Some Critters @ Bukit Brown

I visited  Bukit Brown cemetery a few times in the month of November; each time with the hope of shooting the Banded Line Blue (Prosotas lutea sivoka) which I first discovered it recently. I could see at least one individual fluttering around its larval host plant but I just didn't have the luck to shoot it again.

However, there were some other critters attracted my attention. Thus rather tame Green Crested Lizard (Bronchocela cristatella) climbed up and hung on to a piece of wooden plank peeping at the passers by.

I went closer and took some shots of its elegant posture. 

Another shot when it turned around to look at me,

A pair of colourful beetles was found on a leaf above my eye level - they were performing a kind of mating dance perhaps - I am not sure at all.

They approached closer and seem to "fight" with their antennae. It was a pity that I couldn't take a proper top view shot

Another brown beetle emerged from the underside of this leaf.

A very tiny cricket was looking around to avoid its predators ?

A kind of paper wasp was found performing "acrobatic exercise" on the leaves of  this particular shrub which has lots of thorns on the stems.

I was delighted to see a Common Rose (Pachilopta aristolochiae asteris)  puddling on the damp soil of an open space. A very alert fellow, it flew off whenever I tried to move forward. In fact, I also saw a Common Birdwing flew past me. Unfortunately taking a good in-flight shot is really beyond my photographic skill.       

Lastly, a Common Hedge Blue (Acytolepis puspa lambi) was playing hide-and-seek with me. At last it was attracted to a piece of bird's dropping.

Lornie Trail On 23 Oct

Though the weather was rather good on 23 Oct which was a lovely Sunday morning, I could only afford a short outing. I dropped by Lornie Trail and headed straight to my favorite spot for shooting.

At least half a dozen Bush Hoppers (Ampittia dioscorides camertes) were zipping around and resting on the overgrown ferns.

Bush Hopper does not seem to have the habit of opening its wings when perching on foliage. However, this was an instantaneous moment when one of them sunbathing on a leaf.

There were a few other orange skippers chasing each other and zipping around me. Whenever this guy rested it would open its wings fully like this. It looks like a Lesser Dart (Pothanthus omaha omaha).

What is this ? These patterns at the back of a lycaenid could be used to deceive the predators.

A forest lycaenid, Chocolate Royal (Remelana jangala travana) is not a common species. A very detailed and well-documented life history of this species can be found here on the Butterflycircle's (BC) blog.

An alert Tree Yellow (Gandaca harina distanti) was feeding on the flowers of the Mile-a-minute (Mikania micrantha). But it never stayed long enough for me to take more shots,.

I was rather lucky to see two Green Crested lizards (Bronchocela cristatella) at the same location. It was rather tame and I could go nearer and take a few shots on this handsome guy.

A beautiful native species, the Green Crested lizard has not been spotted as often as the Changeable Lizard (Calotes versicolor) which is non-native.

This brown skipper is the Common Snow Flat (Tagiades japetus atticus) - a permanent resident at the location.

Take a closer look if you could find something else on the flowers.

What a pity that this Jewel Four-line Blue ( Nacaduba sanaya elioti) has lost its two tails.

This is a male specimen of a Rounded 6-line Blue (Nacaduba berenice icena). A very skittish guy which took off to the canopy level after I had taken this shot. Thanks Seow from BC who had identified the two Nacaduba species for me.

From Dairy Farm Park to Bukit Timah Hill

My friend and I spent a few Sunday mornings walking up to the summit of the Bukit Timah Hill. We usually started early at the Diary Farm Park trekking up the hill - because we want to be fitter and "conquer" another mountain in China -Ermeishan this time, in early June.

Along the way, if I encountered anything interesting I would usually take some pictures but shooting chances were rather rare most of the time.

I remember we saw this green crested lizard (Bronchocela cristatella) along the road leading to the Wallace Education Centre. This shot was taken before we went up the hill.

When we came down, we could see this green beauty again but further away from us - it looks like it had been suffering from hunger.

Although this is a native species but I hardly get to see it often in the wild - in fact it is getting quite uncommon - so let's look at another shot.

Yes, I am rather bias because I tend to ignore fungi especially those small and inconspicuous ones. But big and brilliantly coloured fungi or those which grow in a cluster could still attract my attention. How can we miss this very striking and conspicuous bracket fungus ?

Some fungus species grow in a cluster like this - would these fungi glow at night ?

I think this bracket fungus is a common species as I always encountered it. Fungi are quite diverse and perhaps ubiquitous. They can be found on forest undergrowth, live or dead tree trunks.

Spotting an adult butterfly or their larva is considered a bonus for me when my intention is "training my legs and heart". Lucky star did strike me at times. I guess this is a late instar larva of the Orange Awlet (Burara harisa consobrina).

