Mozzie breeding prevented while fallen tree at Bishan Park is cleared, says NParks

In response to STOMPer KH Yeo's posting about a mosquito breeding puddle under a fallen tree at Bishan Park, National Parks Board says that the tree is being cleared while a control agent against mosquito breeding has been added to the water.

In an e-mail response dated March 5, NParks says:

"The tree was uprooted due to the heavy downpour.

"While our contractors are working to clear the tree and debris, we have taken measures to prevent mosquito breeding by adding a commonly used biological control agent called Bacillus thuringiensis israelensis (BTi) into the water.

"We thank Mr KH Yeo for his feedback."

Original story:
Fallen tree lies in potential mosquito breeding puddle

Related post: Fallen tree lies in potential mosquito breeding puddle (3rd March 2009)

Monkey romps all the way to Thomson Road for his lunch

STOMPer Alka caught sight of this monkey digging into a dustbin at Thomson Road.

In an email to STOMP today (Mar 4), the STOMPer says:

"Today, I came across a rare sight in Singapore. I saw a monkey digging into a dustbin at Thompson Road bus stop opposite Mount Alvernia Hospital.

"Looks like he is out from the wild.

"I hope authorities will handle the monkey soon."

Related posts:

Monkeys chat and enjoy handpicked bananas at Toh Tuck (1st March, 2009)
Hungry monkey scours rubbish bin for food (5th January 2009)

Mount Alvernia Hospital is just across the road from MacRitchie Reservoir, so I'm not surprised that a long-tailed macaque (Macaca fascicularis) would be found in the area foraging for food.

Honestly, I don't see why there is a need for the authorities to 'handle the monkey'; it's not harassing anyone, and besides, the area is barely just outside the Central Catchment Area. This is not some escaped wild animal on the loose, rampaging through the city, it's just a monkey making a trip out of the nearby forest in search of food. Yes, it would be much better if it remained in the forest, but we cannot fault the monkey for being drawn to the rich pickings provided by our lifestyle.

The only significant problem I can foresee is that the monkey and other members of its troop might make it a habit to scavenge from dustbins, which would create a big mess. Also, the monkeys might end up making the association between people and food, and end up begging or harassing passers-by.

But the best way to prevent this from occurring is to restrict access to our garbage in the first place. I really think that more monkey-proof bins should be installed, not just in our parks, but also in the urban areas surrounding our parks and nature reserves. After all, the movement of wildlife is not constrained by park boundaries.

"Rubbish left on Mount Faber trail is such an eyesore"

While on a trail from Mount Faber to Kent Ridge, via the South Ridges trail, STOMPer Azmi was upset to find rubbish left on the ground by inconsiderate park goers.

In an email to STOMP, he says:

"I took the following photos while I was trailing from Mount Faber to Kent Ridge via the South Ridges trail.

"These are some pictures of rubbish left behind by inconsiderate park goers.

"The rubbish is such an eyesore and those who dumped their rubbish should be severely dealt with."

Look at this filthy Admiralty Road beach!

A STOMPer sent in these photos of rubbish strewn along the beach at Admiralty Road West.

He says:

"These pictures were taken at the beach near the Woodlands Checkpoint at Admiralty Road West.

"The place looked filthy as you can see the flotsam and jetsam washed ashore by the waves.

"There were lots of garbage, dead palm leaves, coconuts, plastic bottles and styrofoam boxes.

"Perhaps schools in the Woodlands area can send their pupils to clean up the beach on a Saturday as part of the community involvement programme (CIP).

"This will instil in our pupils a sense of urgency to protect the environment and keep our beaches spick and span.

"Part of the seawall that was broken and along this stretch several parts of the seawall were damaged by the pounding of the waves. If NEA does not take prompt action soon the whole seawall will collapse.

"A fig tree has sunk its roots into the seawall and cracked the wall. With the pounding of the waves day in and day out the collapse of the seawall is imminent.

"You can see the beautiful Johor coast near the causeway.

"An elderly man went around the coast to pick up cockles, clams and mussels.

"He had a good catch as the tide had just retreated a short while earlier."

Foam river in Toa Payoh North Canal

The canal at Toa Payoh North became a foam river for a while yesterday (March 3).

The STOMPer, who sent in this video, is curious as to why there is foam in the water and where the foam is coming from.

He asks in an e-mail:

"Wonder where this foam is coming from?"

Others who noticed the strange occurrence have also suggested that the foam might have come from a factory nearby. One STOMPer Rachel also wonders if the foam might be chemically unsafe.

What do you think? Let us know.

Related stories:
It's foam, foam, foam in this canal in Toa Payoh North
Foam in drain: Result of industrial waste?

Do check out the video posted on STOMP.

