The Craftsman’s Forge

I finally got meself a small 30cm(L)x18cm(B)x18cm(H) tank for my desk in the office. Have been thinking about it for days now! Just filled it up today with cycled water from home, 2 baby guppies and a pair of Pelvicachromis pulcher, or more commonly known as the Rainbow Krib. Its a more common cousin of the Pelvicachromis taeniatus, or Nigerian Red, which I really want. But the Nigerian Red is S$55 a pair, and I’ve decided to only get it for home. The Pelvicachromis pulcher on the other hand is only S$3.00 a pair. I’m hoping they settle in nicely and lay me some eggs!

Kyla and I went for an early morning birding trip at Jane’s place at Malcolm Park. This is Kyla’s first birding trip out, and she enjoyed it tremendously. One of the highlights, was the very close view of a Yellow Vented Bulbul’s nest with 2 tiny eggs in it. She was completely thrilled!

This is a shot of the Pacific Reef Egret in its “Dark Phase”. Although this bird can be seen in Singapore, I have never seen it here before, so much so that we I saw it in Langkawi, I had absolutely no idea what egret/heron it was. It was only after a quick check with my Bird Guide that I finally knew what I had here. This is what is called a “Lifer” in birding circles, meaning the first time you see a specific species of bird.

After a good night’s sleep, we decided to head out for Langkawi’s Kilim Geoforest Mangrove Tour. If we booked the tour through the hotel, it would cost us $160 to $180 Ringgit per adult, and $80 Ringgit per child (above 3). This would have set us back $500 Ringgit at the very least. Thankfully, with a little investigation on the net, we realised that if we just headed to the jetty ourselves, and approached the boatmen directly, we could charter an entire boat at half that amount.

So, that was what we did. We drove to the Kilim River jetty, and looked for the boatman ourselves. We had an entire boat to ourselves at $250 Ringgit. Very good cost savings there.

This was the river jetty where we took the boat from.

We headed out the mangrove river to a view of magnificent limestone mountains and mangrove forest. Simply exquisite! This is a raw beauty I have not seen for a long time.

Welcome to the Kilim Geoforest Park.

Ariel and Kyla enjoying the boat ride. I was kinda worried that they may have some issues with the bobbly nature of boat rides and seasickness. But, no problems with any of the kids. Even Elkan was enjoying himself! Good one!

First stop was the Bat Cave…… just one word….. SMELLY.

Then, we visited a fish farm….This was a treat for the kids.

They had several demarcated “pods” where they reared different types of fish. In this picture, everyone was looking at the fish farmer feeding a barracuda.

Coming up close to the Stingray was also quite an experience! They finally saw what fish killed Steve Irwin.

After the fish farm, we headed to a cave they called “crocodile cave”. According to our guide, there were crocodiles there years before. Now there are none. Just humans……

After “crocodile cave”, we headed for the highlight of the tour…. Eagle Feeding. This was where I totally went crazy. Man… it was a feeding frenzy with about 7 to 8 birds taking turns to swoop down to the chicken pieces dropped into the river. It was my closest experience with these two species of raptors.

This one is of the Bharminy Kite. Smaller than the White Bellied Sea Eagle, it is still a sight to behold.

After this, was lunch on a floating restaurant. It was run by a Malay family, and to be honest, I was actually looking forward to a Chinese seafood lunch, but anyway… we ate there. Food wasn’t fantastic….. but… you make do.

The biggest draw must have been the shark they had in one of the pods.

We’re back now, but I’m still sorting out the pictures. It was a great holiday!!!

One of the best experiences we had was the Eagle feeding tour at the Kilim Geoforest Park at Langkawi. The Brahminy Kites and White-bellied Sea Eagles came swooping down to grab the chicken meat and skin that was left in the water by the boatmen.

Managed some half decent shots. What do you think?

By the way, click on the photo for a larger photo of the bird.

While I was browsing through the Nature Society of Singapore website last night, I stumbled on an article (from another site) on Qian Hu’s Fish Spa! I had heard of this as a spa offering at some spa on some island somewhere, but this was too good to be true! Apparently, the fishes nibble at your dead skin as you leave your feet in the water. I had to give it a try!

So, this morning, I headed out to the Kranji area. Since I was going to the area, I decided to detour to the Sugei Buloh Nature Reserve to do a spot of birding before my “Spa” treatment. I saw a number of birds which I’ve never seen before, and am in the process of identifying them. Could be lifers for me. In any case, the park was not short of other Vertebrates.

Squirrel so busy eating, that it couldn’t be bothered about me getting close by.

Then, I spotted this spider! Huge……. and kinda creepy too.

Then, I spotted this HUGE, and I really H U G E Monitor lizard!!!!! It must have been at least 2 metres long! It looked so much like a small crocodile.

You can click on these photos to get a larger photo with more detail at Flickr.

But, What must have been most amazing for me was spotting an unusual phenomenon while driving along a secluded country road. I noticed some way ahead of me that there was a flight of swallows diving at some thing on the ground. As I went nearer, I realised that there was a decomposing snake on the road. It must have been roadkill. The snake was surrounded by alot of flies, and the swallows were feeding on the flies! Man! What an interesting activity! Managed to grab a photo of this feeding frenzy, but the swallows were so fast, I didn’t manage to get a sharp photo of them. But, you should be able to see the action. Click on the photo to get a 1024 wide photo, which should be alot clearer.

Then after my birding activities, I headed to Qian Hu for my Fish Spa.

I paid S$10 for 30 minutes worth of fish nibbling at my feet.

When I first put my feet in, the fishes were cautious, but they began coming in droves!

So, how did it feel like? Well…. it was really ticklish at frst, but I soon got used to it. Was it helpful? When I checked my feet after the session, I found that I still had dead skin on my feet. The fishes didn’t manage to clear everything. I think I need bigger fishes like piranhas for that. But, I did feel that my feet were slightly cleaner. More squeaky I think. Will I come back again? Nope.

I spent the morning at the Singapore Botanic Gardens, and had about 2 hours worth of photography in between sporadic rain. Dang. This is the second time it rained on me in as many outings in the last 2 days.

In any case, the Botanic Gardens is a very lively place, and even with unco-operative weather, I managed to get some decent pictures. This is really my first try out of my 100-400mm lens. I think not too bad.

Lesser Whistling Ducks - They are an uncommon resident as described by “An Illustrated Field Guide on The Birds of Singapore” by Lim Kim Seng and Dana Gardner. [Kim Seng was my Birding instructor some years back, but thats another story. :)] As I was saying, although they are listed as uncommon residents, they have quite a healthy population at the Botanic Gardens. Thriving very well at Symphony Lake. This one seems to be a fledging juvenile. You can see the soft baby feathers on its neck.

This is the very common Eurasian Tree Sparrow. A very common resident. A juvenile.

I waited at Symphony Lake for my friend and favourite bird, Mr Storky. The Stork-Billed Kingfisher. He didn’t disappoint. This is the largest of the Kingfishers in this region. Its an uncommon resident in Singapore, but I know of at least two of these birds in the Botanic Gardens. One at Swan Lake, and the other (this one lah) at Symphony Lake.

Then of course, the Heliconia Walk at the Botanic Gardens attracts some of the most beautiful sunbirds. I was waiting for another one of my favourites, the Crimson Sunbird, but unfortunately didn’t get to see it. But I did see the Olive-Backed Sunbird. Both Male and Female. This one is the Male.

And, this is the Female.

I also saw a Female Plain Sunbird. The male has a metallic green forehead. What a beautiful specimen! I like this photo very much. The bird is sharp and clear.

God really is very creative.