Forest exploring this Saturday

[Shi Xuan]

Hi,

Went for a walk at MacRitchie Reservoir with a good friend of mine, who happens to be a botany enthusiast. Our objective was primarily to identify the various plant species there and also, to look for pitcher plants, mainly Nepenthes gracilis.

It didn't really go as planned, as we were pretty much distracted by the commotion in the otherwise calm water.
Being a weekday, we also had the opportunity to catch a glimpse of a few common wild faunas, namely; the Malayan water monitor (Varanus salvator), Long-tailed macaque (Macaca fascicularis), Slender squirrel (Sundasciurus tenuis) and the Asiatic soft-shell turtle (Amyda cartilaginea)

Unfortunately, we didn't take much photo but still, I would like to show what I've took with my handy camera phone;



Notice the silhouette ball between the two patches of weeds, it is actually a school of Puntius schwanenfeldii.



Wild hard Mushroom



Close-up view



2nd species, unidentified sp. of fungi



Lastly, a photo of the long-tailed macaques. This is a huge troupe, probably around 25 individuals. I only managed to take a single photo because the alpha male started to approach me while I was doing so.

[KilliNewbie]

Try going from 10pm till morning, it is absolutely amazing. I followed the trek so as not to get lost, 11km in all. No torch = pitch black. U can't even see ur fingers in front of u

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[Shi Xuan]

Try going from 10pm till morning, it is absolutely amazing. I followed the trek so as not to get lost, 11km in all. No torch = pitch black. U can't even see ur fingers in front of u

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Forest exploration at night would be a good way to see and observe nocturnal animals but not without a torch, or better still, a night vision camera. I'm very interested in the fauna the Reserve got to offer.

[jwuog]

Forest exploration at night would be a good way to see and observe nocturnal animals but not without a torch, or better still, a night vision camera. I'm very interested in the fauna the Reserve got to offer.

Nice! Perhaps we can do one of these night exploring one of these weekends or just general exploring. I always want to 'catalog' all the available streams, manmade or artificial, in s'pore and see what's living in there. Whether it's longkang fish etc. Let me know.

The other day I was walking along the 'bridge connecting all the parks starting from hort park' (don't know what's it called), and one part I think it's somewhere towards Kent Ridge, there was a sloping work being done, and further along when I looked down, I saw a natural stream, parallel to the highway, was thinking that someone ought to go check it out.

[delhezi]

Forest exploration at night would be a good way to see and observe nocturnal animals but not without a torch, or better still, a night vision camera. I'm very interested in the fauna the Reserve got to offer.

LOL I would love that too. But seeing as recently that a saltwater croc was spotted lying on the walking trial, which is adjacent to large water bodies a good portion of the time, and that large crocodiles are nocturnal ambush predators, I wouldn't call that activity 'advisable'.

[Shi Xuan]

LOL I would love that too. But seeing as recently that a saltwater croc was spotted lying on the walking trial, which is adjacent to large water bodies a good portion of the time, and that large crocodiles are nocturnal ambush predators, I wouldn't call that activity 'advisable'.

I would consider a saltwater crocodile at MacRitchie Reservoir remote. It's not located anywhere near coastal areas of Singapore. Sungei Buloh etc. would be certain. Perhaps, someone mistaken a Malayan water monitor as a crocodile. It's worth mentioning that a water monitor can grow to a considerable size, though nowhere near the size of their Indonesian cousin, the Komodo dragon.

[delhezi]

I would consider a saltwater crocodile at MacRitchie Reservoir remote. It's not located anywhere near coastal areas of Singapore. Sungei Buloh etc. would be certain. Perhaps, someone mistaken a Malayan water monitor as a crocodile. It's worth mentioning that a water monitor can grow to a considerable size, though nowhere near the size of their Indonesian cousin, the Komodo dragon.

It was on the news; was it Sungei Buloh instead?

