ferns are among the easiest plants to identify

when i go for my walks at nature parks and forest reserves, i like to get acquainted with the flora and fauna. i have learned to appreciate the rich diversity of flora and fauna in our urban and rural gardens.

after having tasted the crunchy wild ferns (midin) in kuching, i am inclined to pay more attention to ferns these days when i go for my nature walks. i have come across a species which is similar to the 'midin' in sarawak.

most of the time after finding out the name of a certain plant, i tend to forget its name after a lapse of time. however, with ferns, i do not have this problem because the shape or outline of a fern usually gives a clue to its name. below are four common ferns found in our parks and reserves.

the giant sword ferns grows easily and so they can become quite invasive. i have seen them being grown in pots. they can even withstand strong sunlight. the name comes from its arching and trailing green fronds which resemble a broad sword. there is a whole row of giant sword ferns near the wallace education centre at dairy farm nature park.

the leaves of the staghorn fern are antler-like in appearance. staghorns are epiphytes - they 'grow on others'. however, they are not parasites as they do not draw any nutrition from their hosts. they are commonly found on trunks of trees. kent ridge park is one place where you can see lots of staghorn ferns.


tree ferns refer to any fern that grows with a trunk elevating the fronds above the ground level. i remember the huge ones found in fraser's hills in west malaysia and in the dandenong mountains in melbourne. tree ferns are quite common in our natural environment. i see quite a few along the trails at bukit batok nature park.

this is the most common fern in singapore. you do not have to go to nature parks or forest reserves to see the bird's nest fern. the tongue-shaped fronds of the bird's nest fern are borne from a central, funnel-shaped rosette of fuzzy, brown wool where the emerging fronds resemble bird's eggs, giving the plants its common name.

at the botanic gardens, there is a small section designated as the fernery. i had expected to see a greater variety of ferns here but was disappointed to find only a few species at the fernery.

from dairy farm to bukit timah

i wonder if the original objective of opening the dairy farm nature park has been met. the dairy farm nature park was developed with the idea of relieving the congestion at bukit timah nature reserve. over the years the popularity of the oldest reserve in singapore had meant that if you went after 6 a.m., especially on a weekend, you would not be able to find a parking space in the car-park. it appears to me that the situation has not changed much even with the addition of the wallace trail and a well-marked link to bukit timah nature reserve from the dairy farm nature park.




even before dairy farm nature park was opened, there was already connectivity between the two areas. i used to meet a few seasoned walkers moving from dairy farm to the summit of bukit timah and vice versa. today, in spite of the signboard indicating the path to the summit, the number of people taking to this trail has not increased very much.



most people who visit the dairy farm nature reserve tend to explore or use the easy trail - the wallace trail. the trek to the summit of bukit timah is definitely more challenging. it involves climbing steps carved out by constant trampling, steps provided by the roots of trees and some giant steps constructed from concrete slabs. a reasonably fit person should be able to reach the summit of bukit timah from the dairy farm nature park within 20 minutes.



to get to the summit of bukit timah, you have to first follow the trail to the dairy farm loop. here, you have the option of going either left or right. both directions will eventually lead you to the 'main road' on bukit timah. if you make a right, you will come to the north view path and if you turn left, you will reach the rengas path. the north view path merges with the rengas path at some point.

most visitors to the two nature areas still treat them as separate entities. they generally do not move from one to the other. if they go to the bukit timah nature reserve, they seldom end up at the dairy farm nature park and vice versa.

the little grebes at the s'pore quarry

picture from another source

today, i visited the s'pore quarry, a part of the newly opened dairy farm nature park. there are a few ways to get to this enclosed disused quarry. most people would park their cars at car-park 'a' and walk past the moe adventure camp to get to the road leading all the way to the quarry. a shorter route can be had by parking your car at railway mall and walking to the end of jalan asas, which will eventually join up with the road to the quarry. a third way is to follow the mountain bike trail till you come to the tunnel. above the tunnel is the same road that leads to the quarry. you can actually get to the s'pore quarry from the bukit timah nature reserve by following the mountain bike trail.

besides enjoying the serenity of the place, we also indulged in a bit of bird-watching today. i have read about the precious little grebes that inhabit the shallow waters of the quarry pond. some visitors pointed them out to me and i realised that i had seen similar birds somewhere, though i am not able to put a finger to the place.

the little grebe was too far away from me. if you follow the streak in the water, you can visualise the bird at one end of it.

there was another majestic bird we saw - the white bellied sea-eagle perched high on a 'matchstick' tree. according to another regular visitor to the place, two young eagles are often seen in the vicinity. i am familiar with the eagles because i always hear and see them from my bedroom windows, though the same ones.

i also managed to spot another medium-sized bird on a raft-like structure. i was told that it was a common sandpiper. the sandpiper has this peculiar habit of bouncing a few times when it lands on the ground or any surface.




however, what really captivated me was the playfulness of the little grebes and their ability to disappear and reappear somewhere else. from my two visits to the quarry pond, i have observed that this bird is very fond of diving. the birds build their floating nests among the reeds. you can tell that there is a family among some reeds when you hear their distinctive trill.

if you visit the singapore quarry, you should armed yourself with a pair of binoculars otherwise you may miss the sight of these beautiful birds. a lot of people miss this attraction because the little grebes tend to keep far away from humans and they hide themselves by diving into the water the moment they are disturbed by loud noise.

most visitors notice the kois, tiger barbs and other small fish in the water. unfortunately, a lot of them miss seeing the liitle grebes. they may also notice the'sausages' on the reeds sticking out of the water but not the birds hidden among the reeds.

pictorial answers to 'who was wallace'?

