Sungei Buloh Wetland Reserve

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

needle fishes

crabs

a salamander