Tuesday, January 20, 2015

Lornie Trail On A Sunday Afternoon

An outing to the Lornie Trail on the first Sunday afternoon in the year 2015 was just like many other outings that I had before - strolling leisurely on a familiar forest footpath, but now covered with gravels and therefore less muddy. Thanks for the improvement!

This male Cruiser (Vindula dejone erotella) might have pitied me for not taking any shot for a long period of time. It flew past me and landed on the ground. How could I be choosy if this was my first clear chance of snapping a shot.
As usual, I turned back when I caught sight of that long stretch of open footpath lying between the reservoir edge and the golf course. My return leg on the same forest path was more rewarding. It was this very restless Saturn (Zeuxidia amethy stus amethystus) that tested my patience and stopped me from moving forward - and this gave me opportunities to encounter a few other butterflies at the same location.
After chasing and taking two shots of the Saturn in the forest undergrowth, I bumped into this pristine Malay Viscount (Tanaecia pelea pelea). It was more accommodating towards my presence and presented its undersides to me.
There were a few skittish Archdukes (Lexias pardalis dirteana) flying past me and feeding on the ground too. Though they were alert and took off from the ground very frequently, they also came back to the same vicinity often.  
This was the only Arhopala species I encountered high on a leaf. It appeared to be the Common Disc Oakblue (A. epimuta epiala).
The moth caterpillar was found hanging on a thin silk and wriggling upwards - an amazing behaviour that I had encountered before. Taking shots of this small fellow in the breeze and in constant movement was a challenge for me.
Albeit the initial disappointment, at the end of the day it was still a pleasant outing for me. 

3 comments:

  1. Lovely to read about someone seeing butterflies from sub-zero Scotland!!. You have take some great pictures there.

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  2. Thanks for your kind comments, Nick.
    Hope to take more butterfly pictures but the number of butterflies that I encountered in the wild has been declining over the years.

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    1. Frederick, this is very sad to hear. Do you think this is because of a loss of habitat? I have always dreamed of visiting Singapore because I have read so much about the butterflies that occur there. I hope that they pick up again soon.

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