suicidal bugs v champion bee-eater @ Pasir Ris Mangroves

Did not notice that the bee-eater managed to catch a bug in flight but it certainly did!

Only noticed the successful catch when i slowed down the videoclip. 

It's amazing how the bird is able to follow and track the flight of the bugs in realtime. It is obvious that the bird is able to guess where an approaching bug will be in order to catch it.

The clip shows a bee-eater being apparently dive-bombed by some bugs. It follows the bugs even to the extent of twisting its neck backwards. Finally, it sees a bug approaching and with a timely hop off its perch, and despite the strong wind swaying the tree which provides the perch, it grabs the bug in its beak with finesse and flies away. (Look at the 25% and 12.5% slo-mo segments).
Simply amazing! 

Location : Pasir Ris Mangroves
Time : at about 1.30pm

Read more about the blue-tailed beeeater here :http://www.naturia.per.sg/buloh/birds/Merops_philippinus.htm

http://www.besgroup.org/category/bee-eaters/
http://singaporebirds.net/npassers_01/blue-throated_bee-eater.html

crab's eyeview of waves @ Labrador Dec2011

Imagine sitting on the shore with the waves crashing on it and about you.

What would it be like?

not much happens in the clip ... just watch and listen to the waves.

Project Driftnet Singapore - Ubin 18Dec2011

Here's a short clip showing some parts of the morning's Project Driftnet effort.

Care-less fishing practices, unsatisfactory fish-farming protocols and a lack of adequate regulatory supervision cause long-term problems for biodiversity on the shores where the illegal dumping of non-biodegradeable fish nets persist.  

Read more about Project Driftnet here :

http://projectdriftnet.blogspot.com/2011/12/humungous-driftnets-at-pulau-ubin-18.html
http://wildshores.blogspot.com/2011/12/removing-huge-driftnets-at-pulau-ubin.html

paradise tree snake @ SBWR

This beautiful snake caught everyone at Platform 2 by surprise. The adults had missed the prescence of the snake as it sunbathed at one corner of the wooden platform at the edge of the mangrove mudflat. It was a young girl who pointed it out with a whisper, being careful not to spook it with a yell or a scream.

The snake distracted attention away from the white-bellied fish eagle perched on the faraway tree. This was nature up close and literally at arm's length. It happily soaked up the warmth of the sun not being bothered by the vibrations caused by human footsteps on the wooden platform.
(the background cricket song had been dubbed in to replace quite a bit of human 'noise')
The snake however did eventually decide to move on and when it really did want to move, it moved fast. This is a very agile snake and being arboreal in nature, it is capable of feats of gymnastics fit for an active life in the trees.

Known for their ability to glide from trees, you can make out the triangularly shaped body. It's sides appear very much flattened and this ability to flatten its body thereby increasing its surface area would certainly assist the snake when gliding from a higher tree to a lower one similar to how a parachutist relies on the opened chute.  

Here's a video clip from Labrador Park in early 2011 :

http://sgbeachbum.blogspot.com/2011/01/paradise-tree-snakes-labrador-park.html

Read more about this fascinating snake :

http://www.ecologyasia.com/verts/snakes/paradise_tree-snake.htm

http://www.wildsingapore.per.sg/discovery/factsheet/snakeparadise.htm

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chrysopelea

http://www.flyingsnake.org/

http://www.naturemalaysia.com/paradise-tree-snake.htm

white-bellied fish eagle @ SBWR

(long clip 16:58mins)

This juvenile white-bellied fish eagle settled on a dead tree at the edge of Pulau Buloh. It had just caught a fish and quickly started on its breakfast. It gripped the fish with its right leg talons whist the left leg secured the bird onto the tree. The bird pecked at the fish and discarded what must be bits of scale and bones. Small chunks can be seen being dropped by the bird. The entire meal took about 20 minutes before the eagle flew off.
The video clip shows the better part of about 17 minutes. The last few minutes were not recorded as a Paradise Tree Snake had made its appearance on the same platform and this certainly diverted attention away from the eagle which did not seem to be doing anything different from the preceding quarter of an hour.

(There is some distortion throughout the clip as there was a lot of movement by other visitors on the wooden platform and this vibration was transmitted through the tripod to the camera. If you find the audio distracting, please turn off the volume. There was too much distracting human audio input which needed to be replaced.)

Location : SBWR Platform 2
Time : about 10am, Sunday 04Dec2011

Read more about this magnificent bird :
http://www.naturia.per.sg/buloh/birds/Haliaeetus_leucogaster.htm
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/White-bellied_Sea_Eagle
http://infopedia.nl.sg/articles/SIP_579_2005-01-05.html
http://singaporebirds.net/npassers_04/white-bellied_sea_eagle.html
http://www.iucnredlist.org/apps/redlist/details/106003359/0
http://www.nss.org.sg/report/f494524f-1SingaporeRaptorReportJan11.pdf
http://www.besgroup.org/2010/01/09/white-bellied-sea-eagles-catch-sea-snakes/
http://besgroup.blogspot.com/2006/05/white-bellied-fish-eagle-fishing-rat.html
http://besgroup.blogspot.com/2006/09/white-bellied-sea-eagle-not-just.html
http://www.ecologyasia.com/verts/birds/raptors.htm

a secretive pit viper @ SBWR

Shore Pit Vipers are occasionally seen in the mangrove areas such as SBWR and in the Lim Chu Kang mangroves - coastal forest in the North-Western corner of Singapore. They have also been seen on Singapore's Pulau Semakau and at places like the Changi boardwalk. These locations pretty much spot this snake all around coastal Singapore. This is a highly venemous snake species and are rather unpredictable as they stay very still despite any movement nearby and may only strike out when their comfort zone is breached. During the day, they commonly rest on plants between about two to about five feet off the ground. This spells trouble for anyone walking through the mangroves who unwittingly brushes against the wrong bush or bunch of leaves.

This particular specimen frequently habits the bushes to the right of the main bridge at SBWR near Hide 1A. It was resting along a small branch and it's middle was rather thick as if it had recently eaten something. In the clip, which was a combination of shorter clips shot over about 5 hours one morning, the snake hardly moved at all. However, at the 1.21 mark, it starts to exercise its jaws and at about 2.20 it gives a good yawn where you can just about make out its left fang (covered with its protective soft tissue). For a small snake, it sure does have long fangs!

Read more about this secretive but highly venemous snake here :
http://www.wildsingapore.com/wildfacts/vertebrates/snakes/purpureomaculatus.htm
http://www.ecologyasia.com/verts/snakes/shore_pit_viper.htm
http://singaporesnakes.blogspot.com/search/label/Shore%20Pit-viper
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trimeresurus_purpureomaculatus
http://mangrove.nus.edu.sg/guidebooks/text/2112.htm
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/3245058
http://lifes-indulgences.blogspot.com/2011/09/pit-vipers-of-singapore.html
http://www.naturemalaysia.com/mangrove-pit-viper.htm
http://www.tanngethong.com/Medically%20important%20Snakes%20Malaysia/medically_important_poisonous_sn.htm