Cyrene Safari with volunteer guides

What a glorious morning at Cyrene! Today, with nature guides and staff from Sungei Buloh and Chek Jawa, and friends.

Safe and sound, but not very dry, at dawn on Cyrene.

We saw lots of interesting marine life, including some I've never seen before!

Eagle ray at oil-slicked Tanah Merah!

It was dark, the water was murky. I was trying to photograph a gianormous squid during a predawn trip today when this even larger THING silently swam towards me.

 It was a beautiful ray! I think we both got a shock!

Fishy again at oil-slicked Tanah Merah

Before the oil spill hit this shore, we used to see all kinds of fishes here. This morning, I saw lots of fishes! My favourite: this tiny Zebra solefish (Zebria zebra)! I've only seen this once before, at Changi found by Chay Hoon.

I was checking out this shore at 5am in the dark, my favourite time for a shore trip!

Checking up on an oil-slicked East Coast shore

A beautiful swimming crab with bold rings on its legs! How nice to see the crab on a stretch of East Coast Park that was affected by the oil spill nearly a year ago.

This is probably Charybdis annulata that I seldom see.

A wild find in a corner of Kranji

With pretty fluffy pink flowers hanging on a long stem, and curious 'square' fruits, the beautiful Putat sungei (Barringtonia racemosa) is listed as Critically Endangered in Singapore.

Although these trees are widely planted in our parks and gardens, I rarely see one growing in the wild. So it was a delight to encounter what seems to be a wild tree in a little corner of Kranji. The only other tree I've seen that might be wild is the big old mother tree at Admiralty Park.

Neap Week: mangrove meanders

Teetering on soft mud, it's tempting to reach out and grab a mangrove tree branch or two.

But it is not a good idea to mindlessly grab branches!