Wild kids at Chek Jawa with the Naked Hermit Crabs

It's the June holidays and we had so much fun guiding these wild families at Chek Jawa during the monthly free walks at the Chek Jawa boardwalk.

We had lots of fun as usual, spotting interesting wildlife and enjoying the outdoors on a lovely sunny but cool day!


The guides were greeted by wild boar when we arrived at Chek Jawa!

This are the wonderful people in my group. Precocious kids who were very observant and found lots of great things, and enthusiastic adults too.

The kids spotted a Giant mudskipper! Also many smaller mudskippers, crabs and spiders.

Wow! The kids spot a living mud lobster. All I managed to photograph is this orange blur before it disappeared into the murky water.

It was great to have Uncle in the group. He was very savvy about nature and shared stories about his childhood. He knew how to gently hold this grasshopper to the delight of the young ones. Sadly, the grasshopper had already lost both hind legs. But it could still fly.

The young ladies are very sharp eyed and found all kinds of things in between the slats of the boardwalk. Including a tiny crab moult, many crab pincers and a few mysterious tiny body parts.

Uncle found a dead dragonfly and decided the best use of it was as hair ornament. The young lady is very patient with this and with everyone taking photos of her.

Thankfully, Sean was guiding today and when we got back, he had lots to share about the dragonfly.

I was also glad Ivan was guiding today as he was the only one who could figure out the strange bits of dead animals that the ladies found on the boardwalk. Turned out to be a jaw of a tiny fish, and a spiky bit of a fish.

As usual, the event ended with a lovely drawing session for every one. Here's the wonderful art produced by this adorable artist.

Sadly, a small boat was seen zooming around on the seagrass area. There is a formal Maritime and Port Authority Notice which announces the official designation of Chek Jawa Wetlands as an area off limits to boaters, water recreational activities including fishing and swimming. Chek Jawa is for our dugongs, otters and other wildlife. And in fact, a dugong was sighted at Chek Jawa during the Naked Hermit Crab walk in October last year!

There's lots of reasons to visit Pulau Ubin and Chek Jawa. Come and join the Naked Hermit Crabs for the next free monthly guided tour and find out more about Pulau Ubin and explore it on your own.