West Coast Park

West Coast Park is really three huge parks in one. There is the kids' favourite where the MacDonalds is situated at the fringe facing the Children's playground. A big field next to promenade serves as event grounds for schools and corporate or government activities and when these are not held, people gather on weekends to play baseball and fly kites. This part of the park also has boardwalks that lead you into shady enclaves by the edge of flowing water where you can see fishes and sometimes a heron or two.

The second park is beautifully landscaped with trees ranging from palms to neat rows of Cannonball trees with leafy shrubs and heliconias artfully planted in between. This is where you can spot black-naped orioles, bulbuls and sunbirds.

The third park is a joy to walk around in because of the mature rain trees and Casuarina pines towering over you providing a cool environment for a casual walk or a jog. This is my favourite park in the Western side of Singapore and one of the chief reasons is that on weekdays, the park has very few visitors and the feeling is like walking around a lush paradise on earth.

Fisherman with an extremely long fishing rod.

West Coast Park has many of these frisky squirrels.

This part is where you leave the first park to enter the second one.

This tree bids you farewell as you begin you walk through a tunnel to the third park.

Rain trees and the generous shade they provide joggers and walkers.

Bougainvillea draped over the branches of Casuarina trees.

The highlight of today's walk was this Blue-collared Kingfisher.

It dived into a drain and got something that I had thought was a frog or a lizard.

Guess what it has in its mouth for breakfast?

Its a crab!

In the end I think the crab won.

Contemplating the next lunch option.

Bougainvillea flowers are tiny. What we usually mistaken to be petals are really the bracts of the flowers.

 

Graceful Nibong palms.

Mornings are when park workers use the noisy blowers to clear dead leaves off the walking paths.

Butterfly taking nectar from a flower.

Flowers of the Pride of India tree.

Back to the first park near the Macdonalds, a squirrel springs from tree to tree.