juvenile estuarine croc @ SBWR 26June2011

Whilst walking towards Platform 1, a visitor mentioned that there was a small croc around Platform 1. Knowing that many many visitors mistake the ubiquitous malayan water monitors for crocodiles (and even komodo dragons), I wondered if the right ID had been made and looked out for the 'croc' when I got to the Platform. Despite a good effort at looking, I did not spot any notable reptile. I then occupied myself with looking at some raptors in the sky above and also keeping a lookout for the also ubiquitous poachers who had earlier kayaked their way to Pulau Buloh.

Robert H was out for a walk and very quickly spotted the juvenile croc at the water's edge near the row of wooden stakes facing Johor. I had missed the obvious. It was about a metre long and had a nice mottled yellow sand-black coloration. After basking for a few moments, it suddenly hurriedly scampered into the shallow water beyond the stakes. This was in response to a malayan water monitor which was approaching. Although the water monitor was slightly larger than the juvenile crocodile, the croc had decided not to risk an encounter with it and moved off out of the way into the water beyond the stakes instead. Once the water monitor had passed and moved a little further along, the crocodile moved back across the gap in the stakes to its previous position. (The crocs at SBWR are known to feast on the water monitors. Perhaps this one would one day make a meal out of the same water monitor).

extended vid clip(w a passing lizard & music):

Interestingly enough, crocs do blink occasionally and sometimes also pant (both with and without their mouths closed). It's throat could be observed moving more rapidly at times as if it were hyperventilating. Another point to note is that the rear feet of the croc were noticeably webbed. I wonder if the same were for the larger adult crocs (or does the 'webbing' get absorbed over time as the crocs get older).

This juvenile croc was lucky to have escaped the battery of driftnets which are usually set up by poachers within or just outside the SBWR area. There is a previous recent record of another crocodile which had gotten entangled in a fishnet and drowned. Click here to read about that.

(There was also some brief info from another frequent visitor that some photographers had seen a large heron trapped in a driftnet and which had drowned in the waters near Platform 1 just the week before. Will try to find out more about this.)

Another visitor that morning has also seen the crocodile and put up a blogpost ;
http://lifes-indulgences.blogspot.com/2011/06/small-croc-at-sbwr.html


Read more about the Estuarine Crocodile here :
http://www.wildsingapore.com/wildfacts/vertebrates/reptilia/porosus.htm

and a recent encounter where a much larger croc at SBWR made a quick meal out of a large water monitor! :
http://budak.blogs.com/the_annotated_budak/2011/01/a-lizards-last-moments.html
http://sgn090608.blogspot.com/2011/01/110115-sungei-buloh.html


How do you distinguish between a water monitor and a crocodile?
http://www.sbwr.org.sg/wetlands/text/06-133-1.htm

The Singapore Sea Anemone Workshop 2011 Public Lecture - 21 June 2011

The Sea Anemone Public Lecture

“Hidden treasures of biodiversity: flowers of the marine world”

by

Professor Dr. Daphne G. Fautin

Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology
University of Kansas
& Curator,
Natural History Museum and Biodiversity Research Center
University of Kansas

Tuesday 21st June 2011: 7.00pm
Lecture Theatre 23 
Faculty of Science
National University of Singapore

(how to download : join Vimeo as a member and log in to download - very large 2.3gb file)

(apologies for off-centre and slightly blurry video quality)

