Sungei Buloh Wetland Reserve Extension

When the Nparks announced the opening of the extension, I was fairly excited. So one afternoon I went there only to discover that it was the former Kranji Trail which I had visited before and which sadly is now "sanitised to become the new Sungei Buloh Extension. The former nice trail has been partially replaced with a concrete path and there are now more beautiful viewing structures but somehow it seems more like a park now than a nature reserve.

Board Walk with shelters

Rope walk including one that goes partially into a pond

Nice looking shelter. There are a number of them all over

Didn't spot many birds. Some of the things we spotted in the short time that we were there

Common Nerita snails

My first hornbill photo

Mud crab

Tree climbing crab

Mudskipper

Of course the monitor lizard

Golden Orb spider

 Waterhen

A slug

The Quest for the Merlion

Everybody know the national emblem of Singapore is not the Lion but the mutant Merlion, a product of cross mating between a lion and a giant fish. Legend has it that the Merlion was caught in the sea somewhere off the Esplanade and so the wise gahmen decided to build a statue of it there just like how they put a statue of Stamford Raffles at the site where he first landed in Singapore.

But since the first Merlion came up, somehow mysteriously over the years, it has reproduced and today its offspring can be found all over Singapore. Some are legit and some are bastards. So one fine Saturday morning, a group of us decided to track down the legitimate children of the Merlion.

We started our hunt with the second most famous of them all - the gigantic one at Sentosa. This one was easy to spot. Right up there on top of the hill and bigger than its papa in town. 

But surprise surprise, we found another one not too far away. This one is a multi-colored Merlion. Now who is the mother? Some rainbow fish?

The next Merlion was not on an island or near the sea but right on top of the 2nd highest peak on the island. Poor thing. A fish errr lion out of water!

At our next destination, we discovered not one, not two but 3 Merlions. And one of them is colored too.. Talk about multi-racial! But hor the Merlion here seems to be like quite different. Probably from a different side of the family.

This one is too skinny. Either they starving it or its sick. And it looks funny too with its moustache.

This one seems about right though. Maybe because it is next to a koi pond and has a ready supply of food

This one must be a naughty boy though. Kept inside a glass cage. So sad.

And back at the original location where papa Merlion is, we discovered another bastard

And of course there is the baby of the family. Right under the watchful eyes of papa Merlion. But I think it got shingles. So many lines on its body.

And of course there is papa Merlion. The most majestic of them all

We heard there are some more Merlions all over Singapore. Some said Ang Mo Kio, Woodlands and even Batam. But I think we leave the hunt for another day.

MacRitchie Reservoir

I go to MacRitchie Reservoir pretty often. Most times to run. Very rarely for any other things. During a run, it is pretty difficult to spot anything except maybe the monkeys or occasional monitor lizards. Some people have spotted snakes but while I seen them, this was not during a run but a hike.

Recently I went with a group of students for a hike to the Tree Top Walk. And because we were not running, we spotted so many things that I never noticed in my run.

Like this patch of beautiful Tiger Orchids just outside the ranger station. Now I stopped at the Ranger Station on almost every run for the past 6 years and I swear I never knew there was a big clump of Tiger Orchids growing just outside it. 

Then there is this little mushroom on the floor. It was covered by the fallen leaves and a Nparks officer showed it to us. Apparently it can eject a puff of powder if disturbed hence it is called the powder puff mushroom.

And everybody who been to MacRitchie is familiar with the long tailed macaques or monkeys as we called them. Unfortunately most of the sightings are either of them around the Amenities Centre scrounging for human food or chasing visitors for more human food. But how often have we seen them in their natural habitat in the trees or eating fruits like what we saw when we on the tree top trail?

Last but not least, how many people have seen a flying fox in MacRitchie? This one we saw was so near I could almost touch it.

Isn't these sightings good enough reasons for us to slow down and smell the flowers and look at the rich wildlife that abounds in MacRitchie.

River Safari & Amazon River Quest

Went back to the River Safari. Last visit was slightly over 6 months ago and the "boat ride" had not started then. To get to the boat ride, there is an extra $5.00 on top of the entrance fee. But frankly was a bit disappointed with the ride though.

