Hok Tau (鶴藪) to Fung Yuen, Hong Kong

It was a beautiful Saturday morning on April 8, I ventured to Hok Tau (鶴藪) located at the north- estern part of New Territories, Hong Kong (HK). Mini Bus 52B from Fanling MTR Station took me to the terminal station at Hok Tau village where I began my slow hike to the Hok Tau Reservoir. After that I  continued my hike heading towards Sha Lo Tung and Fung Yuen at Tai Po.

The Papilio paris is a very common butterfly in HK. We can find them visiting wild Lantana flowers along roadsides. But most of the time, they were hyper acctive and flapping its wings at a high speed. 

Shooting into the sky.

I could see some butterfly activities along the service road that leads us to the Hok Tau Reservoir. While taking a short break at the barbecue and picnic site,  I noticed some Grass Blues were flitting around me - one of thme was a Zizeeria maha.

When I reached the reservoir dam, I was delighted to see some different butterflies feeding on a row of Bidens flowers.  The Neptis hylas is a common butterfly that we can find in many wild places and country parks in HK.

I cound sense that a skipper with  some white patches was zipping past me a few times. I patiently waited for it to land. Yes, it turned out to be the Gerosis phisara - my first sighting of this rather uncommon skipper in Hong Kong.

When this brown skipper - a Baoris farri, perched closer to me,  I quickly snap a few instinctive shots.

A dry season form of Ypthima baldus looks so different from the wet season form.

This loving pair of Hypolimnas bolina made me busy for a while as they were quite sensitive to my presence. After changing their perch a few times, they settled down on a cement wall.

At a T-junction, I walked left towards Sha Lou Tung. It was an easy hike on a level and well-paved forest trail with good shade. However, for a long period of time, I didn't have a clear chance to take any shot.

There were very few shooting opportunies at Sha Lou Tung and Fung Yuen too. When I was about to call it a day, this pristine Water Snow Flat (Tagiades litigiosus) made me go round the flowers to compose some shots.

I don't get to see Lemon Pansy (Junonia lemonias) often at Fung Yuen. Though it was not a perfect specimen for photography, I decided to snap a few shots for my own record.

A spider on a leaf suerface was motionless for quite a duration - I guess it was waiting for its prey to come nearer.

A Quiet Day @ Fung Yuen and Sha Lung Tong

On a cloudy Saturday morning on 27 Aug, I decided to check out Fung Yuen at Tai Po with a low expectation due to the weather condition.

Indeed, it was a very quiet morning in terms of  the number of butterfly photographers and butterfly activities. Outside Fung Yuan where some Bidens flowers were blooming, two Male Striped Blue Crow (Euploea mulciber) were busy feeding on the flowers.

The Tirumala septentrionis (Dark Blue Tiger) came to join the Crow.

A look-alike Tirumala limniace (The Blue Tiger) seems to be more common in Hong Kong?

Getting a good shot of this Hummingbird moth (Macroglossum passalus) in flight while feeding was a huge challenge for me - the flapping of its wings was just too fast for the camera to freeze it without comprising the background brightness.

I decided walking towards Sha Lung Tong Village. After climbing a few hundred of steep steps and about another 30 minutes of walking on a road, I saw some houses from far - I guess this must be the village and it seemed that there were not many people living  in the village.  

When there was nothingelse to shoot, a common and dull butterfly like the Zieeria maha cuaght my attention.

Along the roadside, I spotted a Long-banded Silverline (Spindasis lohita) feeding on the flowers. 

It moved on the flower quite frequently - for a change, I snapped its "backside".

 I bumped into another one near the village - it looks like a female S. lohita.

Along the way back to Fung Yuen, a solidtary Sithusa chandrana greeted me from a high perch.

I could see some banners objecting the development of the Sha Lung Tong village.

Well, this may be my first and possibly my last time (hope not !) shooting butterflies around this village.

A Solo Trip to Fung Yuen Butterfly Reserve @ Tai Po

On 18 June, I dropped by at  Fung Yuen Butterfly Reserve again. This time there were not many butterfly photographers around.

The abundacne ofTree Flitter ( Hyarotis adrastus) provided me with many shooting opportunities.  

I saw this bevaiour before - this guy went in and out of  a Morning Glory flower a few times.

We can see some drawings on the white spots of this Notocrypta curvifascia - how did this happern ?

