The Change of Tide and Our Second Visit to Frog Island

We kayaked to the Frog island for the second time enroute to Sungai Mamam. We actually visited the islet twice during this Sungai Mamam kayak trip 

It was quite a different experience from the first time.

The first time we visited Pulau Sekudu, a.k.a. the Frog island, was about one year ago, by chance, and the tide was at its lowest. Many water fowls - egrets, herons, and curlews were lingering on the tidal wetland.

This time, tide was between low tide and high tide, no more exposed wetland, and many rocks were submerged. We could get much closer to the islet, and have a close up look of some birds.

A couple landmarks provided good reference to the tide height change.

One is the green beacon on a rock in the middle of Johor Strait. 

It sat on a islet in March 2022 when it was low tide; and this time around 9:45am, 3 hours after low tide, it sat a big rock; and 1:15pm, about 10 minutes after high tide, it stood in water.

green beacon at low tide March 2022 

green beacon between high/low tides April 23, 2023

at High Tide, 

The other landmark is the Frog shaped rock. In March 2022 during low tide, it stood on land, then it stood in water between low/high tides, and half submerged during high tide.

low tide March 2022

between high/low tides April 23, 2023

at High Tide

Experiencing the tide height change firsthand and the rising tide carrying our kayak into Sungai Mamam left me in awe of the sheer power of nature. Though I know that the ebb and flow of tides are caused by the Moon's phases, the experience made me curious to learn more about the exact mechanics of this natural phenomenon.

During our return trip from Sungai Mamam, we took advantage of the high tide to paddle around the Frog Island rock formation, to take in its beauty up close. As if on cue, the sky provided a stunning backdrop to the scene, with a perfect tapestry of blue skies, fluffy white clouds, and lush greenery from the trees on the island complementing the emerald waters below.

Upon closer inspection, we identified the birds on the rocks as Curlews, more specifically Eurasian Curlews, distinguished by their pinkish lower beak. Although we only saw a pair of great grey herons on the island this time, we did observe two nests in the trees.

The experience left me humbled by the sheer power of nature and filled me with appreciations for its boundless beauty.

Two heron - one in the center of the photo by the nest, and the other at upper right of the photo

Riding the Tide into Sungai Mamam

Sungai Mamam is a picturesque tidal creek, winding its way through the coastal wetland of northern Pulau Ubin. On April 22nd, we embarked on a kayaking trip to this elegant creek, timed perfectly with the tides - the first low tide of 0.2m was at 06:26, followed by the high tide of 2.9m at 13:05, with the second low tide of 1.0m at 19:00. We launched our kayak, Emma, at Changi Beach at around 9:20 am and paddled towards Pulau Sekudu, a tiny islet that we had previously explored at low tide one year ago.

After our visit to Pulau Sekudu, we hugged the shoreline as closely as possible to avoid the rough waves near the eastern tip of Pulau Ubin. Although we still got splashed by the waves a few times, the water was calm between the 10 km marker on our trail map and the creek. The shoreline was fenced with barbed wire and large red signs, which added a contrasting element to the scenic view of the forested coastline against the blue sky and white clouds. However, near the mouth of the creek, the fence seemed flimsier, and we wondered if we could enter Sungai Mamam.

Our paddling Trail Map

We paddled by the boardwalk at Chek Jawa wetland

The mangroves at Chek Jawa 

"rough" sea with occasional large waves from passing boats and ships 

border wall at northern Pulau Ubin facing Malyaia - fence with barbwires

an islet north to Pulau Ubin

a rotten pier - must be from pre-Singapore independence time

Despite the lack of a clear entrance, we paddled ahead, and soon discovered an optical camouflaged entrance hidden in plain sight. As we rode the rising tide into the creek, we noticed the hydrodynamics in play, as the water flowed mostly in the direction of least resistance, with tree branches in the water gently swaying in the direction of the flow due to vortex-induced vibration.