The ride was the sort of lazy river ride that one get nowadays in the big water park. Just that we sat in flat bottom boat which winds round a small area of the park. There are supposed to be a number of animals along the way but maybe we were too early or it was too hot. We only got to see a few of the animals like this capybara, some howler monkey and some pig like animals.

The rest of the animals like the Brazilian Tapir, jaguar, giant anteater, wolf and some smaller monkeys were not visible at all.

Then there are the birds. The flamingoes were behind a netting which was kinda disappointing but there was a small flock of red bird - scarlet ibis(?) and they seems to be flying freely.

Of course the highlight of a visit to the Singapore River Safari is the panda and this time round we managed to see both of them and their cousin the Red Panda. Much more fruitful than the last trip.

This is Kai Kai

This is Jia Jia

The pair of Red Panda seems very stressed compared to the one we saw at Ueno Zoo in Tokyo. I think it is because the enclosure is in an enclosed area and too near to the visitors.

Anyway, in my opinion, the Amazon River Quest is not worth the $5.00 especially if there is a long queue. But on the other hand, $5 is not too much and it is definitely better than the boat ride at the Bangkok Safari World where there are no real animals!

Our Great Nature

Another post on the great nature. This is a video I took on one of my walkabout.

Walking along the bank and looking at the far bank, this looks like some exotic jungle in South America or the Borneo jungle. But of course it is not. It is just a place that is not so well trodden and hopefully will remain that way for a long long time.

Can you guess where is this place?

Gardens by the Bay

Finally I managed to drop in both the Conservatories at Garden by the Bay. I have bee to the Flower Dome previously but not the Cloud Forest. These are the highlights of the Garden by the Bay in addition to the Supertrees.

Since it was the last day of the Tulip flower shows, I decided to go down and take a look at both the both.

Here are some photos from the visits.

This is the flower dome. There is a center area where the flower exhibits can be changed. The whole place is climate controlled to the cool dry Mediterranean region. In addition to the flower exhibits, there are display of plants from all the region such as olive trees, cactus and so on.

The Tulip exhibits with tulips from the Netherlands. Tulips of all colour and size. Beautifully arranged although sadly because this was the last day of the exhibit, a number of the tulips were already withering.

A close up of some of the tulips

Other flowers in the Flower Dome

The Cloud Forest is a stimulation of the mountainous region complete with a 35 metres waterfall and artificial mist. Plants here are those that can be found in the sort of altitude with many species of orchids, pitcher plants and bromeliads.

The main "actions" is on this 35 metres high tower cum waterfall. There is a lift to bring visitors up to the top and slowly walk down the bridge to the bottom while viewing the plants alongside.

Some of the flowers found there

Didn't have time to go over to the Super Trees. Was there last year and took some photos of the trees in the night.

Certainly while the Garden is a bit artificial, it is still worth a visit to gawk at the exotic plants and the colourful trees.

In my own Backyard

The green forested areas around the neighbourhood are fast disappearing and it its place sprung high rise apartments. Fortunately for me, living along the Sungei Tampines, there are still plenty of flora and fauna remaining. This morning, I took the camera out and went for a stroll and these are what I caught after just 1 and an half hour of strolling from Street 51 to Pasir Ris Park.

I think this is an yellow nape oriole. (somebody correct me if I am wrong in my guestimation)

A monitor lizard on the bank of the Sungei Tampines. Too bad didn't spot any otters

The Grey Heron flying next to the HDB flats. The herons have prove resilient to the many constructions going on around the neighbour and are still abundant.

Is this a waterhen?

Common kingfisher

A squirrel scrambling all over

White collared kingfisher

And first time ever I spotted owls in Singapore! And 3 of them some more. Not too sure what species are these though

And nearby the owls, a woodpecker was displaying its beauty and renovation skill to the group of admiring photographers

Common Mine? A flock of them were flying around but it was kinda difficult to shoot with my long lens

Last but not least, a little birdie that flew and landed just in front of me before swooping off again. 1 chance was all I got and thank goodness it came out right!