I went back to take more pictures but they aren’t there anymore. I guess I would have to wait until their next mating season.

As luck would have it. They are found in large numbers as in last week (28 Feb). You can photograph them in mid flight like what one of my party member did. Sort of aerial and macro photography rolled into one.

Photo by Kelvin Tan.

With very little rainfall there are less mosquitoes to bother us. But tension can be felt as Ubin villagers anxiously wait for rains while watching their wells dry up. Trees shed leaves on the parched earth with added dangers of bush fires, one which broke out 10 days ago, burning an area about 5 basketball courts size at Ketam cycling trail. Durians trees are vulnerable if the drought continue, their flowers fails to bloom and, as happen before, some of these majestic trees may even die as their roots dry up.

The above concerns aside, our night at Ubin is filled with memories of the sixties as we watch the filming of Fighting Spiders 2, a local TV production. Ubin malay kampong is the only kampong left in Singapore left almost untouched by developments.

Feb 17, 2010

Bumboat leaving jetty at Changi river.

Jan 25, 2010

Magnificent view of quarry lake

Previous picture thread

I put up my first cache in Ubin in 2006. The response was encouraging. but soon there were complaints about wild pigs, mozzies and being near ancient gravestones. Being new to the game, the treasure was put in an obvious spot and was soon gone.

I stopped soon after, plotting my next biggest and most convuluted cache for Ubin which this blog was originally created for. I never got round to it. But I am glad to meet a real life geocacher.

Picture of Albert

If you like to find Albert’s caches in Ubin, make sure you have insect repellents as mosquitoes hiding in the jungle will soon be all over you. Bring at least a mini-button compass with you. Its easy to get lost and wander in circles while the gps is vainly trying to lock your location under jungle canopy.

The best chance to catch fish is to paddle some distance away from shore.

Unfortunately Ubin marine life is slowly choked by pollution. The water cannot renew itself by tidal directions due to the causeway cutting off the straits. Water run-offs from ship repairs contribute to the pollution also. Sea-horses have long since disappeared. Flower crabs have not returned when it was abundant more than 2 years ago. During heavy rains, salinity levels dropped so much that fish farms lost their livestock. They can’t sell their fish anyway as the water is declared unclean by the authorities.

Below picture: Serene beach at Outward Bound School (No trespassing). Pasir Gudang Port can be seen in the background.

Water pollution contributed to its demise. Lease are given up back to the Government and building structures demolished.

From GoogleEarth, one can see its scale by its tell tale remnants.

With GoogleEarth, we manage to plot our course by connecting dots of white roofs peeking through dense trees canopy seen under satellite. The course or path is then downloaded into our handheld GPS.

It led us first to a swing.

Then a lovely house

Finally a sweeping view from the remaining sluice gate, also a prime spot for bird watching.

Natural swamps are an important spawning grounds for fishes and with young fishes finding easy refuge. The sluice gates continues today as barriers. At low tide, the remaining fish are easily caught by fishermen casting their fine nets.

The government should consider demolishing them to bring life back to our natural swamps.

If you are lucky you may come across a brood of chicks following its parents. The chicks are vulnerable to natural predators including monitor lizards, monkeys and wild pigs. Wild pigs would churn up jungle floor for earthworms, removing undergrowth and giving the fowls less place to hide. There are worrisome signs as some Ubin villagers notice their numbers are declining.

My concerns turn to elation when I saw 17 adults, male and female while walking along coastal walk at Chek Jawa. Chek Jawa is now a secured area and is closed after 6.30 pm. Thanks Nparks for keeping them safe from poachers.

Nparks rangers have been combing Ubin and have destroyed about 10 such wild pigs traps so far. The poachers have resorted to steel-jaw leghold traps that are both cruel and dangerous, whether for wild pigs, family pets or accidental tourists walking through the jungle.

One victim was this unfortunate dog brought over to the mainland for emergency treatment. Gangrene has already set in and the leg has to be amputated. Its companion is also hobbling with a missing foot. The rescued dog is now recovering at PetVilla, a no-kill shelter run by Animal Lovers League.

Watch out for such traps and alert the authorities.

We were lucky to spot this civet cat up close in our night walks. Caught out by our flashlights, it froze allowing us to take pictures.

Coffee seeds harvested from the feces of the Palm Civet Cat is most sought after and is the most expensive in the world. Pulau Ubin used to have coffee plantations before the war. Next time we might just go looking for their droppings in old coffee groves for some good “weasel coffee”.

As in their nature, dogs will gave chase to fleeing prey. It when it raised its head and spread its hood in defense that I realized its a cobra and spitting one too after googling for them when I got home.

The dogs accompanying me were not hurt. I was yelling at them to get away that I didn’t get to take pictures.

They looked exactly like the picture below from SLOG (Singapore Snakes Blog)

You need not worry about poisonous snakes if you are just a casual visitor to Ubin. Snakes are shy creatures that keep away from humans. I stumbled upon them while walking in places that are usually deserted.