Blocked by fence to Sungai Mamam

The entrance is disguised by optical camouflage 

view from inside the fence

We were the only kayakers in the creek, and the tranquil atmosphere was enhanced by the sight of sea eagles soaring in the sky, Pacific swallows swooping over the river, and collared kingfishers calling from time to time. The incessant shrilling of insects in the mangrove added to the soundscape, while our paddles made gentle splashes periodically. We took a break from paddling to let the rising tide carry us forward and immerse ourselves completely in the natural beauty around us. In about 20 minutes, we arrived at a bridge with a narrowed pathway and low clearance, where we decided to turn back.

On our way out, we explored a major looped branch of the creek, where the water flowed slower. The total kayaking trip covered a distance of 14 km and took about 4.5 hours, starting and ending at Changi Beach.

Overall, Sungai Mamam is an excellent location for kayaking, with its serene natural beauty and fascinating hydrodynamics at play.

 

Branches vibrated back and forth due to vortex 

                                                                vortex induced vibration

a side loop of Sungai Mamam

Note -

1) When we retuned to the entrance/exit, we saw a couple kayaks entering the fence, one was a fishing kayak, and the other was a rental kayak, which was returned at the campsite. We saw a ramp on the shore for kayak launching

2) The scenery is more beautiful on a sunny day but more UV exposure for kayakers. Protection against UV is a must. 

3) Google search for tide chart at Pulau Ubin will yield a table for tide height and time. This is very useful especially when paddling at tidal rivers.

4) Here is an explanation on why there two tide cycles in a day

Idyllic Rimba Resort

Rimba Resort is nestled on the northern tip of Pulau Sibu, an island located about 10km east of mainland Malaysia. The resort is surrounded by hills on three sides, providing a serene atmosphere. Our sea view chalet, located at the eastern end of the beach, is just steps away from the shallow shores.

The chalet was immersed in the green of tropical plants.  I was waken up by chorus of the chirping of birds at dawn everyday we were there. The second morning, I got up during the birds' dawn chorus, and took binocular and camera with me, walking into the early morning sea breeze.

our chalet at Dawn

The small hill in east block the view of Sun

I was the only person on the beach, strolling in the clear shallow water of the seashore at low tide.

clear water (at later time of the day)

A red boat with a person in red outfit fishing was at a  distance in the sea. 

On the shore side, the chalets stood silently in the tropical plants, with no trace of people. There were still bird sounds here and there in the woods, but I could barely spot a bird except a flock quietly sitting on top of a tall tree.

a flock of birds resting on top of a tree

A white bellied sea eagle quietly glided into the view, just when clouds broke up, soaring magnificently. I heard white-bellied sea eagle calls a few times earlier from eastern side of the chalet, but could not see the eagle nest or eagles in the dense trees.

Magpie robin, was easily spotted, as it perched on a low tree branch whistling sweetly.

An unknown bird sound drew me to a pine tree. I  located a fat brownish bird. In fact there were two more similar birds there. Later we decided that it was just a pigeon viewed from a peculiar angle.

I was pretty sure that there were collared king fishers, because I heard its unique successive loud, and rattling "kek-kek-kek-kek-kek" sound. I walked up and down the beach, but could not catch a sight of it. I did  see a collared king fisher later at western side seashore of Pulau Sibu when we were kayaking.

white-bellied sea eagle 

Magpie Robin Singing at beach front

a fat brown bird

Can you see the kingfisher? blue feathered back with white collar neck. 

We also saw a few other birds at other times.

A tiny twitting bird visited the coconut tree by our chalet, feasting on coconut flower. It turned out to be an olive backed sunbird.

a olive backed sunbird drinking nectar of coconut flowers

I also saw a black bird with an orange eyelid, I thought I saw a new specie bird, but not, it was common mynah - most common bird in the area! I never noticed that it has such a distinctive eyelid before despite see it everyday!

Common Mynah - a good looking bird regarded as a pest because they noisy

Sun rose in the east and the moon was setting in the west. I was on the seashore and beach for over an hour. Lily came out of the chalet joined me to enjoy this beautiful morning at the island.

Tropical flora, chirping birds, quiet sea, this place is indeed an idyllic retreat.

Setting Moon over the island

low tide

Being Human

I went to grocery shopping this morning and went to the fruit stand Lily and I frequent. When I made my payment to the stand owner, a lady, she asked me, your wife didn't come? I told her that Lily was traveling.  She smiled, "you always come together ".

