Butterflying in Malaysia Part 1 - Berembun Rainforest Lodge Villa & Ulu Bendul Forest Eco Park

I took a public bus at the Karanji MRT Station on a Monday morning to cross the borders at Woodlands. The traffic on the Causeway was generally smooth and the jam caused by many returning blue buses from SG was tolerable. With the implementation of the e-gates at the Woodlands checkpoint,  immigration clearance at the JB customs was a breeze - thanks to the Malaysian government.

I followed the signage and waited for SBS Bus 170 which goes to the JB Larkin bus terminal. I bought a bus ticket going to Seremban, scheduled to depart at 09:50 am but I had no idea why the departure was delayed until 10:20 am. The traffic on the highway was generally smooth except at some stretches near Malacca and KL. The whole journey to the bus terminal in Seremban. was close to 4 hours (longer than the usual time).  

I must thank the owner of the  Berembun Rainforest Lodge Villa (Pantai) , SC who waited for me at the Bus Terminal 1. I stayed at the villa which is situated at the mid-level of the Berembun mountain in Pantai, Seremban -  about 30-min drive from the Seremban town centre.

The colour theme of the villa is predominantly white which exudes a sense of peacefulness, purity with elegance which blends very well with the surrounding greenery. The architectural design of the whole villar is very practical - the large multi-purpose grass patch in front of the houses not only provides enough parking space for visitors but also allows parents conducting activities for kids while immersing themselves in nature.  The open balconies outside two of the four rooms provide a cozy and private space for us to enjoy fresh air and listening to birdsongs over a cup of coffee.  The small but well-sheltered swimming pool below the balconies is a bonus for us to chill and relax on a hot day. 

We can find a good variety of butterflies within and in the vicinity of the villa - an ideal place for butterfly-photographers. Here are some shots that I managed to take.  

This is a Coon (Psolos fuligo) is quite a large skipper. It was found resting on a foliage in a cool early morning just besides the house.

A Potanthus species opened its wings whenever it perched on a new leaf.

This small Straight Pierrot (Caleta roxus pothus) was found late in the afternoon outside the gates of the villa.

In a late afternoon,  we spotted the Blue Brilliant (Simiskina phalia potina) on a very high perch not far away from the villa. However, it was not cooperative and refused to come down for us to take a better shot.

Apart from butterflies, there were some moths perching on the wall of the villa. This is one of them - a silvery interesting moth.

What bug is this ? 

I did see some other butterflies such as the Common Rose and skippers as the owner grows quite a number of host plants and flowering plants such as Snakeweeds to attract butterflies. Indeed, from time to time, the owner did record some rarer butterflies at this location. For example this rare skipper Salanoemia similis.

It has been more than 10 years since my last meeting LC in Chiang Mai.  I was very glad that he was able to travel from KL to the villa to meet us for two days of butterfly-outing. 

The weather was not ideal but we still headed out to the Ulu Bendul Forest Eco Park which is not very far by car from the villa. There is no entrance fees to this park and it appeared that the park is quite popular with the locals.

There were quite a few groups of campers along the riverbanks. Dipping into the river seemed to be the favourite activities here for kids and teenagers.

Though the butterfly activities were below my expectation due to the weather condition, I  still managed to shoot a few species.  I saw this Common Pierrot (Castlius rosimon rosimon) fluttering amongst the wild flowers, I chased after it and took a few quick shots.

The Common Tit (Hypolycaena erylus teatus) was looking for sweet spot for puddling on the rocky ground.

I think this is the Small Red Bob (Idmon obliquans) resting in a shade.

A small whitish Lycaenid was found fluttering around. I need to wait patiently before it settled down for me to take a quick shot - this looks like a Lesser Darkwing (Allotinus unicolor).

On our way back to the entrance, we spotted this puddling Red Helen (Papilio helenus helenus).

We noticed that there were a few Awls feeding on a flowering tree but they were rather high up. I managed to take some record shots of a Plain Banded Awl (Hasora vitta) and the Royal Assyrian (Terinos terpander).

                                                                                                                 

 

Near the carpark, we met a Magpie Crow (Euploea radamanthus) and it seems to be common here as we encountered a few of them in the park.

To be continued