Act for Nature – Showcasing the Biodiversity of Thomson Nature Park

11th Jul 202211th Jul 2022 ~ auhcnilloc ~ Leave a comment

Throughout the field trips I have signed up for during BFF 2022, I have been impressed upon the importance of preserving our nature reserves, and how numerous nature parks have been introduced as green buffers to enhance the health of the reserves. As such, I decided that the best way to reinforce what I have learnt through the field trips, as well as spread the conservation narrative, is to host a trip myself in one of the nature parks.

As I was thinking of which park to visit, Thomson Nature Park caught my eye, as it is the latest edition to the variety of buffer parks, and I have never been there myself. Located east of the Central Catchment Nature Reserve (CCNR), Thomson Nature Park only opened in 2019, and is claimed to pack rich cultural heritage as well as host a rich array of biodiversity. I thought to myself, what better place to explore than this park?

‘Evidence of Engagement’ – Me and my friends I have invited on the walk

The esteemed audience I invited to the trip are a few of my peers whom I frequently hike with around nature reserves such as Bukit Timah Nature Reserve. I have previously also brought them to the Festival of Biodiversity 2022, held at the Botanic Gardens. Ironically, while we have been visiting places of nature with rich biodiversity, we did not quite pay attention to them, instead focusing on catching up and the thrill of being lost among the greenery. They also happen to be majoring in computer science, a seemingly completely unrelated field to ecology, biodiversity, and nature in general. Hence, I decided that they were the perfect audience, as they are curious individuals who are keen to learn and are not averse to sweltering heat or pesky mosquitoes either. Through the walk, I hoped to introduce, as Richard Dawkins put it, an appetite for wonder, wonder for nature and its might among my peers.

The field trip did not begin as smooth sailing as I hoped for. To start off, it was a very quiet day, and other than a couple of sweat bees being attracted to me, as well as an unidentified pupa on a Leea indica, there was not much fauna to flaunt about. Instead, I chose to focus on the very limited knowledge I have on forest vegetation.

We came across a couple species of orchids, which I pointed out – Arundina graminifolia, the bamboo orchid, and Grammatophyllum speciosum, the tiger orchid. These are orchid species that are native to Singapore. A. graminifolia is a terrestrial orchid (most orchids are epiphytic) that is relatively common in Singapore, and has been observed to be used in streetscape. G. speciosum, on the other hand, is an epiphyte. While labelled as an epiphyte, the tiger orchid is versatile and can be planted on ground as well as on trees. It is presumed nationally extinct, but we are still able to appreciate them in nature parks today thanks to the efforts of NParks and the species recovery programme conducted on orchids.

Me holding a fig I picked up from the ground while sharing with my friends about the biology of figs

We also came across two interesting plants that exhibit very unique flowering behaviour – Ficus variegata, the common red-stem fig, and Artocarpus heterophyllus, the jackfruit. I picked up a fallen unpollinated fruit of the fig, and broke open the syconium to show my friends the flowers in the hollow of the “fruit”. I also shared the amazing story of how figs are pollinated, although my friends have heard me mention it many times (it involves a type of wasp). My friend then prompted the question of whether it is a flower or a fruit, to which I replied that it is kinda both. Then, to further blow their minds, I also shared as we came across the jackfruit that the fruit is also the flowers, except this time the flowers are all around what we eventually call the fruit – in some sense the opposite of the fig. Funnily enough, both figs and jackfruit belong to the same family, Moraceae.

The many fungi we saw along our walk, but I am tragically unable to identify any of them due to my inexperience

As we continued fumbling along the path (it is quite amazing how my friends and I always seem to lose ourselves whenever we visit nature parks and reserves), I was concerned with an underwhelming trip as we just saw numerous insects, fungi, and plants, but they are all not my area of expertise, and all I could say was “I’m not sure what’s that”. The sounds of disturbed canopy cover only revealed the occasional plantain squirrel or long-tailed macaques. It really was turning out to be quite the boring walk.

Fortunately, Lady Luck appeared to smile on us, for we finally caught sight of movement of a figure on the canopy in the distant Adenanthera pavonina tree. As I was about to dismiss it as yet another long-tailed macaque, I realised that it was much darker in colour. That got me excited, as we happened to be walking along the Langur Trail, and Thomson Nature Park was known as one of the few locations to see the very elusive Raffle’s Banded Langur. Was that it?

