Finally went to the Sungei Buloh Wetland Reserve for the first time yesterday, and it did not disappoint! Only 30 or so minutes into my visit, I saw this adorable little Paradise Tree snake chilling on an observation platform!
According to the Singapore National Parks Board, this cutie can glide from tree to tree to catch lizards and birds for a snack!
Yesterday, I also saw a couple of big Malayan water monitor lizards, chilling around
I also saw clouded monitor lizards, so cute!
#Nature #Wildlife #Singapore #Hike #Outdoors #MonitorLizard #Lizard #Lizards
I had seen mangrove forests before, elsewhere in Singapore, but I had never seen tree-climbing crabs or telescope snails. Also: seeing what looked like cockles on tree roots was just new and weird and special to me. Fab!
#Wildlife #Mangrove #Mangroves #Crabs #Snail #Snails #Crab #Singapore #Hike #Outdoors
I had never seen this before: a water-spitting fish.
Turns out it's called an Archer Fish, and it was hunting for ants on a tree by spitting water at them to make them fall down from the tree, ready for the fish to snack on. As I was watching, another archer fish actually came by and was repeatedly chased away by the first one. "My tree!" It looked like the needle fish were *also* trying to munch on the fallen ants, hanging around the first archer fish and speeding towards any fallen ants whenever they dared.
It was amazing to watch, but hard to capture in a picture. This was my most successful attempt, but the fish could easily spit water up to a height of 50 cm, probably more!
I also saw this sign for the first time. I had been to the Woodlands before, and people had mentioned that there were crocodiles there, just as I was ankle-deep in the water because it had *rained*, but now I actually saw this sign.
As a Dutchie, I always believe that other cultures are way too "betuttelend" with their warnings for everything, so naturally, I thought "Aw. It's Singapore. How bad can it possibly be!?"
That naiveté only lasted for about 15 minutes, after which I went "yo wtf!?"
#Crocodile #Wildlife #Crocodiles #Hike #Nature #Outdoors #MangroveForest
I was a bit worried when I saw bats flying during the day, but they seemed happy, I guess? These Lesser Dog-faced Fruit Bats were chilling under the roof in one of the visitors centers at Sungei Buloh Nature Reserve.
#Bats #FruitBats #Singapore #Wildlife #Nature #Hike #Outdoors
Some more tree-climbing crabby goodness just 'cause they're so cute!
#Crab #Crabs #MangroveForest #Outdoors #Nature #Hike #Wildlife
OMG the crocodile I saw is actually considered Sungei Buloh Wetland Reserve's "resident crocodile", imaginatively named "Tail-less" because it doesn't have a tail! That explains a lot!
#Crocodile #Crocodiles #Wetlands #MangroveForest #Wildlife #Outdoors #Hike #Singapore
Many visitors flock to Sungei Buloh Wetland Reserve to spot the migratory birds that stopover in Singapore, but what about its resident inhabitants? Rediscover the humble natives that are indispensable to the Reserve’s biodiversity.
@anna Was this at Sungei Boloh? (I've never been there, I should go).
I've had cobras in the garden though.
@loke Yes, Sungei Buloh! I'd never been there until last Saturday. I'd wanted to there for a long time, and one of my colleagues said that it was his favourite place in SG. So glad I finally went, it was amazing!
Afaik I've never had any cobras in my garden (although I stepped on a snake twice in front of our condo... I still feel guilty about that), but I did get macaques on my balcony every now and then when I lived close to Bukit Timah Nature Reserve.
@sohkamyung Ya I saw many snakes during my time in SG, though never (consciously) a cobra 😢
I moved away nearly 3 months ago, and I'm still so homesick! Especially with the National Day this week. I just had NDP songs on repeat. My friend was actually at the padang yesterday evening and sent me pics 😱
@anna Signs I know to take seriously:
Warnings for Alligators and Crocodiles in the southeast US.
Warnings for bears basically anywhere.
Warnings for coyotes in the western US. In this case, they won't mess with adults normally, but your pets are in danger.
@gsuberland The other day, Incidental Naturalist posted a great video on the dead bird site: https://x.com/IncNaturalist/status/1744493850679513488?s=20
@gsuberland did you see (and, more importantly, listen to) the latest Ologies episode? #Crabs #Crab #Crabstodon #Ologies #Carcinology #Decapodology #AmeliaEarhart #Podcast #Podcasts
https://podcasts.apple.com/nl/podcast/ologies-with-alie-ward/id1278815517?i=1000641810018
@anna Sungei Buloh and Pasir Ris mangroves are two of my favourite spots. 🙂
Hope you had a good time there.
@sohkamyung Thank you! Yes, it was fantastic, I really enjoyed it!
I have been to the Pasir Ris area a couple of times, and to Pulau Ubin, but for some reason never to Sungei Buloh, despite having lived in Upper Bukit Timah.
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