Things We Find in the Woods Part Ten

Field work is in full swing, and that means ample opportunities to see neat new nature and wildlife! First of all, how about this super weird thing we saw in the water at Pulau Ubin?! It was long and squiggly and undulated all over the place. At first it looked like a long pink ribbon drifting through the water, but a closer look revealed that it was generating its own rhythmic movements. I think it's some kind of sea worm, but I couldn't find any more information about it in my handy dandy Singapore Biodiversity Encyclopedia.

I've never seen a sea creature that looks like a ribbon dancer!

Speaking of things that squirm and slither, how about THIS thing?! It's a terrestrial flatworm. Yes, that orange thing is its head. As my supervisor so accurately stated, "That thing looks like something out of X-Files." True. It behaves strangely too, eating up earthworms like they're going out of style!

Probably the weirdest wildlife I've seen in SE Asia. About 15 cm long.

At first we weren't seeing many snakes, but one day at Bukit Timah I saw an elegant bronzeback. I love those snakes - they're long and super skinny, and they're harmless, so I feel pretty safe observing them.

Who can resist this cute little guy?!

My bronzeback sighting seems to have broken our snake dry spell, because the next week we had a two-snake day! First I spotted this guy in the weeds off the trail. He's the venomous Wagler's pit viper, so we gave him a wide berth and moved on.

Not a great picture, but you get the idea!

A couple of hours later, I found ANOTHER snake. And guess what! It was a snake I've never seen before! When I first spotted its bright colors, I definitely thought it was venomous, but then I remembered a little rhyme my dad learned in the army,

Red to yellow, kill a fellow

Red to black, friend of Jack

I'm not sure if it's 100% accurate, but in this case, it was right. This red-to-black reptile is the harmless twin-barred tree snake, which is capable of gliding through the air, just like the paradise tree snake!

A NEW SNAKE!!! HOORAY! I wish Bryan could've seen it!

OK, I made it halfway through a nature post without mentioning monkeys. That's the best I can do. So. One day in MacRitchie we encountered a group of monkeys we'd never followed before. We'd been around them for about 5 minutes when they started alarm calling. That usually means that there's some kind of threat around - if the monkeys aren't habituated to people, they might alarm call at them. They also alarm call at other groups of monkeys and a variety of potential predators, including dogs, snakes, crocodiles, large monitor lizards, birds of prey, and more. We were pretty sure that we weren't the source of their distress, so we started looking around for what they were all worked up about. We didn't see anything, but the alarm calling went on and on for about a half an hour. We finally saw the root of all the excitement when this guy lumbered slowly around the bend in a little forest stream!!!

He was HUGE!

He was bigger than an adult monkey. I don't blame them for alarm calling!

If you know me well, you probably know that I ADORE turtles. They're probably my favorite animal after monkeys. Singapore has lots of red-eared sliders, but unfortunately I haven't observed many other turtles in the wild here, so this was really a treat. I think this is a Malayan flat-shelled terrapin, but I could be wrong, so any other suggestions are welcome!

Up until a few months ago, Singapore had a railway that connected to Malaysia (read a neat blog post about it here). The train tracks ran right next to Bukit Timah, and there were lots of fruit trees along the tracks, so the monkeys spent a lot of time there munching on fruits. When the train service stopped, Singapore decided to remove the tracks, and there's discussion of turning the old rail path into a green corridor (hooray!). I followed the monkeys to the site of the old tracks one day, and was astonished to see how well the land had recovered from the tracks. It looks like there was never anything there!! The section of tracks in the photo was left behind presumably because it runs across an overpass and would have been more difficult to remove.

Hard to believe trains were running here 6 months ago!

Of course, no nature post is complete without monkey photos! The road that leads up to the Visitor Center at Bukit Timah recently had new drains installed and the monkeys discovered that the drains make an excellent fort! They played in them for hours, popping in one hole and out the other, tackling each other, and wrestling.

Check out mah new FORT!

Go find your OWN playhouse. This one belongs to the Hindhede monkeys!

Watch out for lots more wildlife posts in the months ahead!

