Colugos and Fruiting Dipterocarps at Bukit Timah in Mar 2010

A few of us RMBR Nature Guides went to Bukit Timah Nature Reserve for an exploratory walk last Saturday. Along the main road, we found a dipterocarp fruit (looked like a Dipterocarpus sp. to me), which truly surprised us. The mast-fruiting event was supposed to have already happened last year! Do we have a late bloomer here? I did not take a photo of the fruit though, but little did I know that there were more surprises.


We found more dipterocarp fruits along the way. Looked like some Shorea species, though the ones I had seen previously usually had 3 wings, so can't say for sure. I found a few more on yet another trail, and thus there were definitely a number of these late bloomers. the fruits looked rather green, and thus I guess if I were to visit Bukit Timah again in a few weeks' time, I will probably see more of them.


I did not really take many photos for this trip since not many other plants were flowering or fruiting, but one flowering plant that caught my eye was this Bat Lily (Tacca integrifolia).


We saw very few animals during this trip. This caterpillar was spotted by one of the new guides. Certainly looked rather ugly, but guess that probably helped deter would-be predators.


There were a number of these St. Andrew's Cross Spiders. Not really sure what species they are.


There was also a troupe of Long-tailed Macaques (Macaca fascicularis) near the entrance to the reserve. This female appeared to be really enjoying herself while the male was helping to clean her fur.


The most exciting sighting for me must be the two Malayan Colugos (Cynocephalus variegatus), which we saw only as we were leaving the reserve! Here's one of them.


I decided to walk around the tree and took photos of it form various angles, starting from its left.


Here's directly behind it.


Moving on to it's right side.


This is certainly one of my favourite native animals!

A Week of Sungei Buloh

I had to go to Sungei Buloh Wetland Reserve most of last week, and was really glad that as usual, there were lots of interesting things to see!


We saw 2 Estuarine Crocodiles (Crocodylus porosus) near the main bridge on some days. This was the smaller one resting near the sluice gate.


At the same time, there was a bigger crocodile under the main bridge. The Estuarine Crocodile is the biggest living reptile, and can grow to over 6m long!


This Smooth Otter (Lutrogale perspicillata) was also spotted near the main bridge.


On Monday, we were really lucky to see 6 Smooth Otters! And 3 of them even went near the toilet at the visitor centre! Rather amusingly, when they approached the toilet, someone inside flushed and the otters were rather surprised by the sudden sound and ran away to the main freshwater pond near the toilet.


The 3 otters started swimming in the pond and appeared to be hunting for fish in the pond.


Meanwhile, another 3 otters were high and dry resting on the bank of the pond.


The otters even went to the pond at the entrance of the reserve! The ranger complained that they had been eating the kois and arowanas. I found the situation rather funny, though I was pretty sure that the park authorities were probably not too happy about this.


While I was at the pond near the entrance, I noticed that the Berembang (Sonneratia caseolaris) was flowering, and decided to grab a photo.


The fruit that I noticed during a previous trip was still there!


Near the visitor centre, we also saw the usual Emerald Dove (Chalcophaps indica) that was ringed.


There was a pair of Pink-necked Green Pigeons (Treron vernans) on the Berembang, busy shaking their tails to each other.


Unfortunately, they did not really doing anything exciting and eventually, the male decided to rest on a branch.


It even closed it eyes for a while. Not sure if it was all tired out with all the courtship and chasing away rival males.


There was this Common Moorhen (Gallinula chloropus) that often appear near the pond too. This moorhen has a very wide distribution, and can be found in most parts of the world!


They appear to prefer swimming compared to other related speceis, and feed on water plants and small invertebrates.


We noticed that it also fed on the fallen Berembang stamens floating on the surface of the pond.

Will be going to Sungei Buloh again next week. Hope I will have the same good luck again!