Thursday, September 24, 2009

From Dairy Farm to Bukit Timah Nature Reserve

When I bumped into WF and AL at Bukit Timah yesterday, they thought I was a bit crazy to walk all the way from Dairy Farm to Bukit Timah Nature Reserve under the hot sun. Haha. Well, guess that's me! Once I stepped out for a nature walk, it will take 5 to 6 hours to stop me.

Anyway, my morning started when I reached Woodlands mangrove around 7.15am with LK.

Berembang (Sonneratia caseolaris)
This was to catch the flowering Berembang (Sonneratia caseolaris). Had not been there since early this year. Thought I saw 3 trees my last time there, but only found 2 this time round. Guess I must have counted wrongly while rushing home for my reunion dinner the last time. Haha.

Anyway, after exploring the mangrove for a while, we went to the newly opened Dairy Farm Nature Park.

Dairy Farm Nature Park
This is the visitor centre, and is also where the old dairy farm used to be located. We went on for a walk along the Wallace Trail.

Fluffy Tit (Zeltus amasa maximinianus)
Was a little disappointed with the trail, but managed to spot this pretty Fluffy Tit (Zeltus amasa maximinianus). After that, LK called a cab and went off to prepare for he workshop at Bukit Timah Nature Reserve, while I carried on walking to Singapore Quarry.

Singapore Quarry
Took me more than a hour to reach here. The sun was scorching hot, but I was rewarded with a really fantastic view of the Singapore Quarry!

Hairy Emperor (Anax guttatus)
Looking over the railing, I suddenly saw a metallic flash of blue and green over the water - it was a Hairy Emperor (Anax guttatus) dragonfly! This was my first time seeing a living specimen!

Grey-headed Fish Eagle (Ichthyophaga ichthyaetus)
A birdwatcher who was already there pointed out a Grey-headed Fish Eagle (Ichthyophaga ichthyaetus) indulging in its catch on the other side of the quarry lake.

Little Grebes (Tachybaptus ruficollis)
In the quarry lake were several Little Grebes (Tachybaptus ruficollis) - small little duck-like birds with pointed bills. Unfortunately even with my 560mm zoom, the photos still turned out rather blur.

Little Grebe (Tachybaptus ruficollis)
Here's a slightly better shot.

I then made my way to Bukit Timah Nature Reserve.

Tiger Shrike (Lanius tigrinus)
Along the way, I spotted many birds, but most of them were too fast for me to take any decent photos, except for this Tiger Shrike (Lanius tigrinus).

Greater Racket-tailed Drongo (Dicrurus paradiseus)
This Greater Racket-tailed Drongo (Dicrurus paradiseus) was spotted when I reached the reserve. It was rather cooperative and I managed to take a few decent shots.

Flying Dragon (Draco sp.)
As I was walk along the main road, a little Flying Dragon (Draco sp.) glided across right in front of me and landed on the trunk of a tree!

Common Tree Shrew (Tupaia glis)
A Common Tree Shrew (Tupaia glis) was scampering among the undergrowth, probably seeking insects or seeds to feed on.

Slender Squirrel (Sundasciurus tenuis)
I saw this Slender Squirrel (Sundasciurus tenuis) eating some kind of fruit, and quickly snapped a photo. Looked really cute as it went munching off the fruit.

Long-tailed Macaques (Macaca fascicularis)
Long-tailed Macaques (Macaca fascicularis) were a common sight in the reserve. This female monkey was seen with its baby.

Baby Long-tailed Macaque (Macaca fascicularis)
The baby moneky looked really cute!

Malayan Colugo with Baby (Cynocephalus variegatus)
The highlight of my trip however, were the colugos, which I highlighted in a separate entry.

This was certainly my best Bukit Timah Trip so far, even though by the time my trip ended around 4.30pm, I was really very very tired :P

2 comments:

Shirls said...

Wah!!! I walked to s'pore quarry from the gate, I was already grumbling about distance.

Yu-Kym said...

Amazing! I had no idea these can be spotted there - and all in a day. You must have very sharp eyes.