Things We Find in the Woods Part Eight

Well everyone, my apologies for not posting recently but I've been sick and laying around in bed, coughing and blowing my nose. Somehow that didn't seem blog-worthy. Anyway, because I haven't been doing anything too exciting, I made another compilation of fun stuff we've come across on previous nature excursions. I hope you enjoy, and now that I'm feeling better I should be posting again soon!

Man, we have been on a roll with the wildlife lately (well, until I got sick anyway). I think Bryan's mom visiting must have brought us good luck. When we were at Sungei Buloh, we saw this huge atlas moth. I saw one once before, at Bukit Timah, but this one was much prettier. These moths are just giant- this one's wingspan was probably about 9 or 10 inches. The females are even larger!

Male atlas moth

On Pulau Ubin, we saw this butterfly. I think it's a Burmese lascar, but a lot of the lascar butterflies (Perak lascar, common lascar) look really similar to me. Can anyone confirm?

One of Singapore's many lovely butterflies

Bryan photographed this bird at MacRitchie. It looks like some kind of flycatcher to me, possibly a young Asian brown flycatcher.

Fragile little bird

One day Bryan and I were walking down the street right next to our apartment when we heard a cacophonous racket in the trees next to the sidewalk. We looked up and saw three robust birds just squawking away. We'd never seen them before, but I recognized them by their appearance and all the noise they were making. They were Asian koels- two females and one male. Asian koels are members of the cuckoo family, and are interesting because they engage in something called brood parasitism. This means that koels don't build their own nests. Instead, they lay their eggs in the nests of other birds (here in Singapore they often use myna nests). Koels usually lay one egg at a time, and they choose nests that are already occupied with eggs. Then the mother tending the nest hatches the koel egg right along with her own! Sneaky! Unfortunately, on the day that Bryan and I spotted the koels, we were just taking a stroll to the store so we didn't have a camera and so we have no photos to share. But we'll be on the lookout for them again!

On our last trip to Sungei Buloh, we saw a green crested lizard right near the entrance. I was told by an NUS biology professor that green crested lizards used to be quite common, but they've been largely displaced by the invasive changeable lizards that are now everywhere. I see changeable lizards on an almost daily basis, just hanging around on the bases of young trees, right along the sidewalks. I've only seen green crested lizards a handful of times, and always in a nature reserve.

The native green crested lizard

The invasive changeable lizard

Another of Singapore's invasive species is the red-breasted parakeet. The bird is common in Changi Village, on the east side of Singapore. In addition to the parakeets, there are also cockatoos. Both birds were introduced through the bird trade and managed to reproduce and thrive in their adopted habitat (more info about the birds of Changi here). I was eager to show these birds to Kathy and my friend Shira when they were visiting, so I was walking along the sidewalk, staring up into the trees. I was so focused on finding the birds that I wasn't paying attention to where I was going. And...I slammed right into a lamp-post. Headfirst. I hit it so hard that my head rocked backward and I saw stars. The sound of my head hitting the pole (GONNNNNNNNG) reverberated over and over through my skull. Bryan, Kathy, and Shira all stared at me and tried not to laugh. They did pretty well for about 3 seconds before they just couldn't help themselves anymore. And who could blame them? If I'd been able to see straight and if my ears weren't ringing so loudly, I probably would've laughed too. I'm sure the hundred or so people eating at the hawker centre 10 feet away got a kick out of it. Sigh. Anyway, we found the parakeets.

Was this bird sighting worth a lump on my head?

Speaking of invasive species, how about this red-eared slider pileup?

Like a stack of dirty dishes. Except cute.

We don't just find animals in our wanderings. Sometimes we find cool plants too. Like this dewy purple flower (yes, you can laugh about the fact that I know the names for the animals, but refer to all the plants as "pretty flowers" or "big trees").

Flower on Pulau Ubin

Young leaves, a monkey favorite

We were on Pulau Ubin when we took the picture of the flower. That same day, we say a red jungle fowl, which is the ancestor of the modern chicken. The jungle fowl was really skittish and took off deep into the woods as soon as we saw it so, sadly, we didn't get a photo. However, we did get a photo of some random chickens we saw inexplicably wandering around East Coast Park one day.

