Flora and Fauna of Tampines Eco Green Park

It has been more than 3 years since my last visit to this nice and wild place in the northern part of Tampines town. Yes, I am referring to the Tampines Eco Green. After coming back to home for good last July, I had visited the park twice. 

I noticed that the shrubs at the south entrance have grown a lot taller and the number of butterflies have dwindled quite a bit - perhaps due to the construction work currently going on along Sungei Tampines.

As usual, many Plain Tiger butterflies (Danaus chrysippus chrysippus) were there to welcome me on both occasions. Yes, with the host plant, the Crown Flower (Calatropis gigantea) doing well, we are bound to see this elegant butterfly fluttering around. 

A female was ovipositing her eggs

After taking a shot of the flower buds, I noticed that a critter was lurking nearby, waiting to strike any Plain Tiger going there to lay eggs?

A close-up shot of the spider - I wonder what this is?

Besides the Plain Tiger, I encountered a few other butterflies. One of them was this very alert and skittish male Common Tiger (Danaus genutia genutia).

To fully appreciate nature and be able to see some small but interesting critters, we need to slow down and look around without any other interfering thoughts in our mind. 

These small creatures can be spotted quite easily if we pay a bit attention to our surroundings. This is the Bush Hopper (Ampittia dioscorides camertes), a small skipper resting on a blade of grass.  

Same pose - but I moved a few steps away from it. 

Another specimen showed its upperside wings.

A very small nymph of a katydid was feeding on the Coat Buttons flower (Tridax procumbens). 

This tiny and beautiful Ricaniid planthopper (Ricanula stigmatica) is quite common in grasslands. But you will miss it, if you don't stop and look around. 

A few male Potanthus species were "chasing and fighting" before they settled down on a leaf surface with wings open - so I had no chance of taking an underside shot to identify them.

A different male specimen displayed the same behavior of opening its wings immediately when it perched.

A poor skipper, a Telicota species I believed was trapped in a spider web. While it was struggling to flee itself, I was thinking should I offer a helping hand. At the end, I didn't.  

The Long Banded Silverline (Spindasis lohita senama) is one of the star butterfly species that many of us would love to shoot. 

Another more pristine specimen.

Unlike many other urban parks in SG, the Tampines Eco Green integrates much of the original natural and wild grassland and woodland habitats as the main concept of this huge natural park in Tampines town. Apart from many interesting critters that have established their home there, numerous attractive wild flowers were abundant too.

A pair of Moring Glory (Ipomoea cairica) flowers captured my attention for photographing. 

This small yellow flower is nice and attractive. 

Before the south entrance, a few bushy shrub with many attractive flowers stood out and aught my attention - I believe these are the flowers of the Kopsia fruticose.

I watched with a great worry for the waterhen as it didn't seem to know that the Malayan water monitor (Varanus salvator) was quite close to him.

A Rarity @ Dairy Farm Park

Wising all Chinese readers of the blog a happy and healthy lunar new year.   

Some FB posts of the Malayan Jester (Symbrenthia hippoclus selangorana) caught my attention some weeks ago. It was spotted at the Dairy Farm Park so I decided to find out on a fine Sunday morning (27 Jan). Indeed, the moment I arrived at Car Park B, I did see a solitary Jester flitting around and occasionally trying to puddle on the ground. But it was too skittish for me to get a shot and it preferred to stay at the canopy level. 

Instead of waiting for it to appear again, I decided to explore the Wallace Trail - but it was disappointing so I decided to turn back to Car Park B. 

Noticing a few orange skippers sunbathing on grasses, I focused on this small Detached Dart (Potanthus trachala tyleri) instead.

Shortly after it settled on a perch, it had the tendency to open its wings.

I adjusted my shot slightly.

There were too many people moving around the toilet area, so I walked towards Car Park A . Along the way, I bumped into a Malayan Sunbeam (Curetis santana malayica) resting under a leaf.

The sky was getting cloudy, so I went back  to Car Park B again and hung around at the toilet area, waiting for the Jester to appear. In the mean time, a female Common Posy (Drupadia Ravindra moorei). 

