Virgin Trip to Tanah Merah

Today is my first trip to Tanah Merah organised by KS with a ton of other of his friends. Glad to finally put a face to the awesome pictures in his Singapore Nature blog by James.

The intertidal habitat is basically a sandy shore enclosed by a long seawall. It was under these huge boulders which formed the wall where life thrived, especially the crabbies. There were so many swimmers around, like the flower crab above (Portunus pelagicus).

 
There was also a hive of activities as we witness them feeding among the rocks.

J went far out first and called us when he spotted the Common Seastar (Archaster typicus).

The rabbit fishes (Siganus sp.) are probably the most easily spotted medium sized fishes here. According to wiki, they are exclusively diurnal and this might be the reason for their sluggish behaviour and half-shut eyes. One even knocked on my booties and just laid flat on it as if to sleep!


Feather-duster worms always make great photography subjects.

Squids and cuttlefishes are a common sight here and I was excited to bear witness to one that caught a tiny shrimp that can barely fit in its mouth.

A gastropod of considerable size, the dolphin snail, Angaria delphinus looks just like a piece of rock. However, when cleared of the algae and debri, it appears pretty magnificant.

I was also lucky to spotted this blue spotted fan tailed ray (Taeniura lymma) that settled just in front of me.

I was impatient to see what is hiding under the rocks so I clambered over them. The algae was very slippery so it made a difficult task harder… However, did managed to spot a few interesting stuff like the Arabic Cowrie (Cypraea arabica).

 
I also managed to catch a glimpse of a Synatid Sea Cucumber (Synatidae).

 
Also present is another beautiful cucumber yet to be identified.

Finally along the upper shore, there were many athletes racing on the sand. These were the horned ghost crabs (Ocypode ceratophthalmus).

Mangroves from Punggol to Serangoon

After work yesterday, I decided to head down to ground truth some mangroves around my area for my friend. I engaged my dad’s help to drive me straight down to Punggol Beach before heading back using my bicycle.

Large patches of the wasteland here are being cleared in the vicinity.

There is a really super tiny mangrove near the beach. Unfortunately, I did not check the tide and it was rather high then.

There were lots of mudskippers at the drain linking to the mangrove. I am not particularly good at identifying these fishes, but they look a little like the dusty-gilled mudskippers (Periophthalmus novemradiatus). Please correct me if I am wrong.

 
Lots of Ellobium snails (Cassidula sp.) on a low stem of sea hibiscus.

 
A tree climbing crab retreating into a hole. However, this is not the tunnel of a mud lobster mound but rather, one from the concrete drains!

At the opposite side of the road, there were also some remnant of a mangrove. Api-Api (Avicennia sp.) needle roots poked out of the stagnant water-logged mud.

 
A huge clump of mud lobster mound stood at the centre with sea hollies (Acanthus sp.) over growing it.

  
I also caught sight of some beautiful orange fungus.

Next, I cycled over to Sungei Serangoon. The dam is already being constructed and this, together with Sungei Punggol will be our next two up-coming reservoirs.

I spotted a small water body leading into this Acacia auriculiformis dominated forest filled with Asystasia gangetica undergrowth and thought some mangroves might be hiding inside. Hence I made a decision to bash in.

 
Here is the reddish stream that is probably covered with tannin from the fallen leaves; but no mangroves. I wonder what life is present inside.

 
A Lampin budak (Claoxylon indicum) plant. The leaves of this native plant is used by the Malays previously as diapers for their babies.

And lastly, a view from Buankok Bridge of the mangroves with Sengkang estate at the background. Though it looks pretty lush, but it is just a thin strip along the embankment. With the dam being completed soon, this entire river will be dammed up and will convert into a freshwater body eventually. What will happen to the mangroves?

Another encounter with Banded Leaf Monkeys

A tiring day after a guiding session at Semakau yesterday, I still decide to head down to CCNR to get some pictures that I need for a publication. Luckily I managed to get HF, who was also looking for company to survey the banded leaf monkeys.

I arrived earlier than I wanted to (wasted half hour of sleep) and as I walked slowly to our meeting point, I caught sight of this bare Albizia (Albizia falcataria) tree. There were a few birds perching on it, including the common flameback woodpecker, some doves and a few Greater Racket-Tailed Drongo (Dicrurus paradiseus) shown above.

HF soon came after and after trekking for awhile, she pointed out some hanging ‘fruits’. It was only later when I realised that they are the flowers of Petai (Parkia speciosa), where the seed pods were eaten and popularly known as smelly beans.

After taking the pictures that I wanted, we were rewarded with another glimpse of the Banded Leaf Monkeys (Presbytis femoralis). This is a critically endangered primate in Singapore and recent surveys by Nparks (in the news) indicated that there are about 30 or so individuals left in the wild. This particular monkey was picking on a leaf, probably to eat before leaping deeper into the forest.

I did not managed to get any nice shots since they were under the canopy and mostly out of sight. I did get a fleeing shot of the back of this adorable monkey though.

 
Lastly, I caught sight of this Giant African Snail (Achatina fulica) eating on what looks like a Malayan Brighteye (Torenia polygonoides), a common turf weed. This exotic snail is known to have a voracious diet (practically on anything!) that explains its extremely invasive nature.

Semakau Intertidal Walk 19 Sep

Rushing down from work wearing pants, shirt and leather shoes, I reached Marina South Pier for a guiding session at Pulau Semakau with the Raffles Museum. It had been almost 3 months since I last guided and it is about time to wipe off my rustiness.

 
Me and Robert were guiding another volunteer group, the Singapore Zoo Docents.

First up was the Swimming Anemone (Boloceroides mcmurrichi). True to its name, it can swim like a jellyfish by pulsating. Check out this link.

 
RY found this Spider Conch (Lambis lambis) among the seagrass meadow. Conches are fascinating molluscs in that they have two alien like eye stalks that peep out of their snail to scan the surroundings for safety.

The Sandfish Cucumber (Holothuria scabra) is an edible species of cucumber that is a delicacy for Chinese especially during the New Year period. They feed on detritus and has the habitat of burrowing in the sand, perhaps to escape from predators and also the sun.

Love was in the air and this was reflected from the tremendous number of pairing Common Seastars (Archaster typicus). However, it is said that the lustful males has such an urge to mate that sometimes they will mount on another male!
  
We also found other stars like the Knobbly Seastar (Protoreaster nodosus) on top and a seastar yet to be identified.

 
The Long Spined Sea Urchin (Diadema setosum) has very long spines that are slightly venomous. However, the spines are very brittle and thin, thus will easily penetrate through the skin of the unknowing.

Lastly, the Onch Slug (Onchidiidae) is an extremely well-disguised air breather that has a tough outer skin for protection.

In sum, a nice day out with nice finds and company. Thanks for coming guys!

Crocodile!

At long last! After so many trips to Sungei Buloh, I managed to tap on RY’s luck and finally get to see the Estuarine Crocodile (Crocodylus porosus)! 
 

It was basking on the across the bank from the platform where we were. It seemed like quite a small one but RY said it is because of the distance. This species is the largest of all living reptiles today. I hope the public who visit this place will also feel the awe that I felt rather than fear, followed by complains and ultimately, the removal of it to a crocodile farm and ending up as a purse as what had happened previously.

This is a nature area and we should we be proud that we have such amazing animals in Singapore.