A Quiet Morning @ Mount Faber and Telok Blangah Hill Park

My last visit to Mount Faber was about one year ago (see here). On 14 Feb, after a quick breakfast at the Seah Im Road hawker centre, I walked leisurely up to the Mount Faber Park along the Marang Trail.

My first shot of the morning was a female Malayan Eggfly (Hypolimnas anomala anaomala) basking in the morning sun at a distance away from me.  This is the only shot I took at Mount Faber Park despite 

I decided to walk over to the Telok Blangah Hill Park (TBHP). After crossing the Henderson Waves bridge, I was presented with a chance to snap this Ciliate Blue (Anthene emolus goberus).

While there were no critters to photograph, I looked out for caterpillars. This is a 5th instar of the Plain Nawab (Polyura hebe platus) resting on the Red Saga leaves (Adenanthera pavonina).

On the same plant, an early instar Plain Nawab caterpillar was wriggling slowly.

Wandering aimlessly at TBHP, I just could not find any critters I wanted to photograph. At a shady corner, I decided to take a few shots of a pair of mating Micropezid Fly (Mimegralla albimana) and called it a day. 

Some Dragonflies @ Lornie Trail

I dropped by Lornie Trail in a late Saturday afternoon (6 Sept). Taking a leisure walk on the forest trail, I stopped at the reservoir edge where I used to find butterflies feeding on the Leea indica flowers but not this time. However, this small but attractive long-legged fly kept me busy for a while as it reacted to the flashlight  faster than the shutter speed.  So I decided to take some shots without the camera flashlight.                   

When butterflies came along, I would go after them. This is a female Knight (Lebadea martha parkeri) looking for food on the ground. But it didn't stay too long for me to get a better shot.

There were at least three individual Arhopala lycaenids but they all looked haggard,  flitting around  a shady spot along the Lornie Trail.

This is a rather worn-out skipper that looks like a Telicota species but I could not identify with certainty.

I decided to look for dragonflies when the butterflies all went hiding. You won't miss this common red dragonfly, Neurothemis fluctuans when you walk along the forest trail.

I was glad to find the Aethriamanta brevipennis again -  one of the smallest dragonflies in the world. As usual, the female was nowhere to be seen. When some hikers stopped by to look at what I was photographing, they were amazed that I could spot such a small creature. Well, when we know what to look out for, we can find it if it is there.  

The size of a damselfly is smaller and it was much harder to spot. Taking a good look at the aquatic plants surrounding the reservoir edge, I spotted this lovely damselfly Ceriagrion cerinorubellum perching on a twig.

There were a few blue damselflies showing different perches along the reservoir edge. I hope I have identified it correctly as  Pseudagrion microcephalum.

When the number of butterflies getting fewer, the number of dragonflies at this particular spot seemed to be as good as before.   

A Few Other Critters in Langkawi

Continue from the previous post.

Apart from the many butterflies that I have featured in my last few posts, I was also attracted to some other critters especially when they presented good shooting opportunities for me. This white moth (I have no idea of what the species is) was abundant at Lubuk Semilang.

The way it perched on a twig allowed me to photograph its undersides as well.

I guessed this was its pupa

A "armour-clad" critter was found on a fallen tree trunk - it looks like a larva of  a kind of Trilobite beetle.  

I can't remember if I have seen this beautiful red bug - its prominent perch on a leaf attracted by attention. 

There were many  Flashwing dragonflies (Vestalis sp) found along the forest trail at Lubuh Semilang.

 

I saw a critter flying past me and landing on a stem.

I went closer and took some shots - I guess this is a kind of planthopper.

A spider stayed very still on a leaf - waiting for its prey to come close to its striking distance. 

This moth larva was wriggling on the leaf aimlessly - it might be looking for the correct plant.

This long-legged, small but brilliantly coloured insect was new to me - this is a kind of fly I guess.  

As I focused a lot more on butterfly species in this trip, I believe I have missed many interesting critters. I may visit Langkawi again at the end of this year to discover and photography its rich flora and fauna.A Few 

A Quiet Morning at Sungei Buloh Wetland Reserve (SBWR)

I noticed that my last outing to SBWR was many years ago before I started this blog. So On 10th Aug, I decided to set off early to take a look. Perhaps due to its relatively poor "accessibility" by public transport on a Saturday morning, there were few visitors. If not for the continuously loud cicada songs, the whole place was truly deserted and devoid of wild life.

Strolling slowly and enjoying the morning breeze without taking any shot for close to an hour, I finally spotted this White Banded Awl (Hasora taminatus malayana) on a boardwalk resting beneath a leaf above my head. It was tame but not the kind of perch any photographer would like to shoot.

Not far away from the Awl, a female Common Mormon (Papilio polytes romulus) was flitting around the host plant Indian Curry plant (Murraya koenigii). At last, it ovipoisted a single egg on a young leaf.

Thanks John for helping me to identify this large Scoliid wasp, Megascolia procer. It was found along a quiet trail at in the northen part of Sungei Buloh, facing the sea. The green iridescent wings were rather beautiful when it was foraging on a tree trunk.

This mammoth wasp made my day as it was my first sighting. It disappeared quickly when I was trying to get closure despite the initial fear of getting close to it. 

Another good encounter was that I bumped into my ex-colleague Mr Tee who was alone, wandering around to photograph birds - he also wondered where the birds had gone to. This hover fly kept me busy for a while as I was chasing it for some in-flight shots. 

