A slow hike from Upper Peirce Reservoir to Sime Track

It has been a long time since CH and I went for shooting together. Thanks CH for giving me a lift on a fine Monday (9 June) morning to Upper Peirce Reservoir. We strolled from the carpartk to Jelutong Tower, passing by the reservoir edge and the golf course.

We encountered quite a number of common butterflies along the way.
There were quite a number of Striped Albatross futtering in the morning sun. 

Sun-loving butterflies such as the Tawny Coster (Acraea terpsicore) were spotted feeding on Biden flowers.

Whereas the Peacock Pansy (Junonia almana javana) was bathing under the morning sun.

Another sun-bathing butterfly, a female Common Mormon (Papillio polytes romulus)

Along the way, we encountered quite a few of skippers. This looks like a female Baoris farri.

The presence of a cell-spot suggests that this is a Pelopidas species. This might be a P. agna.

According to Dr Seow from ButterflyCircle, this is a female Potanthus ganda perching on a grass blade.

When we reached the Julontong tower, we noticed that the weather didn't look very promising so we turned back walking towards Upper Peirce Reservoir.

Along the Sime Track, this interesting flower with seeds attracted by attention. I guess this is Sterculia lanceolata.

The Common Flashing (Vestalis amethystina) damselfly is rather common along Sime Track. 

We had a short water break at the Ranger Station before heading back to the Upper Peirce Reservoir.

  

Along the fence separating the golf course and the hiking path, we encountered more butterfly species, This is the Common Line Blue (Prosotas nora superdates) fluttering at the ground level.

This Common Hedge Blue (Acytolepis puspa lambi) was also looking for a nice spot to puddle on the ground before resting on a foilage for a short while.

The male Horsfield's Baron (Tanaecia iapis puseda) flew past me and perched on a leaf.

Jewelled Grass Blue (Freveria putli) was first discovered in SG in September 2023. I rarely encountered this smallest butterfly in Hong Kong (wingspan about 12 - 16 mm) when I was stationed there for a few years. It is amazing to me that how this little beauty could mysteriously come to SG and now it seems that it has settled down here permanently.

We encountered a few pristine specimens fluttering around its host plant Indigofera spicata (Creeping Indigo)  (life history here) growing along a short stretch of fence between the reservoir edge and the golf course. Though it is rather small, a prominent row of black spots on the underside hindwing margin is distinctive enough for us to identify it with certainty. 

Another shot when it was sliding its wings.

CH was using a Huawei Pura 7 phone in this outing to shoot butterflies. I must say that the effect and the quality of the images are impressive (sharp with good details and nice bokeh) and comparable with shots taken from a dedicated macro-lens.  With AI technology being widely adopted and the advancement of microchips,  handphone cameras will be as good as many dedicated lens or cameras.  I think very soon more people will use handphones to take pictures of macro subjects.

 
      

Lornie Nature Corridor Part 4

I have not been updating this blog regularly.  Yes, it is a big shame on me that my last blog post here was a long time ago. Though I have not been active writing blog or posting pictures, I did walk around to shoot whenever I was free. Usually I strolled along the Lornie Nature Corridor quite as it is near my home.

Over a longer period, I did encounter and photographed some species that were not featured in my previous three parts.  

This rather tame Pitcher Blue (Virachala kessuma deliochus) was resting on a leaf above my eye level. It stayed there for a while, allowing a few of us to snap some shots.

The Pitcher Blue is not common here as its larval host plant Nepenthes gracilis  is not very common. A detailed write-up on its early stages with a fantastic video can be found at (life history of Pitcher Blue).

This Scarce Silverstreak (Irota rochana boswelliana) is a beautiful lycadenid which is more commonly found in town parks where its larval host plant Ficus microcarpa is abundant.  

A write-up on its life history is here.

The Malayan Jester (Symbrenthia hippoclus) was first discovered by me in year 2012 outside the Nanyang Technologial University entrance . Good to see that this species has been found in quite number of places in recent years.

    

It was rather skittish at first,  always scooting off to the canopy whenever I approached it closer. With patience, finally, it did stay on the ground  long enough for me to snap a few quick shots.

The Quaker (Neopithecops zalmora zalmora) was abundant  a few weeks ago.  They like to fluttering around in the shade.

This is the Indigo Flash (Rapala varuna orseis) feeding on this invasive Mile-a-Minute flowers. 

The Dark Veined Tiger (Danaus melanippus hegesippus) took a short break for me to a quick shot. 

Due to work and family commitments, I have not been going for any overseas shooting for the last 1.5 years. Hope I can make up for it from now onwards.

