Pasir Ris Town Park
Last Updated on 18 August 2023
Pasir Ris Town Park is one of our favourite places to chill out, especially after a long hike at Pasir Ris Park. The hawker centre at Pasir Ris Town Park serves a wide variety of local cuisine and cheap kopi, which is for us the main draw.
The network of trails running around the park is also good for a casual stroll under the cover of shady trees. The Tampines Park Connector runs parallel to the canal (known as Sungei Tampines) and serves as a convenient link from Pasir Ris Park to Tampines Eco Green. If we feel particularly energetic, we could even conquer all three parks in a day!
In the middle of Pasir Ris Town Park is a large commercial fishing pond where avid anglers and families can come and try their hand at filling their buckets with the biggest catch.
Sometimes we might even catch a Little Tern or two swooping in for a fresh catch at the pond.
The Little Terns (Sternula albifrons) are common resident birds in Singapore. During their breeding season from May to August, they can be frequently seen diving in the Pasir Ris Town Park pond or flying up and down the canal looking for fish.
Often caught loitering by the canal is the Grey Heron (Ardea cinerea)…
…who wouldn’t miss the opportunity for some fishing action.
The waters of Sungei Tampines are typically packed full of fish. On a good day, we might see as many as 8 to 10 Grey Herons fishing in the canal. They can get territorial and have been observed to chase off other Grey Herons if they get too close.
Some of the kingfishers we have seen hanging out along the canal include the Common Kingfisher (Alcedo atthis)…
…and the Stork-billed Kingfisher (Pelargopsis capensis)…
…hoping for a chance to nab a big fish.
If we look up, chances are we’d spot the White-bellied Sea Eagle (Haliaeetus leucogaster) thermalling above the park on the lookout for its prey.
If we’re lucky we might even spot the Smooth-coated Otters (Lutrogale perspicillata) passing through the river on their family outing.
A walk along the paths of Pasir Ris Town Park never fails to uncover a number of common urban birds, such as the Oriental Magpie-robin (Copsychus saularis)…
…the Swinhoe’s White-eye (Zosterops simplex)…
…the Pied Triller (Lalage nigra)…
…and the Monk Parakeets (Myiopsitta monachus).
The Monk Parakeets are not a native resident but an introduced species, and they have decided to move in and set up home in the park. A pack of them have built a large nest up on the lamp-posts of the Pasir Ris Sports Centre, and can be seen roosting there usually rather noisily.
At the end of a leisurely stroll around the park, it is customary to end the walk with breakfast and kopi at the Pasir Ris Central Hawker Centre.