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.


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.


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.


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.


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!


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!


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.


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.


Here's a slightly better shot.

I then made my way to Bukit Timah Nature Reserve.


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).


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.


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!


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


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) were a common sight in the reserve. This female monkey was seen with its baby.


The baby moneky looked really cute!


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