Butterflies Along Tung O Ancient Trail (東澳古道) (up to San Tau Village)

On two consecutive Saturday afternoons (29 Sept and 6 Oct), while I was on my way back from and to the airport, I made a slight detour to San Tau Village, next to the Yat Tung estate (逸東邨) in Lantau Island. Yat Tung estate is just a short bus ride (Bus 38) from  the Tung Chung bus station. 

I strolled along the Tung O Ancient Trail (東澳古道) which runs along the northern coastline of  the Lantau Island 

The Hau Wong Temple (侯王宮) which was built during the Qing Dynasty period was one of the historical sites along the 15-km long Tung O Ancient Trail - a favorite trail among hikers. 

The Quaker (Neopithecops zalmora zalmora) is a permannent resident at a location near the Hau Wong Temple (侯王宮) -  there were a few of them fluttering around some small flower buds.

A pair of Quaker each took care of its own food source.

There was a row of pea plants near an open grass patch outside a playground  A Pea Blue (Lampides boeticus) was resting on a blade of grass.

Zizeeria maha (Pale Grass Blue) is a common lycaenid in Hong Kong. If we pay attention to those small butterflies fluttering around wild flowers on the ground, we should be able to find them easily.

Continued walking along the trail for a couple of minutes, I came to a concrete bridge - the mangrove vegetation covers almost the whole river banks.

Butterfly activities were generally low on both occasions. Apart from a few skippers, there were very few other species crossing my path. This rather pristine Bush Hopper ( Ampittia dioscorides etura ) was kind enough for me to snap a few shots.

Two other brown skippers presented their pose for me too  - they look like the Borbo cinnara.

 Another specimen was found nearby on a leaf.

A fast-flying skipper which looks like a Parnara ganga was seen looking for its host plant - it did find the type of grass to lay its egg.

Chilades lajus is another common lycaenid along the coastal area

Apart from butterflies, other insects appeared in front of me would be my targets too. This  colourful beetle caught my attention when it perched above my head - thus making it rather hard a well- composed shot.

An on-coming passer-by alerted me that there was a snake about 50m ahead of me. Indeed, a rather slender green snake with some red tint on the skin was crawling along the kerb. I have no idea if it is poisonous.

Soon, I reached one of the many old villages along this ancient trail -  the San Tau  (䃟頭) village - I noticed that there were quite a number of vacant houses and some of them were in a dilapidated state.

A Snow Flat, the Tagiades litigiousus came out to welcome me to the village.

The Blue-spotted Crow (Euploea midamus midamus) was found feeding on some wild Lantan flowers beside a village house.

Due to time constraint on both occassions, I had to return to Tung Chung. Indeed, this long ancent trial has a lot to offer to the hikers and photographers as it runs through many old villages such as I hope to complete the whole trail in the near future.

Skippers and Other Interesting Critters at Mandai

On 12 Oct I met with up WH at the Casurina Curry Restaurant. After a quick roti prata breakfast, we boarded Bus 138, heading for Mandai. Shortly after alighting from the bus, I spotted this Oriental Whip Snake (Ahaetulla prasina) curling itself on tree branches near the reservoir edge.

While we were on our way walking towards the butterfly hot spot, WH spotted a beautiful shield bug (?) which I have never seen before.

A slight tweak of the shooting angle produced a different background colour.

Strangely, I have not been sighting skippers as frequently as I used to for quite awhile. So even this small and dull Starry Bob (Lambrix stellifer) could excite us as it presented us with a nice perch on a blade of grass at the entrance to the trail leading to the butterfly hot spot. 

A very dark skipper was spotted at a shady spot a few meters off of the forest trail. It appeared to be The Paintbrush Swift (Baoris oceia).

A glimpse of  the white dots on its upperside wings should be useful for identifying the species.

At one dead end corner of the forest trail, this small dragonfly with a prominent yellow segment on the body was rather sensitive to my presence. With a bit of luck and perseverance, I finally took a shot of it which looks like the Pseudothemis jorina.

Another small dragonfly was taking an afternoon nap along the forest trail.