Not red jungle fowl.

Chickens aside, Bryan and I have both gotten way better at spotting wildlife since moving to Singapore, but we still aren't that good at spying the local insects (aside from the mosquitoes. I can ALWAYS find them). But since I started following this blog I've been more vigilant about looking for insects. We recently managed to find this superbly camouflaged grasshopper at Sungei Buloh. Isn't he neat?!

Patience, young grasshopper

Sungei Buloh is totally our hotspot for wildlife. We also saw all of these awesome things there:

Little egret

Spotted house gecko

Batik golden web spider

Yellow-vented bulbul

Again, I leave you with my favorite, the lovable long-tailed macaque. This is Catherine lip-smacking at Arwen.

Monkey love

Things We Find in the Woods Part Seven

While Bryan's mom was visiting, we completed an epic tour of Singapore's nature spots, and we ended up seeing some pretty neat stuff along the way. Over the first weekend she was here, we set a new record in the snake-spotting game: THREE in two days! The paradise gliding snake at Chinese Garden that I posted about earlier, and TWO Oriental whip snakes, one each at Bukit Timah and Sungei Buloh. Neat, huh?

Bryan's nature photography skills are getting better and better! (B. Timah)

A different Oriental whip snake, at Sungei Buloh a day later

Also at Sungei Buloh, we spotted this sweet little white-breasted waterhen. These birds are very common in Singapore, and we see them frequently at Sungei Buloh and Chinese Garden.

I like the red blush-like spot on their beaks

Speaking of Chinese Garden, on our way home from the Chinese Garden MRT station one day, I spotted this unusual bird in a tree next to the sidewalk. I was excited by spotting a bird I'd never seen before, and quickly got out my camera. In my haste, I only managed to take one blurry picture before the bird flew away. But it was good enough for identification purposes: it's an Indian cuckoo!

Unexpected wildlife spotting

In keeping with the cool bird theme, here's a pretty olive-backed sunbird we saw gathering nectar from a bird of paradise flower one sunny afternoon at Chinese Garden.

So delicate

OK, one more bird before I move on to something less feathery. Here's a racket-tailed drongo Bryan spotted at MacRitchie one afternoon. I like these birds- obviously their tails are impressive, but I also like those beady red eyes.

Sometimes Bryan forgets and calls it a "durango"

On our most recent trip to Sungei Buloh we struck it lucky and saw an otter! It was nice because it meant that Kathy got to see the otter in all their adorableness.

Smooth otter

We also saw something else very exciting- a juvenile estuarine crocodile!!! We've seen crocs there a few times, but never such a little one. It was pretty special.

Doesn't he look as cool as a cucumber? A really scaly cucumber?

And of course, the ubiquitous Malayan water monitor.

This water monitor is also a juvenile.

Speaking of lizards, how about this cute common sun skink Bryan photographed at MacRitchie?

I think skinks look like snakes with legs.

While we're still thinking about lizards, Bryan and I have been seeing a lot of Sumatran flying dragons lately- on Pulau Ubin, in Kent Ridge Park, and at MacRitchie. Sadly, I even saw a dead one on the sidewalk outside Singapore General Hospital recently. It's strange that we've seen them several times in the past couple of months, because in the previous year we've only seen them once or twice. Maybe our wildlife spotting skills are improving by leaps and bounds, or maybe we just happen to be spending more time in flying dragon territory. Either way, we've enjoyed watching these fascinating creatures.

Male dragon

A few fun facts about flying dragons:
          1) You see those wrinkly flaps along the side of the lizard in the photo above? That allows him to spread out his skin and form a flat surface, which allows him to glide through the air like a paper airplane. The skin that he spreads out is called the "patagium".
           2) Male Sumatran flying dragons (like the one in the picture above) have blue heads, while the female's is a more bland gray and black.
          3) Another sex difference: the males have large, bright yellow throat flaps and the females have small, mottled blue ones.
          4) Sumatran flying dragons are also known as common flying dragons.
          5) Flying dragons are awesome. Disagree? Then you probably haven't seen this movie.

