Personally for me, when I was considering my AFN, I was not very sure on what I wanted to do because the people around me are not the biggest nature-lovers. I thought that I would not be a nature-lover, but after attending the trips, I realised that it is because I never really understood the wonders of nature. So I thought it would be a good idea to start small by bringing the nature walks to them.
I decided that I wanted to do infographics with the knowledge that I have gained from the past few events. I showed the infographics to them to show them what I have learnt and share with them the experiences I had during the nature trips. I am quite glad that after my small sharing, most of my family and friends are more committed to keeping nature clean and are now more interested to attend nature walks. I think that with every small thing we do, we can create an impact on them. Slowly but surely, more people will try to play their part in preserving our natural environments.
We gathered early in the morning at Bishan-Ang Mo Kio park to experience bird-watching. Personally I have never been bird-watching and it was truly an eye-opening experience going for this trip. We were first greeted by the sight of roosters. Great call to the morning! Did you know? There are roosters and there is another bird similar to the rooster, called the jungle red fowl. You can tell the difference from the colour of their legs.
At Bishan-Ang Mo Kio park, there are many different types of birds that live there. We saw birds such as the King Fisher, the purple and grey herons, as well as the sun bird. We saw birds such as parakeets but these birds are non-native, they could have been pets and were irresponsibly released. Too many birds that do not really belong in the habitat will cause some disruption so it is important to remind family and friends to consider carefully before purchasing pets.
I realised that bird watching is a lot about being observant. Through this trip, under the patient guidance of the guides, I got to hear the sounds made by the birds. It is not very loud but if you listen carefully enough, you will hear it. We also needed to keep a lookout because with many animals, they won’t just stay there for you right? So we need to pay close attention. Some useful tools to have will be a pair of binoculars and a camera.
I also got to witness the interactions between the birds. Nature is all about seeing the interactions between animals and the environment and enjoying it requires us to be patient and observant. As this is my third and last trip for this challenge, I think the trip really made me realised what it means to take time and see what is around us in nature. With that, thank you to everyone who made this trip memorable. Thanks for reading!
Another early morning again…All of us got up to meet outside the Kranji-Mandai Mudflats to see horseshoe crabs. And right before we entered the area, we were met with the first challenge: the fierce mosquitoes! Despite applying much insect repellant, all of us had many mosquito bites. Thankfully there were not as many mosquitoes in the mudflat. At 7.35am, we started to move into the mudflat.
The mudflat is a restricted area and probably for a good reason. In my opinion, it is mainly to protect the wildlife there like the horseshoe crabs. Another reason could be the crocodiles in the water body next to the mudflat. “We always work our way down because never face your back to the crocodiles.” – a very memorable quote that I’ll remember. (haha) We went in with our Nature Society Singapore guide, Lester. He showed us many creatures living at the mudflats. We saw a flower crab, telescope snail, conch snail (In particular a drill snail) and a thunder crab. Word of caution: We learnt that a certain conch snail may inject a toxin that is fatal to humans and a thunder crab may pinch you quite hard so handle animals carefully. While walking through the mudflat. we were faced with yet another challenge. We kept sinking in the mud! Good tip that I learnt was not to think too much about it and keep moving forward.
A flower crab!
Next, we started looking for horseshoe crabs which may be trapped under some algae. We worked our way down nearer to the sea and slowly revealing what is under the algae. I was a little impatient at first, when most of the participants managed to find a horseshoe crab. Then I managed to find one, only to find out it was the moult of the horseshoe crab. Midway through the search, Lester stopped us to explain more about the horseshoe crab. We learnt to identify parts of the horseshoe crabs like the gills and the mouth which is at the bottom of the horseshoe crab. The horseshoe crab has a tail to make itself upright during the high tide if it is flipped over. We also learnt to differentiate between a female and a male and their reproduction method (where the male latches on to the female and follows her until she finds a place to lay her eggs). Another thing we learnt was about invasive species like mussels which could possibly grow in the horseshoe crab. After that, we continued searching and I managed to find one myself which was an exciting experience for me.
The underside of a horseshoe crabBaby horseshoe crab (Please be careful and do not crush its shell)Invasive mussel species
The weather started to take a turn nearing to the end so we tried to quickly make our way out of the mudflats. We still got caught in the rain so we had to clean up at the bus stop. Nonetheless, it was a really eye-opening experience. This mudflat used to be a fishing village and there used to be nets still there so once in a while, the nets are checked and any horseshoe crabs are released. People have some misconception that the mudflats are useless and barren. Especially with the smell of some stuff decaying and it has much trash left behind from the fishing village. But there we saw mangroves growing and there is also wildlife there, so actually it is a place worth keeping. The mudflat condition are also changing, leading to lesser horseshoe crabs. In order to save more wildlife there, I hope to help raise some awareness to have more people help the wildlife there.
The landscape of the mudflat
To end off, I really appreciated this experience and thank you to everyone who made this experience really memorable. Thanks for reading! 🙂
The meeting time is 7.30am!! I can’t believe I ‘m getting up so early just for a nature walk. This was the initial thought I had in the morning before going on the otter walk. However I have no regrets getting up early to see this breathtaking view at the park. It was the fresh air that I much needed.
Nice view with sunrise
I was really excited to get to see some otters today and to learn more about them, hence I signed up for this walk. However, we were hit with a piece of not-so-great news. The otters left for the other side of the river earlier this morning. It was a little disappointing to know but I knew that this is still a great learning opportunity. First activity this morning was to take a look at their habitat. We got to see their holt and learnt the process of marking their territory, which is when the alpha male spraints (release faeces) and it spreads its scent by a swishing tail motion. Who knew? We also got to know more about this family of otters. Interesting fact: They are smooth-coated otters! I thought that they were Asian small-clawed otters. I also learnt a little more about their life cycle and some threats they may face.
Wonder whose prints are these?
In order to see the otters, we had to take a long (but scenic!) route to the other side of the river. It was extremely worth it when we got to catch the otters in action and observe their behaviour. Their water activities include swimming and foraging for food. Land activities were rolling in grass or sand, to maintain their slick body type for faster swimming. If you are quiet and observant, you may hear the calls of the adult otters and their pups. Different calls could be trying to snatch a fish, expressing displeasure or to call out for one another. One good example of a call was when the pup was accidentally left behind and the mother called out for the pup (like a bird chirping sound) and managed to find the pup which was a heartening moment. We also got to see the catching of a fish through herding (corner fish to a shallow area to catch) and the fight for a fish (not aggressive, just snatching). In my opinion, I think that otters are just aggressive and protective because they want to protect what they have.
The crunch of fish bones was loud!
Otters having fun in the sun!!
The role of the otters in nature is so important. They help clear invasive species like catfish released by humans and serve as a bio-indicator of clean water. To us, they have became mascots and a feel-good trigger. As nature lovers, we can do our part to help the otters co-exist with us. Some things we can do is to give them some space in nature, and help stop incoming human traffic to allow otters to cross. We should also leash up pets and not put cameras right near them. On our end, we can fence up fish ponds to prevent otters from eating those fishes. I think that we can co-exist if everyone plays their part.
This was a fruitful trip and I have learnt so much! I would like to thank the guides who made it all possible and for sharing information about otters. I can’t wait for the next trip and thanks for reading 🙂
BFF Biodiversity Challenge 2022 