The Brahminy Kite (Haliastur indus) is a common bird of prey that is widely distributed in the South Asia, South-east Asia and Australia. The subspecies in the Malay Peninsular and Singapore is intermedius.
In Singapore, they are found in all habitat except forest, and especially common in coastal areas. One of the easier area to see them is Sungei Serangoon.
Because of their abundance, most bird photographers have no problem taking close photos of the species and take no further notice of it. Most photos taken, including mine are mainly of the bird in flight seen from below, with nice blue skies if possible.
On a sunny morning in November 2013, I brought my daughter along for a nature stroll at Lorong Halus. As we walked to the bridge across Sungei Serangoon (Serangoon River), we spotted an adult kite flying around the river. Having lugged along my camera and lens, I thought it’ll be a good opportunity to take some shots of it. I mainly wanted to get some unusual angles and background.
A bird flying upwards after a failed fishing attempt. I chose to position myself to see it fly in front the green foliage next to the river. Technically the background is considered busy so the autofocus must be set on a smaller area to avoid misfocus.