March 2017

Singapore’s water is everywhere, even in the air – it batters you with humidity. Water is never far away as a walking companion either; Singapore is, after all, a small island with a large river. Walk by the coast, and you never know who you’ll meet.

Paradise tree snakes are famous for flying – they can glide 300 feet between trees – but this one was weaving its way along footpath railings. They are mildly venomous but do not really pose a risk.

You may look upwards to detect snakes, but the crash in the undergrowth signals something much bigger…

Malayan water monitors are dragons of the sea: they can reach ten feet in length.

Oriental pied hornbills are giants of the feathered kind.

Their massive bills are surprisingly dextrous in handling fruit.

They share the trees with smaller birds such as bulbuls.

And tropical squirrels.

It’s so easy to forget that the city is just minutes away.