Her words warmed my heart.  We are her loyal customers because she sells fresh fruits at good prices. Over the past two years we go to her stand nearly every week.  We only talk about fruits, but over the time, an invisible bond has formed.

Being human, her simply gesture of care made my day.

I actually experienced and enjoyed such small gestures of kindness quite a few times before.

With my special diet, every time I order my lunch at cafeteria with a new vendor this year, I tell the server 'no rice'. Last Thursday,  when I was about to tell the server, a young man, 'no rice ', he moved to entrée section already. 'You remember my preference ', I said to him. He smiled without saying anything.  On Friday,  I was late for lunch, the young man left the counter already. One of the cashiers, a young woman,  was behind the counter,  before I open my mouth,  she moved to entrée section without rice in the plate. 'Thank you', I said. She smiled and filled the plate with my orders. I am really pleased with this seemingly trivial gesture of kindness.

Something similar happened with Lily as well.

Years ago, we frequent a certain restaurant almost weekly when we were graduate students in California, and later with our son. Then I left for an out of state job. She was still in the graduate school,  and continued to go to the restaurant with our son. A waitress, while helping them to their table, she inquired "where is daddy?" Lily was touched by the waitress' care.

While asking chatGPT to translate my essay into Chinese,  it translated "being human" into "作为一个人‘’。The translation does not fully capture the depth and richness of the original English phrase, its philosophical and emotional connotations.

Looking for the meaning of the phrase "being human" on Google,  I found that the following matched my understanding the best.

To be human is to be at the Centre of our own universe, to experience life in all its colors and all its potential. Experience the awe of being alive and the thrill of discovering what it means to be human.

Being human means we all have our strengths and weaknesses, our pain and our joy, our rational side and our emotions.

The small gesture of care is more touching today because, being human, I am more sensitive and sentimental today with Lily traveling.

Stars in the Night Sky over Pulau Sibu

Rimba Resort is a secluded retreat located on the northern tip of Pulau Sibu, an island about 10km east from mainland Malaysia. It is surrounded by hills on three sides, west, south and east, facing the sea at north, the resort offers a tranquil environment. Our sea view chalet is situated at the eastern end of the beach, steps away from the shallow shore.

It boasts dark and stary nights,  great for stargazing.

On Saturday (April 8th) night, after enjoying a delicious BBQ dinner, we walked out of the dinning lounge, were struck by how much darker it was than previous two nights there. Looking up, the sky was clear, and was filled with stars. We were mesmerized.

We took our beach towels and laid on the sand to gaze at the stars. 

Not familiar with the views of constellations near the equator, we could not tell which way the milky way goes, but it seemed to be in the orientation of northwest to southeast. We could see the Big Dipper clearly. There were three bright stars which caught our eyes because they lined up in a nearly straight line. They turned out to be the Orion's belt, also known as Three Kings or Three Sisters. The three stars are Alnitak, Alnilam and Mintaka. They showed up in stories of many cultures.

The three stars at lower left corner is Orion's Belt

As time passed, clouds moved in, made the night sky brighter than before. Many stars became invisible, but the three stars were still easily identifiable. 

The three stars at upper left corner is Orion's Belt

The phenomenon made me think. My hypothesis was that the clouds, especially white clouds, reflected lights from ground, and make the sky look brighter than when it is cloudless, exactly what we observed. We discovered the source of the light pollution, the town of Mersing on the main land.

We lingered on the beach for about one hour, enjoying gentle breeze, soft sound of waves, and the mystical night sky.

the light from town Mersing on mainland is the main source of light pollution 

Oriental Pied Hornbills

It was a rare sunny afternoon last Tuesday (March 28) in the past several weeks. Home alone by myself, I watched 5pm news on CNA and decided to have a walk at Singapore Botanic Garden before dinner. 

a Sunny afternoon at Botanic Garden

I walked out of the door around 5:35pm with my "big" camera.

The Sun was still high in the western sky, the sky was blue with patches of white clouds. I saw few people in the streets on the 400 meter walk to the garden's Tanglin gate.

