Great day at Chek Jawa on a Saturday morning

We had a great day at Chek Jawa with about 20 visitors on 23 Feb 2019. So happy to meet with enthusiastic visitors. Very lovely people!

We saw lots of animals including monitor lizards, an Oriental Whip snake, fiddler crabs, tree-climbing crabs, wild boars and macaques. Strangely, we did not see mudskippers in the mangrove and at the coastal side too. Not sure why.

The sun was out, the sky was a beautiful blue, and lots of fresh air. It's a good day to be out enjoying some nature!

One of the kids in the group spotted a pair of needlefishes in the waters just after the beacon. The fishes are about 40 cm long. What a treat to be able to see theses fishes!

We saw lots of long-tail macaques before and after the walk. The guides took the opportunity to remind visitors not to feed the monkeys.

A shout-out with thanks to our volunteer guides - Sumita, Ria, Xiang Tian, LK and our intern, Francine, for guiding!

Also, check out the video that Ria made of the walk: https://wildshores.blogspot.com/2019/02/black-water-at-chek-jawa.html#.XHZanogzY2x



Do join us at our upcoming events in March:

10 March, 2019 (Sunday) - guided walk at Berlayar Creek by trainee guides

16 March, 2019 (Saturday), 4 to 8pm - a community event organised by Celebrating Singapore Shores. Come and meet the wonderful people who are involved in marine conservation and education in Singapore! No registration is needed.

23 Feb (Sat) - Free guided walk at Chek Jawa Boardwalk

Join us our regular Chek Jawa Boardwalk outing on 23 February, Saturday. Come explore this very special and beautiful corner of Singapore mangroves with us. Just gather your family and friends, and have someone do the signup on behalf of the group. Best of all, this nature walk is free! Register on Eventbrite here.

Chek Jawa is rich in biodiversity, and with the help of our volunteer guides, you should be able to see lots of interesting plants and wildlife. Even though we are not going on to the shore, there is still much to see and enjoy. There are monitor lizards, fiddler crabs, spiders, rare plants, wild boar, 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.

Date: 23 February 2019 (Saturday)
Meeting place: Chek Jawa Information Kiosk, Pulau Ubin
Meeting time: 9:30 am
Duration of walk: 2 hours
Fees: No charge for now, but small donations are accepted
Sign up here.

For more information on what to expect at our Chek Jawa Boardwalk outings, and when preparing for your visit, please make sure you read our post specially written for you.

More photos in the next section.

Want to guide? Join our guiding workshop on 9 and 10 March!

Always wanted to be a nature guide? Want to be a better nature guide? This workshop is just for you! First timers and existing nature guides are welcomed.

Find out what makes a good nature guide (psst, not knowledge, as most people think!). Ria Tan of www.wildsingapore.com, shares easy tips on guiding effectively - mainly by connecting with your participants: from the grumpiest toddler to the scariest know-it-all. Facilitated by experienced guides from various Singapore nature groups, there'll be hands-on activities to brainstorm solutions to your deepest nature guiding worries. 

Then test your newfound approach and guide alongside the volunteers of the Naked Hermit Crabs (http://nakedhermitcrabs.blogspot.sg) for an actual tour of the Berlayar Creek Boardwalk - with real participants. Experienced volunteers will demonstrate and help you guide during this walk. More about Berlayar Creek Boardwalk https://celebratingsingaporeshores.blogspot.com/2018/01/singapore-mangroves-few-steps-from-mrt.html

You can even have a chance to give back to the Naked Hermit Crabs by being a station guide for the "Celebrating Singapore Shores!" event on 16 March (Sat) at the same Berlayar Creek Boardwalk, organised by Celebrating Singapore Shores and Lepak in SG. Do note that participants are required to commit to being a station guide for this event if they attend the workshop. More details will be provided during the workshop.

Indoor classroom workshop
Date: 9 March (Sat)
Time: 2pm - 6pm
Venue: Singapore Sustainability Academy

Outdoor field session with the Naked Hermit Crabs
Date: 10 March (Sun)
Time: 4pm-6pm
Venue: Berlayar Creek Boardwalk (Meet at Labrador MRT station street level)

Celebrating Singapore Shores Event with the Naked Hermit Crabs
Date: 16 March (Sat)
Time: 4pm - 8pm
Venue: Berlayar Creek Boardwalk (more details provided at the workshop)

A confirmation email will be sent out after registration.

SIGN UP here: https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLScv4iJPy5b-RLFrl-_G-vFgXHsSWlDpfwwYuXvrx_xshKoWIA/viewform

Hope to see you there!

Happy World Wetlands Day!

Last Saturday's walk gave participants close wild encounters to several animal superstars in Pasir Ris Park and Mangroves. To prepare for our special World Wetlands Day walk (2 February), the guides decided to meet early to plan our route. While doing our recce, we were alerted by some bird photographers to the presence of the family of Spotted Wood Owls who frequent the park. We later shared this magical experience with the participants. Kids and adults alike were enthralled to see the family of owls and puke pellets which often contains rodent bones.

Spotted Wood Owl
(Photo by Jimmy Ng)

In the mangroves, we were lucky to encounter many different types of birds and some mangrove pit vipers! Under the supervision of one of our guides, our participants got to get close to one of the adult pit vipers in the mangrove who was resting on the boardwalk. This was a good opportunity for us to educate the importance of respecting nature from a distance and this allowed our participants to understand that snakes do not attack unless it is under self-defense. Mangrove pit vipers are highly venomous. However, no snake or person was harmed as co-existence just means that you respect each other's space, even if children are present. With the right guidance, we can all co-exist with our wild neighbours, regardless of whether they are scaly or furry.

Our scaly superstar, the mangrove pit viper who was
resting on the boardwalk all day and went unnoticed
our friend notified us of their presence. Participants got to go
close to the pit viper but nothing happened as there was
no touchingof the reptile by participants or guides.
(Photo by Peter Chua)

Another young mangrove pit viper
(Photo by Peter Chua)

A third mangrove pit viper who went unnoticed by
everyone except one guide
(Photo by Sumita)

To end the walk, a famous family of otters swam past the jetty and came onto land. This delighted our participants and other park-goers who were all capturing the scene with their phones and cameras. This was truly a perfect end to an unforgettable walk.

Otters making a special guest experience at the end of our walk!

(Video by E Lim)

We would like to thank all of our guides (Ria, Ley Kun, Xiang Tian, Becky, Liz and Sumita) for guiding our participants. To all our participants, we hope you had a wonderful day with your loved ones and we hope to see you at our next walk in February! Remember to follow our Facebook Page for updates on registration for our next walk at Chek Jawa.

A truly joyous occasion to commemorate World Wetlands Day!
(Photo by Ria Tan)