day, please visit the links below for more information and updates.

• Website: https://www.worldmigratorybirdday.org/ 
• Twitter: https://twitter.com/WMBD 
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/worldmigratorybirdday/ 
• YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/user/WMBDcampaign 

World Migratory Bird Day 2023 (May Edition)

To all fellow bird and wildlife photographers, nature and wildlife conservationists and supporters, we all can do a part in spreading the awareness for our birds, water and nature areas, not just on World Migratory Bird Day itself. 

Let’s continue to spread the word, awareness, conservation and protection for our wildlife and nature areas. 

The post World Migratory Bird Day 2023 (May 13th) appeared first on TGH Photography and Travel Portal/Blog.

Bird photography with EOS R7 at Jurong Bird Park

Thanks to Canon Singapore, there was another opportunity to test the EOS R7 further. We had a bird photography outing with the EOS R7 at Jurong Bird Park. I was shooting mainly with the RF-S 18-150mm f/3.5-6.3 IS STM lens. 

While this RF-S 18-150mm kit lens is not a dedicated lens for birding, it’s a versatile general lens ideal for daily usage and travel photography. Overall, I managed to capture some nice shots of birds in action or birds in flight shots when I was at Jurong Bird Park using the EOS R7 with RF-S 18-150mm f/3.5-6.3 IS STM lens.

Thoughts and views from short hands on with EOS R7 at Jurong Bird Park

Since I only had a short hands on experience for a few hours with the Canon EOS R7 at Jurong Bird Park. Let me share with you my experiences, here are some of my initial thoughts and views from testing the EOS R7 at Jurong Bird Park:

A familiar feel 

From my various experiences in owning, using and testing many different Canon camera models over the years, there is a familiar feel to the EOS R7, existing current Canon users would be able to get up to speed with the EOS R7 pretty quickly.

Compact and lightweight, packed with powerful technical specifications and new technological capabilities for photography, surpassing its predecessor’s EOS 7D Mark II legacy. 

Quick control dial

This is the all-new quick control dial that combines the Multi-Controller with the Multi-Directional joystick. An interesting and useful feature, small in size placed in a good position for the right thumb to touch and control. 

I like this quick control dial, this might take a bit of getting used to since this is a new design and feature on a Canon camera body.

APS-C 1.6x 

I started my Canon interchangeable lens camera (ILC) journey with the Canon EOS 300D in 2004, an APS-C 1.6x crop DSLR camera. While I have gradually moved on Canon full-frame digital cameras over the years, the Canon APS-C 1.6x crop is something that I am familiar with. 

APS-C sensors have its pros and cons, wildlife and sports photographers would welcome it for its extended reach, landscape photographers may find the wide angle field of view not to their liking and requirements. 

For those photographers who are not too used to the APS-C 1.6x crop, give yourself time to adjust your field of view and point of view when using the EOS R7, you would be fine using this camera, in time to come.

Fast and accurate auto focus (AF) + Animal Priority 

The EOS R7 AF speed is put to the test on bird photography at Jurong Bird Park. Combining its fast and accurate AF with 30 fps and Animal Priority tracking, I was able to capture the birds in flight and birds in action. 

I mentioned earlier that I was mainly using the RF-S 18-150mm f/3.5-6.3 IS STM kit lens during the photography outing at Jurong Bird Park, a versatile general lens ideal for daily usage and travel photography. With EOS R7 fast and accurate AF + Animal Priority tracking, I managed to capture some nice birds in action or birds in flight shots when I was at Jurong Bird Park using the EOS R7 with RF-S 18-150mm f/3.5-6.3 IS STM lens.

I would put this to further testing on birds and wildlife when the EOS R7 unit is available for a more thorough and in-depth review with my other Canon lenses.

In-depth and detailed review at a later time 

I am looking forward to further explore and put the Canon EOS R7 into a more in-depth and detailed review through my visual story telling adventures. 

Keep a lookout on my Instagram and Facebook Page posts when the EOS R7 is available for review and I would be sharing my stories, photos and adventures with the EOS R7 review unit, putting the EOS R7 to the test and its other capabilities. 

This also marks the start of a new short visual storytelling adventure, the Canon EOS R7 Explorer Series, a TGH Photography x Canon EOS R7 Explorer Series Production. 

The post Canon EOS R7 Test Shots at Jurong Bird Park appeared first on TGH Photography and Travel Portal/Blog.

This is my first time marking #WorldWaterDay on my TGH Photography and Travel portal/blog. While I have been photographing, covering and writing on environmental protection, conservation, sustainability, I feel that I have not done enough. In recent years, I have increased concern for our world climate situation. I decided to be more active in this movement, I hope that my visual story telling can play a bigger role in helping to bring world environmental issues and awareness across to different groups of people not just in Singapore, around the world as well. 

World Water Day 2022 theme is Groundwater. It’s invisible yet its impact is visible everywhere around the world. We are over using groundwater in many areas around the world, our natural resource is being depleted and its time the world act on this. You can play a part in World Water Day 2022, please visit UN Water and find out more!

