When: February 2026 Weather : Hot 29C

OM1mk2 150-400mm Zuiko

From time to time we hear of new sightings of interesting migrants in Singapore and a couple of weeks ago, there was a report of a Fairy Pitta in the Rainforest trail in the Singapore Botanic Gardens. After various birders had posted their pictures, I finally got round to going there and looking for it…..to no avail…on the second occasion, a tree had fallen and the park authorities closed the trail…..then took a week(!!) to clear the tree….far too long for birders trying to get their lifer!

Finally, there were posts that it had reopened and the fairy pitta was still in the area although by now it had moved towards the waterfalls near the visitor centre. We decided to give it one more try and arrived there at about noon, went behind the waterfalls and up the steps nearby to see about 30 photographers on the elevated wooden walkway….apparently the pitta had been seen earlier that morning but everyone was still waiting…..after 30min or so, a whisper went up….’it’s here!’ 30 cameras were raised and all of us scanned the dark forest floor with its fallen leaves and foliage…..the fairy pitta has a beige front with green wings and back….there is a lightning blue flash on the wing and it has a bright red vent. Finally we got a glimpse of some movement….

Though the sighting was challenging…fairly far away under a dense canopy, I finally got to add another pitta to my list….