The mid afternoon saw a dense thunderstorm with rain beating down hard across the Sungei Buloh Wetland Reserve. The resting shorebirds had spent the deluge turned into the wind and rain. As the rain clouds moved on, the mudflats came to life with the shorebirds actively looking for food on the mangrove mud that was now trickling with rain water running off the surface.
A stork had managed to come across a chunky snake, likely a dog-faced water snake (Cerberus rynchops). It looked like it was about 75cm long. The stork spent some time to juggle the snake head first up its bill whilst the snake haplessly tried its best to get out of really bad situation. The stork went towards the bund out of view to finish despatching its dinner. The snake presumably lost this battle.
There are upwards of about 25 storks flying about the SBWR during the height of the northern migratory season. It is hard to tell whether these are the endangered milky storks or the more likely painted storks or painted-milky 'pilky' stork hybrids.
Painted Storks :https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Milky_storkhttp://www.iucnredlist.org/details/22697651/0
Milky Storks :
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Painted_stork
http://www.iucnredlist.org/details/22697658/0
Dog-Faced Water Snakes :
