Have the Beans been to Ubin?

The Green Beans went for our 7th Ubin trip yesterday, and despite being initially disappointed that out of 50 Green Bean members only 3 had come along with us, we enjoyed the walk so much and even had NMP (Or Almira’s Mom haha) Ms Faizah join us for a short while together with Andy, an experienced birdwatcher. The small group enabled a much better dynamic and facilitations, and with 5 people altogether, we also got to know our Year 5 Beans better. Furthermore, we will be having another Ubin walk next week, with Vanessa, XiaoLi and Monisha guiding the group.

The day started out with the sight of a Falcon enjoying it’s meal; a pigeon! Our surprise when we stepped onto the Island and met Andy, an experienced birdwatcher who immediately pointed out the scene and even gave us to opportunity to see it close up with his telescope. What an amazing experience (albeit slightly disturbing one), especially when the poor pigeon’s feathers began falling down from the tower onto the spot we were in.

The scene of the bird gore on the tower, and here we see the video of the Falcon enjoying its meal being capture on an iPhone

Going to Pekan Quarry and then Butterfly Hill, we saw loads of egrets and learnt about the various types of egrets that we do have in Singapore. Along the way we had the chance to see a artificial hornbill mating box, purposefully attached to a tree by NParks. Once having 3 recorded species of Hornbills in Singapore, the Rhinoceros Hornbill, the Helmeted Hornbill and the Oriental Pied Hornbill, the population has been narrowed down to merely the Oriental Pied, as the Rhinoceros and Helmeted Hornbill went extinct before the 1900s and in the 1950s respectively.

Made to encourage hornbills to mate, so as to increase the population of the Oriental Pied which was once believed to be extinct, the artificial nests has come with much success and over 100 Hornbills now reside in Singapore. However which the increasing population of Hornbills comes the question of what its impact is, and many believe that the rapid increase of Hornbills in comparison to other groups of birds in Singapore (that may be more endangered) may actually be more detrimental than beneficial.

The artificial nesting grounds for Hornbills

The ecological system is definitely one of an extremely complex nature, and every single fluctuation within in will definitely introduce impacts onto the rest of the system. And this also reflect the various global environmental issues; as with the Palm Oil Industry in Sumatra. While some may choose to blame the Palm Oil Industry for all their negative impacts of the Indonesian forest, one cannot ignore the fact that Palm Oil is essential to their economy. The environment and economy are intrinsically linked, and having a more holistic view of environmental issues allows us to comprehensively understand the larger framework, so as to make better judgements and opinions. Every single thing will affect another, and that’s what casts such importance upon maintaining this delicate balance between everything, whether it be the economy and environment, or the hornbills and other birds. And this is where we come in, to play our own roles as members of this Earth!

At the Butterfly Park, we saw so many different butterflies (none of which we could identify haha), and learnt about the different flowers and fruit we saw along the way. One of them was the Torch Ginger, and if you’re Singaporean you should definitely know this for being in our Rojaks! Another was the Fig Tree, which we learnt is pollinated by wasps. Unfortunately the Fig trees in Singapore apparently either don’t taste too good or are inedible.

 

 

After that we parted ways with Ms Faizah and Andy, and headed off to Chek Jawa! Wild Boars as usual came around the corner and of course, the cameras came out.

 

The Fish-tail palm (Caryota), it’s jagged edges makes it appear as though it’s been eaten already, warding of potential predators.

The Vinegar Crab, also known as the tree climbing crab. With the ability to climb up to 6 meters high on trees, it’s also more famously known to be pickled and eaten with black sauce and vinegar in porridge.

The Attap tree, also known as the Nypa Palm. Known for being in South East Asian desserts (that terrible tasting thing everyone avoids).

Mangrove Roots are specially adapted to survive in the soft, loose soils through structural adaptations that allow them to keep upright and standing. There is so much more to Mangroves, such the the ability of their leaves to control their stomata, as to conserve freshwater; vital in a saline environment. Some species have the ability to retain salt in their leaves, and discard them when content gets too high. Even the way they reproduce is amazing! Seed grow until they reach a stage where they become large, long and cylindrical. It is then dropped into the soil, and over time grows to resemble pencil-like roots, before becoming a full-grown adult tree.

 The mangrove seed and the pencil-like roots

A short break for the Beans.

When we got back to the visitor centre at Chek Jawa, we witnessed some people feeing the Wild Boars. The Boars began to get excited and started to fight over the bit of bread these people were handing out. We asked them to stop, and when the people stopped feeding them and walked away, the Boars started to follow them around. Highlighting the dangers of such actions, feeding animals in Nature Reserves is definitely not a very smart thing to do, and it’s important to consider the ethical implications of one’s actions, not just doing as we please.

Ended the day with the ride back to mainland, and Lontong and Ice Kacang!

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