OK, out of lizard land and into the plant world. I am captivated by this photo Bryan recently took on Pulau Ubin, of a tree covered in sharp spikes. I've rubbed up against these things in the jungle before and they're about as vicious as they look. I think he did a good job of capturing their bristly essence.

Sending out a strong "Don't mess with me" vibe.

OK, I leave you with my absolute favorite thing that we find in the woods (or along the roadside, or foraging through the dumpster, or climbing on some unfortunate soul's clean laundry). The long-tailed macaque! Here are Catherine and Arwen, in the midst of an intense grooming session.

Catherine doing some serious grooming.

Arwen returning the favor

Arwen's one of the oldest monkeys in the group.

OK, that's all for now, but we've been seeing lots of interesting stuff lately, so hopefully I'll have more to share soon!

MacRitchie Reservoir Park

Last weekend I left Bryan at home with his video games and headed over to MacRitchie Reservoir Park.  It was a great day- the sun was shining but there was a nice breeze coming off the water.  Even though it was a weekend, the park was pretty empty.  Aside from a few kayakers and runners, I was the only one around.  I decided to take the Prunus and Petai trails, which run near the reservoir for awhile.  They're easy trails but I'd never taken them before and was hopeful that I might see something new.

MacRitchie Reservoir

Right away I heard some noisy birds in the bushes.  I saw a crimson sunbird and a little further along the path, what I think were a pair of Asian paradise flycatchers.  I can't be sure about that though, because I didn't manage to get a good photo- I needed Bryan with his photography skills!  These bright dragonflies perched nearby, glistening in the sun.

The heat can get really oppressive in the forest- sometimes the air feels so thick with humidity that it's like breathing in through a wet washcloth.  So when I came to a bench at the edge of the wooden pathway, I decided to relax and have a big drink of water.  I zoned out for a while, staring into the undergrowth and enjoying the peace and quiet of the forest.  And then...shit.  Oh shit oh shit oh shit oh shit. There, about six inches from my feet.  A vine that wasn't a vine.  That distinct, red to yellow pattern.  My dad's voice echoed in my head "Red to black, friend of Jack.  Red to yellow, kill a fellow."  I fought the overwhelming urge to scream and jump and run.  I took a deep breath and slowly drew my legs up to my chest, spun around, and took a giant step away from the pit viper.  Safely out of striking distance, I stared at it, making sure it didn't move while I took some deep breaths and tried to get my heart to stop hammering out of my chest.  Then I crouched down and took some photos.

Thanks for not biting me, man

It was either a male or a young female- all the juveniles start out green with the red and yellow pattern, but by the time the females reach adulthood, they've changed substantially.  They grow to be much larger than the males, and they have a black and greenish-yellow pattern, the bright green and red totally gone.  The males stay smaller and keep the bright pattern, so their adult selves look similar to the juvenile version.  I think this was probably an adult male, and as I looked at him, it seemed silly to have been so afraid.  He was so small  that it seemed impossible that he could do much harm.  But it would be a mistake to underestimate the little guy- while their venom isn't known to be fatal to humans, it could certainly ruin your day.  Hemotoxins in their venom prevent blood clotting and inflict serious organ and tissue damage.

See how I missed it in the foliage?

After I had my fill of the snake, I headed onward down the path, still feeling a little spooked by my encounter on the lonely path.  About 10 steps later, I heard a loud twig snap and I stopped and whirled around and saw...nothing.  I stared into the woods for a second, then mentally mocked myself for being such a wuss.  I took another step forward and almost tripped over a monkey that seemed to have materialized out of thin air.  He must have crawled out from under the wooden path, and he'd planted himself right in front of me, seemingly unconcerned by my presence.  He startled me so badly that I jumped.  He looked annoyed and stood up and backed away a few steps.

