Skippers at Sheung Shui, Hong Kong

It was a overcast morning on 1st October - The National Day of PRC. However, the bad weather didn't dampen our enthusiasm of our weekly butterfly outing  - my friends and I still headed out to He Sheung Heung (河上乡） in the north-western part of  New Territory, Hong Kong to hunt for a relatively rare skipper, the Halpe porus.  

We took minibus (51K) from the Sheung Shui MTR station. The moment we  reached the mini-bus terminal station, the sky opened up - we had to wait in a shelter nearby. Fortunately, we didn't have to wait very long before the rain subsided. We walked towards the Sheung Yue Rive where our shooting location was.

However, as the sun was overpowered by the clouds and passing rains dominated almost the whole morning, we were just waiting patiently and roaming around until around noon.

Though no butterflies, I shot other things  - this wasp was drenched and it just felt too larthagic to fly.

It was doing "exercise" to warm itself.

Dragonflies seemed to be common here - I encountered quite a number of them; some were not awake. Without any reference guide, I cannot identify any of these dragonflies.

Another small and beautiful dragonfly.

An attractive damselfly resting on a blade of grass.

At last, I managed to see butterflies coming fluttering when the air was warmed up.  A Palm Bob (Suastus gremius) appeared and immediately attracted some attention as we had nothing else to photograph.

Pieris canidia is one of those butterflies that is common in HK but difficult to shoot. Anyway, I have not encountering it often since August.

 

I was stalking a very skittish Angled Castor (Ariadne ariadne) as I have not shot this species in Hong Kong.

 I could only get a long-distance record shot of  both its upper and underside shot.

When I was trying to get more shots, Ivy alerted me on the phone that the skipper, the Halpe porus that everyone aimed to photograph was found on the opposite side of the river - so I gave up chasing the Angle Castor. 

I noticed that two specimen were zipping around. As I have shot this species many times in Chiang Mai and Malaysia, so I decided to look for the more pristine one. Another guy and I were lucky to see it zipping close to the ground and landed on the Biden flowers. A burst of of shots were taken when it was feeding on the flowers.

 

We hung around the same area after we had our late lunch at a small eating place nearby. At a far end corner, I was presented with this rare opportunity of  taking some quick shots of  the uppersides. 

In the late afternoon, this guy became less active and it stayed and posed on the flowers for us.  Look at the number of people queing up to shot this guy.

There were a few other skippers zipping around us. This pristine orange skipper, a Telicota species was having a afternoon nap.

 I cannot be certain what Swift this is - all these brown skippers are really difficult to identify them by just looking at the underside shots. 

A slightly larger Swift.

The next two shots were from the same specimen - it looks like a Borbo species?

My last skipper shot of the day - thanks to Samuel's dad who spotted this very pristine Common Redeye (Matapa aria) at a  muddy place.  

To wrap up this post, I would like to seek your advice on this critter as I have not seen this before - is this a nymph of  a lantern bug? 

My 3rd Visit to the Tampines Eco Green Nature Park

On a warm Saturday morning (1 Nov),  I decided to drop by Tampines Eco Green Park it was my third visit. The most promising spot in terms of butterfly activities was at the entrance where we could see a lot of Bidens flowers and String Bush (Cordia cylindristachya). Apart from many Plain Tiger (Danaus chrysippus chrysippus) butterflies, a few brown skippers were zipping around - one of them is the Pelopidas mathias mathias.
 

Another brown skipper had the tendency of open its wings as soon as it rested on a leaf.

The forewing spots could be seen in this shot.   

There were a few Telicota species flitting around me. As the veins are lightly darken, this particular shot looks like a female Telicota besta bina .

A solitary orange skipper  -  it might be the Common Palm Dart (Telicota colon stinga) was busy feeding on the Bidens flowers near the shelter.

A Potanthus species also came to visit the Sting Bush flowers.

There was only one Black Veined Tiger (Danaus melanippus hegesippus) fluttering around and feeding on the flowers. I observed that it would open and close its wings a few times whenever it changed its perch.  

I wasn't very interested in shooting the  Dark Glassy Tiger (Parantica agleoides agleoides). But when it presented a nice pose in front of me, I could not resist taking some shots.