Despite the very low wild life activity for me to capture in the camera, I still enjoyed the slow walk and the unique SBWR's serenity. 

A Quiet Day at Lower Pierce Reservoir Park

It was a sunny and hot Saturday morning on 22 July. After getting some work done at home, I decided to have my early lunch at Casurina Road before dropping by at Lower Pierce Reservoir (LPR) Park. It was rather quiet throughout the whole morning. The only good catch of the day was this Common Awl (Hasora badra badra. As usual, it hid below a leaf so getting a good shot was always a challenge.

Not far away from this Awl, a robber fly was resting on a Fish Tail Palm leaf.

The next moment, I noticed that a white flimsy object appeared in front of its month, what is this ?

This is a dorsal view of the robber fly.

A Chequered Lancer (Plastingia naga) was zipping around. After checking a few leaves, she finally laid this tiny reddish hemispherical egg on a leaf surface of a Fish Tail Palm (Caryota mitis). She disappeared out of my sight completely once she laid this single egg.

A common forest denizen, The Branded Imperial (Eooxylides tharis distanti is a long-tailed Lycaenid which tends to "hop" from perch to perch.

There were quite a few Common Five Rings (Ypthima baldus newboldi) feeding on some very small white flowers. The sky suddenly turned cloudy and it was rather windy when these shots were taken.

Another Common Five Ring was feeding on another cluster of flowers.
A large cluster of wild mushrooms was found on a rotten wood along the boardwalk.

More than a week from home made me long for the fresh air and the tranquility our forests would bestow us. I really enjoyed strolling in the forest, listening to the different forest symphonies and taking pictures in a natural environment surrounded by lush greenery and the reservoir.

Mandai Track 15

A very cloudy Saturday morning on 5 May dampened my desire and spirit of having my weekly photography and hiking session. Fortunately, the weather became better in the early afternoon - a last minute decision brought me to Mandai Track 15. 

This time I decided to walk all the way to the end though I wasn't on the road all the time as there is a bicycle trail running almost parallel to the track. This Ancyra Blue (Catopyrops ancyra) was perching slightly above my eye level , looking downwards at the trail.         

I have not been sighting and shooting any robber fly for quite sometime.This small robber fly was holding on its prey while I snapped a few shots.

As usual, I can't be sure what Telicota species this is. According to Dr Seow who commented my post in the BC forum, it is more likely to be a T. linna .  

A relatively large Potanthus species compared with other look-alikes, this Detached Dart (Potanthus trachala tytleri) was shot at a grass patch along the bicycle trail.  

Another orange skipper but smaller,  was resting quite still on a leaf surface. After taking a few shots, I real;ised that it was a Lesser Dart (Potanthus omaha omaha).

 There were many Pea Blues at the end of Track 15 near a campsite.

In the afternoon where there is sunshine, they tend to open their wings for sunbathing. The uppersides of the female look like this.

This brown skipper looks like a Small Branded Swift (Pelopidas mathias mathias) which was found resting on a blade of grass at the end of  the track.        

 

Branded Imperial (Eooxylides tharis distanti) is a rather common forest beauty. It likes to flitter around  in shady forested areas.

It was late in the afternoon when I came back to the starting point where I saw a  Common Sailor (Neptis hylas papaja) perching close to the ground level. This species has become rather abundant in our scrubland  or along forest fringes.      

Another shot of a same perch.

Christmas Day 2011 @ USR Park

The sky looked cloudy but the sun, assisted by the gutsy winds from the north was working hard dispersing the clouds. Hoping for a late Christmas present from the butterfly fairy and a wild prediction that the clouds would not prevail, I decided to head out to Upper Seletar Reservoir (USR) Park in the early afternoon on the Christmas Day.

This long legged, interesting-looking crane fly with a slender abdomen stayed "flat" , appeared to be dead on the leaf . However, the gutsy winds really posed a great challenge for me to take a decent shot of it.

This shot shows how it stretched its long legs when resting on another leaf surface.The Yellow Creeping Daisy flowers (Wedelia trilobata) were in full blooms which attracted quite a few small insects.

A colourful and tiny metalmark moth (Saptha beryllitis. Family : Choreutidae) showed us how it was feeding on the florets.

A few orange skippers were zipping around and feeding on the yellow flower heads. The intermittent strong winds seemed to agitate them a lot and make them extremely alert to movement. I only managed to take a few shots of this Taractrocera archias quinta.

This is another shot showing its long proboscis was inserted into a floret.

I could never get a satisfactory shot of this very tiny fly - worst still, the winds added more challenge for me. In the process of feeding these small insects also play the role of pollinating the flowers.

A rustle in the Ixora bushes drew my attention. How lucky I was ! - my second consecutive sighting of this beautiful creature - our native Green Crested Lixard (Bronchocela cristatella) seems surviving quite well in the forests.

A rather common forest resident, this Malay Viscount (Tanaecia pelea pelea) "sailed" past me and perched on a Singapore Rhododendron (Melastoma malabathricum).

It decided to offer me a nicer perch on some ferns just a few steps away.

A beautiful moth with some parts of its upperside wings torn was found resting on a Hairy Clidemia (Clidemia hirta) leaf.
Never mind there was no butterfly fairy and no surprise on a very windy and cool afternoon outing, I still enjoyed lazing and strolling along the forest trails and of course taking pictures.