Here we are on the last day of 2021!

We’ve seen huge changes in the local birding community this year. Many – and really, MANY – new birders picking up this magnificent hobby. From young to old, a large number of people have slowly turned birdwatching into a lifestyle choice. Our partner Facebook group, Bird Sightings, has reached a milestone of 10,000 members, and our website was visited by over 130,000 people.

Our community has been blessed by a large number of national firsts – 11 in the whole year. The second half of the 2020/2021 season brought us specialties such as Asian Emerald Cuckoo and Cotton Pygmy Goose, and the first half of the 2021/2022 season brought us marvellous views of unexpected vagrants including Tree Pipit, Spotted Flycatcher and Black Redstart. The single female Amur Falcon hunted around Lorong Halus for weeks and enriched both the memories and memory cards of many.

Amidst the busy chasing of birds, the Singapore Birds Project has also accomplished a lot this year. Our website was launched in 2016 and we’ve finally completed all of our species write-ups: 428 in total – one detailed page for every species in the Singapore Bird Checklist. We also successfully launched our Singapore Birds Database on 11 November 2021 and our project has gained attention from the Straits Times and highly renowned journals such as Ibis, which is maintained by the British Ornithological Union. Not only that, our Singapore Bird Records Committee has received an astounding 93 submissions in a mere six weeks since the launch of our database. Our Records Committee is also in the midst of busily preparing our operating guidelines which will be made available online as soon as possible. 11 quality articles have been published on our blog, and we’ve expanded our team of members who are committed to serve the birdwatching community.

The 2021/2022 season is not over yet – more rarities might still be coming our way!

Happy New Year, Happy Birding, and thank you all for supporting the Singapore Birds Project.