Along the forest trail, a kind of micropezid fly drew my attention as it looked new to me.

From my first glance, I noticed the abdomen of this dragonfly was exceptionally short. My first impression was that it might be something different. After checking the book - Dragonflies of Singapore, I believe this is the Sapphire Flutterer (Rhyothemis triangularis).

I feel that planthoppers belonging to the insect order Hemiptera has not been widely studied. I encountered two different Flatid planthoppres on two different weekends - I have no clue what they are !

This shot was taken along the trail leading to the butterfly hot spot.

At the butterfly hot spot, this wasp was seen diligently visiting almost every Melastoma fruit, chasing away butterflies occasionally. 

I am not sure if I have seen or shot this small seed bug before found along the park connector. 

Lastly, I saw a moth flying past me and landed on a big tree trunk. Do you see something else resting on the moth?

The butterfly hot spot has been rather quiet since last week of October. I am sure very soon either the flowers or fruits there will bring back insect activity again.  

A Venomous Snake at Upper Seletar Reservoir Park

Thanks CJ for giving me a lift to the USRP when she spotted me waiting at a bus stop along Upper Thomson Road on 21 Sept and thanks Simon for getting the ButterflyCircle's embroidered badges ready for all of us. 

This snake which looked like a highly venomous Wagler's Pit Viper (Tropidolaemus wagleri) was lurking behind a shrub just a few meters away from the pavement. I was told that it had been curling around this tree for more than two weeks.  I cautiously approached closer and took a few shots.

We ventured deep into the forest. I could see a few butterflies flying pass us but I just could not get any shot. Instead, I noticed a cicada resting on a tree trunk, rather high above me.

A very alert and skittish Spotted Judy (Abisara geza niya) made me work very hard before I could take a long distance shot. After that, it never appeared again.

We didn't have many photographing opportunities. So when this mating plant hopper appeared in front of me I could not resist taking some shots.

I encountered two different Lesser Harlequins (Laxita thuisto thuisto) at two different locations. They loved to turn and hop around whenever they perched so getting a shot was a test of my patience and reaction. 

I didn't stay too long in the deep forest. I moved out early and made a slight detour to check out the area outside the SAF firing range. I believe this is a kind of wasp which I may have shot before.

It has been a long time since I last shot of  an Arhopala species at this location. It looks like a Arhopala amphimuta amphimuta.

Last shot of the day was this sun-bathing Malayan Snow Flat (Tagiades calligana).

Have You Seen These Creatures in the Wild ? -Part 2

Continue from my previous post

In the shady and thick overgrown forested area, I could see some skippers zipping around but getting a shot of them was not easy. When this Common Awl (Hasora badra badra) landed underneath a leaf, I quickly approached closer and snapped a quick shot.

This was my third encounter of a very rare Yellow Chequered Lancer (Plastigia pellonia) but it gave me no time to think and adjust myself to take a better shot. Just one shot and it took off.

Just a few meters off a forest trail, I noticed a brown skipper (possibly a Caltoris malaya) darting past me before it landed on a dry leaf with some bird droppings.

Now, it landed on a leaf surface.

A male Common Palm Dart (Telicota colon stinga) was found perching on a leaf outside the forested area. Occasionally, it opened its wings for sun-bathing.

The Bamboo Tree Brown (Lethe europa malaya)  is famous for its skittishness but this particular pristine specimen gave us a bit more time to take a few shots when it landed on a slope.

This is a Malayan Lascar (Lasippa tiga siaka) sunbathed under the morning sum. It changed its perch a few times before settling down on the leaf long enough for me to snap some shots.

Here is another shot.

The Archduke (Lexias pardalis dirteana) is commonest Lexias species in Singapore. This male specimen was displaying its usual behaviour - flying past me a few times along a forest trail and settling down on dry leaf.  

Lastly, an arboreal Oriental Whip Snake (Ahaetulla prasina) was moving slowly away from me towards a higher perch when I spotted it on the main trail. A common snake in our nature reserve, the Oriental Whip Snake is mildly venomous but rather docile - leave it alone when you see one next time.