A Rare Butterfly at UPR

I was a few seconds late for the bus going to the Upper Seletar Reservoir (USR) Park. Decided not to wait for the next bus, I walked  along the Old Thomson Road towards  the Upper Peirce Reservoir (UPR).

On a cool Saturday morning (17 March), only fresh air abounds; the road was quiet and the critters were still asleep for a long period of time. Finally, I got a chance to shoot this stick insect. If not for its prominent reddish body when it was in flight, I would not have noticed its presence in front of me.

I entered UPR and went on to explore a long and shady forest trail.  I made a right choice as I began to see butterflies flitting along the trail. A Striped Blue Crow (Euploea mulciber mulciber) was waiting for me on a twig in a shade. But it felt threatened whenever I approached closer.  

Two alert Arhopala species were in a close proximity with each other. The tailless one is Arhopala major major and the other one is Vinous Oakblue  (Arhopla athada athada).   

When it was in flight, I could not be sure which species it was. But the moment it landed on the ground puddling on some fallen leaves,  the blue tinge on the forewings got me excited. This was my second sighting of a very rare butterfly after more than five years if I remember correctly - this White Tipped Baron (Euploea mulciber mulciber ) was the star of the day.

After a few upperside shots, I noticed that it flapped its wings when puddling. So I went down lower, preparing myself  to snap its underside shot. Unfortunately, I could manage only one pathetic blur shot just before it took off. 

What a lucky day for me !