Shortly I arrived at swan lake at the garden. It was as beautiful as always. The pair of swans were swimming at the other end of the lake. I passed a young mother with her little girl who were looking at fishes in the pond on the trail by the pond. It was pretty quiet there. … then I heard the unique sound of "kok-kok-kok", I could tell it was from oriental pied hornbills!! I took the camera out of the case.

A pair or three hornbills flew overhead, and quickly disappeared in the trees by the pond.

I marched on, and in less than a minute, they came into my sight again, three hornbills! One slightly larger than the other two, they rested on tree branches. The larger one stood aside by itself, the other two stood side by side and were very playful, biting or kissing through their big beaks :). After a couple minutes, the larger hornbill flew away, and the other two followed. I guess these are mother hornbill with her juveniles.

The larger hornbill

Looking up for other birds in the area, I saw them again two minutes later! I had a much clear view of them, one bigger in body size and beak, has a black patch under its eye on lower jaw, the other smaller in body and beak, and has a brown patch under its eye on the lower jaw. The larger one is a male, and the smaller one is a female.

They stood there, looking around. The male hornbill swiped its beak against the tree branch occasionally, like sharpening a knife. Super cute! 

the patches on the lower jaws are visible in this photo

They moved on to other trees, stood apart from each other, preening their feathers.

What a visual feast!

I left the swan lake and walked toward Keppel wetland a hundred meters north. I saw blue tailed bee eaters swooping in the air to catch insets. I heard kingfishers' calls and saw them diving at the pond at Keppel wetland from afar. Yellow vented bulbuls, pigeons, mynahs … were around - it was 6:40pm … birds were having their dinners. Time for me to have my dinner.

Just then I heard the hornbills' call in their fly, the family flew to the tree by the forest pavilion, where I stood. I looked up, three of them in the dense tree; I was very satisfied, and called it a day for bird watching.

Note

We saw oriental pied hornbills quite frequently at Singapore and recorded it twice before in the blog/

1. We saw hornbills in their tree house at Pasir Ris 

2. We saw another family of hornbills at Pulau Ubin

3. Rewrite of my blog by chatGPT: better than my writing, more concise, crisp, and more sophisticated words, but seems lacking the feel of eagerness, curiosity and emotion. gptzero.me correctly determined the following was entirely written by AI, and my blog was entirely written by human! openAI's AI text classifier on the other hand determined my blog and chatGPT rewrite are both unlikely AI generated

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Title: A Serendipitous Encounter with Oriental Pied Hornbills

It was a beautiful, rare sunny afternoon last Tuesday, a welcome respite from the past few weeks of gloomy weather. With nothing much to do, I decided to take a stroll at the Singapore Botanic Garden before dinner, armed with my trusty "big" camera.

As I made my way towards the garden's Tanglin gate, the sun was still high in the sky, casting a warm glow over the streets. There were only a few people around, and I relished the peace and quiet.

When I reached Swan Lake, I was greeted by the sight of a pair of swans gracefully swimming at the far end of the lake. As I walked along the trail, I heard a distinct "kok-kok-kok" sound and knew immediately that it was the call of the oriental pied hornbill. Excited, I quickly took my camera out of its case.

I was lucky enough to spot a family of hornbills consisting of a mother and two juveniles perched on a nearby tree branch. The larger hornbill, which I later learned was the male, stood apart from the other two, while the smaller female and juvenile were playfully nipping at each other's beaks. It was a heartwarming sight to behold, and I couldn't believe my luck at witnessing such a rare moment.

As I continued my walk towards Keppel Wetland, I saw other birds such as blue-tailed bee-eaters, kingfishers, yellow-vented bulbuls, pigeons, and mynahs going about their business, enjoying their dinner. It was a veritable birdwatcher's paradise.

Just as I was about to call it a day, I heard the hornbills' call once more, and to my delight, they flew to a tree right above me. I craned my neck to get a good look at them, marveling at their beauty and grace.

It was an unforgettable experience, a serendipitous encounter with nature's wonders. As I headed home for my own dinner, I felt grateful for the opportunity to witness such a magical moment and couldn't wait to share my story with others.