The critically endangered Raffles’ Banded Langur – extremely rare and elusive, it is definitely the highlight of the walk

My friends and I stood still and quietly strained our necks over the undergrowth to scrutinise the canopy, waiting to see further movement. Then a head peeked out for a split second, a head with unmistakable facial features – whitish eye rings and crescent-shaped mark between the eye and ear. My friends were in awe, as was I. It was, after all, our first time seeing this extremely rare and shy species. It is critically endangered, with only a population of roughly 70 left in Singapore.

Once more common, the Raffles’ banded langur’s population was slowly restricted to only Bukit Timah Nature Reserve (BTNR) and CCNR due to aggressive development which turned Singapore to the urban metropolitan city today. The population in BTNR slowly disappeared, leaving CCNR being the only area in Singapore where we could spot these beautiful primates. However, after 30 years of absence, a very small number of langurs were once again spotted in BTNR, perhaps attributed to the construction of the BKE Eco-Link which once again bridged BTNR and CCNR, as they have been separated by a highway during the development of Singapore.

With that being the highlight of the trip, I closed the field trip by summarising the importance of having these buffer parks, which enables species such as the Raffles’ banded langurs to be able to recover their populations, as well as the countless other flora and fauna that are threatened by human disruptions. While the trip was not a life-changing encounter that will convert my friends to devote their lives to conservation, I believe that they definitely have a newfound appreciation for the biodiversity in Singapore, and we even tossed around the idea of participating in the OneMillionTrees movement and planting some trees together in the near future.

From this walk, I discovered that I still have a very long way to go to improve my knowledge of the local flora and fauna, such as the glaring gap in identification of forest plants, fungi, and insects. And, I know that if I want to influence more people to take better care of our nature and wildlife, I will have to first be more proficient in understanding the exact dynamics of the biodiversity we possess. Nonetheless, mission accomplished for now, and that’s one count for an act for nature!

Written by: Collin Chua

Beach Cleanup @ Pasir Ris Park

10th Jul 2022 ~ Charis Wong ~ Leave a comment

I had wanted to try participating in a beach cleanup for quite some, especially since the first beach cleanup I had signed up for was cancelled due to wet weather (although my friend and I had already travelled all the way from the west to the east for it ). But on World Environment Day, I finally got the chance to take part in a beach cleanup organised by Youth Corps Singapore (YCS).

The event was called #SeasTheDay Goes International. Beach cleanups were held concurrently at 5 locations across Singapore, including Pasir Ris Park, Coney Island and East Coast Park. To celebrate World Environment Day (5 June) and World Ocean Day (8 June), beach cleanups were also held by international partners in Indonesia, Japan and Europe on the same day (but different timings due to time differences). My sister and I signed up for the beach cleanup at Pasir Ris Park because as an avid birder (bird photographer), I wanted to photograph the resident birds there (Pasir Ris Park is known to have resident Spotted Wood Owls and Crested Goshawks).

So on a nice Sunday morning, we found ourselves waking up at 7am just to travel from Choa Chu Kang all the way to Pasir Ris for a beach cleanup. While walking towards the meeting point that was shown in the map YCS had provided us in their email, we saw several people clad in blue and green shirts (like us) looking just as lost as we were. Everyone seemed to have no idea where exactly we were supposed to meet. I think we may have been earlier than the YCS Volunteer Leaders (VLs). Anyways, after a while, my sister and I saw a group of people gathering near the supposed meeting point, so we walked over and sure enough, found that we were in the right place. After a very awkward wait for the rest of the volunteers to join us, we had a short round of self-introduction followed by a briefing. Then we were off to our allocated part of the beach to pick up litter!

A pair of Pacific Swallows that we saw right before the start of our cleanup! (Sadly, didn’t have my gear with me then.)

Using borrowed tongs and a recycled rice bag from Willing Hearts, we went about the beach picking up the little bits of trash that we saw. These included plastic straws, cups and cigarette buds. To our surprise, the part of the beach we were at had less trash than we had expected. However, we still did our best to pick up the small pieces of litter that we could spot. We placed sharp objects that we found, such as glass shards, into a separate pail so that they wouldn’t pierce through the bag.

