Two Different Pansies @ Punggol End

It was rather hot and hazy but windy when I arrived at Punggol end in the late morning on 1 March. I could feel the heat emancipating from the ground - wild vegetation was struggling to fight the drought; a large patch of a grassland had been wiped out by bush fire brought about by a prolonged period of dry spell since mid January. In fact, this February is Singapore's driest month since 1869 (see here and here).

I was delighted to see a few Blue Pansies (Junonia orithya wallacei) actively flying around at one particular location and occasionally resting on the dry ground. With a lot of patience waiting for them to perch, I managed to snap some quick shots.

Another specimen rested on a dry lalang leaf.

While exploring the surrounding area, I came to a stream near Track 17 where I noticed a small colony of Grey Pansy (Junonia atlites atlies). 

Another specimen was feeding on some wild flowers.
A very worn out Arhopala was flitting above me but I failed to get a shot. Instead, I noticed a dark moth-like bug resting on a leaf - a kind of planthopper or something else?

A Wild Place Near Punggol Waterway

A natural habitat at Punggol Waterway Park enriches the biodiversity of the area. I came to this wild habitat on 29 March (my last visit to this place was about one year ago) to explore the place again. Tawny Coster (Acraea violae) was again thriving here -  they were fluttering around and displayed different perches on a sunny morning.

This is another female resting on a blade of grass.

The male has brighter uppersides. 

But this male was not so lucky as it was trapped in a spider web.

There were a few Blue Pansies (Junonia orithya wallacei) sunbathing on the ground. They were extremely alert and getting a decent shot was a great challenge.This male Blue Pansy moved around on the ground, giving me a chance to snap a quick shot.

A Forest Hopper (Astictopterus jama jama) was zipping around. When it perched and fed on the flower, I took a few shots.

A neglected small butterfly,  the Lesser Grass Blue (Zizina otis lampa) was fluttering on a grass patch and their occasional perch gave me a chance to take some shots.  

I came to a stream where there were lots of prominent pink snail eggs attaching to some twigs, concrete bricks and even leafs. 

Punggol Waterway Park

On a rather hot Saturday morning (24 March), partly inspired by Siyang’s post, I decided to visit the place where I used to spend hours hunting for critters.I alighted at the same LRT station – Kadaloor and walked the same path as I did before. I cut across a grass field next to a new golf-driving range. I could see many families, young and old people walking and cycling alongside the waterway. I didn’t join them. Instead I strolled along a patch of wasteland and was extremely delighted to see that a few trees and shrubs were kept intact – the Common Rhu (Casuarina equisetifolia ) and Lantana bushes are among a few other familiar trees that I could recognise.

The Tawny Coster (Acraea violae) butterfly was first discovered on this wasteland in 2006. I am glad to report that the species is doing fine there - at least a dozen of them was fluttering in the hot sun - thanks to the small patch of wasteland that provides them with sufficient host plants.  

I spotted a few Pea Blues (Lampides boeticus) but they were too active and alert for me to take a good underside shot. However, I was lucky to spot a female sunbathing on a leaf near the bridge connecting Lorong Halus. Again, thanks to a small stretch of wasteland that allows its larval host plant, a crotalaria species thriving there. 

Many critters need a piece of grassland to survive. This is a Common Palm Dart (Telicota colon stinga) perching with wings open on the tip of a grass blade.  

Now, it decided to close its wings and stay still for a few seconds. 

Of course, there are other skippers surviving on this stretch of wasteland. This is a Detached Dart (Potanthus trachala tytleri). 

An intimate pair of Lesser Dart (Potanthus Omaha Omaha) added to my excitement and the diversity of critters we can find in a wasteland.

When I crossed over the bridge around noon, I realised that there was a celebration of the World Water Day at Lorong Halus. Though I didn’t witness the event, I could see that many students were  supporting their friends who where showcasing and explaining their projects. 

To wrap up this post, I would like to show a beautiful damselfly taken at a pond near the entrance to the Lorong Halus Wetland Park. 

HDB and Nparks did the right thing by keeping some pockets of  the wasteland habitat wild and intact. Not only would a small stretch of wasteland create a natural and rustic environment that balances the man-made Waterway Park, it would also benefit the overall biodiversity of the park in the long run.
I will definitely visit the park again to look out for more.

The Fate of a Yellow

I had a mission on 19 Sept. Armed with some necessary stuff, I reached Punggol wasteland slightly earlier than BJ. Look at this shot below, you can imagine what would happen to the site . By the time I posted this blog article, I guess the hoarding should have been up and entry to the site would be difficult or impossible. The moment I reached there, I started to search for NBGY, No Brand Grass Yellow (Eurema brigitta senna) larva on the host plants - I found this sad ending to a last instar larva. The weather was rather unpredictable. In a short time, dark clouds gathered rapidly and soon I felt rain drops falling on my head. I quickly informed BJ that I would wait for him at the nearby Kopitiam.

Once again, we had to spend some 20 minutes or so chatting over a cup of tea waiting for the rain to stop.

After the rain, we managed to trans-locate a few NBGY, mainly females, from Punggol to Seletar.

This record shot captured the moment of a female laying egg at the new site soon after she was released. We hope that these females would lay many eggs at this new site and their offspring would establish a permanent home at Seletar.


This is Apis dorsata. There was quite a number of them at the Punggol site feeding on the yellow flowers of Aquatic Sensitive Plant (Neptunia plena).