I am not sure if this is its hostplant because this plant looks different from its known hostplant which is Arthrophyllum diversifolium and this particular caterpillar was not munching the leaf at all.

Here is my attempt to take a shot of its dorsal view - shooting with one hand.

When the sun was up, we began to see signs of fauna life and butterfly activities. This Branded Imperial (Eooxylides tharis distanti) was seen perching on a sunlit spot.

Don't underestimate the height of the the summit - only 163 m above sea level can make us panting if we are not fit enough. Don't worry, we can always take our own time to climb the steps and appreciate the floral and fauna surrounding us. At the end of the climb, we would be rewarded with lots of fresh and cool air on the hilltop.

At the summit a female Malay Baron (Euthalia monina monina) was looking for sweet spots for puddling, When I was chasing and stalking her quite persistently, I could sense that my "bizarre" behaviour attracted attention of some hikers who were resting at the summit - well it's fine with me !

Anything Interesting @ Dairy Farm Nature Park ?

Together with Khew, I took part in two butterfly surveys for Nparks near the surrounding area of the newly opened Dairy Farm Nature Park a few months back. On 09-09-2009 (what a special and auspicious day for some ROM couples), a lovely sunny day, I went to take a look again at this newest park which was officially opened on 5 Sept (see here).

My first shot of the morning was this cricket. There were so many of them along the road leading to the carpark. Having a pair of thin and long antennae, and powerful hind legs for leaping, crikets were often seen leaping from leaf to leaf. Yes, I have not seen a cricket flying far in the field.

This handsome male Changeable lizard (Calotes versicolor) was protruding his head out from a row of tall grasses as if looking for his meting partner because during the mating season, the males display bright orange coloration on their head and a black throat as shown in the picture. This interesting all black with a little red eye creature looks like a species of ant or an ant mimicking a spider.Here is another shot. Pity that I am not tall enough to capture its dorsal view. After shooting this ant, I met Roy, an Nparks staff who was guiding a group of people from Starbucks (I hoped I heard it correctly) doing some voluntary community work there. Just next to the ant on a grass blade, I saw this katydid. We would miss its presence if we were not observant enough. There is a lot of interaction between species in nature. For example, this Lycaenid butterfly, Biggs's Brownie (Miletus biggsii biggsii) was usually seen having a close association with ants in the wild. John helped me to identify this digger wasp which belongs to the genus Sphex. From this dorsal view, we can see its big black bullet-shaped abdomen with brilliantly coloured legs.

It looked like searching for food on the leaf surface and at one moment it was buzzing around me and I had to keep very still and bend my head low.

A sap-feeding and a moth-like insect, this is a beautiful Ricaniid hopper (Ricanula stigmatica) which was resting (or feeding ?) on the edge of a leaf. Chocolate Pansy (Junonia hedonia ida) is a very common butterfly which can be found along forest fringes or in town parks but getting a good shot in the wild is never easy. I was lucky to have this rather skittish one perched in front of me for a few seconds - instinctively, I fired a few shots.

You will not miss a few clusters of tall African Spiral Flag (Costus lucanusianus ; Family : Costaceae) in the vicinity of the park. Its big and showy flowers often attracted carpenter bees visiting them. This Noctuid moth was shot in the deep undergrowth along Wallace Trail. The two prominent eye spots on the forewings and the wing patterns can really scare a predator even a person away. This black and white Tumbling Flower Beetle with a pointed tail-like structure belongs to the genus Mordella. Not sure why it is called a Tumbling Flower Beetle.

I guess this is a St. Andrew's Cross Spider. Spiders generally are not attractive to me but I find spiderwebs fascinating because of their delicate and complex patterns. I believe spiderwebs have given scientists idea to create new materials which are light and superstrong.

I spotted this Common Grass Yellow (Eurema sari sodalis) which was trying to lay eggs along the tarred road. I waited a while and was lucky to see her laying one spindle-shaped egg on the upperside of a young leaf. I hope to find out the name of this plant later.

It has been almost 9 months since I started this blog recording my sightings in nature. This is my 50th post this year. I am glad that I still have the stamina to update the blog quite regularly. Honestly, I felt like giving up updating at times when I had too many deadlines to meet in my busy work schedule.

There are lots of interactions between different or even same species in nature. These ants were attracted to something that I am not sure of though it looks like bird droppings. Looking forward, I hope I can persevere and sustain my effort in blogging, capturing more dynamic and fauna behavioural shots, perhaps incorporating short video clips.

Related posts :

1. Somewhere near Bukit Timah Nature Reserve
2. Central Catchment 21 Feb 2009