A Tale of Sungei Buloh and BESG

Most members of the Singaporean wildlife community will know BESG, or Bird Ecology Study Group, to use its fully name. Not fully limited to birds, it’s a blog that commits itself to recording behavior and ecology among animals and is globally famous.

Now to Sungei Buloh. The other day I decided to go over and explore its new Kranji Extension. To get there, however, I had to first pass through the parking lot – innocuous enough, but then I saw a lizard.

It took barely a moment to identify it as the overly-common Changeable Lizard. Still, with no other animals in sight or to pursue just then, I decided to pause a while and photograph it. What then transpired is best detailed in the article I submitted to the blog and that was published just the other day. (You should totally go and check out the rest of the blog. It’s completely awesome. Go on. Do it.)

“I visited Sungei Buloh Wetland Reserve yesterday and in the car park observed a Changeable Lizard (Calotes versicolor). I was photographing it when all of a sudden it pounced on something in the leaf litter I had not observed previously.

“It was total chaos for a few seconds and I realised it was another lizard it had ‘attacked’; they thrashed together, the lizard I had seen first on top, and after a while they dis-attached.

“The two lizards sat facing one another and bobbed heads alternately. I realised this must have been a mating display. Just then a large group of people arrived and confronted with the sight of me lying flat on the ground for no apparent reason, became understandably worried that I had fallen.

“By the time I looked up, the second lizard had gone. I continued to observe the first lizard until the group went too close to it and it ran away.”

Me being looked at weirdly? Check. (I request the person from that group who took a photograph of me to please come forward and submit it for inspection.)

Cool animal behaviors? Check.

Article in BESG? Resounding check. All in all, a good day’s excursion.