Day over at Ubin on 19 Dec 2009

108th Discovery Posting:

On the recent Saturday (19 Dec), I together with a group of nature volunteer friends visited Ubin for a lesson on Birds (thanks to LK for inviting us along) and exploration around the island (thanks to the NParks staff, especially Adelle for hosting us).

It was an early start to the day for all of us as we had planned a morning bird watching session (picture below).
Upon arrival, M pointed out to me this signage found on the jetty on Ubin (picture below). We did had a small laugh over it as there was something wrong about the signage. Can you spot it? I guess there may be a letter printing mistake as it should read: "No Camping Allowed on Jetty".

Anyway, back to the trip. After our bird watching session (no photos as my camera only has a limited optical zoom) in the morning, we set off for our afternoon walk around session. This was nearly canceled as a heavy storm was ongoing on Ubin in the afternoon. Luckily for us, it stopped around 3pm and we went on with our program.

Not long after we set off, M pointed out this (picture below) to us. Can you spot it? Clue: It is green and quite long. Here's a closer look at its head (picture below). First 'discovery' and it is a oriental whip snake.First off, the oriental whip snake is a mildly poisonous snake, although it may not be kill us with its bite, it would still be best not to handle it or any snakes at all. It is commonly found in forested and rural areas and most encountered by us while it suns itself on plants along the forest edge.

For more information and pictures, you may visit: http://www.ecologyasia.com/verts/snakes/oriental_whip-snake.htm

Later in the evening, we were also given a chance to explore the Chek Jawa inter tidal area. It was somehow a highlight for me for the day as I have not stepped on the inter tidal flats of this place for about a year plus ever since helping KS with his project. Here's some photos of the place itself (pictures below)Notice the Chek Jawa boardwalk on the background. Some critters we saw include the second 'discovery', sand stars. Here's one of them (picture below)Some call this (above) the plain sand star. Well, one reason is because there is another kind of sand star. The painted sand star (picture below), third 'discovery'! As you can see, their appearance differs a bit. But you can find long spines along both sides of its arms. Their similarities goes on, they are more commonly seen in our northern shores and are more active when it is dark or near dark. If I am not wrong, they feed differently from the common sea star, which you can find on Chek Jawa as well. For the common sea star, it would push its stomach out from its body to feed while the sand star would usually just ingest or swallow them whole.

Next up, third 'discovery', sand stars (picture below)!They may not look like sea stars, but do you know that they are actually related? Yes, sea stars, sand dollars, sea cucumbers, sea urchins, brittle stars and feather stars all belong to the group of animals which we call enchinoderms. A bit too scientific? Well, then just look closer at the picture above, do you see a star shape? This isn't a good guide to identify animals belonging to this group though.

Anyway, the name sand dollars came about mostly because they resemble dollar coins and at the same time are mostly found in sand bars. They might not alive to you, but if you ever have the chance to handle one, you will feel that they have tiny little spines that can tickle you when you touch them. But do remember not to remove them from sea water for long, as it would stress them.

One more thing which we saw a number was this, a peacock anemone (picture below). Fourth 'discovery'.
They are good to look at and bad to touch. Why? This is because peacock anemones can sting you with stings in their stinging cells. Besides that, do you notice that they have a layers or rings of tentacles? One is the outer, the other is the inner. The function of the outer layer is to gather food from the surroundins towards the inner layer and then the inner layer would transfer food to its mouth. Works like a bit like a conveyor belt, don't you think so?

As we explored, we moved towards the coral rubble area. But alas, the tide wasn't low even for us to even step into the place. So for safety reasons, we decided to just look around the other places in the area. I did however get a nice sunset shot nearby the coral rubble area (picture below). =D As we moved on, we came across this small little biscuit sea star (picture below). Fifth 'discovery'.Like other sea stars, it is best not to take biscuit sea stars off from sea water. But if you do, do return them back after a quick look, as they need sea water as we need blood. This is basically because they circulate their bodies with sea water.

