We got a glimpse of Sungei Buloh Wetland Reserve from a video shown at Singapore National Library's Human X Nature exhibit on September 3rd, 2021, and we were intrigued by this nature reserve.
The reserve is located in the northwest area of Singapore, a stop-over point for migratory birds, with an area of 130 hectares, was listed as an ASEAN Heritage Park in 2003.
Then we were reminded that bird migratory season at the reserve lasts from September to March every year. So we visited there on a Saturday, September 11.
It was a beautiful day at the reserve. Unfortunately a major part of the reserve along the coastline was closed for maintenance. The visitors could only visit the Buloh tidal ponds area. Parking at this location became an issue, the small car park was full, and people had to park along the road. After a couple tries, we got a good parking spot along the road near the car park of the reserve, and went on the Migratory bird trail, a loop.
The scenery here may not be as beautiful as that at MacRitchie Reservoir Park, but the shore birds, birds, reptiles … more than enough made up the shortcomings for wildlife lovers like us.
Shore Birds
There are many shore birds at Sungei Buloh. Two common shorebirds I could tell are herons and egrets. They stood at water's edge or in shallow water for fishes, crabs... to swim by for meals! It is hard to capture their action of catching preys, I saw only twice this action, but never caught the action on cameras.
I am always attracted by their stoic, patient, and elegant images, and takes many photos every time I see them! Another of their infrequent actions is taking off. Egret/heron taking off or landing is a magnificent view, their wings fully expanded, legs stretched; I did capture a few egret/heron's taking offs and landings, was amazed every time
I could barely tell the difference between different herons or different egrets. A good reference I found on the internet is a blog "Singapore Birds".
The most abundant migratory birds at Sungei Buloh are dull colored, and not eye catching. There was a large flock of birds taking off, swirling in the sky and landing. Their brownish feathers blended with mudflat. Checking park service, they must be one of the seven migratory birds , presumably plovers.
Egrets
night heron
Egrets and Herons
taking off
purple heron
drying wings
WHIMBREL
landing
Mongolian plovers?
Mongolian plovers?
Birds
There are many birds in the woods, typically they are heard but not seen. I did manage to capture a few birds on camera. The first was an owl in the dense trees by the trail head, thanks to the hint from a bird watcher's big lens. I spotted a few bats flying in the covered visitor area, and looking around, I saw many bats hanging (sleeping) upside down over the ceiling above my head! - I know that bats are mammals - but I listed them in this section :). I saw a couple acquaintances (not so familiar though) - yellow-vented bulbul, and ash tailorbird, which I first saw at Garden by the Bay. They are song birds, especially the tiny ash tailorbirds, which make bright and crisp sound.
In the courtyard of the visitor center, a few photographers were snapping away at a tiny song bird (likely ashy tailorbird), I followed their aims and saw the tiny bird, it flew away before I pushed the button to take a picture. Seconds later a bright red headed tiny bird came into the view, "crimson ….." , a photographer blurred out. I got a good shot of the bird, and identified the bird to be crimson sunbird!
owl
bats - not birds but mammals
?
kingfisher - can you see it? southwest quadrant of the photo, it has blue feathersm white neck. click the photo to see larger image
yellow-vented bulbul
ash tailorbird - it is in the center of the photo click the photo to see larger image
maybe ashy tailorbird again
crimson sunbird
Reptiles
The most common reptile we saw is the monitor lizard, on the shore, in the water or on the road. A more interesting observation was of a crocodile in a stream at a mudflat, where plenty of fishes in the water, and egret, herons on the land or in puddles. The crocodile stayed for a few minutes, and then swam downstream and then turn around facing upstream, waiting for preys to come. I also saw the glimpse of a much bigger crocodile, in the mangroves by a large water body, it did not to show its big jaws while I was looking.
monitor lizard climbing onto the land
monitor lizard tongue out
monitor lizard deciding if to cross the paved trail
A crocodile in the stream of the mudflat
A big crocodile
Crab, fish, salamander . . .
They are not easy to spot, they are not glamorous, some are downright ugly; they are part of the ecosystem, and the food chain
mud crab
A big fish - surviving in the same area a monitor lizard resided
MacRitchie Reservoir Park is the most beautiful park we have visited so far at Singapore. Its natural beauty beats the elegant exquisite makeup of Garden by the Bay.
The Reservoir is Singapore's oldest reservoir which was completed in 1868 by impounding water from an earth embankment, and was then known as the Impounding Reservoir or Thomson Reservoir.
We visited MacRitchie park on September 4th, a beautiful Saturday.
That morning, parking lot was at capacity, the trail head was crowded ! Somewhat similar to the east coast park we visited a few week earlier. The southern portion of the trail (mile 0 to 3 in the first photo), has a trail made of mostly board walk on the water, with little shade; mile 4 to 6 , in the woods, Jelutong Tower is located in this section, mile 6 to 8, boardwalk by the lake again, well shaded. We enjoyed the second part of the hike more because of fewer people on the shaded trail, we could look or observe nature at will. We stayed at the park for over 5 hours, from 9am to 2 pm, we hiked, rested, enjoyed the flora and fauna along the way, and took many pictures.
The lake
As we walked around the lake from morning to afternoon, the hue of light changed, the angle of sun rays into the waters changed, the surroundings to the water changed, with these changes, we observed the changing color of the water of the reservoir from clear, green to emerald green.
reflection of the sky
the water is actually clear if one looks down at water's edge
There are lanes in the lake for kayak/canoe practice
Perceptive green water afar
4 colors or 5 colors: clear, blue, white, green, emerald green
Emerald green
The flora
There are many types of trees, plants at the park, like many other parks in Singapore. One highlight of our hike was the unimpeded view of the forest at the park in all directions on top of the Jelutong tower. The tower was a 7 story observation deck, a green painted steel structure, well blended into the surroundings. Unfortunately another tree top feature - the tree top walk, a 250 meter suspension bridge connecting 2 highest point at MacRitchie, was closed for maintenance.
Jelutong Tower
View from the top of Jelutong Tower
looking up
view at eye-level
boardwalk in the woods
The Fauna
We saw quite a few animals on this trip. We were greeted by a commotion of long tailed macaques (monkeys) in the trees near the start of the southern board walk; later on some of them descended onto the boardwalk, sitting there, not afraid of people passing at all, one actually got into shallow water. Then a large fish stealthily swam near the edge of water under the grass. Birds flew up and down at water's edge, few of them actually perched on hanging vines for a few seconds before flying away. Many more chirped in the dense trees safely unseen. Later on, along the 6 -8 mile section, around 1pm, we encountered a family of monkeys on the boardwalk on the northern side of the lake. A monkey mother actually smiled at me, but cautiously held tight of her baby when I passed by them.
There are reptiles in the park. We saw a monitors ( a type of big lizard) along the trail, and then had close encounter with a brownish snake, which was slithering down a tree, and quickly retreated before I could take out my camera. As I bemoaned the lost opportunity, a green snake appeared in the tree, it had a black head, and staring at me from the tree!