1 where is the wallace education centre located?

what is full name of this place?

who was wallace?

alfred russel wallace, naturalist

where are the two designated car-parks?

junction upper bukit timah road and dairy farm road

near petir road and dairy farm road junction

who was wallace?

this morning, while on my morning nature walk, i came across this sign-post. this should give you an idea where i walked this morning. i thought: wow, this is my chance to pose a question where the answer cannot be googled. my googling friend had posted this comment in my blog: "YG, you should come up with quizes which are not "googleable".

this is a brand-new place, surely nobody will have blogged or mentioned it on the internet. however, this was not to be. when i typed in the search-box "wallace education centre", not only was the location mentioned, there was also a picture of the place.

anyway, i have decided to go ahead with the quiz because through it, readers will come to know more about this place which is due to be opened anytime soon. i have blogged about this place more than once.

QUIZ QUESTIONS:

1 where is the wallace education centre located?

2 what's the full name of this place?

2 who was wallace?

3 if you are driving, where are the two designated car parks?

viewing platform at singapore quarry

this is the shelter with minimal seating at the viewing platform at the singapore quarry. what is sorely lacking here are the toilet facilities. for men, there is the open 'firing range' but for women, it will be a problem looking for 'cover' in this area.

there are reeds growing quite close to the platform. it will be nice if some lesser whistling ducks, like those at the botanic gardens, decide to make this place their home.

this is the platform overlooking the water of the singapore quarry. the quarry, which ceased operation in the early 70s, has seen no activity until nparks decided to develop the dairy farm nature park and it was included in the plans. the place was fenced and the gate locked.

access to the singapore quarry is via the road that leads to the ministry of education dairy farm adventure campsite. a short cut to it is via jalan asas, where the rail mall is. you can read about the access here.

so, with the opening of the dairy farm nature park, i will lose another place where i go to to enjoy solitude and to be close to nature. still, i am glad that more people will cme to know and appreciate this quiet spot in singapore.

you can also see the quarry from bukit timah (hill).

the coral aphelandras are blooming

the coral aphelandras in bukit batok nature park are blooming. actually, you can see them all the year round but this time of the year, more plants seem to be flowering. this plant, which originates from south america, can grow as tall as 3m. the flowers appear to last for a few weeks. it seems, in temperate countries, they bloom in winter.

if you are coming by the main entrance to bukit batok nature park, take the first turning on your right. about 150m into this walking track, you will be able to see the coral aphelandras on both sides of the track.

developments at dairy farm nature park









































when i first came upon these abandoned buildings in march 2007 during one of my nature walks, i had mistaken it for the site of the old dairy farm. it turned out to be an old warehouse. the work now being done will convert this place into classrooms and a centre showcasing the heritage of the area.

at that time, i was thinking that had i been a businessman, i would develop the place into an eatery and cafe. it reminded me of another way-out place in sembawang, the bottle tree village. here, although you are not by the sea, you are right in the middle of a nature reserve, away from all the hustle and bustle of urban life.

the bungalow will be converted into a ranger station and a volunteers' lounge. there is a big rambutan tree in front of the bungalow on the right side and behind the house is a big durian tree. as i was approaching the bungalow, a man emerged from the back with a durian in hand. i am not a durian hunter, so i do not go out of the way specifically to look for durian trees.



at the moment, retricted access for vehicles to this worksite is via the track at 100 dairy farm road. there is going to be an open car-park by the side of this track, which will eventually be widened to a road.

the dairy farm nature park is expected to be ready by the end of this year.

durian trees in our nature parks/reserves

when the people moved out, they left their fruit trees behind. in a few of our nature parks and nature reserves, you can find durian trees. these include bukit batok nature park, choa chu kang park, yishun park, bukit timah nature reserve, especially around the rifle range area, and pulau ubin.

this time of the year being the durian season, if you walk in these parks or reserves, you may get a whiff of the fragrance of the flowers or the fruit. it takes about three months for the pollinated flowers to became a mature fruit. unfortunately, many of the fruit do not get the chance to reach maturity.

these tree climbing 'poachers' with sharp teeth will gnaw at the thick husk of the durian fruit till there is a hole in it. eventually, this fruit, which has been attacked by the squirrels, will fall to the ground before it has ripened. i came across many durians in such a state at rifle range road and at bukit batok nature park.

are we allowed to pick the fruit that has fallen? i asked a park ranger who was patrolling the area. his response was non-commital. "you are not allowed to wait in the vicinity for the fruit to drop." he explained that such people, while waiting, would start a fire by burning some dried leaves and branches to chase away the mosquitoes.

i did witness such an incident. three or four middle-age men were camped under a durian tree laden with fruit and they had a fire going. they were not just trying to keep the mosquitoes away but they had the fire to boil a kettle of water for their coffee.