Land Survey 7 - 8 Nov

Finally, after 2 months of Semakau- drought, I was back last weekend for a Terrestrial Survey at the landfill cells. Upon reaching the island, LK gave us a quick briefing, and we split up into the respective groups - the insect team, bird team and forest team.

With no time to lose, the valient bird team trekked through the high grasses and mimosa patches on the landfill cells.

Poles - checked. Mist net - checked. Pegs - checked. Guy strings - checked. With all the equipment ready, we started the first task of setting up the nets. With a team member holding the first pole, another 2 walked , at one's best estimation, 18m away from the first pole and second pole (reminds me of the triple jump days where we have to 量步点 for the runup). The net is then spread out cautiously - the strings are really fine and may get entangled if not handled with care! The poles are then held firmly to the ground using pegs and strings.

Here is an example of a successful set up! 4 more to go to form our 八卦阵!

We initially thought these were Otter footprints! Gim Cheong has confirmed that.. these are cat footprints instead. Hmm.. I wonder what cat it is, could it be the ra-ra cat the others heard previously?

After setting up all the nets, we waiting by the rock bund at a safe distance away from the birds, so as not to scare them away from the nets. We were treated with the usual beautiful sunset @ semakau during the 30 mins of 联络感情time.

We trekked into the landfield cells again and were exhilarted to find 1 bird! The bird is quickly slipped into a bag, to be surveyed back at the NEA office as it was getting dark. We also quickly furled the mist nets, so that bats will not get caught in the middle of the night.

Here's what we have on the first day: a Zitting Cistocola (Cistocola juncidis). Because it was the only star of the day, it had our undivided attention - all of us gathered around LK like paparazzis, totally ignoring the bbq food!

I didnt take any photos at all of our bbq, fireflies and insects encounters [ =(  ], so lets fastforward to day 2. We woke up at 5am in the morning and quickly walked to our nets by 6am. We unfurled the nets as quickly as we can so that we won't miss the 吉时. Again, we waited at the rock bund, watched the sunset and the short skit by July - his attempt to entertain the sleepyheads.

When it was time to check the nets, instead of walking in a single file parallel to the nets, this time round we walked abreast of each other, facing the net, to 'chase' the birds in. This method proved effective, as we found 16 survey subjects in total, and almost ran out of bird bags to keep them.

We settled down once more at the rock bund and the survey commences. Several measurements such as tarsus diameter and its length, length of beak, wings, and the whole body were taken.

The birds were also given a Singapore passport permitting their residence in Singapore. Actually, they were ringed so that their statistics such as travelling patterns can be monitored, after their data is collected in a worldwide database.

Here are the few species we surveyed that morning:

1) The Oriental Reed Warbler (Acrocephalus orientalis)

2) The Black-headed aka Chestnut Munia (Lonchura malacca). This little friend here was so comfortable (after being patted and stroked on its head) that it closed its eyes for a few seconds!

3) Heres a juvenile Black-headed Munia

4) We also have a few Yellow-vented Bulbuls (P.goiavier) who are real whiners. They were whining non-stop when LK was releasing them from the net, causing much anxiety amongst us!

Towards the end of the survey, a few of us took turns to try measuring the subjects. It was really stressful and I was trembling! The Munia was so small as compared to my palm, was so afraid that I exert too much strength. Thankfully, everything went smoothly (albeit with some severely wrong measurements that needed correction by LK) and no birds were hurt in the process!

I'm definitely looking forward to the second survey in early December!