oriental pied-hornbills @ SBWR

It was about 5pm when an oriental pied-hornbill flew to a tree near the SBWR main bridge with something in its mouth. The snack looked like a small tree climbing crab. The bird flew across to a perch on a dead tree at the far side of the main bridge where it seemed to be looking into a hollow in the tree as if it wanted to store the crab in the hollow. The hornbill was soon joined by another smaller hornbill. This one had a reddish spot on both sides of the lower corner of its bill closer to its mouth and the front of its horn was noticeably darker than that of the larger bird. The smaller bird immediately took the crab from the bill of the larger bird and eyed it for a microsecond before giving it back to the larger bird which re-positioned the crab in its bill before passing it back to the smaller bird. However, the smaller bird did not want it and returned it to the larger bird which seemed to finally swallow the crab.

The two birds then hacked way at the wood on the dead tree chipping up bits off and swallowing some of it. The birds flew off after a while but came back to different but adjacent trees. The smaller bird continued to chip way at the dead tree eating bits of the decaying wood. Perhaps the wood helps digestion by absorbing harmful substances in their guts to be passed out later.

Read more about the oriental pied-hornbill here :
http://www.wildsingapore.com/wildfacts/vertebrates/birds/albirostris.htm
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oriental_Pied_Hornbill
http://wildsingaporenews.blogspot.com/2009/01/intelligent-nests-for-pied-hornbills-in.html
http://besgroup.talfrynature.com/index.php?s=Anthracoceros+albirostris
http://www.fortunecity.com/greenfield/ecolodge/58/oph/nesting.html
http://sgbeachbum.blogspot.com/2011/05/oriental-pied-hornbills-sbwr-30apr2011_04.html
http://sgbeachbum.blogspot.com/2011/07/oriental-pied-hornbill-chek-jawa.html

shorebirds @ sungei buloh

A short clip of shorebirds at sungei buloh.

grey-headed lapwing @ sg buloh - Nov2011

5th Nov saw a buzz amongst birders when sharp eyes spotted a rare avian visitor the Grey-Headed Lapwing (Vanellus cinereus), to Singapore at the Sungei Buloh Wetland Reserve. Word soon got around and quite a number of birding enthusiasts soon made their way down to Hide 1C. Apparently, it had been some years before this species of lapwing had been seen in Singapore.

Identifying the bird was difficult for a novice with little clue what to look for as all the birds looked...brown. The others birders already there quickly pointed out what to look for and where to look for it.


The bird was resting in an area surrounded by many other shorebirds, plovers, etc. although it was a little edgy occasionally looking up at the sky, probably to keep an eye out for raptors. It made its way towards a log a little way from the shore before taking a bath and then getting back on another nearby log to dry off.

Read more about this rare visitor here :
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grey-headed_Lapwing
http://www.birdlife.org/datazone/speciesfactsheet.php?id=3164
http://ibc.lynxeds.com/species/grey-headed-lapwing-vanellus-cinereus
http://www.galleryofbirds.com/Thailand/Grey%20headed%20Lapwing.htm

the pulai tree @ chek jawa - Oct2011

This is reputed to be the tallest tree on Ubin and it is a Heritage Tree.

It was about 35m tall and had a girth of 6.4m in 2010.

(pictures taken in Oct 2011 from a vantage point at Pulau Sekudu)

(click on images for bigger picture)

The calls of the white-bellied sea eagles can often be heard coming from high up this tree. There is probably a nest somewhere on the tree but the tree is so tall that the nest, if any, is difficult to spot through all the foliage from the base of the tree.

This is what the NParks Guide to the Pulau Ubin Tree Trail has to say about this tree : 

Common Pulai (Alstonia angustiloba)

The Common Pulai is a very tall tree (up to 40m tall) 

found in this region. It is easily recognisable from 

its pagoda-shaped branching pattern and simple 

leaves that are arranged in whorls. This tree belongs 

to the family of Apocynaceae, which are identified 

by the presence of white latex in the stems.  

This Heritage Tree (35m height, 6.4m girth) is hard 

to miss as you walk along the trail. It stands out 

among the canopy and can be seen from 

a distance

There is a mention of this tree at this WildSingapore page on Pulau Ubin:

http://www.wildsingapore.com/ubin/places/north.htm

And also at Joe Lai's eart-h website :

http://www.eart-h.com/text/alstan1.htm

Read more about this tree and also about Ubin's other majestic trees here :

http://wildshores.blogspot.com/2010/04/trees-of-pulau-ubin-talk-by-ali-ibrahim.html

haddon's carpet anemone @ sekudu - Oct2011

This Haddon's carpet anemone seems to react to the UV black light in that the tentacles became more active when under the black light. Or perhaps it was reacting to some other stimulus? The colour difference of the tentacles when lit with white light contrasted to when they are lit with black light is amazing.

Read more about the Haddon's Carpet Anemone here :
http://www.wildsingapore.com/wildfacts/cnidaria/actiniaria/haddoni.htm

zoanthids @ sekudu - Oct2011

Yet another in the series on fluorescing animals ...

At first glance, the casual shore walker does not really notice tiny zoanthids which are rather prevalent on most of Singapore's shores. They are oftentimes too small to pay attention to although if one did stop to have a closer look at them, a whole new world of designs and colours beckons. The luminousity of black light highlights (pun intended) zoanthids in another dimension. The central mouth area of these zoanthids look ... almost radioactive. Indeed, some zoanthids contain palytoxin which is the most toxic marine toxin on the planet.


Read about :
zoanthids - http://www.wildsingapore.com/wildfacts/cnidaria/others/zoanthid/zoanthid.htm