This is the largest expanse of forest on Singapore. It is contigious with Bukit Timah after a long walk. Easy to reach in a cab or MRT/cab. Facilities only at Ranger Station and at Main Entrance.
Birds; In the forest, look for Chestnut-bellied Malkoha,Greater Racket-tailed Drongo, Orange-headed Thrush. On the golf course, Collared Kingfisher, Pink-necked Green Pigeon, Asian Koel, Asian Glossy Starling and Black-naped Oriole are all common. From the tower bulbuls, sunbirds and flowerpeckers are frequently seen.
Also look for Plantain Squirrels and Long-tailed Macaques.
Cab from Swissotel, The Stamford, takes approx 15-20 mins $15.
Or, take the MRT to Braddell on the Northern Line. From Braddell take a cab, 5 mins $4.
Golf Link Trail
Ask for the Sime Rd entrance to Singapore Island Country Club off Lornie Rd.
The main entrance to Macritchie Reservoir is on Lornie Rd. There are facilities with toilets, parking and a visitor’s centre. Continue along Lornie Rd a further 2 Kms to Singapore Island Country Club at Sime Rd. The Golf Link Trail begins 100m back along Lornie Rd from here. There are no facilities for toilets or refreshments. Bring plenty of water. A ranger station at the far end one branch of the trail has a drinking fountain and toilets. Short sections of the trail are rough with rocks and mud and can be treacherous when wet. There are scant opportunities for sheltering from the rain.It is possible to make a full circle around the reservoir, time permitting.
The first part of the trail to Jetulung Tower, is 2.7 Kms. There are distinct sections to this path. It starts with dense forest with a rich and varied understorey. Then it opens out with the banks of the reservoir on the right and the sculpted golf course on the left. Then a boardwalk passes through a damp area before re-entering the forest at the tower. Jetulung Tower has 6 storeys, but no shade on the top section. From here it is forest all the way.
Map detail showing Golf Link Trail entrance at bottom right.
Rifle Range Link leads off to the left.
Beyond the tower there is a fork in the path.
The right fork leads towards the Treetop Walk and the Ranger Station. Nearby, a road leads out of the park and back to Upper Thompson Rd where a cab or a bus might be found. Alternatively, one can continue around the reservoir ending at the main entrance on Lornie Rd.
The left fork, after approx 1.5 Kms leads onto Rifle Range Road. It is a long walk out along Rifle Range Rd, but the road is good and lined with forest. There is a lot of Singapore Army activity along this stretch so consider how they will react to someone in camouflage gear with binoculars and a long lens.
Re-tracing your steps to Lornie road is often the best guarantee of finding transport back home.
Consider walking the trail backwards, starting from the end of Rifle Range Road.
The hide looks out onto a saltwater lagoon. The approach to the hide skirts the edge of the lagoon and I could see hundreds of birds including Black-winged Stilt, Chestnut Teal, Silver Gull and Black Swan, so I had a pretty good idea of what was on the lagoon before I reached the hide. 
But it was only when I was settled and scanning that I noticed the small waders at the water's edge. I recalled once seeing a Dotterel here and assumed it to be the same species. But there are 2 dotterels from Australia which are superficially quite similar, so I referred to my field guide to jog my memory. 
According to my guide, the bird I was looking at was not a dotterel at all, but a Black-fronted Plover. I realised that this is a bird who has disputed family lineage and the name depends on whom you listen to.
They had been too distant before to get a decent shot, although I wasted a lot of card space trying just the same. Behind them, the stilts continued probing the deeper water with a couple of Bar-tailed Godwits who had stayed behind when the rest of them had headed North for the Siberian summer. 
Time was pressing this morning and I wanted to check out the newly renovated wetlands at Mason Powell Creek, recently renamed Mason Park Wetlands. So I started back towards the Victoria Ave entrance. On the way is a bend in the path with a bottlebrush bush hedge. This is usually a good spot for Superb Fairy Wren. Absent on the way down, they were now calling deep in the hedge. 
A female responded to some pishing, but the male stayed stubbornly deep in the hedge. As if I hadn't had enough mangrove boardwalks this week, I took a quick detour through the Budu mangroves on the floating walkway. I was rewarded at the other end with a Royal Spoonbill and a Great Egret. As I walked alongside the lawns, I reflected that I had not seen any Magpie Larks. Then as if by magic, one landed right in front of me and pulled a grub from the grass.