Sixth 'discovery' is one sea cucumber which I think that hasn't been properly IDed yet. But at the moment, I think we are calling it the smooth sea cucumber (picture below).The last featured animal and seventh 'discovery' is a noble volute (picture below).These creatures are probably one of the largest sea snails you can encounter on our shores. This is because noble volutes can grow up to about 10 plus cm long. However, they are threaten as they are collected for their beautiful shells as well for food.

Well, that about wraps up this post. Thanks again to LK for organising and Adelle for hosting us and of course all friends who make it another great day out. =D

Colourful crabs plus an insect and a plant @ Chek Jawa

105th Discovery Posting:

Today, together with volunteers guides from Naked Hermit Crabs (NHC), we visited Chek Jawa for 2 purposes. The first purpose was to guide people who have signed up to join the Naked Hermit Crab monthly guided walk on the Chek Jawa boardwalk. The second was explore Chek Jawa for a short while after our visitors left. Side tracking a bit, for those who are interested to find out more about the monthly guided walks on the Chek Jawa boardwalk, please visit for http://nakedhermitcrabs.blogspot.com/more information.

Anyway, during the guided walk and also our own exploration, we saw the really pretty and colourful fiddler crabs found alongside the boardwalk in the mangroves of Chek Jawa. My photos of them are not really clear as my camera possesses only a 3x optical zoom. I should get one with more optical zoom soon... anyway, here are some photos of them (pictures below).
During guiding, I came across this really well-camouflaged insect on a leaf. I have no idea what insect this is, probably someone can help me out? (picture below)And before our guided walk started (you can see that my order of photos are in a reverse chronological order...hehehe), we were looking at this plant and wondering what this plant is. I do remember that I have the ID of this plant somehow in my computer. After searching, I believe this plant is called Chassalia curviflora (picture below). More pictures of this plant can be found @ http://www.natureloveyou.sg/Chassalia%20curviflora/Main.html.

Well, that's about it for this post. I'm not going to feature all the things which I have seen during this trip as one, I did not take photos for everything and two, you can visit http://nakedhermitcrabs.blogspot.com/2009/09/another-fabulous-day-out-on-chek-jawa.html for a detailed blog entry for the walk.

Lastly, thanks to all my participants in my group who came for the walk and I hope you had a great time as me. =D

Otters @ Chek Jawa at Ubin on 4 June 2007

Ninety Sixth Discovery Posting:

Let's jump into the most interesting thing for this posting quickly.

Today, I finally gotten to see otters! I was together with a group of staff of Coral Secondary School on the board walk near to the coastal forest when two heads suddenly 'popped' out of the water. And for one moment, I was wondering and pondering if they could be otters and didn't moved. But at the comment of one of the participants, "Could they be otters?", I decided to make a dash on the boardwalk towards them and upon coming closer to them, I saw two of them (otters) swimming around the waters below the boardwalk! Finally! I got to see otters in the wild!

Here's one of the two (picture below). Not really a clear photo, but you can make out the head.
And as I was photographing away at the pair of otters, my group shouted again to say that there were another group of otters! WOW! I turned around and looked. There was a family of them near the CJ front beacon!

Can you spot their heads? (picture below)Here's a cropped version of the same photo above to better show you where they were (picture below).It was a pity that they didn't got close enough for me to get a decent photo. Well, my camera isn't exactly top-notch too, just a water and shock proof camera with 3 x optical zoom. Nevertheless, I'm happy enough just to have caught a sight of probably 2 families of otters. =D

Discovery Note:
1. Judging from their appearance, it is highly possible that I have seen smooth otters today.
2. They are RARE in Singapore. So it is ALWAYS a joy to see them. =D
3. They are the largest otters you can find in Southeast Asia. And like other otters, they have shorter tightly packed underfur and longer guard hair which are water repellent.
4. Otters are very lean, their fur helps to keep them warm and provides a streamline surface.
5. Like other otters, they are excellent divers and swimmers and are able to swim for long distances and stay underwater for 6-8 minutes with a single breath.
6. It is interesting to note that when they swim, they close their ears and nostrils.
7. They like to eat fish but their diet also consist of things like crabs, frogs, water rats, etc.
8. They may hunt for food in their family groups, working together and using teamwork to catch their prey.
9. There are much more things about them which i didn't list here, if you are interested to find out more and view up close photos of smooth otters, visit http://www.naturia.per.sg/buloh/verts/smooth_otter.htm.

