My Last Outing in 2009

Wishing everyone a prosperous and fruitful 2010 ahead.

Once again, a last minute decision brought me to this forest trail in the northen part of the catchment area on a fine Saturday morning. As usual, Common Caerulean (Jamides celeno aelianus) or perhaps J. pura (as pointed out by Dr Seow from BC) in good numbers were seen fluttering near the ground and perching on the grass blades at times. This looks like an Orb-Web Spider, Nephila species which was found near the entrance of the trail. Another smaller spider was found on the same web. I wonder if this is a male of the same species.I met Ellen when she caught up with me in the middle of this long trail. We were chasing this Knight (Lebadea martha parkeri) and finally it decided to reciprocate our patience and persistence by resting on the tip of a leaf at a high level with both wings folded, a posture that is rather uncommon.This Grey Sailor (Neptis leucoporos cresina) was seen sailing and gliding and occasionally puddling on the ground. Not sure what this damselfly is, quite a few of them was spotted along the shady part of the trail. This red-winged male Neurothemis fluctuans is one of the very common dragonflies in Singapore. I had to be fast in snapping some shots as it tends to depress its wings when time goes by.This was my last outing in the year 2009 before I went for a vacation in Jiangsu Province and Shanghai, China. I visited a few gardens there, but I could not see any insects at all. We are very fortunate and privileged to be able to watch and appreciate butterfly, dragonfly and other insects all year round on this little "red dot". So we must continue to do our part in conserving our natural heritage.