I left the park, and followed the aforementioned sign to Mason Powell Creek. The sportsfields on the left, played host to some Australian Ibis, Australian Black-backed Magpies and Masked Lapwings. At the end of the road, a bridge crosses over Powell Creek and into Mason Park Wetland. This area has undergone renovations recently with extensive plantings and removal of Casuarinas which were encroaching onto the wetland and blocking the flyways.
Return trains from Concord West to Wynyard usually run every 30mins. the train due at 11.09 was running 10 minutes late, but easily got me back to the city in plenty of time to start the longhaul back to London via Singapore again.
The Noisy Myna by comparison is subdued, but still not tuneful. The Noisy Myna is a Honeyeater, not a starling as the name might suggest. Honeyeaters are one of the families of birds that exist only in the Australasian Zone.
Today, an early storm had flooded the river which was sweeping through the gutter in a torrent. The Striated Herons were forced up the concrete sides and onto the barrage. A large Monitor lizard had taken refuge high on the bank to avoid the rushing water. The high water brought the herons and the monitor closer to the path and closer to the people who walk and ride bicycles along them. They looked unsettled at the proximity. 
I decided to break with tradition today, and change my accustomed route through the park. A new stretch of boardwalk had been built into the mangroves and I was keen to explore this. Here I found tree-climbing crabs that I had never noticed before. 
Further along, a platform opens onto the river. I had once observed a Buddhist throwing cockles into the water from here. She bought them at the local market and then released them back into the wild from the platform. Today was Buddha's birthday, but there were no offerings or gestures being made. 
Instead a group of Black-crowned Night-herons were roosting on a branch above the flooded river.
The tower was productive this morning and gave me the chance to photograph one of the most visible birds of Singapore, the Yellow-vented Bulbul, as they fed in a fruiting tree beside the tower. There were Pink-necked Green Pigeons at eye-level from the top, a female Asian Koel, Plain-throated Sunbirds and Common Iora. Black-naped Orioles swooped below me and a common Tailorbird barked monotonously nearby.
Here I saw a pair of Laced Woodpeckers and a Fantail. 
Further along a lizard sat for a picture while I listened to the raucous calls of a pair of Ashy Tailorbirds. Across the bridge and back onto the mangrove boardwalk, I was re-tracing my steps from earlier. 
The tree-climbing crabs were gone, but a Collared Kingfisher was in their place. Another species of lizard was posing irresistibly. I will have to find a herpetologist friend to help me identify and classify. 
Further along the boardwalk, I was able to compre the songs of two species of tailorbird. A common Tailorbird and an Ashy Tailorbird were both singing in close proximity.
It would look very dramatic in a photo. The fruiting tree was also attracting Pink-necked Green Pigeons and a Black-naped Oriole passed through as I was snapping the starlings.
Sungei Buloh offers migratory birds the chance to rest and refuel on their visit for the Northern Summer. It is an area of mangroves and old prawnponds which has been transformed into one of Singapore's premier wildlife reserves. 
Usually the most conspicuous birds are the waders that feed from the managed mudflats. Sluices maintain the desired water level or allow the tide to wash through as the management plan dictates. My visit coincided with a high water plan, so there was very little exposed mud. I had chosen to walk anti-clockwise around the reserve and found that the expected mudflats had been allowed to flood and that the water level was being kept high. So no waders. A tropical downpour trapped me in one of the hides for over an hour., but at least that kept the temperature down. 
Sungei Buloh can normally be expected to provide a profusion of birds such as waders, herons and egrets, kingfishers, etc, but today was quiet, except for the school party.
At last, after carrying the camera all around the reserve, I had something to take pictures of. The visitors Centre also comprises a delightful interpretative exhibit. Through the window, dragonflies flitted back and forth over the water hyacinth beds. One settled closeby and I took his picture. Once I started, I could not stop and shot over 400 frames. 
A different species, came by and now I was warming to the task. With my limited experience, I think I saw 8 different species of dragonflies and damselflies, but was only able to name one, the Red Chaser, at the time of writing. 
