Colugos and Vipers and Flowers, Oh My!

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In addition to rainforest on islands around Singapore, Singapore has one (relatively) large area of rainforest in the Central Catchment area, referring to the reservoirs in the area that act as a water catchment. Although not as large and biodiverse as similar rainforests in Malaysia of course, it's still proper rainforest and I wanted to visit. There are a number of different sites around the Central Catchment area that one can visit, and I decided to visit Bukit Timah Nature Reserve. This one is actually not connected to the main central catchment area, although it was until relatively recently when a highway was built cutting the two off. There is an 'eco bridge' that connects the two with a forested bridge for wildlife, but I'm not sure how successful that's been. The highly endangered Raffles Langur is no longer found in Bukit Timah for example, but with only about 50 individuals in the central catchment there's very little chance of seeing one anyway. If I was really trying to see one I'd have to go across to Malaysia to look.



Anyway, the main reason I chose Bukit Timah is because there's an MRT station within walking distance so I could get there early without needing to faff about with buses.



Getting to the reserve was quite cool because I emerged from the underground into the city and then up ahead was a hill covered in full blown rainforest. Some rainbow lorikeets seen as I walked up were weird though. Unfortunately it's Saturday today which means the place was rather busy with an organised run taking place, but off the main central trail was quite quiet. It is proper primary rainforest though, and the only reason for the missing species compared to similar forest just across the border in Malaysia is the small size and isolation, which makes it an even bigger shame that the Bukit Timah Expressway cuts off Bukit Timah from the Central Catchment.



It quite soon became extremely hot an humid. Of course being inside proper rainforest, especially after it has rained as it did, increases humidity significantly. It also takes ages for my lenses, camera and binoculars, to clear because the accommodation is rather excessively air conditioned by a central system so it's probably up to a 15 degree temperature difference. Yesterday, a Russian guy staying in there went to reception to ask for more blankets because he was too cold at night.



Bird activity at Bukit Timah today was very low unfortunately, but there were quite a few birders around (to the point actually that I wonder if some rarity had been reported) which suggests that it is indeed quite a good birding spot. The whole morning there did eventually produce some interesting things once I got away from the main trail like treeshrews and a Banded Bay Cuckoo (which, surprisingly, is actually new for the trip).



By far the coolest thing though was seen around midday as I was heading out, because right along the main path about 4m above the ground on a tree trunk was a Colugo! Just sitting there quietly, right in the open! It looked much bigger this close than it had from a distance at Singapore Zoo and I think this one was bigger too. The patterns really are super cool and I could just watch it really up close. There were people taking photos of it with their phones, it was that close. Stunning animal and amazing to see so close.



And when I thought it couldn't get any more awesome, just down the path and almost at the car park in a tree overhanging the edge of the road was... A Wagler's Pit Viper! So cool! I noticed it as there was a group of people taking pictures, you may recall my complete inability to find snakes on my own. This was directly above and only about 3m up the tree. I can't believe it, a WAGLER'S PIT VIPER! Such a gorgeous looking animal, absolutely stunning, amazing colouration and that incredible viper shape. Definitely the nicest reptile I've ever seen. Wonderful, and I was not expecting it at all. This one was a female with the much more striking female colouration



Prior to leaving, I decided to go back up and have another look at the Colugo and I'm pleased that I did because I discovered why it was looking so big. Out of its side poked the head of a baby looking around! The baby was on the underside between the mother and the tree and was completely under the mother the first time but was now looking around. It had the biggest cutest eyes ever. Such an amazing little thing!



I really can't believe the luck. A whole morning seeing very little and then a Wagler's Pit Viper and Colugo with baby about 50m from each other along the main entry path, just up from the car park. What great animals! And of course with both being so up close and so still, I got some pictures that, on the back of the camera at least, look to be rather good.



My first attempt to leave the park at 11:30 had been a failure since once I was done with the viper and colugo it was now 1PM. That hour and a half just flew by. As I was leaving at 11:30 I was going to get a bus around to a different spot in the Central Catchment reserve but it no longer felt worth doing since it was later now and I decided that the best thing to do would be to go to Gardens by The Bay for the rest of the day.



The infrastructure around the gardens is very impressive, slightly ridiculous actually. Just behind is the Marina Bay Sands, a big shopping hotel complex thing which is three skyscrapers with a big boat thing across the top. Also nearby is the Singapore Flyer, a London Eye type thing, and in the gardens are a walkway that goes between massive metal trees, and two large glass conservatories, the Flower Dome and Cloud Forest Dome. The gardens are free to walk around, but the domes are S$28 for the two of them. The domes are air conditioned too which must be very costly given the very large amount of air and the fact that it's a glass dome in the hot Singaporean sun.



I went to the Flower Dome first because I was keen to see their special orchid display that is on at the moment.The orchid display was certainly very impressive with vast flowerbeds filled with orchids and masses of colour, although it didn't have particularly many of the weird shaped and coloured orchids that are my favourites. Certainly very impressive however. The other stuff in the dome was cool too and it focused on the various Mediterranean climate zones around the world (Mediterranean, SW Australia, S Africa, California) although apart from the big central bed in the middle which has different flowers at different times, the rest wasn't particularly flowery.



Before going into the second dome I went for late lunch/early dinner at a food court called Satay By The Bay and then I headed to the Cloud Forest Dome which was much taller than the flower one and I thought it was really impressive. The central 6-story cylindrical vertical garden in the was by far the most impressive example of such I've ever seen, the planting was really cool and the plant collection: wow! There was a hugely impressive begonia, anthurium, and rhododentron collection. At the top at the 'lost world' carnivorous plant section and the canopy walkway, the dome also afforded views over Singapore through the glass with an incredible variety of carnivorous plants too especially the pictures



I've always been a big fan of orchids and carnivorous plants, but I just can't get over how fabulous their display of begonias and rhododendrons was. I actually find that I am lost of words as to how to describe how much I liked their vertical garden. An that's not something that happens to me very often! It's mainly that I've never seen those taxa displayed like that on such a scale before. Really impressive. I spent quite a while in the Cloud Forest Dome to the point that it was dark when I left, but I had intended to stay in the Gardens By the Bay until after dark anyway to look at the lights.



The lights in the domes and gardens and surrounding buildings were all very impressive, although that's about all I can say about them, big shiny lights. The light show on the Supertrees was especially impressive although also the cheesiest thing I have ever seen with massive ginormous metal 'trees' flashing and twinkling all sorts of colours and patterns in time with clichéd classical music. Very Singapore. More entertaining than I would have expected though, giant metal trees flashing and sparkling to the can-can in a way that's best described as 'mental' is not something you see every day, and I ended up leavinv much later than anticipated. It was quite fun wandering the gardens a bit at night and there were quite a few wee little fruit bats at some of the trees - I think Dog-faced. There were lots of otters crossing signs in the gardens too so there may be a chance of seeing otters here I suppose. So colugos, a viper,



Oh, and with this post, that becomes 100,000 words of travel blog posts so far this trip. Well done to the probably nonexistent person who's read all of it!



New birds:



Banded Bay Cuckoo

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