Thursday 16 February 2012

Pulau Semakau

Pulau Semakau is an island South of Singapore that is used as a landfill. Unlike North America there are no gulls at this landfill (I've only heard of one gull in Singapore while I've been here). Surrounding the island is a road that is rarely used and offers a good opportunity for grassland birds along with a small Mangrove forest at the end.

A group of us went there on Sunday. To get to the island we took a small ferry from the busiest port in the world.


Large-billed Crows are apparently common in Singapore but this is only the 2nd one I've seen:
 

I spent a lot of time searching for Little Ringed Plovers in Denmark last September but came up empty. So I was happy to see 3 of them including 2 in breeding plumage!

3 species of Fiddler crab were seen on the tidal flats although I don't remember any of their names. They're about the size of a big toe and have a disproportionately large claw for intimidating and fighting rivals, and for attracting mates: