29 August 2010

Chek Jawa with the Naked Hermit Crabs

Yesterday, I spent a lovely morning with another sporting bunch of visitors at the Chek Jawa boardwalk with the Naked Hermit Crabs on our monthly free guided walk.
The walk is specially provided for families and kids, and we are always delighted by the enthusiastic support from the public!

Mama Crab Ley Kun quickly sorts everyone into groups at the Information Kiosk. The kids are very excited about the walk!
As we start, we hear the Oriental pied-hornbills, and the wonderful song of the endangered Straw-headed bulbul. Then we spot a little sunbird with bright red. Is it a Crimson sunbird? Yes, say the happy bird photographers we met on the boardwalk.
And here's what it looks like, the kind bird photographer shows the kids.
They are fascinated by the many different kinds of sunbirds that we can encounter in Singapore!
After a quick look around from the Jejawi Tower, we head into 'Mosquito Valley' in the mangroves. There's lots to see on the mangrove portion of the boardwalk. Crabs, mudskippers, plants. Mosquitos are forgotten!
As we head out to the coastal boardwalk, I totally missed it, but a young visitor spotted this Paradise tree snake! It was quietly sunning on the handrails of the boardwalk.
The snake snuck under the boardwalk to get to the trees on the other side! This snake is more comfortable in trees and it can glide! So it is also sometimes called the Flying tree snake, although it doesn't actually fly.
Here's the sharp-eyed young visitor who spotted the snake!
More sharp eyes spot this young Malayan water monitor foraging as the tide came in. There were mudskippers having a last minute frolick and fiddler crabs busy on the shores as well. In deeper water as we walked along the boardwalk, there was a large dead 'sotong' which had attracted a group of large fishes with yellow tails.
We enjoyed a lovely bright morning before ending at the Visitor Centre. As usual, the young ones share their precious thoughts about Chek Jawa in delightful drawings. Visit the Naked Hermit Crab blog to have a look at their wonderful drawings.
Before we say goodbye, a group shot with everyone. Also with us today were Danny and Grace from the Guides of Singapore shores workshop (yay!) and Travis who is looking into how we can share Chek Jawa with people on smart phones!
As we were leaving, a Wild boar wandered by the Information Kiosk! There are a lot of Wild boar near Chek Jawa but most are very shy and stay away from people.
Just as we were getting into the van, we spot a troupe of Long-tailed macaques. The monkeys at Chek Jawa are well behaved and don't disturb humans. They moved quietly among the tree tops and among the trees.
Not in photos, another delicious lunch at Ubin. And alas, I missed the trip with Joseph Lai and Prof Teh Tiong Sa and Dr Raju and the many other 'Friends of Chek Jawa' gathered to visit Chek Jawa in the afternoon. But I did manage to meet them briefly on the way there.

Chek Jawa is a special place, interesting to explore at any tide. More about Chek Jawa.

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