After acquiring a Choa Chu Kang site last year, property developer City Developments Limited (CDL) came across two unusual residents: two majestic white-bellied sea eagles nesting in a towering albizia tree (above).
Photo: City Developments Limited
Construction at the executive condominium site has now begun, and CDL is looking to minimise the harm to its feathered tenants. It has agreed to its biodiversity consultant's recommendation to start work from the other end of the 1.75ha site.
The wooded patch, including the tree with the nest, has been retained, at least for the next few months, and protective hoarding put up around it, said CDL head of green building Allen Ang.
Foundation work such as piling is being resequenced from mid-May in stages, starting with the south end of the site, farthest away from the nest.
Choa Chu Kang resident Boris Chan, 48, first found the birds, a male and a female, in April last year, nesting at the plot off Choa Chu Kang Drive. He posted photos on social networking site Facebook.
White-bellied sea eagles, which are native to Singapore and range from India to Australia, mate for life.
They often return to the same tree or area to nest year after year, said wildlife consultant Subaraj Rajathurai, who was commissioned for the CDL study.
This year, the pair had returned to nest, and they have at least one chick. The nest will be monitored daily at least until fledging, when the feathers and wing muscles are sufficiently developed for flight, which takes some 70 to 80 days in all.
The construction site itself will be monitored for the impact on biodiversity for about a year.
Once the chicks have flown off, the albizia will be cut down because it is diseased and at risk of toppling.