A plastic cup that we found on the beach! (Sorry for the blurry image! I couldn’t see what I was taking with the sun shining brighter than my future!!)

Dog pawprints we spotted during the cleanup! Must have been a happy doggie!

After about half an hour under the blazing sun, we were all tired and sweating profusely. We took a short water break, and our VL checked in to make sure everyone was feeling alright. Although we all wanted to stay under the shade longer, we knew that our job cleaning up the beach was not done. So we all took up our gear and spread out to continue picking up the litter.

After an hour and a half, we gathered back together to conclude the cleanup session. We weighed our bags of trash and found that we collected a total of 10kg of trash!! This was really surprising to me considering the bits of trash that we picked up mostly consisted of light items like straws and plastic bags. We then had a debrief and shared some of our interesting finds. One of the participants said that she found a broken hanger as well as straws that had grown into the mangroves. These were extremely hard to pull out and for some, there was just no way to get them out. This made me realise that our trash is “becoming part of nature”, which is sad because that’s not natural and can actually harm the environment in the long run. It made me feel even more motivated to continue playing my part for the environment and encouraging others to do the same too. This can be done through simple actions like using reusable bags and straws (or no straws at all), and participating in more environment-related volunteer opportunities.

All in all, despite the scorching sun, I think this beach cleanup was a new and eye-opening experience for me! I really had a lot of fun and would do it again!!

My sister (left) and I trying to keep our eyes open under the hot sun!

good morning, windsor

30th Jun 202214th Jul 2022 ~ yi xiang ~ Leave a comment

As someone who lives close to Windsor Nature Park, I have never visited this green space due to the lack of time. After seeing that an Entomology Walk will be conducted here, I signed up for it to take the chance to explore Windsor while also learning some new facts about our insect friends!

Here are some highlights from the trip:

Insect snacks
When the guides offered us some unique snacks from overseas, I was excited to try them since I haven’t seen these sold as food locally before and everything is edible at least once (but if they are sold as food, they are edible multiple times yay!) I tried the BBQ crickets and it didn’t taste anything unique other than the taste of the seasoning and a little nutty taste. I also tried the sago worm and was excited about this because I’ve seen people on shows who ate it described it tasted like sago! However, when I ate it, the sago worm tasted more like almond to me. My friend who tried it said it had a weird texture to him so I guess the taste for sago worm varies from person to person? Nonetheless, it was a really nice experience into having insects as food!
Jumping spiders
One of the first few tiny critters we saw was a jumping spider!

Yellow-lined epeus spider (Image credit to James!)

An interesting fact about jumping spiders would be that these spiders usually do not spin webs but would chase after their prey. Talk about breaking stereotypes about spiders! They have extremely good and accurate eyesight and the guides even shared that photographing them is rather interesting as these spiders would mistake the reflection in the camera’s lens as another spider and would want to attack them. I find it amazing that they could even pick up tiny reflections of themselves!
Also, they look adorable.

3. Termites
Another interesting critter that we saw are the termites!
Despite their reputation for destroying wooden furniture in homes, termites are actually important in a forest ecosystem. They play a role in breaking down dead materials like dead tree bark or fallen leaves, allowing the nutrients from these dead materials to be recycled once again. An interesting fact about them is that they are blind!

Overall, I have learnt a lot from the entomology walk and also had the chance to explore Windsor Nature Park. A big thanks to the guides from Entomology Society and Pangolin Films for sharing with us their knowledge and also the snacks! 🙂

Sheep in Wolves’ Clothing @ Windsor Nature Park

28th Jun 2022 ~ hongxiangng ~ Leave a comment

As an individual who is not exactly a fan of creepy crawlies, I enjoyed this first field trip a little more than I had expected. The entomology walk was held at the Windsor Nature Park, a relatively new green buffer for the Central Catchment Nature Reserve which opened in 2017. Despite living rather near the park, I am ashamed to not have visited or even known about the park’s existence. Just a short walk from the nearest bus stop, the park is easily accessible and attracts quite a number of nature go-ers on the weekends.