Oh, what a great day!!!

Discovery @ Chek Jawa on 22 Jan 2008

Forty fifth Discovery Posting:

Woke up this morning just in time to catch the sunrise from my room's window (picture below)
Anyway, today was the second time that I was helping KS with his Chek Jawa project, at Chek Jawa of course.

Side Note:
You may read more about this project @ http://cjproject.blogspot.com/

And also today was a special day for KS, as he was to be interviewed for a Channel 8 programme on people working on the environment . So the camera was recording his activities almost all the time when it's on.

And due to that, he and some of the gang had to alight a bit earlier to walk to the entrance of CJ. Ron and myself managed to escape that fate by playing our age card. However, we aren't that old, mind you. It was just that we were plain lazy today. =P

Anyway, because of this, Ron and I were first to arrive at the entrance and got to see the first 'discovery', the flying dragon (picture below). Can you spot it?
Discovery Note:
1. The Flying Dragon, is a "flying" lizard that lives in the rainforests and rubber plantations of Asia and the East Indies.
2. It can spread out folds of skin attached to its movable ribs to form "wings" that it uses to glide from tree to tree over distances upwards of 8 meters (25 feet).
3. Its "wings" are brightly coloured with orange, red and blue spots and stripes, and they provide camouflage when folded.
4. They are known to feed on arboreal ants and termites.

After everyone arrived with a "grand" entrance, all of us walked to House No.1 for our briefing for our tasks today. And while waiting, here's second and third 'discovery' from the rescue tank at House No.1 (picture below). The fish at the foreground is a copper-banded butterfly fish, while the two at the background are kite butterfly fishes.
Discovery Note:
1. They have a large ‘false eye’ on its dorsal fin which fools predators into thinking that it is a big fish.
2. And if a predator does attacks it, the fish unexpectedly swim ‘backwards’.
3. Copper-banded butterfly fishes have a long snout with brush-like teeth to suck up coral polyps and small prey from crevices.

After the briefing, we headed out to the inter-tidal area and the first animal we encountered there was a elbow crab (picture below). This is fourth 'discovery'.
Discovery Note:
1. Their common name comes from their interestingly structured pincers which seems to have elbows.
2. It ambushes prey passing within striking distances of its extra long pincers.

I read from Sijie's blog that the hairy sea hare seems to be "in season" at CJ, so i though i would have the chance to see at least one today. But was i in for a surprise, cause i didn't just see one, i saw LOTS of them!

However, here's one of them (picture below) and fifth 'discovery'.
Discovery Note:
1. Sea hares probably got their name because they move rather quick for a slug and their tentacles do look a bit like the ears of a hare with some imagination.
2. The hairy sea hare is known to eat the thin film cyano-bacteria (a kind of micro-organism)

As today's tasks are mainly about monitoring of different organisms, we got a different one each. Alicia, Ron and I got to check out peacock anemones. However, it was only after the whole monitoring session and a reminder from KS (as i am typing this) that I realised that we didn't take any photos for peacock anemones. Duh!

Anyway, we were also asked to keep an eye out for common sea stars as they were wiped out after the mass flood back in Jan 2007 and seem to be sighted only recently in small numbers.

Read more about the flood @ http://iyor08singapore.blogspot.com/2008/01/chek-jawa-death-and-life-in-2007.html

Well, why do i mention this? Of course it was because we saw them, the common sea stars . Adelle found the first one as she was hunter seeking for the Chek Jawa guided walk, and soon we found 9 more of them (pictures below)!

