Monday Morgue: 29th March 2010

False porcelain crab (Pseudoporcellanella monoliensis)
Changi, 21st February 2010

NParks FaunaWeb

Photos from Tampines bushfires: Part 2

This is a continuation of my previous post on the bushfires that took place along a particular stretch of Tampines Avenue 9. Jeremy Chin, who submitted his photos to STOMP, has kindly shared his photos with me.

Here are his photos of the bushfire that took place on 3rd March 2010, some of which were posted on this submission to STOMP.









Thanks so much to Jeremy for sharing his photos and for allowing me to post them on my own blog. Credit also goes to STOMP for having posted his submissions in the first place. While I do not care for much of the content that goes up on STOMP, there are quite a few relevant or interesting posts that deserve to be shared and publicised. Whether it is about wildlife sightings, explorations of our parks and nature areas, human misbehaviour or ignorance, many of the posts on STOMP do serve as a platform for education and awareness with regards to local issues to do with nature and the environment.

Part 1: Bushfire at Tampines, 30th January 2009
Part 2: Bushfire at Tampines, 3rd March 2010 (this post)

Photos from Tampines bushfires: Part 1

Several weeks ago, I blogged about a submission to STOMP about a large bushfire along Tampines Avenue 9 on 3rd March 2010. There was another post on STOMP about the same fire.

This same area had caught fire at the end of January last year.

It turns out that the same person, Jeremy Chin, had sent his photos to STOMP last year, and also did so this year. Here are the original posts he had submitted to STOMP:

Tampines bush fire so huge, it can be seen from Eunos (31st January 2009)
More pictures from massive Tampines bushfire (4th March 2010)

He left a comment on my repost of his submission:

Hi Ivan,

I'm the original contributor of the above article to STOMP.

Happened to chance across your blog on the search engine.

Pls do contact me at destinee.sg@gmail.com if you need some high resolution photos of the above incident and the aftermath of it that's not available to STOMP or for anyone else.

I got in touch with him and he sent me his photographs, and kindly gave me the permission to post them up here.

Here are his photos from the bushfire that took place last year:














Coming up, Jeremy's photos from the March 2010 bushfire.

Part 1: Bushfire at Tampines, 30th January 2009 (this post)
Part 2: Bushfire at Tampines, 3rd March 2010

Forest turned into dumping ground: hopefully NEA will take action

STOMPer Indiana Jones was disturbed that this beautiful forest at Admiralty Road West was turned into a dumping ground. He is worried that the place will soon be a breeding ground for mosquitoes, and hopes NEA will take action.

He said in an email to STOMP today (Mar 22):

"These pictures were taken near the forest at Admiralty Road West which faces the Johor Straits.

"From the road the forest looks green and beautiful. This is the favourite haunt of some of the macaque monkeys which usually come to the river to forage for food.

"But if you were to take a walk into the forest you will see discarded lanterns, old fridges, plastic boxes and even old furniture.

"Of late some lorry drivers have been dumping these old furniture and boxes in the forest during the night. These boxes will soon be a fertile breeding ground for mosquitoes after last week's heavy showers.

"I hope the NEA will clear all these garbage and a fortiori, erect a warning signboard to tell these irresponsible drivers that 'dumping is an offence and the fine is $1 000'."

Monday Morgue: 22nd March 2010

Red swimming crab (Thalamita spinimana)
Pulau Hantu, 12th April 2009

Wild Fact Sheets
A Guide to Seashore Life
Project Semakau

Overgrown mango tree makes me tremble whenever I cross overhead bridge

STOMPer Timid heart trembles whenever he crosses this overhead bridge near Block 288D Bukit Batok East Ave 6 because he thinks that unknown insects might be lurking in this mango tree's branches.

The STOMPer wrote in an email to STOMP:

"Whenever I cross this bridge, I have an ominous feeling that some spiders, worms, caterpillars or snakes might be lurking in the branches.

"The branches of this mango tree have grown until they touch the railings and this compounds my fear of creepy crawling insects.

"From young I have been arachnophobic, scoleciphobic and ophidiophobic and I hope LTA will send its workers to cut off these protruding branches."

My sympathies to those who genuinely suffer from phobias that prevent them from functioning in our society, but this is just ridiculous.

Monday Morgue: 15th March 2010

Flower crab (Portunus pelagicus)
Changi, 1st June 2008

Wild Fact Sheets
A Guide to Seashore Life
A Guide to the Mangroves of Singapore
Species Bank
SeaLifeBase

My neighbour lets these bees gather in his home

Bees have been gathering in the home of STOMPer LSW's neighbour and the concerned STOMPer said that they have let the situation get out of hand.

