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It was a glorious sunny morning, and right in the carpark, I saw a small bird (probably a House Crow) chasing a juvenile White-bellied Sea Eagle (Haliaeetus leucogaster). It continued harassing the eagle until I lost sight of it. While waiting outside the Theatrette for the visitors, a handsome Red Junglefowl (Gallus gallus) posed on a nearby tree. Resplendent in his gorgeous plumage, with wicked-looking spurs on his legs, he had every right to look as cocky as he did! He was apparently brought to the Park from Pulau Ubin. Today was one of the few occasions when we walked past Platform 2. We stopped by the freshwater pond, serenely calm, clothed in blooming waterlilies and water plants. Insects were busy at the beautiful blue flowers of the Pondweed (Monocharia sp.). The curious Water Banana (Ludwigia adscendens) was floating nearby. Their strange roots DO look like tiny bunches of bananas!! We almost missed the fabulous Common Greenback frogs (Rana erythraea). Their stripes and gorgeous jade colours camouflaged them perfectly in plain sight among the stems of the Cattails. Once we realised what they looked like, we quickly spotted five of them! These frogs are nocturnal, and are sometimes brown. On the way back, we saw a large golden shimmering web. Its creator was busily spinning additional reinforcements, travelling back and forth overhead, across the entire path! Her patterned yellow abdomen identified her as a Batik Golden Orb Web Spider (Nephila antipodiana). A little Olive-backed Sunbird (Nectarina jugularis) was busy at the Sea Hibiscus blossoms. We managed a quick photo before it flew off. High up on a tree, a Common Flying Dragon (Draco volans sumatranus) was spotted, fiercely showing off his yellow triangular throat flap (gular). These lizards don't actually fly, but can glide. They have ribs which extend out of their bodies, supporting a flap of skin (patagium) on either side. As they leap out of trees, the flaps extend outwards and act as parachutes. They can control their descent. They eat small invertebrates such as ants. |
 Pondweed blossoms  Water Banana  Common Greenback frog  Olive-backed Sunbird |
 by ria tan, 2001 |