A sign of recovery and sixth 'discovery'!
2 more common sea stars were found after this photo was taken (picture below)Discovery Note:
1. Although people commonly call them star fish, we prefer to call them sea stars. As they are not fishes.
2. If you look on the underside of the sea star, you will find the tube feet of the sea star.
3. These tube feet are used for walking, handle food as well as breathing, talk about multi purpose!
4. Sea stars get stressed when out of water, so please don’t take them out of the water for too long.
5. And although they are called the common sea stars, they are no longer common due to over collection and habitat lost and let's hope with the sight of these 10 sea stars, more will appear soon on the shores of CJ. =)

Here's something i've seen for the first time. A peanut worm (picture below), seventh 'discovery'!Discovery Note:
1. They were once very abundant in Singapore that they were collected and fed to ducks.
2. They are usually buried, but are sometimes seen on soft ground.
3. The ridged skin makes it look like a shelled peanut when it is contracted thus the name of peanut worm.

Eighth 'discovery' of the day was found after we've completed our task of the day, this should be a cake sea star (picture below). Discovery Note:
1. Distinguishing features for this species are the large bivalved pedicellariae (pincer-like structures) on the oral surface (under side where you find its mouth), with smaller versions found on the marginal plates and tiny scattered pedicellariae on the upper or aboral surface.
2. The upper surface of the disc is convex while the oral side is flat.
3. The arms are triangular, slightly upturned at the tips and boarded by prominent marginal plates.

Very soon, the tide was coming in and the whole gang had to leave the area unless anyone wanted to be washed away by the waves (picture below). Reaching back the jetty at Ubin, a scene of great serenity greeted us (picture below) before we departed Ubin. Thanks to everyone for making this trip another fun one and it didn't rain. =)

Extra:
Read wildfilms to check out some other organisms that was spotted by clicking here.

Discovery @ Chek Jawa on 24 Dec 2007

Fortieth Discovery posting:

It was Christmas eve spent at Chek Jawa. And i was there helping Kok Sheng with his Chek Jawa project.

Quote from his project blog:
This project aims to study the mass mortality and recruitment of macrofauna for example like carpet anemones. This project is not just for my UROPS assignment in National University of Singapore, but also for the long run monitoring and understanding of Singapore's favourite shore, Chek Jawa in Pulau Ubin.

It was a starry Christmas eve, so i'll feature more echinoderms in this posting.

If you are still wondering what am i referring to. See first 'discovery' (picture below)Discovery Note:
1. Sea stars belong to the class Asteroidea.
2. The sea star above is probably a cake sea star , Anthenea aspera.
3. Distinguishing features for this species are the large bivalved pedicellariae (pincer-like structures) on the oral surface (under side where you find its mouth), with smaller versions found on the marginal plates and tiny scattered pedicellariae on the upper or aboral surface.
4. The upper surface of the disc is convex while the oral side is flat.
5. The arms are triangular, slightly upturned at the tips and boarded by prominent marginal plates.

Second 'discovery' was something that got Kok Sheng very excited, as although he heard that the common sea stars, Archaster typicus, have returned to Chek Jawa, this was the first time he saw them with his own eyes (picture below).
Discovery Note:
1. Their arms are flat topped with angular edges, and sides that are parallel at the base, tapering to a point distally.
2. They have a pattern of transverse, sometimes indistinct, dark bands on their arms.

Third 'discovery' were spiny sand stars, Astropecten indicus (picture below).
Discovery Note:
1. They are able to ingest their prey whole, this is distinct as most other sea stars extrude their stomach out through the mouth to digest their prey extra-orally.
2. A dark line is often visible extending along the mid-line of the upper surface of each arm.
3. They bear prominent spines that give the arms a comb-like appearance, thus the other common name of comb sea star.

Besides being a place with rich flora and fauna life, Chek Jawa also offers everyone a great nature scenery which we urban dwellers may not stop to take in its beauty, the sunset (picture below).
Although i was quite tired as i had to move all around (i was Kok Sheng's lovely assistant of the day..haha), it was a fun day. Thanks everyone and of course the wonderful weather!

Extra:
Read more about the latest updates of the project here.