Associated links :
WildShores : http://wildshores.blogspot.com/2011/06/sea-anemone-workshop-2011-sea-anemone.html
WildShores : http://wildshores.blogspot.com/2011/05/join-as-day-participant-in-sea-anemone.html
Raffles Museum of BioDiversity Research : http://rafflesmuseum.wordpress.com/2011/06/20/daphne_fautin_2011/ 
Tropical Marine Science Institute : http://www.tmsi.nus.edu.sg/sea-anemone-workshop-singapore-15-%E2%80%93-21-june-2011
Hexacorallians of the World Website : http://hercules.kgs.ku.edu/hexacoral/anemone2/index.cfm
Hantu Bloggers : http://www.pulauhantu.org/anemones-of-pulau-hantu/
MegaMarine Survey of Singapore : http://megamarinesurvey.blogspot.com/2011/06/21-jun-tue-sea-anemone-lecture-by-dr.html

driftnet fishing @ terumbu semakau 05June2011

Came across a driftnet (sometimes called a gill net as it usually catches fish by the gills) on Terumbu Semakau. There was an amazing variety of fish caught in the long net which was at least 100m long stretching across from one end of the reef to the other. The video clip shows a selection of fish (and one flower crab) seen over about a 35m stretch of the driftnet.

The fishermen and their boat were closeby and were quick to pick up the catch in a styrofoam box. They must have set up the net quite a few hours earlier before the tide went out. The outgoing tide would have caught fish trying to escape from being stranded on the reef as it got more exposed. The reef had patches of Enhalus seagrass which would have provided a good refuge for smaller fish to hide from larger predatory fish.

Unfortunately, the long net also caught on to coral and sponges as well. The swaying of the net in the water could cause serious damage to corals and sponges. Any hard pull could tear off parts from soft coral and sponges. The area is also well known for its wild dolphins and resident sea turtles. Recently also, there were signs of possible dugong feeding trails at the Semakau seagrass lagoon. These animals face the risk of getting caught in the long driftnets.

After collecting the catch on the terumbu, the fishermen boated over to Semakau itself to continue their collection from another long net placed along the seawall on the foreshore.

Read also the Wildshores blogpost about the net :
http://wildshores.blogspot.com/2011/06/long-driftnet-traps-many-colourful.html

anemone shrimp @ terumbu semakau 05June2011

Invisibility or transparency is a wondrous thing. Have we not all wished at some point in our chidhood (or adolescence) that we were invisible? And we all thought that was impossible except for creatures of the deep sea. But no, we have everyday invisibility on our shores....yes, on Singapore's shores and reefs. We only need open our eyes and 'see'.

This little shrimp was found on a small specimen of Stichodactyla gigantea on Terumbu Semakau.

Find out more about this shrimp :
http://www.wildsingapore.com/wildfacts/crustacea/othercrust/shrimp/brevicarpalis.htm

toungue-ing lizard @ SBWR June 2011

Seen from the main hide at SBWR, this large Malayan Water Monitor (Varanus salvator) was busy flicking its blue-ish toungue and 'smell-tasting' the mud around it. It had no problems with its toungue touching the mud and then retrieving it into its mouth. Why does it do this? That's where the vomeronasal organ which enables it to 'smell' what it's toungue 'tastes' is found. Have a look here :vomeronasal organ.

Why is the toungue forked? See this link for an explanation.



Read more about this lizard here :
http://www.wildsingapore.com/wildfacts/vertebrates/reptilia/salvator.htm
http://www.naturia.per.sg/buloh/verts/monitor_lizard.htm
http://www.ecologyasia.com/verts/lizards/malayan_water_monitor.htm
http://www.wildsingapore.per.sg/discovery/factsheet/malymonitor.htm
http://iyb2010singapore.blogspot.com/2010/12/magnificent-monitors.html
http://iyb2010singapore.blogspot.com/2010/12/busting-myths-about-monitors.html
http://iyb2010singapore.blogspot.com/2011/01/more-on-monitors.html
and about Singapore's rarest monitor lizard...
http://iyb2010singapore.blogspot.com/2011/01/monitors-of-singapore-whos-rarest-of.html
http://rmbr.nus.edu.sg/nis/bulletin2008/2008nis21-22.pdf

How many monitor lizards are there at SBWR?
http://wildshores.blogspot.com/2011/01/how-many-monitor-lizards-are-at-sungei.html
http://wildshores.blogspot.com/2011/03/counting-monitor-lizards-at-sungei.html