Prior to the start of the walk, we were given a special treat from one of our guides – edible insect snacks from Thailand. I was intrigued when I saw the snacks because I have always wanted to know what insects taste like and I took this opportunity to try them. After trying both the cricket and sago worm snacks, I actually enjoyed the cricket as it tasted like any ordinary chips but for the sago worm, it took a while for me to get used to it as it had a unique aftertaste. From what I have known, insects are actually a good source of protein and this makes me wonder how they can contribute as sustainable food alternatives. Considering the significant amount of greenhouse gases that are attributed to the livestock industry, insects can be used as an alternative to meet our nutritional needs and yet reduce the ongoing effects of global warming. Nevertheless, it will definitely not be an overnight success to convince people to start consuming insects instead this would require a long-standing plan to raise awareness and reduce the stigma associated with entomophagy.

As we commenced the walk, I was amazed by how sharp-eyed our guides were. They could easily spot insects that were seemingly invisible to my eyes, this must really be what being experienced looks like. The first insect to be introduced was the assassin bug. As the name suggests, the assassin bug is a generalist predator in the insect kingdom, in other words, they prey on a wide range of insects including bees, flies, caterpillars etc. From its morphology, we can observe its long proboscis which is used to immobilise its prey by injecting toxins. Another gruesome yet interesting fact about this bug is that it carries with it the corpse of its prey after killing them. They can be considered beneficial especially for gardeners as they serve as a “natural pesticide” to eliminate insects that cause destruction or feed on the crops.

An Assasin Bug Carrying the Corpses of its Prey.
PHOTO: https://www.wired.com/2014/06/absurd-creature-of-the-week-assassin-bug/

“It is really interesting to see how aeons of evolution have created such complexity and adaptation of life on Earth.”
HX

Some other interesting insects that we came across were the Diptera Celyphidae or Beetle Fly and the Odontomantis planiceps or the Asian Ant Mantis. Why specifically these two insects? That is because they possess the ability to mimic other insects in what is called in evolutionary terms, mimicry. As their name suggests, the Beetle Fly is a fly that mimics the leaf beetle while the Asian Ant Mantis is a praying mantis that mimics a black ant. There are many types of mimicry that exists but specifically for these insects, they fall under the category of Batesian mimicry – a phenomenon in which members of a palatable species gain protection from predation by mimicking a more harmful species. The benefits of such mimicry for the Asian Ant Mantis are that they can be better protected during their juvenile stage when they are prone to predation. As for the Beetle Fly, they render themselves poisonous or unpalatable through their resemblance with the leaf beetles since the beetles are known to either produce toxins or accumulate plant toxins. Sometimes it is really interesting to see how aeons of evolution have created such complexity and adaptation of life on Earth. If not for the great minds of scientists pioneering the work of these intricate phenomena, our scientific knowledge will not have been as advanced as it is today.

*Odontomantis planiceps* with some green around its limbs

Now, moving away from insects, we also had to opportunity to spot a rare Dendrelaphis pictus or the Painted Bronzeback slithering past us into the woods. Although this was not the first time I have seen a snake, it was definitely the first time seeing a Bronzeback Snake. Its small size and slender body make it even more difficult for it to be spotted in the wild but thankfully it is non-venomous and hence, not dangerous. An interesting fact about the snake is that when it is threatened, it has the ability to inflate its body slightly to show its turquoise skin beneath its scales to fend off its aggressor. Hence, the next time you see a mesmerising Painted Bronzeback with a bluish colouration, you should realise that you are on the verge of being attacked!

A Blurry Photograph of a *Dendrelaphis* *pictus* Fleeing

By the end of the entomology walk, I have learned so much more about the different insects in terms of their names and how we can go about identifying them. The guides were very competent in what they do and knowledgeable as well. Looking at how they could easily identify whatever insects were presented to them, I was really astonished and definitely hope that one day I could be as proficient as them. Overall, this walk was nothing but insightful. I look forward to returning to the park and hopefully this time I will be able to identify the insects that I was introduced to!

good morning, chestnut

27th Jun 202214th Jul 2022 ~ yi xiang ~ Leave a comment

The name ‘Chestnut’ reminds me of the food that we usually eat so to have a park named after it makes the place sound rather adorable!

