Sightings at Sungei Buloh

I recently made a visit to the biodiversity haven Sungei Buloh, an area much loved by nature lovers and enthusiasts. Whenever I go there, I am never disappointed as I leave feeling rich with encounters of creatures that either live or migrate to this safe space tucked in the far north of Singapore. Not to add the rejuvenation from the fresh and salty mangrove forest air, aerial views of the wetlands, and spontaneous conversations and connections with nature photographers or enthusiasts reeling with the excitement of seeing rare migratory birds and other species that Sungei Buloh supports.

The Sungei Buloh area was slated for agrotech development in 1938, altered from its original status as a forest reserve in 1980. It was considered ideal for prawn farming with its brackish mangrove water and waterlogged mud. However, a group of conservationists and nature enthusiasts from Nature Society Singapore, then called Malaysian Nature Society, created a proposal that highlighted the economic, human benefits and educational value that conserving the area would bring. The government agreed to the proposal and conserved the area. Today, Sungei Buloh is Singapore’s first ASEAN Heritage Park.

The area has also become a hub for migratory birds that fly as far as from Russia, Japan, North China, Mongolia and Korea to rest or roost. It hosts 27 of the world’s 70 species of mangroves and is home to the Estuarine Crocodile.

Thankful to the previous generations of nature activists and changemakers for their work toward preserving this mangrove and I hope it will continue to be conserved for future generations.

Issues and threats still persist in Buloh’s mangroves. For example, litter from the mainland and neighboring countries collect in these ecosystems. Sea level rise can also be a significant threat to the survival of the ecosystem. I learned at the Reserve’s Visitor Centre exhibition by Nparks, that if all the polar ice caps were to melt, the Reserve would be completely submerged :O

At the entrance of the Reserve, there are always a couple of lazy Water Monitor (Varanus salvator) lizards sunbathing or catching some shut-eye! It’s a nice warm welcome to the boardwalk ahead 🙂

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Near the entrance, I also saw this little Lesser Dog-faced Fruit Bat (Cynopterus brachyotis) hanging from the roof. Named for their dog-like face, these fruit bats drink nectar, feeding on fruit trees including palms, figs, mangoes, bananas, and guavas. They play an important ecosystem role as seed dispersers of many pioneer forest trees.

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Unfortunately, we narrowly missed the peak migratory bird season in December. However, we saw many Whimbrels (migratory birds which head northwards for Central and East Siberia by the end of March) and residents including Painted Storks, Little Egrets, and White-bellied Sea Eagles that were soaring in the sky.

One of the highlights of the trip was seeing a family of Smooth-coated otters (Lutrogale perspicillata)! We saw them suddenly appear in the middle of the boardwalk, and then reappear in the water. I was glad to catch a second glimpse of them in their natural element of swimming. Perfect timing and place as we were at the right viewing area to see them swim.

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We also saw this lovely female Golden Orb Spider (Nephila pilipes) with its gigantic web and a Plantain Squirrel (Callosciurus notatus) eating a piece of fruit along the boardwalk.

Another highlight of the trip was having a chance to see the elusive and rare keystone species for our mangroves – the Mud lobster crab (Thalassina sp.)! I like to believe this creature is humble and shy, not wanting to show off its important, mounting contributions to the mangrove ecosystem. The mud lobster crab is rarely seen out of its burrow in the mud mounds (that can reach as high as 2m above ground) that it builds.

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The mud lobster eats the mud, and while digging it recycles nutrients from underground, making them more available for other plants and animals. Their digging also loosens mud and allows oxygenation of the ground. The mounds also serve as microhabitats for various mangrove species, from snakes to clams, shrimps, and plants. Ria Tan of WildSingapore (a kind supporter of this blog for many years) calls it the “mud condos“! The muds also enable the creation of swimming pools with water being trapped in the mound system forming pools. These can shelter animals like mudskippers during the low tide. How amazing are these animals? Unfortunately, they are listed as threatened locally due to habitat degradation and pollution.

Thank you for reading!

I hope everyone is having a good start to the year. Thank you so much for reading my blog post. I look forward to reading your comments – they always make me feel happy and motivated to keep this blog, which started out as a childhood hobby. I am so grateful to have this lovely community where we can connect over sacred nature experiences and moments even from across the globe 🙂

If you would like to stay in touch with me and hear more updates from my work (as I rarely update this blog), please follow me on Instagram @mynatureexperiences if you have an account there. I also share more of my photographs there as admittedly it is faster and easier to post there. However, as someone who loves to write, I feel this blog offers me a space to reflect better on thoughts and ideas than on Instagram, so I hope to use it more often!