Farewell to 2010

All good things must come to an end, and the year of 2010 is no exception. We have enjoyed a great 12 months of adventures and will be looking forward to more in 2011!

We ended the year with a short trip to Genting Highlands and experienced the “winter weather”.

We did not get much time to explore the surroundings, but did manage an early morning up near the radar station, where it was cold and windy, with the mist rolling in, which did nothing for the visibility.

We heard and saw some birds including observing a Bay Woodpecker, busily excavating  a nest hole.

More Genting Highlands

A day before our trip, we heard the loud “keek keek” call and spotted a pair of Collared Kingfishers perched on our neighbour’s roof.  We had previously seen only the White-throated Kingfisher in the same spot so we were thrilled to see another species visiting our condo.

On that same day on our walk to Telok Blangah Hill, we got a good view of a Brahminy Kite.

Happy New Year

Sunbird Nest building?

Each morning a pair of Olive-backed Sunbirds visits the flowers at our balcony and we have taken many photographs of the birds.  Recently we found they were biting off the Portulaca grandiflora petals.  We thought they were eating the petals (re July 2010 post) but we noticed the petals were still on their beaks when they flew off.  Perhaps they want the “white” to decorate their nest?   When all the flowers were taken away we put down small pieces of cotton wool on the plant to see if they needed more nesting material.  Sure enough the sunbirds took a piece and came back for more and very quickly took all the cotton wool away.

Link to photos

On the 9th we took a walk with Alyce to check out the new “Tree Trail” on Ubin, but we side-tracked behind the Malay Kampong that led to an abandoned prawn farm in the mangroves.  It was a nice quiet spot and we took a break to eat our snack. 

Link to photos

Coming back  from Ubin, we decided to check out the Sengkang River Park.   We spent a bit of time looking at the newly planted fruit trees, some of which had fruits hanging on the low branches.   Hopefully visitors will leave them alone for others to see.   We had a quick look at the artificial island but as it was getting late we will need to return to check out the marsh plants.  It is a very nice park to bring the kids and lots of families were out that evening.

Link to photos

As there is always much to see, we now bring our camera along during our walks and here we share some of the wild life we saw recently.    

HortPark                     Forest Walk                 Bidadari 15th                  Bidadari 17th

Feeding Time

Monday’s inter-tidal walk at Chek Jawa proceeded in light rain and the visitors were not disappointed.   As we were leaving the mudflats, this Great billed Heron took advantage of the low tide and helped itself to a rabbitfish, which proved more than a mouthful as it tried to avoid the fish’s sharp dorsal spines.   Successfully it landed on the mudflats to a nice meal.  On our way back to the mainland, we were greeted by a beautiful sunset at Ubin’s jetty, a warm close to our wet afternoon walk.While the heron worked hard for its meal, the bulbul and sunbird have a easier time feeding on plant seeds and nectar. It was also interesting to see the oriole’s skill manoeuvring the prying mantis that it had caught in order to eat it.

Link to photos               Link to photos                     Link to photos                   Link to photos

November…..

We had a pleasant drive to Bt Tinggi and stayed a couple of days at Colmar Tropicale and while we did not get to see the Silver-breasted Broadbill we saw lots of birdlife at the Botanic Gardens and other parts of the Berjaya Hills development. The star bird must be the "resident" Blythe's Hawk-eagle that was sighted over the 3 days we were there.

Friends from Houston visited on their way home from their 2-week diving trip to Manado and Sorong  in Indonesia, we took them to P. Ubin for a glimpse of Singapore as it was in the 1960’s.  It was a nice dry day and the friendly wild boars and oriental pied hornbills were out and about to the delight of Ross & Terri.  

    

On 7th at Telok Blangah Hill, one of the NSS third Raptor Watch sites, there was a lot of cloud cover, that reduced our sightings considerably. Even though the raptors were few there were many other birds active in the vicinity.

A friend mentioned he spotted the Spotted Wood Owl at the SBG so we met at the Jacob Ballas car park and were amazed to see this beautiful bird snoozing up in the tree.

While many different birds have been earlier recorded feeding on the fruits of the Ficus benjamina at the Bukit Timah summit our trip on 23rd was not so fruitful as only a few bulbuls were seen picking on the few remaining figs.  However on the way up we sighted the Black-bearded Gliding Lizard and a female Colugo hugging a tree.   Nearing the summit we heard loud bird calls and found 2 White-Bellied Sea eagles on a romantic rendezvous.   Unfortunately in the heat of activity the male fell off leaving the female disappointed.

On Thursday, as we were leaving Bidadari park at 8.30am we heard a few loud bird calls, looking up we saw about 4 barbets flying onto a tree,  followed by 3 larger birds that turned out to be the Oriental Pied Hornbills.  With such a good view and camera ready, we took many shots.  One of the Hornbills was trying to feed a female who did not show interest in the fig that was offered, while a 3rd bird was on another branch looking also not too interested in the male OPH.   For a few minutes the activity on this tree increased with a White Throated Kingfisher and some Yellow-Vented Bulbuls joining the congregation.   On the ground the Variable Squirrel that we had sighted earlier was busy eating.  We have not seen this species in other forest areas  that we have been and on checking we read this Variable Squirrel which is also known as Finlayson's squirrel could be escapees or released by pet owners.

October….

was a busy month which left little time to update our blog until now. In the first week of October we were out early in the mornings helping with a bird count along the Southern Ridges and learned a bit more on bird calls and managed to capture a few images of some of these flitting birds that are commonly heard but hard to see.