From the field trip, I got to understand that Chestnut Nature Park is a buffer park – one that serves to ease the pressure of urbanisation on our wildlife in our nature reserves and direct large crowds away from Bukit Timah Nature Reserve in order to better protect it from heavy human traffic (which was the main reason why Bukit Timah Nature Reserves was once closed to the public to allow the nature reserve to rest and restore itself without human traffic). It is rather heartening to learn that such buffer parks exist with a strong purpose!

Here are some highlights from the trip!

Ants
Ants. Lots of ants.
The moment we step foot onto the trail we were attacked by ants! This was the last thing I would have thought as I was prepared for the mosquitoes instead of them. Nonetheless, it was an indicator that this very park was teeming with life and we have to watch where we step – for the sake of some of these small critters – as we moved along the trail and into the park 🙂
Fig trees
As we wandered into the park, we came across some tiny green fruits on the ground. We were told that they were the fruits of fig trees and we might have eaten them before in some traditional Chinese medicine! Our guide also shared that each fig tree has a specific wasp species that help to pollinate them and without these wasps, the fig tree species would eventually be wiped out. Though small, these wasps do serve a huge (and meaningful) purpose in their life cycle!
Another type of fig tree that we came across was the Strangling Fig! Though the name sounds intimidating, I guess one can say that the fig tree just has a unique way of survival 🙂 This fig species would grow and spread on the host tree, eventually ‘strangling’ it (or maybe just hugging it). The host tree would eventually die off, leaving the strangling fig in its place.
Mousedeer!
We stopped suddenly when our guide spotted a little figure down the slope. With a body size of probably a cat and a coat colour blending into the brown background, it was so tiny and adorable. It was so well-camouflaged that it took me a while to spot it! I have heard that the mousedeer tend to be shy and would usually run away when there’s the presence of humans around but this little guy we spotted didn’t! It was happily foraging among the leaf litter, occasionally looking to our direction as we stared at it in awe (and in silence in fear that it would bolt off). Interestingly, this nocturnal creature was rather active beyond its bedtime. I guess there’s always time for supper before bedtime 😉
Colugo!
As we walked back to our gathering point, our guide stopped and told us to take a closer look at one of the trees. It was hard to spot because of its superb coat colour that blended in perfectly with the bark of the tree but we spotted a colugo hanging there! It was amazing to see the colours of the fur perfectly matched to the colours of the bark – including the occasional whites from the lichens and the uneven browns – making it a true master of disguise! Although we were not too sure, there were tiny movements observed in between the colugo – hinting that this creature we saw was probably a mother.

Mousedeer (Photo credit to our guides – Frances and Weijian!)

Colugo (Photo credit to our guides – Frances and Weijian!)

Observing the trees (Photo credit to our guides – Frances and Weijian!)

Overall, it was an interesting trip and I really enjoyed myself and learned more about our biodiversity. Kudos to our guides – Weijian and Frances – for bringing us around and sharing with us!

A Hidden Gem in the Neighbourhood @ Pasir Ris Park

25th Jun 202226th Jun 2022 ~ hongxiangng ~ Leave a comment

When I first came across the posting about Pasir Ris Park, I did not have much anticipation as I had the impression that it was just like any other neighbourhood park we can find in Singapore. However, I was more wrong than ever.

Our group first met at the Pasir Ris MRT where we introduced ourselves to one another and proceeded to make our way to the park. En route to the park, we were greeted by an Ardea cinerea or a Grey Heron which can be easily distinguished by its grey upperparts, perched on a platform of the drainage canal, searching intently for an opportunity to capture its meal of the day. Akin to the smooth-coated otters in Singapore, the Grey Heron was previously classified as nationally endangered but its population has since rebounded and it is currently unthreatened, reflecting the successful conservation efforts. Although they are usually found on mangroves and mudflats, it was interesting to find the bird in a concrete canal. Some intriguing backstory about the canal relates to how the use of concrete was initially meant for preventing the growth of the mosquito population. However, it was considered ineffective and new canals such as that of the Bishan-Ang Mo Kio Park have seen a redesign which integrates both its function of being a flood control and recreational site by using parkland to serve as flood plains.

