low tide at sungei buloh wetland reserve

so, we know at high-tide, we can see the tree-climbing crabs on the trees, the mud-skippers are also onto something that keep them afloat and the monitor lizards tend to be moving on the tracks rather than on the mud-banks.

what then would you see when the tide is down?

i used to prefer going to sungei buloh wetland when the tide was out. because all my previous sightings of the otters (until the last one) were made when the water level in the river/sea was low. that was the reason for my preference (of going to sungei buloh at low tide).

the staff at sungei buloh also concur with my observation. one of them told me that the otters usually make their appearance when the tide starts to go down. the three places where i have seen the otters are the sandspit off platform 1, near the mouth of sungei buloh besar and the pond after station 5.

at low tide, the crocodiles look-alike can be found on the muddy banks of the rivers stalking their prey. the monitor lizards appear to be more active at low tide or is it because they are more visible at that time?

the stray dogs tend to be seen more at low tide. i usually see them, sometimes as many as ten of them, at low tide near station 5. they move to the other parts of the reserve when the water level rises.

when the water level is low, the bigger fish become more visible. at high tide, they have more places to hide, so they can be anywhere but at low tide, they keep to the edge and because it is shallow at that time, you can see lots of them. i can identify only the tilipias and the milk fish. the other big fish, i not so sure of their species.

what about the birds, you may ask. this fellow goes to a bird sanctuary and he looks at everything except the birds. when the tide is high, the birds, especially the cattle egrets stay on the trees but when the tide is low, they come down to the mud banks and even the river beds.

high tide @ sungei buloh wetland reserve

today, at sungei buloh, the water-level was so high that it almost touched the spine of the bridge

the vinegar crabs came out of their holes/mounds as they had no choice but to stay above the waterline

the giant mudskippers found some floating wood/roots, so as to stay afloat, away from predators

the normally shy monitor lizard had to move onto the paths or stay on land away from the rivers and streams


even the snails had to find some place dry, like the top of some granite rock or the trunk of a tree


the ketapang tree with its golden leaves looked so beautiful with the sun rays coming from behind



however, it is a pity i was unable to capture the special effect of the sun with my digital camera

the ketapang trees (there are actually two such trees) seen from the other end of the bridge

the 'crocodiles' of sungei buloh wetland reserve

if you think you have been to the sungei buloh wetland reserve and you have not come across a single malaysian monitor lizard, you have probably been to the wrong place. you may not see the birds that you are there to see or you may not see the otters but you will definitely see one of these water lizards. sometimes i wonder if the sightings of 'crocodiles' in the reserve could be a mistake. from a distance, a huge monitor lizard can be mistaken for a baby crocodile.

you will see these creatures everywhere: along the trail, on the boardwalk, by the bank of the river, in the pond, on the grass, in the swamp, swimming in the river or swimming in the pond. i have even seen one up on a tree, having a nap. at one time i counted up to eight monitor lizards in the same pond.

most monitor lizards, even the very big ones, will shy away from human beings. they can move quite fast, both on land and in water. they are quite graceful swimmers; they keep their limbs close to their body and seem to propel themselves by swinging their powerful tail from side to side. these lizards can also stay submerged in water for quite some time, up to half an hour.

my friend has seen foreign workers setting up traps by the sides of a canal in the bendemeer area to catch these monitor lizards. they would place a loop at the round openings on the sides of the canal and when the creature crawled out, they would be caught as the loop closed onto it. according to him, many were caught in this way. the meat of the monitor lizard can be eaten and one large lizard can provide quite a lot of meat.

i have not tasted the meat of the monitor lizard but i have been told it is delicious and that it tastes like chicken meat.

the chinese call it 'the four-legged snake'. indeed, the monitor lizard, with its forked tongue, does look like a snake. it flicks its tongue to scent for its prey.

who feed the strays at sungei buloh?

if you visit sungei buloh often enough, you will know that a pack of stray dogs roam free in the reserve. most of the times, they try to avoid contact with humans. maybe they can sense that they are not welcome company at the reserve. the people at the reserve have been using baited cages to try and trap these dogs. so, most of the times, when they see people, they will move away quietly and quickly.

i often wondered what was sustaining the many stray dogs at the sungei buloh wetland reserve. there are no houses within the wetland, only on the fringe of it and that is beyond the fence. with no houses, it means no leftovers for the dogs. so, in the wild, what do they feed on. i suppose there is enough wildlife in the reserve to serve as food for the dogs.

the national park board advises visitors who encounter the stray dogs at the wetland to leave them alone. the second advice is a bit difficult to follow: it says avoid showing signs of fear. i believe dogs can read body language and when they sense that you are scared of them, they will become bolder and more aggressive. by the way, the dogs at the wetland all look lean and hungry.

today, i found out a source of food for the dogs. it was low tide and there were hundreds of fish - most of them milkfish - at this small bay near the wetland. four light brown dogs were there and one of them - the one nearest to the camera - was having a meal of raw fish.

just a few days ago, i was watching the same pack of dogs foraging for something in the ground. one of the dogs was excitedly using its front paws to scrape the earth from a depression in the ground. it must have seen or detected some creature in a burrow. according to information on the sungei buloh wetland reserve web-site, the dogs do harass the wildlife in the wetland.

each time i get close to nature, i am learning new things. today, for example, i learn that dogs can hunt for fish and they do eat the fish that they catch. all these years, i have associated fish with cats and bones with dogs. today, i learn something new: dogs do eat fish, even raw ones.

i spotted the otters of sungei buloh again today. there were two of them and i watched them enjoying a good rub against the sand on the sand-spit. after the sand massage, they swam up the sungei buloh kechil.

smooth otters of sungei buloh

today, after more than ten visits to the sungei buloh wetland reserve, i finally managed to set eyes on the smooth otters of sungei buloh. i did not see them on the outward journey. it was when i was walking back to the visitors' centre that i saw three small figures out in the sea on the sand spit. i suspected they were the otters, so i walked right up to the edge of the platform to have a closer look at them.

there were three of them. they were the size of a small dog. they were feeding on some fish which they had caught in the small cove. i had seen the fish, slim and about 30cm long, jumping out of the water when i stopped there earlier. after sometime, one of them continued with his eating while the other two went forlicking in the shallow water. apparently, otters are playful creatures.

i checked with one of the three young soldiers who was there on security duty and he told me that the three otters were frequent visitors to the same spot on the small sand spit. they were not there every day but he had seen them often enough to know their habit.

platform 1 is about 1km from the main bridge across sungei buloh besar. after crossing the main bridge, turn right. at platform 1, there is a shelter erected for the national servicemen who are on surveillance duty.