Forest Nutmegs

This fruiting tree (Horsfieldia sp.) found in our forest belongs to the nutmeg family (Myristicaceae). The fruits turn from green to light-yellow and then dark orange-yellow. If you observe this picture carefully, you will see a shallow longitudinal grove on the fruit- this is the line along which the fleshy outer covering (pericarp) of the fruit will split into two halves to reveal a seed that is wrapped entirely by a bright crimson orange-coloured aril.

Uncle Tay took this beautiful picture a few days ago, which shows a Plantain Squirrel munching on, presumably, some parts of the fruits. We cannot really determine whether it was eating the fruit's pericarp or the seed, the latter of which means that rather in helping to disperse the seeds, the squirrel is yet again, a notorious seed predator in our forest.

Asian Fairy Bluebird

Next, I would like to share with you the pictures taken by another 'Uncle'- Uncle Johnny! The tireless nature enthusiast can be seen these days in the wild with his digital SLR and super-long lens. I eqaute that to taking a hike with an heavy dumbells, before long, you should have good arm strength and stamina.



Johnny took this pix from the summit of Bukit Timah Nature Reserve last week. The bird was one of the many that were foraging on the fig tree. Read more about the tree and the birds that it has been attracting on the blog of the Bird Ecology Study Group

Time to visit dentist?

My colleague Uncle Tay, the family man, is too lazy pre-occupied to create a post here, or maintain his blog as a mean to share his photos- which we will receive in our emails once in a short while. It is such a shame that only a few of us can see his photos, which usually come with funny captions that will make people laugh. So, with his permission, I will be regularly posting some of his photos here to share with you his sense of humour, inspired by nature.

Every nature trip is unique...

Every trip I made to nature was fruitful and unique. My last trip to Lower Peirce was quite a special one. I took 43 pictures in total with Ms Chang giving me good tips on how to take good pictures. I saw many things. These fruits were one of them. Anyone knows the name of it ?

I also witnessed a small wasp flying out of a fig when we cut the fruit into two. I also saw green crested lizard, two pairs of squirrels mating, long-tail macaque and a very big spider (forgot its name).

Taking a respite

At the end of a good day out in the field, this is really something beautiful to do- to lie close to the earth and try to acquire an ant’s eye view. That’s if you can be oblivious to the ants that are curious about a big mammal lying in their territory…

Nepenthes Galore

I told you last Thursday was a wonderful day- there was the mysterious dead rat, the panicky deer and the expansive resam field. It was also a day of pitcher plant galore!

Without having to move a step but simply pivoting around in the degraded area, we can see all 3 species that occurred in Singapore. So, although we were short of time, we couldn’t help spending some on capturing the beauty of the pitchers with our digital cameras.

These so called carnivorous plants thrive in open sunny areas where soils are poor in nutrients; they are often seen at degraded areas in our forest such as young secondary forest. There are 3 species in Singapore: Nepenthes gracilis, Nepenthes ampullaria and Nepenthes refflesiana. According to the little guidbook’s A Guide to the Carnivorous Plants of Singapore (published by Singapore Science Centre), there are also 3 hybrids found locally.

Developing pitchers of the Nepenthes rafflesiana, which is named after Sir Stamford Raffles. The slender one is an upper pitcher while the urn-shaped one is a lower pitcher.





And when these babies matured, this is how they will look:

Lower pitcher of Nepenthes rafflesiana. It is more squat and urn-shaped than the elongated and funnel-shaped upper pitcher (secod photo below). And oh, I found an asphyxiated Giant Forest Ant in the liquid of the lower pitcher, together with a wriggling white larva.




An attempt to capture the sensual beauty of the pitcher:




Being small, egg-shaped and arranged in a rosettes, the lower pitchers of Nepenthes ampullaria often illicit remarks on how cute they are.



Realised I didn’t bother to take pictures of Nepenthes gracilis. This is what happens if you become too common in this world.

Deer encounter

Last Thursday was really a wonderful day out in the forest. The dead rat was a sad sight but it was, nevertheless, interesting to us. But nothing bet what we encountered later in the morning- we saw, or rather, caught a glimpse of a deer! Yes! A DEER! And mind you, we were not at the zoo or anywhere near it. It was dashing away from us from a distance of about..erh..say 30 metres away.

It spotted us before we saw it because we were only alerted to it when it ran away frantically- that's what my ears had perceived (rather than my eyes) as they picked up the sound made by the deer crushing through the crispy dry leaf litter). At the instant when I heard the noise, the first thing that came to my mind was: someone is coming towards us...are we in danger? Also, I had not quite recovered from the excitement I generated 30 seconds earlier, when SC and I was greeted by the sight of an expansive resam area (see photos below).

Now which deer could that be? Since my concious mind did register some iamges of a dog, the deer-like animal we saw in a flash could probably be deduced as the barking deer. It couldn't be a mousedeer- I have heard of folk tales describing how a Sang Kancil will freeze when it senses danger, rather than run for its life. And it couldn't be a sambar deer as it was not that big. Whatever it was (anyway, I really can't tell from a flash of brown fur unless I am an experienced deer expert that can relied on instincts), it is good to know there are deers in our forest.

Here are two pictures of the resam area that caught both SC and I by surprise before the deer gave us the second one.


Tea-plantation in our forest? It does look like the one I have seen in Indonesia, which was just next to a good forest. This is a football field of resam fern arresting natural succession in our forest.


This is the biggest area of resam fern lands I have ever seen in NR.