As we continued further, we witness an interesting sight – multiple Myiopsitta monachus or the Monk Parakeet nests that were built on the lighting towers of the public swimming complex. Despite numerous attempts to remove the nest, the Parakeets have never failed to rebuild them hence, they have since been left untouched. The sophisticated structure of the nest left me to wonder about the amount of effort needed for these birds to construct the nests considering their miniature size. Unlike other parrots, the Parakeets are known to build their nests out of sticks rather than nest in cavities. The Parakeets are also considered an invasive species and non-native to Singapore as they were initially introduced as ornamental birds before being populated in the country.

Nest of *Myiopsitta monachus* on a Lighting Tower

“We ought to do our part as citizens to preserve the environment.”
HX

Arriving at the park, I was allured by how much life it is teeming with in relation to the number of wildlife and nature-goers. We had the opportunity to spot a large Varanus salvator or the Asian Water Monitor slipping away from the banks of the river and right after that, we witnessed a pair of otters not far from us as well as an elegant Todiramphus chloris or Collared Kingfisher with its distinct vivid blue coating, scavenging for food. The myriad of different wildlife we are able to witness speaks volumes about Singapore’s effort in integrating nature into our cities. With the aim of transforming Singapore into a City in Nature, numerous strategies have been proposed in hopes of further strengthening Singapore’s appeal as a garden city as well as mitigating the effects of urbanisation and climate change. Though so, we ought to do our part as citizens to preserve our environment, such as switching to public transport or biking as our mode of transport or being mindful of our actions on the environment. It is through these small acts that can make a big impact on our environmental future.

“These efforts to green Singapore are not just important for our own livelihood but the ecosystem that sustains our environment.”
HX

Continuing on with our journey, we reached the highlight of the park – the Mangrove Boardwalk. Mangroves in Singapore are currently under threat with only less than 5% of the original mangrove forests present today. The Pasir Ris mangrove forest is one of the two protected mangrove sites that remained on mainland Singapore with the other being the Sungei Buloh Wetland Reserve. While the land area of the Pasir Ris Mangrove Broadwalk is only 6% of Sungei Buloh’s, it is still rich in biodiversity and serves its function well. Apart from being an ecological habitat to a wide range of wildlife such as mudskippers, crabs etc., the mangroves are especially important for coastal protection and carbon storage. The distinct mangrove roots are crucial for cushioning the brute forces generated by natural disasters such as tsunamis and hurricanes. During the deadly Indian Ocean Tsunami which occurred in 2004, it was observed that in locations where mangroves were present, the impacts were less severe, suggesting the importance of mangroves in protecting the shorelines. Furthermore, they are also known to function as a carbon sink where they are able to sequester a large amount of carbon, in fact, four times more than other forest types as studies have shown. This denotes the role mangroves play in the fight against climate change and further reinforces the need for such a natural-based solution. Conservation efforts are on the way in what is known as the One Million Trees initiative, which involves the restoration of both inland and mangrove forests in Singapore. Moreover, there have also been plans to restore abandoned ponds both in mainland Singapore and Pulau Ubin back to their original mangrove covers in order to boost Singapore’s mangrove areas. These efforts to green Singapore are not just important for our own livelihood but the ecosystem that sustains our environment.

*Periophthalmodon schlosseri* seen in the Mangroves

As our journey comes to an end, I could safely conclude that I did not regret signing up for this field trip. Being an infrequent visitor of the east, I am astonished by how much I have missed throughout my years living in Singapore. Although Pasir Ris was regarded as the place for my “BMT book in”, I now know there is so much more waiting for me to uncover and I am eager to discover what the east has in store for me!

A Morning At Pasir Ris Park

25th Jun 202225th Jun 2022 ~ Charis Wong ~ Leave a comment

The Pasir Ris Guided Walk was my last field trip but certainly not the least. From my (little) birding experience, I knew that there were a lot of birds there, so I was rather excited for the trip.

