First Day of the Dragon Year @ BSP

As usual, I visited my in-laws at BSP (Bah Soon Pah) on the first day (22 Jan) of the Dragon Year. After lunch, the weather looked rather good - I could not resist the temptation of going outdoor to see what critters were out there welcoming the start of a new lunar year.

There is a wasteland at the end of the road - my usual hunting ground at BSP. I spotted quite a few pristine Bush Hoppers (Ampittia dioscorides camertes) flitting around a patch of grassland.

Another individual perched rather elegantly on a blade of grass.
I can never be sure of what this brown skipper is - the ochreous brown underside hindwings without any markings suggest that it may be a Caltoris species.

The Cabbage White (Pieris canidia canidia) butterfly is a permanent resident at BSP. However, I notice that the population has been dwindling over the years.

This female Cabbage White was raising her abdomen when a male was trying to "harass" her.

Within half an hour, the weather changed completely, dark clouds gathered overhead rapidly, the sky darken and the size of the rain drops became noticeable. Here is a quick shot of a very beautiful pink dragonfly - a male Trithemis aurora taken before the heavy downpours.

Heavy thunderstorms dominated almost the whole afternoon. I had no where to go except watching TV programmes and chatting with my niece's boy friend - a fine young gentleman (sorry, I have forgotten his name) from Barcelona, Spain who is working in London.

After Rain @ Bah Soon Pah (BSP)

What a disappointing Saturday (27 Aug) - not because it was the day for President Election (PE) but rather the cloudy and rainy morning dampened my spirit and deprived me of an outing.

The weather turned slightly better in the late morning. After casting my vote, I went for lunch and headed for BSP. The sky finally cleared up in the afternoon so I decided to find out what critters were active on this PE day.

I was rather lucky to spot a pair of mating Pea Blue (Lampides boeticus) just outside the Oh Chin Huat Hydroponic Farm. What a docile pair, they simply ignored my presence.

At the dead end of BSP road where a small plot of wasteland is, this small black-headed ant (don't know what species) behaved rather weirdly - attempting to jump from the edge of a leaf ?

This pale green planthopper flew across me and landed on a blade of Lalang grass.

A tiny spider was not too far away from the planhopper. It remained stationary for quite a while.

I have not seen this cute tortoise beetle for a long time. What a shy creature, it turned its head away when I took the shot.

Calopogonium mucunoides is a fast-growing and invasive ground creeping vine which can be found in many disturbed areas and wastelands. The light purplish-blue and pea-like flowers grow in a cluster on stalks coming out from leaf axis.

This is another pea-like flower of Centrosema molle sprawling on the ground. Other species in this genus is described in this paper. For those who are interested in knowing more about this common wasteland weed, here is a write-up on the CIAT website.

Wild Flowers and Common Critters@ Bah Soon Pah

27 May was the last Saturday of the month. I would have gone for a long outing to some wild places if I had not arranged an appointment in the afternoon. So, I decided to take a look at the wild flowers and critters along Bah Soon Pah again.

I looked for species that I have not captured during my last visit. This grasshopper dressed up with an green outfit didn't seem to be afraid of my presence. This is a hoverfly, flitting amongst the attractive pink mimosa flowers - quite abundant on a piece of vacant farm land but getting a good shot was rather challenging as it hardly stayed still.

My first butterfly shot of the day was this Peacock Pansy (Junonia almana javana). I saw at least 4 individual sunbathing and feeding on wild flowers but they were just too alert for me to take a shot. This guy was resting momentarily when I had a quick snap.

My second butterfly shot was this common brown skipper - a Small Branded Swift (Pelopidas mathias mathias) feeding on the white Asystasia flower.

A very pretty and attractive climber was in full blooms with many pink flowers. This vine was growing on a fence. I guess this is Antigonon leptopus commonly known as coral vine.

Finally, this wild weed looks like Purple-leaved Button-weed (Borreria laevicaulis) whose purplish coloured leaves are slightly leathery and oblong. The small white flowers are rather uniquely arranged between the leaves.

Day 1 of Year of the Rabbit @ BSP

I usually spend my first day of the lunar new year at my in-law's place at Bah Soon Pah (BSP) - no exception this year on 3 Feb. I also don't stay in the house for long so after lunch I "sneaked out" in the afternoon to take a good look at the herb garden or some wild places nearby.

At one corner of the herb garden, some wild Bidens flowers attracted a few insects especially butterflies and bees. This brown skipper is Chestnut Bob (Iambrix Salsala salsla) zipping around the garden.

A rather pristine Cycad Blue (Chilades pandava pandava) was busy feeding on the flowers.

Another brown skipper which looks like a Small Banded Swift (Pelopidas mathias mathias) appeared briefly and perched on a flower "fishing" for nectar.

I took a slow walk towards the dead end of Bah Soon Pah Road where a patch of wild vegetation was my hunting ground. On a quiet and windy afternoon only this orange Pothanthus skipper was kind enough staying quite still for me to take a few shots.

The ground colour of this large hawk moth caterpillar is greenish-yellow which was found on the underside of a leaf above my eye level.
Here is a grasshopper resting on a palm leaf.
Another hairy moth larva was spotted on a wild Cinnamon leaf - I have encountered this larva a few times but I am yet to find out what species it is. (Note : it may be a larva of Trabala species)
Wishing everyone a healthy, happy and prosperous Lunar New Year.

Flora and Fauna @ Bah Soon Pah Road

Do you know where Bah Soon Pah Road is ? Named after a Paranakan Chinese Lim Nee Soon (1879 - 1936), Bah Soon Pah road is about 1km long connecting Sembawang road and the Khatib MRT Station in the northern part of Singapore. Taking a slow walk from one end to the other end, you should be able to discover its charm, serenity and its diversity of flora and fauna. There are quite a few nurseries, vegetable farms and one or two vacated farmlands which allow wildlife thriving on them.

This make Striped Albatross (Appias libythea olferna) was flitting around some Coat Button (Tridax procumbens ) flowers. I was lucky that it stayed on the flowers a bit longer for me to take a few shots. However, the female was a bit lethargic and shy- she was still resting. This small and a common but not very conspicuous butterfly is Lesser Grass Blue (Zizina otis lampa), feeding on some attractive Alysicarpus vaginalis (?) flowers - you are sure to find them around in this area if you are look around carefully. This is a male Crocothemis servilia - an all-red dragonfly with a row of black markings on the dorsal abdomen. It is widespread and can be found in gardens, parks and wastelands. This is a mating pair of Ischnura senegalensis - the female has at least two different colour forms. The shot here shows the green form which looks almost the same as the male.
This is another shot when the couple rested on a grass blade.
I have been noticing many insects like to feed on flowers from the Asteraceae family. There were many hover flies feeding on the flowers of Ageratum conyzoides . Not sure if this is another species of hover fly.
A day-flying moth (syntomis sp) was also attracted by these flowers.

Interestingly, this invasive weed contains some chemical compounds which may inhibit the grow of cancerous cells in our body according to some medical researchers (see here) and have insecticide effects on agricultural produce (see here) as well.We could find quite a few other species of wild flowers if we looked around carefully. This small but prominent yellow flower may belong to the genus Ludwigia .

I am not sure if this is a kind of wild basil Ocimum gratissimum - the cluster of flower buds and flowers definitely look unique and beautiful. My last shot of the day was this predominantly white planthopper resting on the tree trunk.
So, no matter how small and insignificant the wild places can be, we can still find some nice flowering weeds and critters if we put on a differernt kind of lens to look around.