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?

Sentosa - A Billed Visitor

Sentosa
South, Singapore
March 2014

It was a normal hot weekend afternoon at Sentosa when Merlion Wayfarer was startled by a familiar but very unexpected cry from the trees. Looking among the trees above the KFC outlet at Imbiah Station, she spotted this very surprising sight - An Anthracoceros albirostris (Oriental Pied Hornbill) in the urban jungle next to the Resorts World Sentosa!


The Oriental Pied Hornbill disappeared from Singapore in the mid-1800s, possibly due to hunting and loss of suitable habitat. In 1994, a pair was recorded from Pulau Ubin. Once thought to be extinct in Singapore, the bird is re-establishing healthy colonies here, due in large to the collective efforts of the National Parks Board (NParks), Jurong Bird Park, and Singapore Avian Conservation Project (SACP). 

Good to see you enjoying the resorts here in Sentosa, Billed Visitor!


More photos are available on Merlion Wayfarer Goes Green's Picasa at : 
Aves - Bucerotidae (Hornbills)

 

Sengkang Park - That Thing With The Wayang Feelers

Sengkang Park
North East, Singapore
September 2013

Sengkang Riverside Park is located at Anchorvale Street and is situated alongside Sungei Punggol. The park is home to a unique water feature, a constructed wetland that collects and filters rainwater naturally through its aquatic plants. Despite its man-made features, the park contains a variety of fauna among its aquatic and terrestrial plants.

A well-camouflaged male Plexippus petersi (Common Housefly Catcher) Spider wanders on a tree trunk, gravity no obstacle to its upward climb...


Flitting among the stalks near the water were several male Crocothemis servilia (Common Scarlet) Dragonflies - Startling in their bright red colour...

A fascinating white-and-brown striped bug with wayang feelers three times its body length...

A silent stationary moth with glassy concussed eyes... 

Wandering about the pond was a Amaurornis phoenicurus (White-Breasted Waterhen)...

Lurking in the waters was a Varanus salvator (Water Monitor Lizard) cooling down after a hot day...



More photos are available on :