We met up at the mrt station, then headed towards Pasir Ris Town Park, where we saw a gigantic bird nest built on top (or rather around) a big lamp post. What looked at first to be an eagle nest turned out to be a parakeet apartment. There was more than one parakeet living in that nest, but the sheer size of the nest was magnificent. I was really amazed at the parakeets’ skills because they were so much smaller than the nest that they had built. Our guide, Nasry, also explained that the authorities had tried to remove the nest before as the parakeets were pooping into the swimming complex right below them. However, every time their nest was removed, the parakeets would simply build it again. In the end, the authorities left the nest there. Man-0, Nature-1 . 😀

We then continued to Pasir Ris Park, which I didn’t know was different from Pasir Ris Town Park. We saw a Grey Heron waiting for some prey, as well as different species of parakeets like the Rose-ringed Parakeet and Red-breasted Parakeet. We also saw a pair of juvenile Yellow-vented Bulbuls, which I had also recently seen right outside my house. They were really cute, and you could see that their beaks had a little yellow base. One interesting fact our guide explained to us was that the beaks of juvenile birds are normally bigger so that their parents can stick their beaks in to feed them.

Moving on, we entered the mangrove area. I had hoped to see some snakes because I had heard that several snakes could be spotted there. Unfortunately, we didn’t spot any snakes, but well, nature is unpredictable after all.

As we walked along the mangrove boardwalk, our guide told us many interesting fun facts about the flora and fauna there. He explained about the different kinds of roots mangrove trees have, namely pencil root, cone root and knee root. He also showed us the propagules on a mangrove tree that had fallen down. It was really interesting to learn that the propagules are what help the mangrove trees propagate, and that they weren’t really considered fruits.

Throughout the walk, we spotted many interesting flora and fauna, and I learnt a great deal from our guide, Nasry. Overall, it was a really fun and enriching walk, and I’ll definitely be visiting Pasir Ris Park again for their resident birds!!

Other Interesting Finds!

An Adventure At Chestnut Nature Park

25th Jun 202225th Jun 2022 ~ Charis Wong ~ Leave a comment

The first walk I signed up for was the Guided Walk at Chestnut Nature Park. I had only ever been there once before and it was a very long time ago, so I was really excited about the walk.

On the day of the walk, we gathered at Chestnut Point. We had a short round of self-introduction, and the guides explained that since it had just rained, we were unlikely to see many reptiles on our walk (much to my relief).

When we first started on the trail, I realised that it was all dirt track, which made me a little uneasy because I was afraid that there would be a lot of mosquitoes. However, at our first “stop”, we were all getting bitten not by mosquitoes, but by ants. We were either standing on an ant trail or ant nest haha.

Throughout the trail, I was too busy looking at the ground and watching my step to really take in the nature around me. However, our guides had really keen eyes and spotted so many interesting finds!

For me, there were two main highlights of the walk: a mouse deer and a colugo! I had never seen either of them in the wild before, so needless to say, I was absolutely delighted to see them in real life on our walk. They were both so adorable and none of us could stop admiring them! Both of them blended in with their surroundings so well!

The colugo was the same colour as the tree bark!

Close-up of the cute little fellow! (Photo creds our guides)

The mouse deer was also brown, blending in with the leaf litter!

One interesting thing I learnt from the guides was that there is only one species of wasp that pollinates each species of fig. This means that when that species of wasp goes extinct, the fig species will also disappear. Another thing I learnt was that female wasps would squeeze into tiny holes at the bottom of the fig, and in so doing, would lose their wings because of how small the holes are. Then, the female wasps would lay their eggs in the fig. When the eggs hatch, the male and female wasps would mate. But the male wasps are born blind and without wings, so their only purpose is to mate. Talk about sacrifice!

The extremely tiny hole on the fig that the female wasp would squeeze into.

Overall, the walk was really fun and eye-opening! I learnt a great deal of things, including how to appreciate nature!

Other Pictures!

Night Walk at BBNP

25th Jun 202225th Jun 2022 ~ Charis Wong ~ Leave a comment

When I first arrived for the night walk, I didn’t quite know what to expect. I was hoping to see some animals like colugos, palm civet cats and maybe some snakes. At the same time, I was afraid to see any snakes – contradictory, I know.