Related posts: Foam in drain: Result of industrial waste? (3rd March 2009)
It's foam, foam, foam in this canal in Toa Payoh North (3rd March 2009)
Why so many dead fish in Rochor River? (10th February 2009)
Water in Clementi canal turns bright blue (7th February 2009)
Dead fish clog this waterway near Toa Payoh flyover (29th January 2009)

Foam in drain: Result of industrial waste?

STOMPer Rachel wonders why there was so much foam floating in this drain, which is located in Toa Payoh, today.

She suspects that it might be the result of industrial waste from the factories nearby.

She says:

"These pictures were taken this afternoon at around 12.45pm.

"I'm wondering what the foam is doing inside the drain?

"Is it industrial waste?"

"I just had another look outside the window at about 1.30pm and the drain is clear now."

Related story:
Is this chemically unsafe foam?

Related posts: Foam river in Toa Payoh North Canal (4th March 2009)
It's foam, foam, foam in this canal in Toa Payoh North (3rd March 2009)
Why so many dead fish in Rochor River? (10th February 2009)
Water in Clementi canal turns bright blue (7th February 2009)
Dead fish clog this waterway near Toa Payoh flyover (29th January 2009)

Is this chemically unsafe foam?

UPDATE: The title of the post has been amended to It's foam, foam, foam in this canal in Toa Payoh North

STOMPer Darren was at a bridge near Toa Payoh North facing the housing estate when he saw this pool of foam floating in the canal.

The foam had a distinct smell unlike the usual soap.

He tells STOMP:

"I was at the bridge outside the SPH HQ in Toa Payoh, facing the housing estates when I saw this pool of foam floating on the canal.

"There is a distinct smell coming from the canal, and it's certainly not soap.

"While I don't sense or see any danger from the smell, the sheer amount of foam floating there is disturbing, especially if the chemical content is unknown."

Related Story:
Foam in drain: Result of industrial waste?

Related posts: Foam river in Toa Payoh North Canal (4th March 2009)
Foam in drain: Result of industrial waste (3rd March 2009)
Why so many dead fish in Rochor River? (10th February 2009)
Water in Clementi canal turns bright blue (7th February 2009)
Dead fish clog this waterway near Toa Payoh flyover (29th January 2009)

If I'm not wrong, the large canal in the Toa Payoh North area drains into the Kallang Basin. I don't know if the foam is due to natural processes or human activity, but it definitely is a cause for concern. Given the frequency of such incidents, somehow I have a feeling that the ability of the Marina Reservoir to serve as an urban water catchment will be less than optimal.

Fallen tree lies in potential mosquito breeding puddle

This uprooted tree at Bishan Park lies in a puddle of muddy water, which STOMPer KH Yeo feels, could be a potential mosquito breeding ground.

He hopes something can be done to remove the tree and stagnant puddle.

KH Yeo says in an e-mail dated March 3:

"The location is at Bishan Park. The fallen tree was uprooted and there is a puddle of stagnant muddy water, which could be a potential mosquito breeding ground.

"Request the National Parks Board, the National Environment Agency (NEA) and the relevant authorities to look into it quickly and provide us an official update.

"From the photographs shown, the relevant authority should be able to determine the exact location, given the landscape view of the HDB flats.

"Nevertheless, for reference, the location is near, Blk 241, Bishan St 22, across the monsoon drain.

"Photographs taken on 03/03/2009 (Tuesday), @9.00am."

Update: Mozzie breeding prevented while fallen tree at Bishan Park is cleared, says NParks (5th March 2009)

Monday Morgue: 2nd March 2009

Coastal horseshoe crab (Tachypleus gigas)
Changi, 2nd November 2008

Wild Fact Sheets
Online Guide to Chek Jawa
Online Guide to Chek Jawa
A Guide to Seashore Life

Monkeys chat and enjoy handpicked bananas at Toh Tuck

A STOMPer, who spotted these monkeys at Toh Tuck Road, sent in these pictures of the monkeys chatting and eating bananas freshly picked from a banana tree there.

The fruit trees were left behind by squatters who used to occupy the area, he says.

In an email dated March 1, he says:

"These pictures were taken at the forest near the junction of Toh Tuck Road and Toh Tuck Rise.

"As I was passing the place, I heard the noise of monkeys and decided to snap these pictures.

"I saw two long-tailed macaques (Macaca fascicularis) on a banana leaf, eyeing the reddish-brown bananas which were ripe for picking. The food was just too tempting to resist.

"The first monkey plucked one and started eating. On seeing this, the second monkey also immediately followed suit and approached the bunch of bananas.

"They were obviously enjoying the food and chatting with each other.

"The third monkey went to the garbage bin near the bus stop and started rummaging for discarded food.

