What can we see at Pasir Ris in the rain?

It was thundery and lightning filled start to our walk this evening. But after a long wait for safer weather, a small group headed out to check out the mangroves at Pasir Ris.

What special creatures can we find in such wet weather?

Announcement: Chek Jawa Boardwalk trip on 14th Apr (Sat)

Registration for our Chek Jawa Boardwalk trip in April is open!


For those of you who have heard of our trips, our outings are always entertaining and educational. The aim is to share our knowledge of mangroves and natural shorelines with you as part of voluntary efforts to create public awareness of inter-tidal biodiversity.  Even though we are not going down to the shore at this outing, there is still much to see and enjoy. There are monitor lizards, fiddler crabs, spiders, rare plants, wild boars, mudskippers and lots of fruit trees. If we are lucky, we might even spot the Oriental Pied Hornbill, White-bellied Sea Eagle and the giant Atlas Moth.

Dates: 14th April 2012 (Saturday)
Time: 9:30 am
Duration: about 2 hours
Meeting Place: Chek Jawa Information Kiosk, Pulau Ubin
Cost: The Crabs do not charge for the trip but you will have to pay for the bumboat and taxi rides to get to Chek Jawa. 

Registration

We welcome small family and friend groups. You may sign up using our online form. We will send you an email to confirm the places for your group. 


If you have questions for us, write in to nakedhermitcrabs@gmail.com

Families enjoying day out on Chek Jawa Boardwalk

The Crabs went out to Chek Jawa Boardwalk on 10th March 2012 with about 26 visitors. We had a wonderful time exploring the mangroves and coastal area with the families. Our visitors are ever so enthusiastic with all that they saw. In fact, I am quite impressed by the moms and dads in this group as they appear to be adventurous and their kids had loads of fun. Kudos to the Lee, Tan, Heng and Tay families for being a real sport!

When we arrive at Chek Jawa, we were able to show the kids how rubber tapping works. Rubber used to be an important cash crop in the past (until natural rubber was replaced by synthetic rubber), and there were a number of rubber estates in Pulau Ubin. The rubber estates are no longer in operation, but the rubber trees are left to grow wild all over the island, gradually turning into secondary forests. LK explained to the kids how the rubber tree is "tapped" and the sticky sap collected from the trees is called latex which coagulates on exposure to air. The kids were able to stretch the ribbons of latex.

Ria's group of visitors saw the male Oriental Pied Hornbill feeding on fruits. They were so excited with the sighting as can be expected because the hornbill is indeed a magnificent beauty of our forests. The kids and adults made the tedious climb to the top of Jejawi Tower and were rewarded with yet another wonderful sighting, this time of a White-Bellied Sea-Eagle, soaring above their heads. Yup! This is a typical day out to Chek Jawa, a treasure trove of biodiversity in Singapore!

Kids out at the Pasir Ris mangrove boardwalk!

It's the last days of the school holidays and lots of families joined the Crabs for another exciting walk at the Pasir Ris mangrove boardwalk! About 80 mums, dads, kids and nature lovers! Hurray!

The kids, as usual, are super spotters and thanks to them, we see all kinds of awesome mangrove life!

Announcement: CJ Boardwalk trip on 10th Mar (Sat)

We still have a few places available for our March outing to observe the wildlife at Chek Jawa Boardwalk. Do write in to nakedhermitcrabs@gmail.com to register.

For those of you who have heard of our trips, our outings are always entertaining and educational. The aim is to share our knowledge of mangroves and natural shorelines with you as part of voluntary efforts to create public awareness of inter-tidal biodiversity.  Even though we are not going down to the shore at this outing, there is still much to see and enjoy. There are monitor lizards, fiddler crabs, spiders, rare plants, wild boars, mudskippers and lots of fruit trees. If we are lucky, we might even spot the Oriental Pied Hornbill, White-bellied Sea Eagle and the giant Atlas Moth.

Dates: 10th March 2012 (Saturday)
Time: 9:30 am
Duration: about 2 hours
Meeting Place: Chek Jawa Information Kiosk, Pulau Ubin
Cost: The Crabs do not charge for the trip but you will have to pay for the bumboat and taxi rides to get to Chek Jawa. 

Mangrove Pitta in Pasir Ris!

We had our very first public walk at Pasir Ris Mangroves last Saturday (25th Feb) and you won't believe what we saw! The elusive Mangrove Pitta in the mangroves! Thanks to one of the kids who spotted it first. For the past few weeks, the Internet was abuzz with news among nature lovers and birders that the Mangrove Pitta has been sighted at Pasir Ris Mangroves. So it is quite a special treat for us to see it with our own eyes. The Mangrove Pitta (Pitta megarhyncha) is a nationally endangered bird species due to widespread loss of its habitat. There are few mangroves left on mainland Singapore, so let's hope this rare and much-loved species of bird thrives in the natural habitat of Pasir Ris Mangroves.

To learn more about the Mangrove Pitta, read the 31 Jan 2012 post on the Bird Ecology Study Group blog.

Mangrove Pitta sighted at Pasir Ris Mangroves on 25 Feb 2012

March and April: Evening at the Pasir Ris Mangrove boardwalk with the Naked Hermit Crabs

Join us in March and April to explore the fascinating mangroves at Pasir Ris Park! The boardwalk allows a closer look at the mangroves and it's open even at night!

Kids have lots of fun spotting and learning about mangrove
creatures from the boardwalk!

Liam (12 and a half) and Skylar (9 and a half) shared this lovely drawing of what we did and saw during our walk on 17 Mar.

We are offering this FREE walk on: 17 Mar (Sat) (school holidays!), 24 Mar (Sat), 21 Apr (Sat), 28 Apr (Sat). What can we see at Pasir Ris? And more details about our walk!