We made a trip to other bird spots in Tuas West and were thrilled to see a pair of Sunda Pygmy Woodpeckers and some migratory birds.

On a morning walk in SBG, a Crimson Sunbird was confronting its reflection.

Earlier this year we had visited the temples in Borobodur and Prambana that were built in the 9th century AD.  As we were keen to follow up with a visit to the ancient temples of Angkor we took a trip on 12th to 16th October to Siem Reap and Phnom Penh to visit the Angkor temples that were built in the 12th century AD.  While the Borobdur and Prambana temples were older, we found similarities at Angkor an example being the Ramayana stories carved into the stone blocks.   While Borobodur was built as a Buddhist temple and Prambana a Hindu temple, the Angkor temples had both Hindu and Buddhist influences as the times changed.  Of the Angkor temples uncovered, the most intact is Angkor Wat which is  the most well known.  We spent one day visiting the Angkor Thom temple complex and the Royal Enclosures where what remain are the Terrace of Elephants and the cut-off limbs of the statue that gave it the name of the Leper King. The next day we explored the famed Angkor Wat complex and also visited the Ta Prohm Temple and spent the late afternoon on the Bakheng Hill enjoying a sunset view of the Angkor Wat.  Apart from visiting the Angkor temples we also took a cruise on the lake, Tonle Sap, the largest fresh water lake in South East Asia and finished our trip with a visit to Phnom Penh, the capital of Cambodia.

Back home we took part in the NSS Bird Race on Ubin where we were able to sight 25 species while others found more than 50 species in the 7-hour race.  It was tiring in the hot sun but an interesting new experience.

At the end of October we drove across to Tanjong Piai with Alyce to checkout the most southern tip of mainland Asia. We found Tg Piai’s mangrove boardwalk a worthwhile location for a future trip.

Inter-tidal walk – 10.10.10

On this special day we joined some 76 participants at the “Semakau Landfill” who were coming for a walk “between the tides” that would occur between 5 to 7 pm.  This afternoon we were guiding for RH who arranges the inter-tidal walks.  On arrival at the Landfill, half the group went for a presentation on the story of Semakau Landfill, a solution to manage Singapore’s solid waste taking into account of our limited land space.  The other half were taken on the buses for the landfill tour.

  At around 5 pm we were ready for the walk and the bus took us to the entrance of the forest trail to the mudflat.   Exiting the trail the view of the exposed mudflat, sea grass lagoon and reef beckoned. Everyone initially was looking down as they carefully stepped on the mud, but soon  the movements of little marine creatures caught their attention and their interest was aroused, muddy shoes forgotten. 

The many marine creatures exposed during low tide, kept the visitors busy snapping photographs or taking a closer look at the wonders of nature.  All too soon as the sun set, and the huge complex of Pulau Bukom became illuminated, we were once again reminded how close the marine life is to human’s industrial activities.   The presentation on The Semakau Landfill Story in conjunction with the inter-tidal walk, remind us of our impact on the environment and ways to protect it.

Marine lives at Semakau Shores

Fraser’s Hill, 24th-26th Sept. 2010

The CN Volunteers trip for 2010 to Fraser’s Hill was an early start with the bus moving off at 6:30am from Newton Food Centre.  After breakfast and lunch stops on the way, we reached the Gap at 3:15pm, just in time to catch the “up” traffic.  The 40-seater bus was not easy to manoeuvre round the tight bends that were built 90 years ago for much smaller vehicles. Our bus captain William made it look easy. Arriving at the iconic Clock Tower we were greeted by the bird chorus, cool air and our expert local guide Mr K. S. Durei waiting at the Shahzan Inn.  After a quick check-in, we had a briefing on our program which was to kick off with a night walk starting at 8pm. The night walk along the Hemmant trail opened our eyes to nightlife of the forest. Huge toads, a fern that glows in the dark after it has died, trapdoor spiders, and tarantulas. The following morning after breakfast we had a Birdwatching Workshop on the basics of participating in a Bird Race. After our briefing our “mini” Bird Race got underway at 10am and was to last 24 hours until 10am Sunday. Teams were formed in 2’s or 3’s, our team was ourselves and Kok Seng.  Most of us had already seen some of the more common residents, the Oriental Magpie Robin, Streaked Spiderhunter, Long-tailed Sibia and the beautiful Black-throated Sunbird. Our team started along Jln. Lady Maxwell down to Jln. Semantan and onto the Rompin Trail. While we recorded many birds, we also picked up some uninvited guests, namely leeches. Some of which were not discovered until later having lunch at The Smokehouse, when a couple were found nice and fat on the floor. After a short rest our team resumed the bird race at 4pm along Jln. Lady Guillemard and a short way on Jln. Girdle, but heavy rain cut our afternoon birding.  The rain stopped when we met for a BBQ dinner at Punchak Inn and it was followed by a presentation on nature trips at Kenong Rimba Park  by the Pahang Tourism office. Next morning after breakfast we met Kok Seng at 8am and headed for Jln Mager where we saw 3 species of Barbet near Kindersley Trail. As cut-off time was approaching we took a short cut down the trail, where Kok Seng picked up another leech but managed to dislodge it before it could start feeding. After the tally had been completed and Durei had judged everyone’s submission the results were announced.  Our team managed to make 4th place with 22 birds which was better than we had hoped for. A “new” bird was seen by Gerard’s team, a Diard’s Trogon which they photographed.  We left at noon for our long ride to Singapore, stopping for dinner at Jusco, Bukit Indah, 20 minutes from the 2nd Link. We had a great time and we thank everyone involved in organising the trip.

Trip Photos