Nature in Singapore, an on-line bulletin of the Raffles Museum of Biodiversity Research, has just published a review article on anting that is relevant to the local birding scene.

The anting phenomenon was first publicised to the local birding community in October 2005 when BESG posted a note by Kelvin KP Lim who observed it in 1988.

Until then, local birders were totally unaware of anting – use of ants by birds for feather maintenance. Since then, there have been more than a few observations, mainly by mynas.

This article was originally sent to Nature Watch, flagship of the Nature Society (Singapore) for possible publication. However, after nearly three years and having yet to receive any indication from the editor as to whether the document is accepted or rejected, I have totally lost hope of the article ever being published in that magazine.

I reluctantly came to the conclusion that maybe, just maybe, the contents could be a tad embarrassing to leaders of the local birding flock.

So on 29th July 2008, I revised the manuscript and submitted it to Nature in Singapore. What a breadth of fresh air! That very same day, I received an acknowledgment note from the editor, followed by a letter saying that the manuscript would be sent for review, and yet another note saying that the article has been accepted for publication. Wow! All within a day!

After languishing for nearly three years in the computer of Nature Watch’s editor, the article at last managed to see light of day in Nature in Singapore after only eight days. I would prefer it to appear within three days but what the hack! Eight days is so much better than three years.

Kudos to Nature in Singapore!

Anyone interested in reading the account can get a PDF copy HERE

Image of Javan Myna by YC, that of ants by Johnny Wee.

The BESG website has passed another milestone – 300,000 visitors. And after nearly three years of posting more than 700 items on bird behaviour.

We initially planned to wait until half a million visitors to make an announcement. But things are changing fast in the local birdwatching scene. There are signs of a possible paradigm shift in the mindset of local birdwatchers. And we are eager to announce this.

The local nature society’s birdwatching community is at last returning to observing bird behaviour - after a decade and a half of obsessive listing. Birding stalwart Lim Kim Chuah recently teamed up with prize-winning photographer Lee Tiah Khee to make a simple post on the behaviour of a Greater Racket-tailed Drongo (above). This may be a small start but it is a significant start. We welcome such a major move.

The teaming up with Tiah Khee, a major player in bird photography, also indicates that local birdwatchers are recognising the role digital photographers are playing in gathering information on birds, especially bird behaviour. Initially viewed with some suspicion, they are now accepted as major players.

Photographers are focused in getting more than just portrait shots. They are out in the field most of the time. They are the ones to make sightings well before birdwatchers. Furthermore, they have the images, not just any images but excellent images, a standard that birdwatchers have yet to reach.

BESG has been collaborating with photographers ever since we started three years ago - amateur as well as professional photographers. And believe it or not, most of our contributors have been and are, bird photographers.

So a big THANK YOU to bird photographers and a big WELCOME to birdwatchers who are once again beginning to observe bird behaviour.

By now the blog’s new appearance is obvious to all who logs in.

When we started in July 2005, it was with a Blogger account (top left). We blogged for 18 months before Jacqueline Lau came along and suggested we shift to WordPress, a “state-of-the-art” personal publishing platform (top right).

After an initial hesitation, I agreed. Jac did all the work, planning, designing, archiving, etc. And I did all the postings. Of course the observations, images and even entire stories came from our supporters.

One year into this new publishing platform, along came Jac again to institute more changes. This time she introduced new themes for a more modern and youthful outlook. Many new features have been incorporated, my favourite being the world map. Click on the small map on the right side of this page and a larger image appears, showing in detail which part of the world the different visitors came from (top, at time of post).

Since 7th February 2008 we are a member of Nature Blog Network. Of the currently 132 sites that are members, blogging on aspects of nature (plants, animals and ecosystems), we were ranked 57 on 14th February. At the time of posting, we have moved up to 40.

This blog needs to remain attractive to visitors. Thus there is a constant need for improvement - in appearance, quality of posts, etc. in order to remain vibrant. Otherwise it will stagnate. This is where we value your input.

Thank you Jac… and all you generous photographers and observant birders who contributed to the success of BESG.

In July 2007, after two years of blogging, BESGroup’s blog logged 100,000 visitors. Now, exactly six months later, we have reached another milestone - 200,000 visitors.

A recent web-rating by an independent professional editor for weblog “blogged” rated this blog as ‘Very Good” and awarded it 8.3 out of 10.0 points. The editor used four criteria: 1. frequency of updates; 2. relevance of content; 3. site design; 4. writing style.

We have linked up with many overseas bird blogs. Many others have discovered us as shown below:

Based in the US, Birdfreak: The Bird Conservation Blog has been recommending us to birders all over the world (left). So have the Malaysia Bird Forum and thaibirding.com.

GlobalVoices, founded at Harvard Law School’s Berkman Center for Internet and Society, has also made reference to us. This is a research think-tank focused on the internet’s impact on society.

One of our posts was referenced in an article on the Common Myna that appeared in Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia,

And a Chinese blog based in Biijing literally re-posted chunks of our recent postings, images and all.

OrganicBurials.com makes special mention to our recent post on the Chestnut-bellied Malkoha.

On the local scene, Youth.SG, an online portal for the youth of Singapore, has linked up with BESG. So has Singapore Environmental Blogs.

The above are the new local links. Apologies for not mentioning the many other local links, so as not to make this post excessively long.

Once again BESG thanks one and all for support - photographers for sharing your bird behaviour images as well as permission to post your images, birders for sending your sightings and observations.

With your continued support, we await the coming of the half million hits.

It has been two years since the Bird Ecology Study Group was formally constituted. The group’s blog has all along been highlighting various aspects of bird behaviour. To date, there are more than 500 posts involving 27 broad categories from feeding to nesting to inter-specific interactions.

Thanks to the willingness of photographers, birders and the nature loving public at large to share observations and images, the blog has developed into what it is today.

Join us in this talk that will reflect on the past two years of bird behaviour observations, and contribute to how we can move forward – to bring birding to a higher plane.