I was quite surprised at encountering two Anthene species at different times in the morning. This is the Pointed Ciliate Blue (A. lycaenina miya)            

A rather pristine Ciliate Blue (A. emolus goberus) visited the garden in the late morning. It stayed on the tip of a leaf above my eye level, demonstrating almost the same perch as what the Pointed Ciliate Blue did. It remained at the same position for quite a while before scooting off to look for nectar.    

This very large wasp was busy visiting flowers diligently. It showed us its acrobatic behaviour on the flowers but its agility and behaviour made it very difficult for me to take a proper shot.

This is a kind of hover fly. It was seen hovering in the mid air and nectaring at flowers.

A  hawk moth belongs to the Sphingidae species was spotted near the pond. 

Finally, a Common Tit (Hypolycaena erylus teatus) was found on the same shrub as where the hawk moth was.

I was impressed by the number of butterfly species we could find in this town park. Let's hope that these flying jewels and other creatures would thrive and remain as the residents of the park.

Related post :  http://peacockroyal.blogspot.sg/2014/06/blooming-string-bushtampines-eco-green.html

Blooming String Bush@Tampines Eco Green Nature Park

A last minute decision on 13 May (Vesak Day) brought me to Tampines Eco Green Nature Park. It has been a long time since my last visit to this rather huge neighbourhood park.

Many Plain Tiger butterflies (Danaus chrysippus chrysippus) were fluttering under the hot sun and "dancing in the wind" at the main entrance facing Tampines Ave 9.

Blue Pansy (Junonia orithya wallacei) butterflies were extremely skittish and alert. I was lucky to get a instinctive shot when one of them perched in front of me.

Quite a few critters were attracted to the many small white flowers of  the String Bush (Cordia cylindristachya). A critter with a triangular-shaped head and a reddish-orange elongated body, this is kind of net-winged beetle which was hooked on the flowers.

Many day-flying moths were competing with other critters for the nectar of these flowers.

Take a closer look at the this lycaenid - a Tailless Line Blue (Prosotas dubiosa lumpura) had become a prey for a white crab spider.

Taken from another angle, the crab spider could be seen more clearly.

A male Slate Flash (Rapala manea chozeba) was found feeding on these small flowers - an interesting posture with its legs folding close to its hindwing.

I quickly snapped a shot when it perched on a leaf after feeding. 

I remembered there was a colony of  Silverline butterflies about three years ago. After a long search, a lonely Long Banded Silverline (Spindasis lohita senama) was spotted feeding on the flowers.

A few Blue Glassy Tigers (Ideopsis vulgaris macrina) were also attracted to these tiny String Bush flowers.

The Lesser Grass Blue (Zizina otis lampa) was fluttering around a shelter when I took refuge from the hot morning sun.

The blooms of the String Bush injected so much life to the park. Other than the "dancing flowers" in the air, I could see many bees and wasps also. I am not sure what this wasp is,  having a pair of orange antennae.

A few skippers of spotted but they didn't seem to like the white flowers as much as the lycaenids.  This is the Bush Hopper (Ampittia dioscorides camertes) when it  rested high on a leaf.

Orange or brown skippers are always difficult for us to name them correctly with certainty - I guess this is a Potanthus ganda feeding on the Snakeweed (Stachytarpheta indica).  

Here is another shot taken when it used one of its antennae to "support' its body - an interesting moment being captured.

There were a few skippers zipping around with high speeds. Occasionally, once they perched at the right place at the right time, I might be able to snap a quick shot like this - a suspect of the Pelopodas mathias mathias due to the presence of a fading hindwing cell spot.

Another Small Banded Swift (Pelopidas mathias mathias) was found at the entrance.

The different types of natural habitat help to enrich the biodiversity of the park. Apart from butterflies, there were dragonflies, lizards and birds in the park that may surprise you. So, when you visit the park next time, slow down your pace and take a closer look at these fascinating creatures in nature.

Related blog articles:
1. http://www.butterflycircle.blogspot.sg/2012/12/favourite-nectaring-plants-2.html
2. http://mynatureexperiences.wordpress.com/2013/12/13/15-tampines-eco-green-park/
3. http://peacockroyal.blogspot.sg/2011/08/what-can-you-find-tampines-eco-green.html