Finally, a rather pristine Malayan Jester was seen flitting around and puddling on the ground occasionally. It was extremely skittish, never staying still for me to compose a close-up shot. This was the only decent shot when it landed a few meters away from me. In fact, this was my second sighting of this rare species after 7 years. 

After shooting the Jester, I noticed a docile Grass Demon (Udaspes folus) was hiding among some leaves. I got to push aside the obstructions to snap a few shots. 

Shooting from the top when it decided to open its wings partially.

Before I went back home, I took a last look at an open area just beside the Wallace Education Centre. A Malayan Eggfly (Hypolimnas anomala anomala) was found resting on some ferns.  The life history of this species has been well documented here

Butterflies of Northern Thailand Part 2 (Lycaenids)

Continues from previous post

This time, there were not many Lycaenids in terms of  number of species and quantities. As usual, most of the puddling shots were taken at Chiangdao.

Let me begin with a small lycaenid that blended very well with the soil - this is the Barred Lineblue (Prosotas aluta coelestis) which was puddling on the behind the worker's quarter.

This looks like the Bhutea Lineblue (Prosotas bhutea) which seemed to be less common as I didn't get to spot it on other days when we were at Chiangdao. 

Most of the time,the White Four Lineblue (Nacaduba angusta albida) was found puddling. This species reminded me of the late uncle Sunny - he spotted and shot the subspecies kerriana some years ago at Telok Blangah Hill Park.

This looks like the Rounded Sixline Blue (Nacaduba berenice) climbing over a rock.

The Dingy Lineblue (Petrelaea dana dana) does not seem to be common too - I only spotted it once.

Look at the following few Hedge Blue shots, you will know that it is very challenging to identify them accurately. This is The Plain Hedge Blue (Celastrina lavendularis).

The Hedge Cupid (Bothrinia chennelli celastroides)

It looks like The Swinhoe's Hedge Blue (Monodontides musina musinoides).

The Common Hedge Blue (Acytolepis puspa ).

I constantly looked out for different shots. When this Common Peirrot (Castalius rosimon rosimon) was feeding on flowers, I could not wait to take a few shots.

The uppersides of another Common Peirrot when it was sunbathing on a late afternoon.

The Forest Quaker (Pithecops corvus corvus) was quite small but it could be very alert and active.

The Indian Cupid (Everes lacturnus) was having a short break on a leaf.

This is an Elbowed Pierrot (Caleta elna noliteia ) - a very common species on the Chiangdao puddling ground.

A close cousin to C. elna, the Straight Peirrot (Caleta roxus Roxana) was abundant too.

This is the Banded Peirrot (Discolampa ethion ethion). We could easily mistake it for the Straight Peirrot due to their close resemblance with each other.

The Blue Leaf Blue (Amblypodia narada taooana) was found amongst some glasses at Doi Ithanon.

This Long-banded Silver Line (Cigaritis lohita himalayanus) was puddling on the ground under the hot sun.

When this Orchid Tit (Hypolycaena othona othona) changed its perch a few times before I could snap a few quick shots.  

The Common Yamfly (Loxura atymnus) presented a nice and elegant perch on a blade of grass.

Some family of lycaenids have four or more tails. This is a Chocolate Royal (Remelana jangala ravata).

Long-tailed lycaenids are simply amazing to many butterfly photographers and they cannot be found in some places such as Hong Kong. We spotted a few of them.

We saw the Common Imperial (Cheritra freja) on two days at Chiangdao.

 At the same location as the Common Imperial, the Blue Imperial (Ticherra acte acte) attracted more attention amongst us.

The Fluffy Tit (Hypolycaena amasa) was at first puddling on the ground.  It decided to rest on a leaf once it had enough mineral solution uptake from the ground.    

It opened its wings fully for an afternoon sun bathing.

 The Angled Sunbean (Curetis acuta dentata) appeared to be common as I encountered it at two different locations.

This is another species, the Bright Sunbeam (Curetis bulis).

I was lucky to be able to shoot something new this trip - the Blue Brilliant (Simiskina phalia potina)

 The upperside shot confirms that this is a female.

Another gem, the Common Gem (Poritia hewitsoni) was shot at Doi Suthep.

The Common Purple Sapphire (Heliophorus epicles) is an attractive and common butterfly in northern Thailand.    

An upperside shot of a female and a male.

  To be continued.