Crocodile Again at Sungei Buloh

Decided to go Sungei Buloh to test out my new camera yesterday, and managed to get SY to join me. SY was rather reluctant to go with me actually, as my trips were usually quite "siong" - I usually went on walking non-stop for at least 5 or 6 hours. But my luck was usually quite good, and he had seen otters a few times with me. While we were on the bus, I was telling him that maybe we would see a crocodile this time round.


And true enough, I spotted this Estuarine Crocodile (Crocodylus porosus) on the opposite bank when we were at Platform 2! The last time I saw one was almost 2 months ago!

Apart from the crocodile, we have a few other nice sightings too.


Such as this pretty blooming Berembang (Sonneratia caseolaris)!


SY spotted this cute little jumping spider.


Not sure what caterpillar this is. Mind you, the end with the 2 "tentacles" was actually the backend...


In one of the prawn farm, we saw this Malayan Water Monitor (Varanus salvator) lazily crawling among the Pacific Golden Plovers (Pluvialis fulva), some of which were in their breeding plumage (with a black breast)!


As we passed by a pond, we saw hundreds of these fish squeezing together. It was a amazing sight actually, and I really wondered why they were doing this.


Several of these plants with white new flowers and yellow old flowers were spotted at the back mangrove, but I had no idea what they were.


The Blind-your-eyes (Excoecaria agallocha) were blooming with their catkin-like infloresence.


I went to look for the Gedabu (Sonneratia ovata), but unfortunately all the flowers which bloomed the night before had fallen off. This flower bud appeared like it would bloom soon though.


Meanwhile, SY found this little praying mantis on a leaf.


Several interesting crabs could be found at Sungei Buloh, including this brightly coloured Face-banded Sesarmine Crab (Perisesarma eumolpe) with red claws.


Another commonly seen crab was this Pink-fingered Vinegar Crab (Episesarma chentongense). The Teochews sometimes pickle this crab in vinegar, thus giving it its common name.


The Blue-spotted Mudskipper (Boleophthalmus boddarti) was certainly my favourite mudskipper, as it looked really cute as it shook its head left and right as it fed on tiny algae and detritus.


The more commonly seen mudskipper was probably the Giant Mudskipper (Periophthalmodon schlosseri) though.


While we were on the boardwalk, I noticed that the Dungun (Heritiera littoralis) was blooming! Does that mean that in a few weeks time, I will find it bearing fruits?


As we were heading back to the main hide, we saw a few Common Redshanks (Tringa totanus) in one of the disused prawn ponds.


Nparks had planted quite a number of Maiden's Jealousy (Tristellateia australasiae) in the open area besides the washroom. So far I had not seen wild ones here, though I have seen quite a lot of them in the back mangroves of Pulau Ubin.


Another plant that they planted in the reserve was the Nipis Kulit (Memecylon caeruleum) with pretty blue flowers.


At the back mangrove, I found yet another blooming plant - a Mangrove Tit-berry (Allophylus cobbe).


A rather uncommon plant that we could find in Sungei Buloh was the Barat Barat (Cassine viburnifolia), which had been fruiting since I was here a few weeks ago!


Another rather uncommon plant was this mangrove climber, Kalak Kambing (Finlaysonia obovata). I have found 3 of them so far in the reserve, and they all looked rather sickly. Not sure why.


By the river side, the Collared Kingfisher (Todiramphus chloris) was a common sight. Most of the time, they could be well-hidden among the foliage, but one could often still hear the distinctive cackling call.


Before we went off, I decided to check out the young Xylocarpus rumphii with a broken stem the last time I saw it. Fortunately, it appeared to be making a comeback, and had grown new leaves!


While making my way back to the Visitor Centre, a little girl and her maid spotted this Paradise Tree Snake (Chrysopelea paradisi) on a tree and showed it to me.

It was always nice meeting friendly fellow nature lovers during a trip! :)