A Bird In The Hand

Every morning, just after the break of dawn, the crows navigate their way down the MRT line from their city roost to the heartland.

They are dark, silent birds at this hour; avian stealth bombers heading out on a predefined mission.  At this hour too the volume of rail traffic is reduced although later a train comes at three minute intervals, packed full of commuters.

I am not sure that I expected so many "European species" of fauna when I arrived here.  It was a revelation to discover crows, , sparrows, squirrels and swallows but this was because of my own naive perception that such species did not exist in the tropics..

The word 'tropics' conjures up colourful butterflies, larger than life insects, spiders and lizards.  These are certainly here in abundance as is the verdant foliage of the fast growing tropical plants; red-trunked palms, large shade trees and the orchids of every hue.

According to Wikipedia Singapore has 60 species of mammals, 365 species of birds, 107 species of reptiles, and 28 species of amphibians.  It is estimated that some 11% of species are introduced including the Rock Pigeon, House Crow, Javan Myna and Eurasian Tree sparrow.  They have adapted so well to their new environment that they consistently rank in the top 20 of any avian census.

I too have adapted well to my Singapore environment but my time here is coming to and end and so tomorrow I pack away my PC, in preparation for my return to my first winter in four years - not a happy thought!

With the aid of my recently of my recently purchased laptop I hope to add a few more entries to this epistle before we leave Singapore at the beginning of July.

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