Reference:
David J. W. Lane & Dider Vandenspiegel. A Guide to Sea Stars and other Echinoderms. Singapore Science Center, 2003.

Discovery @ Chek Jawa on 23 Dec 2007

Thirty ninth Discovery posting:

(Entry @ 28 Dec 2007: Correction for the ID for seventh 'discovery', thanks to Ria for pointing out the mistake)

My back was still a bit aching after yesterday's (22 Dec) clearing net session at Belayar Creek, Labrador. However, it would not stop me from being able to go to Chek Jawa Inter-tidal area for the first time!

But first we were to gather at the Ubin Volunteers Hub and at there, Ron spotted a caterpillar, first 'discovery' (picture below). However, after a little picture search here and there, i am still unable to ID this, could someone help me? Thanks!
Very soon, we headed out to Chek Jawa and we made a short walk around the mangroves on the boardwalk before heading down the stairs to the inter-tidal area.

Here's a photo from the inter-tidal area of the boardwalk and you can see 20m tall Jejawi tower in the background (picture below).Side note:
In this posting, i'm not going to list everything i saw but i'll show some rare finds and try to introduce everyone to the echinoderms i saw, i'll also try to explain what are Echindoerms.

So, what are Enchindoerms?
Discovery Note:
1. The echinoderms are a group of animals that includes sea stars, sand dollars, urchins, feather stars, brittle stars and sea cucumbers.
2. They are simple animals, lacking a brain and complex sensing organs.
3. They have a water-vascular system (humans have a blood-vascular system) which pumps water through the madreporite.
4. The madreporite is an opening used to filter water into the water vascular system of echinoderms.
5. And they have tube feet which they use to attach to objects, for protection, as well as to obtain food.
6. They have radial symmetry and most can regenerate lost limbs.

The first echinoderm of the day is a sand dollar (picture below). Second 'discovery'.
Discovery Note:
1. Sand dollars belong to the same class as sea urchins, class Echinoidea.
2. Living sand dollars are coated in fine, harmless spines that made them very velvety.
3. The spines are movable and are used to dig into the sand or move around.
4. The dense layer of spines also helps to keep off sand and silt so there is a flow of oxygenated water across the body.

Third 'discovery' is a brittle star which is another example of an echinoderm (picture below).
Underside of the brittle star (picture below)
Discovery Note:
1. Brittle Stars belong to the class Ophiuroidea.
2. Related to and like the sea stars, they have five arms and a central disc.
3. As the name suggests, the arms of the brittle stars are rather liable to break. This is actually an escape mechanism. They can regenerate their arms, but slowly.
4. Brittle stars use their arms for locomotion. They do not, like sea stars, depend on tube feet.
5. Brittle stars move fairly rapidly by wriggling their arms which are highly flexible and enable the animals to make either snake-like or rowing movements.

Fourth 'discovery' is a rare sight which i've have been lucky enough to see it at Changi beach recently. A bubble shell or headshield slug, a Hydatina amplustre (picture below).
Discovery Note:
1. The front of the head shield is developed into a pair of tentacles on each side.
2. It has a shell with alternating pink and white spiral bands, separated by narrow black lines.
3. Worms are part of its diet.

Fifth 'discovery' is a 'naked' hermit crab (picture below). However it was dead when i found it. =( It had probably died due to an attack from a predator when it's inside its home (an empty shell) or when 'naked' thus making it an easy target. Lesson of the day:
Don't pick sea shells from the sea shores , thus hermit crabs will have homes to live in.

Class Asteroidea of the echinoderms refers to the sea stars. And sixth 'discovery' is a sand star (picture below)Discovery Note:
1. The tube feet of sand stars end in points instead of suckers.
2. These pointed tube feet push down powerfully allowing Sand star to ‘race’ rapidly over the sand and burrow quite quickly.

Seventh 'discovery' is a sea star that i've seen with my own eyes for the first time, a cake sea star (picture below)!

