Fun walk in Chek Jawa during the school holidays

We have lined up 2 fabulous fun walks in Chek Jawa (Boardwalk) for the next two months, November and December. Registration is now open for both walks. In particular, we welcome families to join us to discover what kind of plants and animals can be found in one of the natural shores of Singapore. With trained guides leading the groups on the boardwalk, we should be able to point out lots of animals such as fiddler crabs, mud crabs, mudskippers, fishes, snails and many kinds of bugs to you. And as I always tell my visitors, if we are very lucky, we will get to see hornbills, eagles, jungle fowl, wild boars and beautiful forest birds too.

It is our firm belief that kids (and adults!) need to learn about the natural world so that they can begin to understand about conservation of animal and plant species. Knowledge first, then love for and protection of the animals will come naturally. Parents, help plant that seed of love for nature in your child.

Dates: 12th November and 10th December (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.

Write to nakedhermitcrabs@gmail.com to register. We welcome small family and friend groups.

Stingray and hornbills

We had a small turnout of visitors for the 8th October walk but that didn't dampen the mood of the group. Jael brought her family and friends, 7 in total, while KP brought his friend's son who has just finished his PSLE exams and needed some nature therapy!

The wild boars (Sus scrofa) were there at the Information Kiosk to welcome us. It was a sow with her 4 piglets. They seem rather tame and were lingering around the information kiosk apparently hoping to get food handouts from us. We did not feed them since we knew that it is better for the wild boars to forage for food in the forests than to receive sugar and starch-rich food from us. But they were really cute, and all the visitors were happily snapping pictures of them.

Wild boar at the Information Kiosk of Chek Jawa

8 October - Chek Jawa Boardwalk outing

PSLE is over? What about giving your special kid a special treat this Saturday? Come on down to join us as the Crabs explore Chek Jawa Boardwalk with families and friends. We run this nature trip every month so as to introduce Singaporeans to the amazing shore and mangrove wildlife in our own backyard. Marine biodiversity is often under-appreciated in our very urbanised society, and it is time to get everyone excited about nature and its preservation!

We have tailored our trips for the true blue urbanised fellow citizens. There is plenty of native flora and fauna to observe from the safety of the Chek Jawa Boardwalk. No need to get your feet wet. We should be able to observe interesting creatures like mudskippers, tree-climbing crabs, fiddler crabs, weaver ants, kingfishers, tailorbirds, etc. Sometimes when we are REALLY lucky, we get to see spectacular aerial displays by the White-bellied Fish Eagles.

If the tide is low, we might also observe the shore birds feeding away on the mudflats. We are entering the season when the migratory birds from the far north are starting to fly south, and Chek Jawa is a vital stopover for some of these migratory birds.

So, start planning your trip! If you're interested to join us, write in to nakedhermitcrabs@gmail.com

Date: 8 October, 2011 (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.

10th Sep - Free Chek Jawa Boardwalk trip

Chek Jawa remains one of the few unspoilt natural shores in Singapore. You might have heard lots about the place and the abundant biodiversity that still exists there. Come on down and join the Crabs as they do their monthly visit to Chek Jawa.

On a typical trip on the boardwalk, we would expect to see mudskippers, tree-climbing crabs, fiddler crabs, monitor lizards, jungle fowl, molluscs and fishes in the mangroves as well as on the shoreline. And if you are interested in birds, then you won't be disappointed too. The more spectacular species seen at Chek Jawa are the Oriental Pied Hornbills, Grey Herons and White-Bellied Sea Eagles. But the smaller birds are equally interesting too. We have seen (and heard) tailorbirds, sunbirds, woodpeckers, kingfishers and bulbuls.

Write to us at nakedhermitcrabs@gmail.com and tell us how many people are coming along. We welcome small family and friend groups.

Date: 10 September, 2011 (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.

It's August!

The Crabs had a wonderful trip out to Chek Jawa Boardwalk together with their visitors on 13 August. About 30 people came and we split into 3 groups led by our volunteer guides - Pei Yan, Daniel, Kok Sheng and Ley Kun. Two of KS's students came along to help us as part of their environmental exposure programme.

We had a number of kids in the groups, and true to form, the kids were wonderful in spotting lots of interesting stuff. Read on to find out what they spotted.

Along the path leading to the shore, Ley Kun's group stopped to admire the Sea Poison Tree (Barringtonia asiatica). It is a rather tall tree with large leaves. The fruits have an unusual box-like shape. Its fibrous covering enables the fruit to float on water, just like the coconut, thus allowing it to have a wider seed dispersal. Here is a young visitor holding the lovely pom pom flowers of the Sea Poison tree, found strewn under the tree.

13th Aug - Free Chek Jawa Boardwalk trip

Registration is open for our monthly outing to Chek Jawa this coming Saturday, 13th August.

Chek Jawa is a natural shore located on the eastern tip of Pulau Ubin. On a typical trip, we would expect to see mudskippers, tree-climbing crabs, fiddler crabs, monitor lizards, jungle fowl, molluscs and fishes in the mangroves as well as on the shoreline. Last month, we had sightings of wild boars in the forest, as well as several herons feeding on the mudflats. The guides miss seeing the Oriental Pied Hornbills for a while now, and we hope we are luckier this month. It is always a special treat when we get to see the hornbills in Chek Jawa.

Come and see for yourself. Write to us at nakedhermitcrabs@gmail.com and tell us how many people are coming along. We welcome small family and friend groups.

Date: 13 August, 2011 (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.

Wild Boar Day

Kudos to all the moms and dads who took the kids out to visit Chek Jawa with us on 9th July (Saturday). We had a great time, and hope you did too!

Excitement was in the air when we arrived at Chek Jawa in the morning. Someone had found durians from the nearby forest and was sharing them with the visitors. Yes, we are in the middle of durian madness in Pulau Ubin, and there are several durian trees planted by villagers in Chek Jawa a long time ago. Unfortunately the fruit that we had was rather tasteless, but we were assured that there are better ones to be bought from the Ubin town centre. Do visit soon if you want to taste home-grown durians. We probably have about 2 weeks left of the durian season.

Besides durians, it seems to be Wild Boar Day as well. Families of wild boars could be seen running in circles around Chek Jawa. We saw the pigs crossing the main path several times, and concluded that they must be running in circles! The piglets are adorable! Some of them seem to have grown bigger since we last saw them in May and June, and have already lost their 'watermelon' stripes. They seem relatively unafraid of people too. As always, we reminded our visitors to keep a distance from the wild boars.