A. dorsata looks similar to A. carana , but larger in size. I just wonder what that orange thing on its leg is. I was rather lucky to snap an in-flight shot as this bee was rather active and never remained long on the flowers.
This may be a species of Scolia wasp. It was found "rotating" itself on a Lalang grass blade. A pair of short antennae and the big eyes on this wasp make its appearance a bit different from other wasps. This looks like a Broad-headed bug. I notice that its eyes are situated at the sides of its head which has a triangular shape. This robber fly was taken at the Seletar site while we were on our way back. The weather turned bad again and I had to take this shot quickly before the rain pouring down again. The fate of this Yellow species now depends on whether it can adapt to its new habitat at the Seletar site which is not really the same as that of the Punggol wasteland. But we have tried our best to trans-locate and conserve this species. However, we hope that the relevant authority would assist us in our future conservation effort.

NBGY is Still Safe @ Punggol

It has been a week since the ground-breaking ceremony on the construction of a 4.9 km Punggol Promenade (a map can be found here ) on 15 Aug (see here). I am quite anxious and curious to know what has happened to this wasteland. So on a blue-sky sunny Saturday morning (22 Aug) I was once again checking out and roaming on this no-man's land alone. Apart from the patch of grassland running parallel to the Sungei Serangoon that has been cleared, the rest of the wasteland is still untouched. I have mentioned a few times in this blog that this wasteland is home to a newly discovered butterfly, the No Brand Grass Yellow (Eurema brigitta senna), NBGY in short. I am delighted to write here that I spotted at least half a dozen females fluttering around the host plants, busy laying eggs. Yes, we are all aware that the NBGY is vulnerable here, we certainly will help this species finding a new home. This beautiful damselfly Ceriagrion cerinorubellum was usually found in our nature reserves. So spotting it here was indeed a pleasant surprise for me. Another dragonfly was found resting at the ground level often. It looks like a female Diplacodes trivialis which I have shot at the same place before. I think this is a Lacewing belonging to the order Neuroptera. Lacewing has a pair of long antennae and two pairs of membranous and intricately veined wings, quite similar to dragonflies, except that the wings are folded to form an arch over the body when it is at rest. Katydid was usually well camouflaged with the foliage. However, this bugger was risking its life by exposing itself on a twig, the vast contrast allowing me to spot it easily and take a few shots. From far, I thought it was a Common Tiger (Danaus genutia genutia) in flight as I have seen it many times here. However when it perched on a flowering shrub (yet to identify it), I realised it was a male Black Veined Tiger (Danaus melanippus hegesippus). While he kept flapping his wings, I took a quick open-winged shot. Though it was a very torn specimen, I was delighted to post here, appending the list of butterfly species that were found in this wasteland.
This male Blue Pansy (Junonia orithya wallacei) was trying to puddle on the sandy ground under the hot sun - very skittish and did not stay long on the ground. As the sunlight was direct and very harsh, I had to take this shot without the flash.
I could only manage the upperwing shot of this rather large orange skipper feeding on the flowers of Spermacoce prostrata.There were many hover flies like this hovering at low level, perching from flower to flower. The brilliant yellow flowers of the Yellow Flame tree (peltophorum pterocarpum) which I wrote about before attracted a few carpenter bees (Xylocopa latipes ).
While developing new communal facilities for the residents, we should also treasure and preserve the wildlife there especially the very localised and the less common species. It is my hope that we record the flora and fauna before the whole habitat is wiped out by the construction work.

A Short Outing to Punggol Wasteland

My last visit to this wasteland was more than two months ago (see here). On a early Saturday (11 July) morning, I made a short outing there. I was quite glad to see that the massive earthwork nearby has not reached this wasteland yet. But we all know it is a matter of time.

Beetles belong to the order Coleoptera which is characterized by having a hardened pair of forewings that cover and protect the functional membranous pair of hindwings. This light brown beetle with its orange tip antennae sticking out was found foraging on a grass blade.This looks like a Squash Bug belonging to the order Hemiptera -insects with piercing and sucking mouthparts. It stayed quite still for quite a while and loved embracing the tip of a leaf.I know this is a kind of crab spider. Beyond that I can't tell you anything. I find that human face-like abdomen really interesting and cute. It stayed motionless on the leaf waiting for its first prey of the day. The number of No Brand Glass Yellow (Eurema brigitta senna) butterfly has dwindled a lot, only two or perhaps three individuals were sighted. I was fortunate to be able to shoot this female trying to lay egg on the host plant, Chamaecrista mimosoides. The tall and fast growing Lalang grass has started to dominate the area. This groumd level creeper which I featured before in my early post with trifoliate leaves which are a-bit-rounded was quite abundant. But not many flowers were seen. The purplish blue flowers are rather small and cute. With reference to Plant Observatory, this wild creeper may be Calopogonium mucunoides. I suspect this is Ludwigia hyssopifolia (Family : Onagraceae) which was about 1 m tall near the entrance of the trail. Each small but attractive yellow flower has 4 sepals and 4 petals. I didn't realise there was this tiny beetle-like insect on the petal moving towards the stamens. Here is another shot which shows the leafs.
This is another wild flower which I have not seen and shot before . Growing at the sandy area, this small and short plant produces tiny and pretty yellow flower on top of each main stem. I wonder what this plant is.


Next time, I may want to capture the beauty of the wild scenery around this area just like Samuel did for Lorong Halus. However, due to the constraint of my camera lens, I hope Samuel or someone can come to this place to capture the natural beauty that this place has presented to us before it is lost completely and permanently.