A brief look at Seletar shore

After a few visits of Seletar, finally I'm here at Seletar shore for my first time to see what kind of marine life thrives in the sand and mudflat.


The shore is in front of the dam cutting Johor Straits and lower Seletar Reservoir. Quite a large expanse of the shore is exposed! On the right is a bridge that links to Pulau Punggol.

Beautiful mangroves of Seletar

Yesterday morning, I had a good look (from far) at the mangroves off Seletar in the north of Singapore.


The bridge linking Seletar to Pulau Punggol Barat allows me be at a higher position to have a good bird's eye view. I could see many large shore birds wading among the mudflat hunting for fishes and other snacks!

The tranquility of Seletar

Yesterday Gun Kiat and I went to Seletar to take a good look before construction and development starts for a new aerospace centre. Was introduced of this wonderful place by this show that I was glued to watching, called "Hey! Singapore" hosted by Lisa Ang. Many many years ago, I wanted to go in and take a look but at that time, ICs are needed for verification before entering the Seletar complex. I forgot mine so it was a wasted trip back then.

This time managed to go there finally with GK since he has a vehicle, thanks GK!


After a sumptuous lunch at Jalan Kayu roti prata shop, we headed in and you'll be surprised you feel that you are not in Singapore anymore when you are inside. Everywhere looks so countryside and even the road names are so English, for example: The Oval, Oxford street, Park Lane etc.


Resting on top of a signboard is this pacific swallow (Hirundo tahitica). These birds eat insects, catching them during flight.


I managed to catch another shot of two interacting.


After a brief tour of Seletar marvelling at aeroplanes and the nice architectures (please visit my personal blog if you want to see), we headed to the dam or land cutting across Lower seletar reservoir.


At the seaward side, we can see there are mangroves growing on the fringes.


And more mangroves! Wonder how is this place like during low tide.


Looking closer, we saw a couple of grey herons and one special bird that I couldn't id on the spot.


It has distinctive breast bands. After searching through the net, realized its a painted stork (Mycteria leucocephala), a bird that prefers swampy area. It is found easily from India through Southeast Asia, that includes Malaysia and Singapore. But the population in Singapore is most probably escapee from the Bird Park. The favorite food of the Painted Stork is fish, though sometimes they will eat frogs as well. They also eat snails.

Info from http://www.nature2pixel.com/blog/?p=121


Visible from the reservoir is Pulau Seletar, with kelongs nearby at Johor straits.


Before leaving, took at photo of Pulau Punggol Barat where construction is going on to build a bridge across from mainland.