"Finding none, he sat on the railings behind the bus stop. Suddenly it heard the commotion on the banana tree and on looking up, it saw its two friends enjoying the ripe bananas.

"He decided to join them in the feast as there were enough bananas to go round."

"This location was previously occupied by squatters and when they moved out left behind the durian and banana trees.

"However, the residents of Toh Tuck Crescent and Toh Tuck Walk found these monkeys a nuisance as the latter used to conduct unannounced raids on their homes.

"The burgeoning population of monkeys is a cause for concern as they sometimes resort to attacking commuters who are waiting at the bus stop."

Related posts: Monkey romps all the way to Thomson Road for his lunch (4th March 2009)
Hungry monkey scours rubbish bin for food (5th January 2009)

The area mentioned in the post is very close to Bukit Batok Nature Park and Bukit Timah Nature Reserve, so I'm not surprised that macaques can be found wandering around the neighbourhood.

Tree falls on bikes near Tampines interchange

After Friday prayers at a nearby Mosque around Tampine interchange, a STOMPer was shocked to see a big tree crack and fall onto a dozen motorbikes.

In an email to STOMP, he recounts his experience.

"It was just after Friday prayers and the crowd was leaving the mosque when the first few people suddenly stopped in disbelief.

"A big tree cracked and fell on a dozen bikes crashing them to the ground and causing serious damage."

Beautiful pink and white flowers at CCK cemetery- Is it sakura?

STOMPer global netizen saw these beautiful pink and white flowers at the Choa Chu Kang Christian cemetery and wondered whether they were the famous Japanese cherry blossoms, known as sakura.

This STOMPer says:

"Sakura in Singapore? So nice and beautiful.

"It can be seen at the Choa Chu Kang Christian Cemetery foot path, once a year.

"This is the season to see such a beautiful scene. It is so peaceful and tender.

"It is not the real sakura, but it is white and pink. Anyone knows what kind of flower is this?"

Sakura (kanji: 桜 or 櫻; hiragana: さくら) is the Japanese name for cherry trees (Prunus spp.) and their blossoms, although the term in English usually refers to the ornamental varieties of cherry, which produce inedible fruit. The mass flowering of cherry trees is most often associated with Japan, although similar episodes do occur elsewhere in temperate parts of the world. The Wikipedia page on cherry blossoms provides some useful information on the importance of this phenomenon in Japanese culture.

I'm not too sure about the identity of the trees in this post; they could be pink mempat (Cratoxylum formosum) (also known as the Singapore sakura), rose of India (Lagerstroemia speciosa), or trumpet tree (Tabebuia rosea). Two or more species might also be involved. Without photographs showing the flowers and leaves in greater detail, it's difficult for me to narrow it down further. My knowledge of Singapore's flora is extremely poor, so I hope someone else is able to identify these trees.

Update: This post over at Garden Voices leads me to believe that the trees in question are trumpet trees.

A post from 23rd November 2006 documents a similar mass flowering event in Ang Mo Kio.


Pink mempat, East Coast Park
(Photo by Artistic Creations)

Many of these trees were planted for ornamental purposes. According to The Natural Heritage of Singapore:

The second phase in the 1980s saw planting of species with colourful flowers like the yellow flame (Peltophorum pterocarpum) with its numerous yellow blooms, flame-of-the-forest (Delonix regia) with its scarlet flowers which can be seen from great distances, rose of India (Lagerstroemia speciosa) with its bluish purple flowers, golden shower (Cassia fistula) with its striking, numerous blooms like hanging streamers, mempat (Cratoxylum formosum or Cratoxylum cochinchinense) which shed their leaves and then produce numerous pink blooms in the whole crown like a local version of the cherry blossom, trumpet tree (Tabebuia rosea) which produces heavy flushes of white or light to dark pink flowers, etc. This colour exercise met patchy success as many of these species required strong seasonal cues to flower, being native to more seasonal climes, unlike the rather aseasonal Singapore climate, so colour was not always on tap, unless an atypical drought period was experienced locally, then trees would synchronously bloom in the following wet period.

Given that Singapore was slowly wilting under the heat of a particularly bad dry spell for much of January and February, and also taking into account the fact that we have finally received some much-needed relief in the form of heavy afternoon showers over the past few days, it's not surprising that these trees have flowered in response.


Rose of India, Thailand
(Photo by autan)

I found an article on this blog called the Human Flower Project, which dates back to March 2005, about a similar mass flowering episode which occurred in Singapore at that time.

Singapore's Pink Rain


Trumpet tree, Brazil
(Photo by C.Lisboa)

The pink mempat is a native of the region, the rose of India hails from southern Asia, whereas the trumpet tree is an exotic species native to tropical Central and South America, from southern Mexico to Venezuela and Ecuador.