Lornie Nature Corridor Part 3

I could not remember when I last encountered the Malay Lacewing (Cethosia hypsia) but on 12 Nov, we saw a couple of them at the Lornie Nature Corridor on a rather overcast morning. When the sunshine is slowly piercing through the clouds, we started to see more butterfly activities.

This is a male Caltoris cormasa. It was quite restless and zipping around before it finally decided to feed on the Latana flowers for us to take some shots.

The Small Branded Swift (Pelopidas mathias mathias) is rather common  

When I spotted a Malay Lacewing (Cethosia hypsea hypsina) it was actually resting on a leaf surface. Perhaps due to the cool weather, its flight was rather weak and had frequent perches.

From the upperside shots, we can tell that this is a female.

Her male companion was feeding on the Lantana flowers. 

After feeding, he took a short perch.

The Malay Viscount (Tanaecia pelea pelea) was abundant as usual. A male was found feeding on some dry and perhaps fermented fruits of the Singapore Rhododendron (Melastoma malabathricum). 

Elioti Conalian (Deudorix elioti) seemed to be in season in mid November. We found at least 3 or 4 individuals along the nature corridor somewhere between two the bus stops.

Same specimen but a different pose for me.

The more common Deudorix species is the Cornelian (D. epijarbus). At times, we could see at least half a dozen of them flitting around and feeding on the wild flowers.

Yamfly (Loxura atymnus fuconius) also seems to be very common along this nature corridor.  A rather pristine specimen attracted my interest in taking a few shots of it.  

 A skittish Common Lascar (Pantoporia hordonia hordonia) kept visiting the Mile-a-minute flowers but it didn't stay still - I could only get some quick snap shots.

Its underside shots

My first sighting of the Suffused Flash (Rapala suffusa barthema) along the Lornie Nature Corridor - thanks to John who spotted it.

I have spotted the Aberrant Oakblue (Arhopala abseus abseus) from far a few times before but this was my most recent shot.    

This is a male of the Malay Baron (Euthalia monina monina) - an interesting species that the male has three different forms - this is form-decorata.

My last post of the Year 2023, wishing every butterfly-lover a joyful and healthy new year ahead. Let's us find time to explore new hunting grounds for butterfly-photography and don't get trapped in our own comfort zones in Year 2024 !

Butterflies at Lata Kinjang and Gua Tempurung

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Located in the Chenderiang village, Perak,  Lata Kinjang is one of the tallest and famous waterfalls in Malaysia. The car journey to this waterfall took more than an hour, navigating through some small and winding kampong roads for the last few kilometers.    

 

The view of the waterfall cascades is quite nice. 

Though the weather was good, butterfly activities were rather. At a shelter along the riverbank, I noticed a mating Common Green Metalwing (Neurobasis chinensis)  damselflies. Without much hesitation, I stepped forward a few steps and snapped a series of shots before they seperated. 

Shortly after this hot , they disengaged and flew off .

While walking down a flight of stairs, I noticed that a large black-and-white butterfly flying past me and landed on a leaf. This is the Malayan Owl (Neorina lowii neophyta).  

 The Common Maplet (Chersonesia risa ) was spotted high on a tree around noon time. It kept flapping its wings and refused to come down to the ground level.    

The Light Straw Ace (Pithauria stramineipennis) was the only skipper puddling on the sandy riverbank on a hot afternoon. 

While moving towards a puddling ground near a campsite, I spotted a Curetis regula and Nacaduba sanaya both feeding on the ground. 

Interestingly,  the Sunbeam tried to get closer to the Jewel Fourline Blue

Choy and MY spotted this Banded Swallowtail (Papilio demolion) next to the campsite. 

We waited quite a while hoping to see other butterflies coming down to puddle on the sandy riverbank - but a great disappointment for us as only the Chocolate Albetross (Appias lyncida vasava) turned up.

There were a few Jamides parasaturatus flitting around near a shelter along the steps leading to the top of the waterfall.    

This is another but less pristine specimen puddling on the same rock.

Another look-alike Jamides talliga was found at the camping ground. Can you spot the differences between these two species?

Before we decided to head back to Gua Tampurung before 2 pm as the butterfly activities were disappointing, I took some shots on a group of Rajah Brooks.

However, we didn't see many butterflies at Gua Tampurung also. This small creature flew past me and caught my attention - it looks like a treehopper or something else ?     

The highlight of the day must be this Libythea myrrha hecura (The Club Beak). It was very skittish for more than 15 minutes and I hardly had a chance to shoot it. But once it got used to our presence, it became rather tame and cooperative for us to take many shots.

Definitely, we will visit Ipoh for butterfly-shooting again in the future.