We started our walk with some tips from Uncle Tony on how to utilise the flashlight properly. He jogged our memory on secondary school physics, talking about the angle of incidence of the light beam being equal to the angle of reflection. Thus, in order to see the reflection off the eyes of animals, we had to hold the flashlight at our eye level. I found this tip rather interesting as it showcased a real-life use of physics.

Throughout the walk, Uncle Tony introduced us to many species of plants and tips on identifying them. For instance, he showed us a cinnamon plant and explained that one feature to identify it was that there were 3 veins on the leaves. Another telling feature was that the shoots of the leaves came out from the same spot (instead of alternately). Really interesting!

Blurry photo of a cinnamon plant with 3 veins on its leaves.

Another thing Uncle Tony mentioned that stuck with me was that although people are often interested in the “new” and “rare” flora and fauna, we shouldn’t overlook the importance of the so-called “common” ones. This is because it is actually the “common” plants that allow there to be “new” and “rare” ones. These “common” plants are the ones that grow more easily and are more hardy, growing throughout the year. Uncle Tony described them like porridge for the animals. Throughout the year, these animals eat this “porridge”, and only on certain occasions – when the time is right – can they then eat the “better”, “nicer” food – the “rare” plants/fruits/flowers.

For me, the highlight of the walk was getting to see colugos gliding!! It was so cool!! We were shining our flashlights up at the trees when we spotted something moving. Sure enough, it was a colugo! It was moving up the tree so adorably, kind of in a hopping motion. Uncle Tony explained that they use their hind legs to push themselves up and their front legs to grab onto the tree trunk. The colugo kept going up the tree trunk, then glided down to the next tree trunk! Moreover, it didn’t just glide once! We stood there watching the colugo for a while before moving on. It was such a sight to see!!

The neatly-planted row of trees on which we saw the colugos.

Overall, I really enjoyed the night walk as it was a new and exciting experience! I also learnt a lot about our native plants and got to see a colugo in action!!

Other Finds!

good morning, pasir ris

24th Jun 202214th Jul 2022 ~ yi xiang ~ Leave a comment

I fondly remember visiting Pasir Ris Park many years ago and I loved the natural scenery there. It has been a while since I last visited so I decided to join this very walk to explore the park once again!

Here are some interesting sightings and learning points I have learnt during the trip:

Canals

Grey heron chilling in the middle of a concrete canal

Other than acting as storm drainage, concrete canals were once thought to act as a method to control mosquito populations in the past. However, it was later discovered that this, in fact, did not manage to get the population in control (and might have contributed to it instead) and the best method to control their population is through Mother Nature! For instance, fish and dragonfly nymphs in the waters feed on their larvae and thereby helping to keep the mosquito numbers down. Some concrete canals, like the one in Bishan-Ang Mo Kio Park, have been transformed into naturalised canals to help control mosquito populations as well.

2. Collared Kingfisher

I have heard of Singapore otters being highly adapted to the urban spaces of Singapore but I was amazed when I learned that they are not the only ones!

Collared Kingfisher is a mangrove bird and in other countries where they are found, they can only be found within the mangrove regions and are pretty hard to spot! Singapore is probably where this bird species can be found in various urban spaces. Personally, I used to see a pair on a tree outside my house so I thought that they are forest birds so this fact was rather mindblowing to me. These Collared Kingfishers in Singapore have adapted to feed on other food sources such as lizards, allowing them to adapt to our urban spaces throughout Singapore. Quite amazing I would say!

3. Other interesting sightings!

Nipah palms are mangrove palms and are well-known for their uses in some of our delicacies such as attap-chee in our ice kacang!

Mangroves are important carbon storage as they can easily store up to 3 times more carbon than our fellow forests. Their protruding roots also helped to dissipate the force from the strong currents during heavy storms and even during natural disasters like tsunamis, providing some form of protection for the inland region of the mangroves. On top of that, mangroves also serve as important fish nurseries during low tides!

Back in the days, these crabs used to be pickled!

Their webs are known to be able to even catch a small bird due to the intricate design by the designer itself!

A little sad that we did not get to see Jack the resident Buffy Fish Owl that day but hopefully one day when I re-visit, I will get a chance to see it 🙂

Overall, I have learnt a lot from this short trip and am thankful to our guide – Nasry – for sharing with us his knowledge!