The Flying Saucer At Sunset

Lenticular clouds (Altocumulus lenticularis) are stationary lens-shaped clouds with a smooth layered appearance that form in the troposphere, usually above mountain ranges. One was spotted in Singapore recently...

Eyes Of 30,000 Honeycombs

With 30,000 individual facets, dragonflies have the most number of facets among insects. Each facet, or ommatidia, creates its own image, and the dragonfly brain has eight pairs of descending visual neurons to compile those thousands of images into one picture...

A Kaleidoscope Of Colours, Shapes And Patterns

Spectacular and innovative in design, the Flower Dome replicates the cool-dry climate of Mediterranean regions like South Africa, California and parts of Spain and Italy. Home to a collection of plants from deserts all over the world, it showcases the adaptations of plants to arid environments...

Lightning Strikes, Not Once, But Many Times

Unlike light, lightning does not travel in a straight line. Instead, it has many branches. These other branches flashed at the same time as the main strike. The branches are actually the step leaders that were connected to the leader that made it to its target...

Are You My Dinner Tonight?

A T-Rex has 24-26 teeth on its upper jaw and 24 more on its lower jaw. Juveniles have small, sharp blade-shaped teeth to cut flesh, whereas adults have huge, blunt, rounded teeth for crushing bones. Is the T-Rex a bone-crushing scavenger?

The Ones That Leap & Fly

Ang Mo Kio Town Garden West
North, Singapore
August 2012
Callosciurus Notatus (Plantain Squirrel) : Scores of these were leaping from tree to tree, creating an exhilarating acrobatic spectacle...

Moth [unidentified] : A gentle flying dustball rests near the shrubs in the sunlight...

Eudynamys Scolopaceus (Asian Koel) : Two males attempt in their utmost to court the discerning tastes of a single female. A love triangle and cacophony of calls ensues...

Lizard [unidentified] : A well-hidden one in the shade of a sealing wax palm...

Grasshopper [unidentified] : One of the many leaf destroyers that was spotted...

Houseflies [unidentified] : Seems these two are not shy about posing under studio lights!




The full albums are available at:

Near The Water

North, Singapore
August 2012
Cloudy

Merlion Wayfarer spotted a few Argyrodes Flavescens (Red Silver Spider) in some old webs. These spiders are "food stealers", helping themselves to insects trapped in the web of the host, or prey stored by the host in the web, or a freshly-killed victim that is being consumed by the host.

There was also an orb-weaver. These spiders spin circular webs and normally hide in a rolled leaf nearby in the day and venture out into the web only at night.

Tis is the season with the whole pond is awash with the pretty blooms in pink. Powdery pink lotuses can be found every few steps around the circumference of the pond. It was a sight to behold!

A sharp-eyed Merlion Wayfarer spotted the Pardosa Pseudoannulata (Pond Wolf Spider) on the lotus leaves. Three were spotted.

 Lots of guppies in the pond - A healthy sign of life!
Living near the water were also a multitude of dragons and damsels. Here are the photogenic ones that appeared in her lens...
  • Dragonfly [unidentified], Aethriamanta Gracilis (Pond Adjutant)
  • Crocothemis Servilia (Common Scarlet), Aethriamanta Gracilis (Pond Adjutant), Aethriamanta Gracilis (Pond Adjutant)
  • Dragonfly [unidentified], Damselfly [unidentified]
  • Acisoma Panorpoides (Trumpet Tail) Male
  • Crocothemis Servilia (Common Scarlet), Acisoma Panorpoides (Trumpet Tail) Female




The full albums are available at: