An Otterly Awesome Day Out at Pasir Ris Mangroves

Video of the otter we spotted by Ria Tan

As with all of our other walks, we had a wonderful time exploring the mangroves in Pasir Ris Park with our participants!

Over 80 participants turned up despite gloomy weather

We had close to 90 participants despite the slight drizzle and grey skies at the start of our walk.

Instead of dampening our spirits, the light drizzle helped to cool the environment in the park and that made the walk more enjoyable.

Here's our guide, Ley Kun (pictured in a white hat), giving an introduction before the walk.

Our participants were made up of groups of eager families and friends, who were excited to learn more about the residents of our local mangroves.

Encouraging the curiosity of our young participants

Kids are the best spotters of wildlife and often ask the best questions!

With the help of our curious, young participants, we got to spot many crabs and interesting insects, such as the mangrove shield bug and a red-coloured assassin bug!

Photo of these gorgeous creatures by Ria Tan

Mangrove shield bugs are often found in clusters under leaves in the mangrove. To find out more about these beautiful bugs, you can read about them here on Wildsingapore's fact sheets.

A cotton stainer bug nymph, spotted by another young participant

This young individual of the cotton stainer was found near the sea hibiscus plant, which the adults and young often congregate around. You can read more about them here.

A young mangrove pit viper, spotted by a sharp-eyed visitor

Mangrove pit vipers are a key part of our walk as our visitors are always excited to see them.

As with all other snakes and wild animals, they will not attack unless threatened or provoked.

We really enjoy having families join us for our walks as visitors help us to spot wildlife and ask a lot of great questions about our local flora and fauna.

Comments and drawings from our participants

At the end of our walk, we usually let our participants draw or write about what they saw.

Hard at work 

A quick drawing session in the mangroves

Here's some artworks and the young artists who drew them.

While the kids were drawing, we saw a smooth-coated otter fishing and a group of egrets resting in a tree.

We also had a grey heron and hornbills fly by when we ended our walk at the jetty!

We would also like to thank our participants for the encouraging comments on Facebook by our participants, Veronica Ong and Ahha Lim.

Veronica Ong Thank you for sharing with us this lovely place! Kevin (Evan) was awesome and so patient!

Veronica Ong We saw mudskippers, a purple snake, a dead horseshoe crab shell, otters, fish, snails etx

2

Ahha Lim Thank you very much for organizing this special event. I am looking for more outings with you.

1

 

Why you should join us at our next walk

Our walks are:

• For everyone (from families to individuals)
• Free-of-charge
• Fun!

We hope to see you at our next walk on 15 December 2019.

Follow our Facebook page for updates on the next walk.

Thank you to all our participants who joined us and our guides, Evan, Jonathan, Ley Kun, Ria and Sumita for the wonderful time!

23 Nov (Sat) - Free guided walk at Pasir Ris Mangroves

This March, the Naked Hermit Crabs are specially organising a very special nature walk at Pasir Ris Mangroves this Saturday, 23 November. This is a FREE nature walk on the mangrove boardwalk at Pasir Ris Park.

Sign up now on Eventbrite! Don't miss the opportunity to see some wildlife in action! Pasir Ris Mangroves is conveniently located 10 minutes away from Pasir Ris MRT station. We only do Pasir Ris Mangroves two to three times a year, so don't miss this opportunity!

Ria explains to her participants that the best way
to find owls is to look out for their puke pellets
that usually contains undigested matter,
such as bones, feathers or plant matter
Photo by Nicholas Yeo.

This puke pellet contains a shrew's skeleton
(a type of rodent)
Photo by Nicholas Yeo.

One of the spotted wood owls
Photo by Nicholas Yeo.

They aren't always easy to spot so guides usually point
them out. With a bit of patience and sharp eyesight,
the visitor finally spots the owls.
Photo by Nicholas Yeo.

Kapok! The kapok tree produces pods that burst
to expose a cottony interior.
Photo by Nicholas Yeo.

A grey heron heading back to the roost sight.
Photo by Nicholas Yeo.

Taking in the sights and sounds at the shore
Photo by Nicholas Yeo.

Everyone was intrigued by the crab moults
Photo by Nicholas Yeo.

There are many creatures look out for in the mangroves, such as mudskippers, tree-climbing crabs, snails, herons and monitor lizards. The best part of the nature walk is at the end when we get to the small jetty over the river. There is a lot of animal activity in the evenings. We have seen young monitor lizards crawling into their nests as they settle in before nightfall. Sometimes, you may even spot kingfishers, jellyfishes and water snakes! It really is quite exciting for the children to be able to see these animals in the wild.