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A resident mating pair of locally endangered changeable hawk-eagles have just given birth to an eaglet in Dover Forest East.

Mating pair at Dover Forest East

According to a Facebook post by Chua Chin Tat, an advocate for the conservation of Dover Forest, the pair of changeable hawk-eagles have been living in the patch of forest for a couple of years.

As residents living near the forest, Chua and his wife decided they could not "sit back and not do anything to save the forest" when they first found out that it would be cleared.

In 2022, Chua led more than 50 guided walks through Dover Forest East, allowing many to experience the forest for themselves and raise awareness about its impending fate.

Chua spoke to Mothership, stating that he and his neighbour have been aware of the mating pair since February last year.

Throughout 2022, they have observed the raptors raising a chick, and published records here.

Chua remarked in his Facebook post that last year's eaglet was born in January 2022.

In mid-April it took flight, and it left Dover Forest by September, being fully independent from its parents.

The last eaglet

Chua first discovered the hawk-eagles' nest in 2022 when he was standing at the stairwell at the 38th floor of Blk 31 Ghim Moh Link, which has the "best view of the forest", when he heard the sounds the adult eagles made.

Following the sounds of their calls led him to the eagles' nest.

This year, they were nesting in the same area.

The second eaglet Chua observed is thought to have been born on Feb. 4, 2023, and was spotted by Chua and his wife on Feb. 5 morning.

The pair named it "Snowy" for its white feathers, and Chua affectionately described it as a "tiny white fluffball, whose body was only as big as its head".

Snowy's parents were seen taking care of it affectionately.

Here's Snowy being fed some meat by its mother.

The tree which Snowy's nest resides on is demarcated with an orange ribbon.

Here's a photo of the nest up close.

The Housing Development Board (HDB) previously announced plans to develop the eastern half of the forest, while the western half will be preserved.

Currently, the area is already fenced up to be cleared. Below are some photos by local photographer Ernest Yeo, who has embarked on a photography project to document the forest as it is developed.

It was announced in September 2022 that about 3,000 Build-to-Order flats will be constructed in this area. The first project of 1,330 units was launched in November.

Chua has since dubbed Snowy the "last eaglet of Dover Forest East".

Tree felling not to be carried out during bird breeding season: HDB report

Worried about whether Snowy the eaglet would be able to survive given the impending clearance works, Chua suggested for the authorities to implement certain measures to protect the chick.

His suggestions include minimising disturbance to the birds, and retaining a sufficient mass of forest to provide the changeable hawk-eagle family with food, until the eaglet becomes independent of its parents.

In his Facebook post, Chua shared that he remains hopeful and looks forward to Housing Development Board's (HDB) "assurance that measures will be taken to ensure that Snowy is able to follow in its elder sibling's footsteps to successfully grow up and achieve independence from its parents in September this year."

Chua reached out to the HDB in February, and received a reply on Mar. 2.

In the reply, HDB apologised for the late responses to his emails and sought his "patience and understanding".

With respect to the tree the eagles are nesting on, they stated that they are "reviewing (the) query with (their) project team and National Parks Board (NParks) as soon as possible".

HDB also assured that at the moment, there are no construction works in the vicinity of the tree.

Currently, HDB has an environment management and monitoring plan (EMMP) in place for Dover Forest.

According to the EMMP which was completed on Dec. 27, 2022, tree felling or transplanting will not commence during prime breeding season, which is between the months of February to July.

Outside of that, any active nests detected by wildlife experts before tree felling will be left untouched until the young birds have fledged.

Meanwhile, the EMMP states that inactive nests should be removed to minimise the possibility of a new nesting attempt.

"Tree felling or transplanting shall occur only when no active nests are present on the tree," the report stated.

Mothership has reached out to HDB for more information on Snowy the eaglet, and will update this story when they reply.

NParks' Response

Ryan Lee, Group Director of the NParks' National Biodiversity Centre, responded to Mothership's queries, and stated that NParks is aware of the eaglet's existence and is working with HDB to make certain that "the nest and the eaglet are left undisturbed until the eaglet has fledged".

According to Lee, the Changeable Hawk-Eagle is native to Singapore. It was once rarer, but the population has been increasing.

Background on Dover Forest

According to the environmental baseline study (EBS) released by HDB, Dover Forest is a forested land of 33 hectares that used to be occupied by rubber plantations, fruit orchards and kampungs.

It was abandoned after World War II.

Since the 1980s, the patch, with four freshwater streams, has been relatively untouched.

About half of the land area of the forest is made up of secondary forest that regrew from what used to be plantations or kampungs.

The forest is approximately 33 hectares (about the size of 46 soccer fields), with a steep terrain of about 10m from Commonwealth Avenue West towards Ulu Pandan canal.

It has been earmarked for residential development since 2003 as the Ulu Pandan estate site.

The western half of Dover forest is retained because it is comparatively richer in its biodiversity, such as having more large trees of significance and threatened species, HDB said.

The EBS conducted in 2017 by HDB noted that there were 120 species of plants and 158 species of birds, mammals, reptiles, amphibians, fish, snails, and insects residing in the forest. This includes the critically endangered changeable hawk-eagle.

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Top image via Chua Chin Tat/ FB.