The Melanitis phedima (Dark Evening Brown) were abundent. They were hooked on to the moisture on the tree trunk or perhaps tree sap for a long period of time.   

A rather skittish Tanaecia niepelti was looking for food on the ground. It moved around so frequently that I had to stalk it for sometime before snapping some quick shots.

It perched on a leaf for a while

There is a steep flight of stairs at one side of Fung Yuen - these steps leading us to the Cloudy Hill and Sha Lo Tung Village. There wasn't good butterfly activity wereat at higher altitude.

On my way going down,  I noticed an Athyma ranga keeping an eye on me from a high perch.  

There were a lot more butterflies at the foothill instead. One of my favourite butterflies, the Hestina assimilis seemed to be quite common - but I have not had the luck to photograph a pristine specimen yet.

Just a few meters ahead of the Hestina, the  Polyura athamas was enjoying something smelly for us - some animal faeces.

I saw it scooting off and landing on the ground. Approaching it slowly, I noticed that if flapped its wings a few times before showing off its uppersides - a rather rare behaviour.

This is the Lethe europa, a species that we can find in Singpore.

Many small to medium-sized butteflies love the Biden flowers. Feeding on flowers is the best moment to take a shot of a Common Grass Yellow (Eurema hecabe).

Not sure what this small brown skipper is. But one thing is sure - it likes the Bidens flower too.

I might have taken this bug before in Singapore. But I have no idea what it is now.

It gave me a different pose before it went underneath the fern.

A nymph of a bug? An interesting and nice critter.  

Finally, my last shot of the day at a shady place before exiting the Fung Yuen's back gate was this purple water droplet appearing at the tip of a stem.

Fung Yuan Butterfly Reserve, Hong Kong

Fung Yuan is one of the best and  most accessible butterfly-watching and photography sites in Hong Kong. On two Saturdays (14 and 21 May), though the wheather was not ideal  for butterfly-hunting, I could still see some insect life at Fung Yuan. 

The Acytolepis puspa (鈕灰蝶) wasn't a target for most of the photographers. However, when it presented a good perch for me, I just sanpped a few shots.

My friends spotted a few Neopithecops zalmora  (一點灰蝶) along a foot path outside Fung Yuan. There were flitting around and feeding on flowers at times. We were lucky to  see one of them releasing water dropplets from its abdomen.  .

We had some fun shooting this little fellow when it was addicted to the nectar of the flower.

These two Cyrestis thyodamas  (網絲蛺蝶)  feasted on the damp ground for a long period of time. They were drunk on the ground, oblivious to passersby walking  just beside them.
  

Fung Yuan is full of  the White Dragontail butterflies (Lamprotera curius ) (燕鳳蝶). Altough they appear like dragonflies, they are the smallest Papilionids. Usually they flap their wings at very high speeds while feeding.  However, I notice that at certian time of the day, they may rest on flowers with wings fully open. 

This attractive female Indian Fritilliary (Argyreus hyperbius) 斐豹蛺蝶 appeared late in the afternoon but she was  just too skittish and uncooperative for me to take a better shot.

The Lethe confusa 白帶黛眼蝶 seems to be very common here. On a rather cool and cloudy day, this guy was less active.

This looks more like a Neptis hylas (中環蛺蝶) - it took me awhile to get just one shot of this  extremely alert fellow.

A phone call from my friend alerted me to go to the "magic tree' where  butterflies liked to feed on the tree sap.  This is a Polyura nepenthes 忘憂尾蛺蝶  - it stayed at this position high on the tree trunk until I left for home. 

I saw a few Birdwing larvae feeding on the host plants.  

Apart from butterflies,  these two day-flying moths with similar body shape captured my attention too. Thanks Dr  Kendrick for identifying it as Amata polymita.

I have no idea what they are - Ok. Dr Kendrick identified this as the Syntomoides imaon. Both moths belong to Erebidae and Arctinae.   

Apart from butterflies, the dragonflies and other insects became my subjects especially when they were cooperative. This is a kind of wasp feeding voraciously on the Bidens flowers.

  There were quite a number of beetles. This

This black beetle loved the flower.

 I began to see more damselflies in my last two visits to Fung Yuan.

Another species found inside the Fung Yuan - thanks to Shan who spotted this for me to shoot.

This was taken outside the Fung Yuan - many of them were resting in the late afternoon.

Lastly, a long-legged fly that I may not have seen it before.