Entry @ 28 Dec: ID for this sea star should be Gymnanthenea laevis.Discovery Note (Updated):
1. Large block-like superomarginal plates define the border of this sea star.
2. Notable features of the upper surface are prominent spine-like tubercles on the central radial plates and sometimes it can be found on some of adjacent plates too.

Another class of echinoderms, the Holothuroidea refers to the sea cucumbers. And eighth 'discovery' is one sea cucumber, this is probably Colochirus quadrangularis (picture below). Discovery Note:
1. This is a small sea cucumber. Often less tan 10cm in length.
2. It has bushy tentacles that are used to strain plankton and suspended organic particulates from the water.

That about warps everything up. And we were quite lucky today as it only started to rain cats and dogs after we got on the van back to the jetty on Ubin.

Would like to thank Luan Keng for making this trip possible + the kuey and everyone else for coming along today! =)

Reference:
David J. W. Lane & Dider Vandenspiegel. A Guide to Sea Stars and other Echinoderms. Singapore Science Center, 2003.

NHC @ Chek Jawa Boardwalk on 8 Sep 2007

Twenty-third discovery posting:

Question: What does it take to be a nature lover?

Answer: A gung ho spirit!

Although this morning's island-wide rain really had me worried for moments if the walk today was still going to be conducted or not. All worries were dispelled when i saw the other Crabbies (Naked Hermit Crabs) all ready to leave for Chek Jawa (CJ). =)

As i waited alone (the other crabbies went off to CJ first) for the participants from NIE to arrive, phonecalls and SMS-es continued to pour through my phone, the sky continued to pour with rain..hahaha.

Two commonly asked questions
"Is the event still on?"
"Where is the meeting place?"

So after a single mad man rush of collecting money and checking who's here and not, everyone finally managed to board the boat to Ubin.

A group shot for the blog and my 'swimming' camera's first meaningful photo (picture below) while on the boat to Ubin.
Drizzles of rain continued to fall from the sky as we left the Changi Jetty (picture below).
I was suppose to guide the thunder crabs today, but then as our groups was a bit small, so i decided why not combine the group of thunder and vinegar crabs, actually i was also feeling a bit lazy after all the rush at the jetty earlier =P. Have to say thanks to Ron for doing most of the guiding. =)

Anyway, here's OJT PeiHao doing an explanation for first 'discovery', the sea nutmeg tree (picture below).
We couldn't manage to find any red fruits for the tree today, so here's a photo from my collection (picture below).
Discovery Note:
1. It was once thought that this tree could no longer be found in Singapore, however it was discovered to be living in Chek Jawa.
2. The bright red pulp of the fruit attracts large birds such as the Oriental pied-hornbills (picture below), that eat and disperse them.

Side Note:
We did not spot any Oriental pied-hornbills, but i'm going to put it as the second 'discovery' as this is the iconic bird of Ubin.
Discovery Note:
1. The Oriental pied-hornbills on Pulau Ubin are the only truly wild hornbills found on Singapore.
2. The hornbill's trademark is its large, long bill. The bill, however, is not as heavy as it appears. 3. It is not made of solid bone but of a honeycombed tissue.
4. Their call is harsh and penetrating and has been described as a loud, staccato cackling; or a yak-yak-yak; and even as the cackling of a witch on a broomstick!
5. The Oriental pied-hornbill plays an important role in the health of the forest as it disperses seeds that are too big for smaller birds to eat.

Third 'discovery' is Pulau Sekudu aka Frog island (picture below), have to say thanks to the participants in my group for correcting how to say the name of this island, as i kept getting it wrong.. hahaha Discovery Note:
1. There is a legend saying that the frog island was formed by a XXXX (it's a no brainer, right?).
2. For the exact story, please come for the CJ boardwalks conducted by NHC =P

A number of mudskippers out in action today, was it due to the tide? I wonder. Anyway, this is the fourth 'discovery', a mudskipper (picture below).
Discovery Note:
1. Mudskippers are amphibious animals and they are fishes! So they are able to breathe on land and underwater.
2. Underwater, mudskippers breathe through gills like other fishes. On land, mudskippers use their enlarged gill chambers to retain water which aids them in breathing on land. Something like a scuba diver’s air tank, only that this ‘tank’ is filled with water.
3. Mudskippers can also tolerate high levels of toxic substances such as cyanide.