[Trichopsis]

Yep, Sungei Buloh has a thriving population of estuarine crocodiles. There are also several reports from the Lim Chu Kang-Kranji area, so I strongly advise that you avoid the water's edge if you're exploring these areas by yourself.

There are rumours of crocodiles in MacRitchie and Lower Seletar (although there hasn't been any definitive evidence), but there's always a chance that these could have been misidentified Malayan water monitors. Do take note that the Central Catchment Nature Reserve itself is off-limits to hikers at night (unless you're tagging along with NParks or scientists from other research institutions and have a research permit. Same goes with going off the designated trails in these nature reserves, even in the daytime.

[GHD97]

There are crocodiles at Macritchie Reservoir A jogger sent a picture of it to Straits times and it was published^^ Last year I think.

[tetrakid]

If anyone can find some Daphnia during the exploration, it's sure to be ho say liao.

[KilliNewbie]

Wahh free daphnia = lfs lose business

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[tetrakid]

Wahh free daphnia = lfs lose business

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Not much business lah, since not many lfs sell Daphnia. That is why I hope to find a place to scoop a bit regularly, even longkang is also siok, as long as the longkang got no sai in it. But usually if got Daphnia, then very likely to have sai there.

[KilliNewbie]

Ofc *laughs*

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[Simon]

Shi Xuan

I know of a location with probably Nepenthes gracilis. Was there a few weeks back, the plant is still there but didn't see any pitcher

Hi,

Went for a walk at MacRitchie Reservoir with a good friend of mine, who happens to be a botany enthusiast. Our objective was primarily to identify the various plant species there and also, to look for pitcher plants, mainly Nepenthes gracilis.

It didn't really go as planned, as we were pretty much distracted by the commotion in the otherwise calm water.
Being a weekday, we also had the opportunity to catch a glimpse of a few common wild faunas, namely; the Malayan water monitor (Varanus salvator), Long-tailed macaque (Macaca fascicularis), Slender squirrel (Sundasciurus tenuis) and the Asiatic soft-shell turtle (Amyda cartilaginea)

Unfortunately, we didn't take much photo but still, I would like to show what I've took with my handy camera phone;



Notice the silhouette ball between the two patches of weeds, it is actually a school of Puntius schwanenfeldii.



Wild hard Mushroom



Close-up view



2nd species, unidentified sp. of fungi



Lastly, a photo of the long-tailed macaques. This is a huge troupe, probably around 25 individuals. I only managed to take a single photo because the alpha male started to approach me while I was doing so.

[tanmikel]

at least in this tiny little urbanized jungle , there is still some nature left

[Shi Xuan]

Yeap, there still are. We should also not forget about the few sparse islands around Singapore. Let's just hope that our government don't try to urbanise them. Such natural heritage should be left best for generations to enjoy.

BTW, some cool facts for urban dwellers to know of;

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of...s_of_Singapore
http://lazy-lizard-tales.blogspot.sg...kembangan.html

[Shaihulud]

Leaving the official trail is illegal under the Parks and Tree act, can get you a big fine.

[jwuog]

Went exploring with another guy today around Gombak/Bt Batok area. Most canals were dried but found one that leads to a forested area that becomes a natural stream with sand/pebbles bottom. Found a crab, don't know what species. Saw a froggie/toad with diamond shape head but brown and flat. Lots of longkang fish/guppies swimming in the stream.

photo01.jpgphoto05.jpgphoto02.jpgphoto04.jpg

[KilliNewbie]

Hehe the rain is back ! Might be going for a walk at either bt batok, bt timah, macritchie or sungei buloh at the end of this month.

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[Trichopsis]

The crab looks like the lowland freshwater crab (Parathelphusa maculata), the one species of native freshwater crab that's somewhat tolerant of disturbed habitats.

Freshwater Crabs & Shrimps of Singapore (not a complete list)





Hopefully our other much rarer freshwater crabs and shrimps have managed to survive the dry spell.