|
|
We spent a pleasant sunny morning on the Boardwalk. On the way there, we spotted the amazing nest of a Tailorbird. It was made in a large leaf, carefully "sewn" together with fibres, then stuffed with soft grasses. The tide was completely out at the Mangrove Boardwalk. Whilst enjoying the antics of the usual circus of crabs and mudskippers, we were surprised to spot a Dog-faced Watersnake (Cerebus rynchops). It was actively hunting in the mud and at 10.30 in the morning at that! We actually saw it catch a little mudskipper! The snake hung onto the titbit for a while, probably waiting for its mild venom to take effect, before promptly swallowing it whole. We could see the bulge that was the unfortunate mudskipper, moving down the length of the snake! The snake then slid off to look for more lunch. As we left the Boardwalk, we checked the Sea Poison trees and yes, there were still a few Atlas Moth (Attacus atlas) cocoons on the tree. One was already clearly empty, another looked occupied still. After a spot of lunch at the lovely new cafetaria, we took a short walk to Platform 2 and back. On the main bridge, we spotted an unusual Mangrove St. Andrew's Cross Spider (Argiope mangal) with a full set of four white stabilimentum on its web. I guess it didn't know that their kind was only supposed to make two. And they were very nicely made stabilimentum too! But the very special treat of the day was only spotted on the way back. We noticed that everytime we stopped at the spot where the Whip Spiders usually were (and there were none that day), we heard a curious and loud, single 'tok". We heard it on the way to Platform 2, and on the way back again. This time, an eagle-eyed member of our group finally spotted the cause. There was a Copper-throated Sunbird nest, hanging but close to the ground right next to the path!! The call came from the male, who was probably trying to scare us off. We patiently waited and finally saw him at the nest, possibly to feed some young. We didn't want to stress the birds so we reluctantly left soon after. |
 Arrowed: lunch bulge on the Dog-faced Watersnake    Copper-throated Sunbird at his nest |
 by ria tan, 2001 |