I skirted the irritable monkey and moved on.  About another 10 steps on, I heard a noise and assumed that the monkey was just following along.  I glanced to the side and instead saw a large water monitor digging in the leaf litter.  Sheesh, had the jungle shrunk overnight?  I was literally tripping over the local wildlife!

Not much farther along, I ran into the rest of my monkey friend's group.  The group was rather large, and I guessed that their range on the edge of the forest probably meant that they got a lot of human food.  I was proved right a few minutes later.  As I chatted with some German tourists who were admiring the monkeys, everything seemed to happen all at once.  A Singaporean family rounded the corner- parents with their two kids, Dad toting plastic grocery bags with potato chips inside.  I saw him just before the monkeys did, and shouted" PUT YOUR BAG OVER YOU HEAD!  THE MONKEYS ARE GOING TO STEAL YOUR FOOD!"  He looked at me like I was crazy, and I threw my hands over my head, "Your GROCERIES.  The monkeys are going to TAKE them!"  He continued to gape at me like I was an idiot.  In the meanwhile the monkeys snatched the bags from his hands and began feasting on fattening potato chips.  His kids screamed, and he stared at the monkeys angrily.  I shook my head and rolled my eyes.  While they were all still screaming, an old man walked by and something happened that I'd never seen before.  All of the monkeys that didn't already have food in their hands jumped onto the path and started following the man.  He had a big trail of monkeys behind him, crawling all over one another in an effort to get closer to him.  It dawned on me that he must feed them all the time.  Sure enough, as he rounded the corner, I saw a bag drop out of his hand.  Now the monkeys had been fed on either side of me and the tourists, and the monkeys were rushing past us in both directions, fighting over junk food.  It was a scary few minutes as about 80 monkeys screamed in the trees and on the ground all around us.  I wanted to smack that man.  He'd put us all in danger by intentionally feeding the monkeys, even though he knew very well he shouldn't.  There were signs everywhere.  As soon as they saw an opening, the tourists took off in the other direction.  I waited until the fighting died down and walked in the direction the old man had gone.  There was food all over the place.  I sighed.  It seems that people just won't learn.

Monkey Feeder

After all the monkey excitement, I was glad to just walk along quietly, without seeing any people or animals for a while.  I did stop to stare at this funky fungi.  I liked the geometrical pattern.

 I also spotted a red-eared slider sunning himself on a log.  The invasive species is often released by locals who get them as pets and then decide they don't want them.  Releasing them into the wild is bad- turtles raised in captivity often die in the wild, as they don't know how to fend for themselves.  In addition, they decimate native species.  I felt a little pity for the turtle, but for the time-being, he looked pretty content in the sunshine.

Along the trail a little more, I found a newly completed little rest hut.  I poked around and was surprised to see a lizard on the ground near the hut.  I inched closer to get a better look and was even more surprised that the lizard didn't dart off.  They tend to be pretty skittish, and understandably so- the monkeys think they make tasty treats every now and then, snakes like to munch on them, birds gobble them up, and little  human children make a game out of trying to catch them.  They have a lot to be worried about.  But this one stayed put.  I saw that it was probably a Sumatran flying dragon, and wondered if it might be stunned- perhaps it had been gliding and had missed its mark.  It was neat to see one up close, but I didn't stay long- even though the lizard wasn't moving much, I figured my presence was making it a bit jumpy.

Not so  fierce for a dragon

Eventually I popped out at the end of the trail and headed for the visitor centre to use the bathroom before I headed out.  I was shocked to see monkeys raiding dumpsters right in front of the visitor centre.  I don't think that the bins belonged to the park, but they were right out in front of it, and I couldn't believe that they were properly bungee corded shut.  NParks officials are always telling people not  feed the monkeys, but here the monkeys sat, right in front of the visitor centre, happily chowing on food out of wide open trash bins.  It certainly didn't send a good message.

Mmmm...free trash, a monkey favorite

After the visitor centre, I headed over to catch a taxi home.  There were more monkeys on the sidewalk, just hanging around.  I watched them for a little bit, then had a strange experience- I stepped away from the wild monkeys and directly into a waiting taxi.  Weird.

MacRitchie Baby