The STOMPer related: "Bees have been gathering in my neighbour's house and they did nothing about it!

"When we asked them they still claimed that the bees were 'harmless' and it's 'nothing'.

"My neighbour's husband was even stung by the bee. Yet they claimed that the bees were 'harmless'.

"They claimed that the bees came in just the day before the pest control came.

"But the pest control said that it's impossible for so many bees to gather in a day, the bees must have been in there for months.

"We are living below our neighbour and the bees flew into our flats and the level below us!

"Why are they so inconsiderate"

"There're kids living below us! What if they were stung by the bees?"

As much as I like to promote peaceful coexistence with other creatures, having a large colony of bees in my neighbour's house would be a little too close for comfort.

Of moths and social media

(Taken by jinnslim)

Much has been said about online social networks; tools such as blogs, instant messaging, Facebook, Twitter, and many other platforms have made it possible for people to establish channels for communication and share information very easily.

Recently, I saw firsthand the relevance of social media where it comes to natural history.

It all started more than 2 weeks ago, with a Twitter update by my girlfriend Christel, who saw several caterpillars in an area of the National University of Singapore (NUS).

Haze from Tampines-Buangkok forest fire seen near Serangoon Secondary

STOMPer Carrick shot these pictures of the black smoke and haze coming from the bush fire which broke out on Mar 9 at the Tampines- Buangkok area.

The STOMPer snapped these pictures near Serangoon Seconday school and said:

"The area near Serangoon Secondary and Punggol Park was seen with a serious haze."

The STOMPer snapped these pictures at around 11:30am.

Related posts: Yet another raging bushfire at Tampines (7th March 2010)
More pictures from massive Tampines bushfire (4th March 2010)
Bushfire the size of a football field rages at Tampines (3rd March 2010)
Scorching sun turns Singapore from 'green' city into gold (3rd March 2010)
The haze is back at Pasir Ris (2nd March 2010)
Bush fire rages at Expo area (19th February 2010)

Related articles:

Bush fires worsen air quality in Singapore (10th March 2010) (Mirror)
Air quality slips into moderate range (10th March 2010) (Mirror)
Forest goes up in smoke (10th March 2010) (Mirror)
Vegetation fire at Tampines took at least 4 hours to put out (4th March 2010) (Mirror)
Large fire at open field in Tampines (4th March 2010) (Mirror)
Sorry kid, it's going to stay hot and dry for a while (2nd March 2010) (Mirror)
Last month the driest Feb in 140 years (1st March 2010) (Mirror)
February 2010 is driest month for Singapore since records began in 1869 (2010) (Mirror)
Driest February ever recorded to date in Singapore (25th February 2010) (Mirror)
February's a dry, hot season in Singapore (19th February 2010) (Mirror)
Smoke in the air due to bush fires (18th February 2010) (Mirror)
71 bush fires in two weeks (18th February 2010) (Mirror)

Bedok bird population to be curbed, says East Coast TC

In response to STOMPer Carpet Bomber's feedback about the many birds that have caused problems in Bedok, East Coast Town Council has replied that the bird population will be controlled through ways like the pruning of trees in the area.

In a response dated March 11, East Coast TC said:

"East Coast Town Council has taken steps to curb the population of the birds.

"1. We have instructed our cleaning contractor for the food centre at Block 85, Bedok North Street 4, to step up the cleaning efforts during peak hours.

"2. Our horticultural contractor has pruned some of the trees around the area.

"3. We have also informed the other agencies involved about this issue. i.e Land Transport Authority and National Environment Agency. Working together, we hope to provide our residents with a safe and clean living environment."

Related post: Out-of-control birds invade Bedok and leave a mess (2nd March 2010)

This park connector does not connect to anywhere

STOMPer Jogger wonders why the Jurong Park Connector does not connect to anywhere and ends at different locations.

Said the STOMPer:

"The Jurong PCN is a haven for joggers and cyclists.

"Recently, PUB, JTC and NParks have embarked on developing the surrounding areas and the vicinity of Jurong Lake.

"Part of the Jurong Park connector abruptly ends at Boon Lay Way without connecting Jurong Town Hall Rd and Yuan Ching Rd.

"The PCN can be continuous if a bridge was built to link point A to point B (in diagram), that is the area where the canal empties into Jurong Lake

"Why a disjointed park connector?"

As far as I know, based on the map for Jurong Park Connector, the 2 sides are indeed connected, so this person is just talking nonsense.