It is interesting to note that a few other tree species found in Singapore, such as the tembusu (Fagraea fragrans) and sea apple (Syzygium grande), will occasionally synchronise their flowering, such that nearly every mature tree in Singapore can be seen flowering at the same time. One such example was seen with the sea apple in October 2007; this phenomenon was documented over at Habitatnews.

Such mass flowering events are not only pleasing to the eye, but also attract a wide variety of insects, birds and small mammals such as squirrels and bats, which visit the flowers to feed on nectar and pollen. Other species that don't feed on nectar may also derive some benefit; insectivorous birds may flock to these trees to feed on the insects attracted to the flowers.

Here are a few relevant posts over at the Bird Ecology Study Group:

Nectar party at the saraca tree
Syzygium sp. and the birds it attracts
Flowering umbrella tree (Schefflera actinophylla) and birds
Saraca and sunbirds
The mempat tree
Flowering Sea Apple Trees at Sime Forest

I wonder if other tree species are also going to bloom as a result of this change in weather.

'Instant trees' to add greenery to our concrete jungle

We have heard of instant coffee and instant photographs. So why not instant trees to help beautify out city, says a STOMPer.

He says:

"This picture was taken at Queen Street where a new building was nearing completion.

"The new building is surrounded by Queen Street, Manila Street and Victoria Street.

"I saw some workers unloading the so-called 'instant trees' from a lorry and placing them on the sidewalk.

"The trees had short roots and the bases were covered with black plastic bags to hold the soil in place.

"As the newly-planted trees did not have strong roots, they were held in position by supporting them with wooden poles tied to the stems.

"Later when the trees are fully grown and leaves have sprouted the poles will be removed.

"Those trees planted a few weeks earlier had already sprouted new leaves.

"If we can have instant coffee and instant photographs, why not instant trees to bring some greenery to our concrete jungle."

Dead bird spotted in Ang Mo Kio. How did it die?

STOMPer Dave saw this dead bird in Ang Mo Kio Avenue 9 and wonders how it died.

He said:

"I spotted this dead bird along Ang Mo Kio Ave 9, opposite a police station.

"I wonder how it died."

Related post: Dead birds found near Taman Jurong market (4th January 2009)

The dead bird in this photo is a male Asian koel (Eudynamys scolopaceus). Of course, without a biopsy of the specimen, it is impossible to guess the cause of death.

Monday Morgue: 23rd February 2009

Knobbly sea star (Protoreaster nodosus)
Hausmann Marketing & Aquarium, 4th January 2009


The life of a juvenile knobbly sea star - worth just $4.50.

And there I was thinking that every encounter with this rare gem on our shores was priceless.

Wild Fact Sheets
Star Trackers
The Echinoblog

Two trees in Yishun Park share one root

How did these two trees come to share a single root? That's what STOMPer Jerry wants to know after spotting the conjoined trees in Yishun Park.

He says in an e-mail dated February 20:

"Please see these pictures.

"I found these two trees in Yishun Park.

"It seems like both tall old trees have merged their roots. Or were they twins in the first place?

"How is the water distributed within the roots?

"Not sure how this could have happened."

Do you have any idea? Let us know.

The explanation is very simple: these trees are most likely part of a single organism.

Many plants have an extensive network of roots or underground stems that will send up new shoots at intervals. Thus what appears to be a grove of several trees may actually turn out to be a single "supertree", with the individual trees being clones of one another, having sprouted from the same root system. The quaking aspen (Populus tremuloides) is a North American tree well-known for this trait. Huge colonies may extend over several hectares, and collectively weight several tonnes. One such quaking aspen colony, nicknamed "Pando", which grows in the state of Utah in the United States of America, is estimated to encompass 43 hectares and weigh 6,000 tonnes, making it the heaviest known organism.


Quaking aspen grove in Utah. This grove is a part of "Pando"
(Photo taken from Wikipedia)

In Southeast Asia, the Nipah palm (Nypa fruticans) is similar in this regard; this palm appears to lack a trunk, but what's actually happening is that the trunk grows horizontally underground, with leaf fronds sprouting from it at intervals. Hence, dense stands of this palm growing in mangroves are often sprouting from a single trunk.

Stressed out? Relax at the beautiful Henderson Waves and Forest Walk

STOMPer Wen Bin recently took a trip down to the picturesque Henderson Waves and Forest Walk. He sent in these stunning pictures to share.

Here's what he wrote in an email today (Feb 20).

"I would like to share some selected shots I took at Henderson Waves and Forest Walk.

"This is a great place for destressing and having a workout.

"I highly recommend it for nature lovers."