Today I saw the Buffy fish owl for the first time!
And other special sightings on our
Earth Day walk with the Naked Hermit Crabs at Pasir Ris mangroves.
Ivan's friend Ho Yong Tze showed us this amazing bird! Thank you! Ivan also shared more about how this owl hunts.
It's quite far away and hard to spot among all the trees. Fortunately, Mama Crab Ley Kun has binoculars and Pei Yan positions it so everyone can have a closer look at it.
A pair of
Plantain squirrels welcomed us as we started our walk. This one stopped to nibble on some kind of fruit.
There was only one child among our visitors today! As usual, she spots all kinds of great stuff!
Of course, there were lots of huge
Tree-climbing crabs, some of them nibbling on leaves. The sharp-eyed visitors noticed the many
mud lobster mounds and also asked about the
special mangrove tree roots.
Ivan spots a pair of
Giant mudskippers quarreling! We saw quite a lot of these large fishes today.
Sean points out a bunch of colourful
Cotton stainer bugs. Sharp eyed visitors spot even more sheltering under the heart-shaped leaves of the
Sea hibiscus. We also saw floating butterflies, and some of us spotted a leaf insect! Pei Yan and Sean took great photos of it.
There were lots of cicadas singing shrilly in the trees. And we spot several resting on tree trunks near the boardwalk. It's easier to find them by closing your eyes and using your ears! Is this the special cicada that was found in Pasir Ris and is a
new record for Singapore? These mangroves sure are special.
All too soon, we reach the end of our walk at the jetty. In the water, we spot
halfbeaks but alas, no water snakes today. We did see herons flying, and a kingfisher splash into the water to catch a fish! And in the tree nearby, we spot a small monitor lizard.
Although the
Malayan water monitor seems small, it seems to be squeezed quite tightly in the hole.
Big kids join the little kids in drawing what we saw and love about Pasir Ris mangroves! Thank you big brothers and big sisters!
Sean spoils the market with his awesome drawing of the owl.
We had a great time with great visitors who asked lots of interesting questions! Although it was a little hot when we started, it was got cooler as the sunset and we had a rain-free trip! Hurray!
Pasir Ris mangroves
are special not only because there are so many awesome creatures to
discover here, but also because it is the only mangrove boardwalk that
is open 24/7. A night trip to here
can be quite amazing.
The next FREE Naked Hermit Crab walk is on 4 May (Sat) morning at Chek Jawa!
More details on the Adventures with the Naked Hermit Crabs blog.
Posts by others on this trip
- Sean has awesome photos of the owl and leaf insect and other amazing creatures we spotted during the walk.
