Good Friday

We enjoyed our Good Friday, beginning with a walk through Eco Green at Tampines. It was a beautiful morning for a walk and lots of others were walking, jogging and bird watching too. We had a very successful number of sightings and one complete surprise. 

When we were first becoming interested in birding, our Butterworth buddy Keith, sent us a bird field guide and in the front cover he wrote a personal note advising us that there had been one bird omitted. It was the rare, Red-Tipped Double Breasted Mattress Thrasher (he always did have a different sort of sense of humour!). Anyway, lo and behold we think we found its nest at Eco Green. What do you think? 












Since we first saw the nests of the Baya Weaver we have been fascinated by these amazing birds. They belong to the same family as sparrows and munias and are a common resident in Southeast Asia. In Singapore they are mainly found in wooded areas with plenty of long grass nearby, so they are often seen in this particular park. They are colonial breeders who nest in numbers on a single tree. Their woven hanging nest looks a bit like a gourd and has a long entrance spout at the bottom. The nests are usually found hanging on the thinner outer branches of Acacia trees. It is thought this deters bigger, heavier predators from going to the nest. 
The male, with his black mask and distinctive golden crown, works tirelessly to build not one, but at least two to four nests during the breeding season, as they are known to have a harem of at least two to four breeding females. Females will check the nest during the ‘construction process’ and will not accept it if it is not up to their standard. Breeding season is usually from March to July when females will lay up to six eggs.

Of course these birds are not going to do all that work right next to the path where some thoughtless person might be tempted to take the nest home with them. Oh no, they build well way from the path, but our intrepid photographer risked life and limb in the long grass to satisfy his keen birding wife. This was her first outing in months remember.

Other interesting sightings included the Rufous Woodpecker (a first), Scarlet-backed Flowerpecker, Pink-necked Pigeon, Sooty Bulbul (a rare visitor in Sg) and Golden-bellied Gerygone (another first). 

Then we walked to Pasir Ris Park using the Park Connector Network. This took us past the lake where a huge number of people were fishing. It's is a good sign, as last time Eric waked here in early March, the lake was polluted with an algae bloom. The same algae bloom wiped out 600 tonnes of fish belonging to 55 fish farmers who operate off Pasir Ris in the East Johor Strait. It is this water that is pumped into the lake and that is how the problem spread.

It turns out there was a fishing competition being held. At that time the largest fish caught weighed just over 3kg but the organizers explained that quite soon they were going to release the fish in the traps and one of them was more than 9kg. 







In Pasir Ris Park we saw many families enjoying a day off walking, cycling and picnicking together. You can hire in-line skates and bicycles in the park and there are even stables for horse rides. We walked along the boardwalk through the mangrove area and then to the trees where the walkers had seen the family of Spotted Wood-Owl in March. 

I hadn't been able to join them and was hopeful the owls might still be here. And they were, 5 individuals, and my, how the youngsters have grown! It was quite difficult to distinguish the adults from the juveniles. Such a big owl, about 50cm in height so you really didn't need binoculars but it was great to have them. They are a nocturnal bird, becoming active at dusk and feeding on rodents and smaller birds. The facial discs are buff orange with dark brown eyes and a barred chest with the upperparts chocolate-brown, but flecked with white. Not one of them moved the whole time we were observing them. 

As we left the park we noticed a group of Indians just about to take to the field for cricket. One couple were playing a local form of croquet on a course that is cleverly set out with recycled plastic drink bottles. It was nice to see so many people enjoying the public holiday in the outdoors. We had been invited to a bbq in the afternoon but were quite late getting back and tired too. 

The weekend flew by with classes and Easter surprises in the staffroom including eggs and an amazing cake. When the working week finished we met up with some colleagues from some of the other branches at Bliss in Ang Mo Kio. We had a group of 18 which was great but the kitchen staff were overwhelmed and everone tells me the food was great, I didn't get my meal. Never mind, I had a 3 course meal when I got home (I found 3 small bits of stale bread in the fridge so I had tomato and cheese followed by vegemite and cheese and then peanut butter and honey on toast for dessert). 

On Monday a large number made it all the way to Sungei Buloh Wetlands, tucked away in the northwest corner of the island, for the walk. They have done an amazing upgrade out there since we last visited. The new extension opened on Dec 6 while we were in Nepal. The new viewing hides are constructed in the shape of pods and blend in beautifully with the natural surroundings.

We took our binoculars and saw lots of birds although with that large number it wasn't easy to keep everyone happy all the time.  The migratory birds are leaving, now that the northern winter is over, but we saw plenty of great sightings including (clockwise from top left) the common flameback, collared kingfisher, scarlet sunbird and large tailed nightjar.

Some of us continued on to Choa Chu Kang for lunch and then by the time we eventually got back to Serangoon we crashed on the couch. Eric went shopping and I went to the picture framer in Boon Keng to have the sand painting from Myanmar stretched. Then Eric cooked up a lovely ox-tail stew for dinner.

On Tuesday night we explored the north-east point, what was once Punggol Jetty. We were very close to the harbour of Johore Bahru in the north and to the east was the northern tip of Pulau Ubin where we could see the Outward Bound Camp.  The old Punggol Jetty area was apparently a very popular weekend eating spot. One of the original restaurants, which moved out in 1994 when the land was acquired by the government, has now returned. I found a newspaper article dated last August where the original owner was quoted as saying: "The original restaurant had a kampung feel. It had a zinc roof and was next to a sandy beach. On weekends, more than 600 customers would turn up for dinner and tables had to be set up by the roadside to accommodate them.
When the buses No. 82 and 83 did a three-point turn at the end of Punggol Road, they'd come within 1m of the tables. But our customers didn't mind. They just wanted to enjoy their meal under the stars."
The whole place has been transformed into Punggol Settlement, a 2 storey waterfront complex with F&B outlets as well a bike rental and kids area, which opened in August last year. 

We chose Georges By The Bay, and sat out on the verandah to enjoy the sea view and breeze. 
In the background are the lights of JB, much nicer view than in the daytime. 


Across the road is a Punggol Ranch which provides horse rides and you can stay in some dinky little wagon-chalets for about $180 a night. Thanks, just looking.