How do you distinguish between a water monitor and a crocodile?
http://www.sbwr.org.sg/wetlands/text/06-133-1.htm

Are there other blue-toungued lizards?
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blue-tongued_skink
http://www.zoo-zoom.com/Blue%20Tongue%20Lizard.htm

little heron fishing @ SBWR June 2011

This Little Heron (Butorides striatus) was observed walking on the mudflat just in front of the main hide at SBWR.  The clip was shot at about 9.45am and the bird had just caught a small fish in a shallow pool. Clearing its throat, it began to shift its neck from side to side a little as if to re-align it.  Then it began stalking another small fish. The bird's approach is an ultimate lesson in stalking anything. Its poise and control over its movement to the point of carefully placing its feet on the soft mud and targetting its prey is amazing.

I had previously observed, a few years ago and at the then unused lagoon at the East Coast Parkway, another little heron using small pieces of bread (thrown by park visitors to feed the fish) to bait the fish. It would break off a small piece of bread and place it within reach in the water nearby. Once a suitably sized fish approached the crumb, the bird would target it and with great accuracy catch the fish.  It kept doing this for a while to great success.

Read more about this fascinating bird here :
http://www.naturia.per.sg/buloh/birds/Butorides_striatus.htm
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Striated_Heron

yellow-vented bulbul @ SBWR June 2011

A short clip of this supposedly very common bird chirping away. Although I've heard the birdsong through the trees and bush in various places (such as Pulau Ubin and at Sungei Buloh), I had not had the good oppurtunity to actually meet it's maker up close until the footage was shot.

The bird was on a small thicket of bamboo near the start of the mangrove boardwalk and it was difficult to get a clear shot. The time was about 1230pm. Great to hear such birdsong throughout the day! The short clip does not do justice to this bird's abilities but it does show you a little of what it capable of.

Read more about this wonderful bird here :
http://www.naturia.per.sg/buloh/birds/Pycnonotus_goiavier.htm
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yellow-vented_Bulbul
http://rmbr.nus.edu.sg/nis/bulletin2009/2009nis347-352.pdf

waterhens @ SBWR May2011

The clip is of 2 different white-breasted waterhens at the Sungei Buloh Wetland Reserve.

The first part shows a waterhen sitting over 5 light-brown speckled eggs in a nest which was in a bush about 50cm off the ground just in front of the viewing area at the main hide. It was surprising to see the nest midway in the bush as I had always seen this bird foraging around on the ground and it had not occurred to me that a nest would be off the ground. It does make good sense to make the nest above ground in a thick bush as this would hide it from the numerous water monitors in the reserve.

The eggs were laid about 3 weeks ago and there was, most of the time, one adult waterhen in the nest tending to the eggs. After about 3 weeks, there was no sign of the chicks in the nest or anywhere around the nest area. Hopefully, all the eggs had survived and hatched successfully. I am not aware as to how long it would take the chicks to fledge. Or perhaps the chicks were so still that it appeared that the nest was empty. Lighting in the nest itself was subdued as the cover of leaves was thick. The clip shows an adult waterhen, about two weeks into the nesting, caring for eggs by shielding them from the elements and moving them closer to it's body. Another observer had seen the adult leave the nest to forage close by and so the eggs are occasionally left alone.

It was amazing to see the nest so close to the main hide. Further, the adult waterhens did not seem to mind the noise from the bipedaled lifeforms frequenting the hide on the weekends. A check with the park rangers revealed that the area in front of the main hide was a popular waterhen nesting site for quite a few years.

The second part shows another waterhen taking a morning bath at the side of the 'tidal' pond near Platform 1. Incidentally, there was a 2m crocodile frequently seen at the other end of the pond and it was surprising to see this waterhen so boldly dunking itself in the water. Perhaps it did not know of the crocodile's existence.

Read more about waterhens :-
http://www.naturia.per.sg/buloh/birds/Amaurornis_phoenicurus.htm
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/White-breasted_Waterhen