Besides interesting animals and plants which we can 'discover' along the CJ boarwalk, there are also other wonderful sights which are worthy of camera shots. Here's one (picture below). As we walked into the mangrove forest, fifth 'discovery' was pointed out, the seashore pandan (picture below).Discovery Note:
1. This is also called the Seashore Screwpine.
2. It is a formidable plant to encounter as it has dense clusters of long, stiff leaves armed with three rows of short spines.
3. The compound fruit resembles a pineapple and are dispersed by water.
4. Like many other screwpines, the leaves are used to make mats and baskets.

And of course, mangrove trees were 'discovered' in the mangrove forest. The pictures below shows the aerial roots of the mangrove trees, sixth 'discovery'.

Discovery Note:
1. Mangrove plants developed aerial roots so that they could cope with living in unstable, water-logged (during high tide) and oxygen-poor mud.
2. Aerial roots are roots that arise from the ground.
3. These roots help them to stabilise the mangrove plants and they can take in atmospheric air when exposed.
Discovery Note:
1. Foreground of picture above shows kneed roots from the Bruguiera species.
2. Background of picture above shows prop roots from the Bakau (Rhizophora) species.
Discovery Note:
1. Picture above shows the pencil roots frmo the Api-api (Avicennia) species.

What were these two rock like objects on the mangrove floor? Seventh 'discovery'!
Discovery Note:
1. These are the vinegar crabs or tree climbing crabs.
2. The Teochew are known to pickle this crab in black sauce with vinegar, and take it with porridge. That’s why they are also called vinegar crabs.
3. The Thais like it salted, with the roe or simply fried whole.
4. There is a tree climbing crab named the Singapore vinegar crab (E. singaporense), it has entirely red claws and commonly sighted in or near mud lobster mounds.

Side Note:
Made a mistake today for saying the Singapore vinegar crabs has red and white claws. Sorry, everyone =P

Eighth 'discovery' was a Atap Plam, here's its fruits (picture below).
Discovery Note:
1. Found in areas with calm waters of low salinity (amount of salt in the water is low).
2. The Nipah palm is the only true mangrove palm.
3. Its mature fronds are used for thatching the roofs of houses, therefore the name of “attap house” and are also woven into mats and baskets.
4. Its most recognisable use locally is its edible young seeds (attap chee).

After an hour plus, we soon reached the second last station of the walk, the Jejawi Tower (picture below), ninth 'discovery'. Discovery Note:
1. The tower is named after a Jejawi Tree found nearby the tower.
2. A Jejawi Tree is actually a fig.
3. The tree is about 20 meters tall, about the same height as the tower itself!
4. Climbing to the top of the tower would enable you to do bird sighting or view the different ecosystems found in CJ.
5. It would be a bad idea though to climb this tower when the weather is bad, especially when there is lighting.

And once on top of the tower, everyone's attention on was this long tailed Macaque (picture below), tenth 'discovery'! Discovery Note:
1. Macaques are hardy, intelligent primates with stout bodies and powerful limbs.
2. These macaques are commonly seen in our nature reserves.
3. The population of the macaques are growing because they have no predator.

Side Note:
1. The macaque we spotted was eating the fruits of the Jejawi Tree.
2. So it goes to say, that they are able to find their own food!
3. Conclusion: Please don't feed the monkeys! =)

What would a group walk be without the group photo? Here's the thunder and vinegar crabs with Ron and Pei Hao (picture below). Oh, i'm not 'in' as i was taking the photo. =P So after making a last stop at House No.1 and a short debrief, the walk ended with the participants writing on the NHC guest sheets.

Thanks to all the NIE participants for turning up despite the early morning downpour. You dudes are really gung-ho! =)
Also thanks to all NHC crabbies for making this another event to remember!