Back home in Singapore, we are having our own Singapore World Water Day too! Time to GoBlue4SG and let’s Make Every Drop Count. Canon Singapore has partnered with PUB, Singapore’s National Water Agency on a photography contest – Canon x Singapore Water Day Photo Contest, Theme is “Water is Life” from 17th to 27th March 2022. Go check it out! 

When I am not doing commercial photography work, I love to explore Singapore’s nature and outdoors. From exploring parks, reservoirs, nature reserves, photographing wildlife, nature areas and how we Singaporeans interact and live with nature and outdoors close to our doorstep.

My recent exploration brought me to photographing nature, wildlife and our waterways/reservoirs up close as well as from a bird’s eye view in our heartlands. 

On World Water Day, let’s #GoBlue4SG and #MakeEveryDropCount, spread the awareness on water, not just in Singapore, around the world too

* A TGH Photography x Canon EOS R3 Explorer Series Production *

The post World Water Day 2022 appeared first on TGH Photography and Travel Portal/Blog.

Till date, I covered the following areas near my home for birding and wildlife photography, West Coast Park, Sungei Ulu Pandan Park Connector and Botanic Gardens. There were quite a number of different species of bird residing/visiting both areas mentioned above. My birding photography adventure was fun, quite a bit of waiting, being very observant and quiet, with some decent and nice photographs!

One area that I was very keen to explore was the Lorong Halus Wetland, part of the National Parks Singapore North Eastern Riverine Loop, this extensive network of park connectors that I haven’t finish exploring. I heard so much about this wetland over time and keen to visit it. On a public holiday Monday morning, my boss/colleague brought me there and showed me where to drive in, where to explore and what to watch out for at Lorong Halus Wetland. The wetland was beside the Serangoon Tidal Gates (dam/barrage) that enclosed Sungei Serangoon. Leading into the sea. This is a very beautiful and tranquil location, greenery on the sides, the river and the sea.

Since it was my maiden trip to Lorong Halus Wetlands and my emphasis was on birding photography, I didn’t take landscape/travel photos of this beautiful area. I would be planning to visit it again and share more photographs of my birding adventure and the surrounding areas. During this maiden trip to Lorong Halus Wetlands, I managed to spot and photograph the following birds

–       Blue-Tailed Bee-Eater

–       Common Kingfisher

–       Paddyfield Pipit

–       Long-Tailed Shrike

–       Raptor  (ID to be confirmed, it should be from the Buzzard family)

–       Spotted Dove

–       Baya Weaver

–       Grey Heron

There are a lot more species of birds residing and visiting at the Lorong Halus Wetlands, my hope for photographing the raptors around there didn’t materalise since they didn’t fly out to hunt for food (or they might have flew off to their home destination).

During my short time at Lorong Halus Wetland, I learned a few tips on birding photography from my boss/colleague, an avid bird photographer and photography seniors that I usually chat with at my regular photography shop.

–       Birds are creatures of habits; they would usually be back at their favourite/usual locations.

–       Patience is a must for bird photography.

–       Explore and recce the location on where to camp/position yourself next time when you return for bird photography.

–       Always mount your lens before going in there. You might just spot some birds along the way in (if you are driving).

–       The time frame to photograph the birds is not long, probably a few hours in the early morning from 7am to 10am or late afternoon around 4-6pm (when the weather is not too hot).

–       Don’t make too much noise and talk too loudly, our voices and sound can frighten the birds to fly away and hide.

–       Be very observant and always keep a lookout of the surroundings and skyline.

–       Always be ready to “fire and photograph”

–       Shoot at a high shutter speed (or higher if you prefer) e.g. 1/1000 to freeze the birds in action since their reaction and speed can be very fast.

–       Read up and understand more about the various birds.

–       Consider a tripod or a monopod; both have their pros and cons. It also depends on whether you would be camping at one location or walking around to explore and look for the birds.

–       Have the handy NSS Bird Guide App with you in your smartphone (especially useful and helpful for me to identify the various birds that I photographed)

–       Wear clothes that blend in well with your surroundings e.g. green/brown/khaki clothes.

–       A hat/cap is very useful to provide shade for you from the strong sunlight.

–       A pair of binoculars would be very handy and useful.

–       Be prepared to get wet, muddy and dirty when exploring in the forest, wetlands, swamps etc

–       Do not rush into photographing all the birds in the area, be patient, revisit the location over and over again.

–       Do not destroy habitats or nests of the birds and wildlife.

–     Take only photographs and memories; leave no litter behind, don’t take anything from the natural surroundings. Leave nothing behind but your footsteps only.

It’s also good to stay up to date with the following groups for more information and updates on the wildlife, nature reserves and birding photography in Singapore, especially on migratory birds arrival

–       National Parks Singapore

–       Nature Society Singapore

–       Birding Singapore

–       Saving Bidadari for Birds and People

–       Nature Photographic Society Singapore

I would be combining bird photography with nature/conservation photography in some areas for the upcoming months in 2013 and I hope that I would be able to share more of my stories and photos here with everybody here. Do take a lookout of my birding photography collection on Flickr and 500px!

Created with Admarket’s flickrSLiDR.

The post Birding Photography Adventure @ Lorong Halus Wetland appeared first on TGH Photography and Travel Portal/Blog.