A Game Of Hide-And-Seek
12:14 PM
Beaches, Crustaceans, Fishes, Marine Life, North East
North-East, Singapore
January 2014
By nature, beach creatures can be a little shy. Many of them are well-hidden by rocks, sand or gravel...
Myomenippe Harwicki (Stone/Thunder Crab)...
Alpheidae (Snapping Shrimp)...
Gobiidae (Goby)...
Look carefully where you walk next time you are at the beach...
More photos are available on:
Firefly Fairyland In Urban Singapore
8:27 AM
Beetles, Fascinating, North East, Punggol
Punggol
North East, Singapore
January 2014
In a deserted corner of Punggol, Merlion Wayfarer found what she never expected to see in 21st century urban Singapore - Fireflies...
It was on a night trek that she noticed some flashing "lights" in bush. It was a path that she had walked by before in the day, but had not paid much heed to the nondescript bushes.
Yet, tonight... the shrubs before her was transformed into a fairyland of mystique little creatures. It was a truly magical feeling when one flew and landed on her palm...
Park Visitors At Bukit Timah Hill & Punggol Beach
9:49 PM
Beaches, Bukit Timah, Central, Crustaceans, Monkeys, Nature Reserves, North East, Punggol
Bukit Timah Hill & Punggol Beach
Central & North-East, Singapore
January 2014
Merlion Wayfarer was out at nature spots over the weekend and was distressed to see the actions of some inconsiderate park visitors.
At the summit of Bukit Timah Hill on Saturday, a group of North Asians were there taking a break after reaching the summit. Finding the long-tailed macaques "cute", they started cutting up their green apples and throwing the slices at the monkeys.
Merlion Wayfarer noticed a monkey up on a nearby tree with a strange white object. In its arms was a lunchbox discarded by an inconsiderate park visitor. It was trying, first to open the lunchbox, then when it failed, it tried to bite it open.
According to online research, shreds of plastic have been found to be ingested by animals by mistake or along with food materials. Animals chew the plastic containers to get food inside and in the process, pieces of plastic gets ingested. Such plastic pieces accumulate inside the digestive system and make animals sick. Worse still, animals can even choke to death from blockages caused by plastic pieces.
By feeding monkeys, park visitors are conditioning the monkeys to prefer easy handouts from humans instead of foraging for natural food in the forest. They will approach humans, especially those carrying plastic bags, which they have learnt to associate with food, and snatch these away. Various incidents have been reported on citizen journalism site, STOMP:
By feeding monkeys, park visitors are conditioning the monkeys to prefer easy handouts from humans instead of foraging for natural food in the forest. They will approach humans, especially those carrying plastic bags, which they have learnt to associate with food, and snatch these away. Various incidents have been reported on citizen journalism site, STOMP:
- "Monkeys turn aggressive and attack picnickers at Woodlands Waterfront" (16 March 2012)
- "Aggressive monkey raids homes at Thomson Gardens" (13 November 2012)
- "Aggressive monkeys prowl homes at Bukit Timah Hill to look for food" (04 March 2013)
On Sunday, she was at Punggol Beach and saw the following behaviour by some foreign workers:
A group of them were turning over all the rocks for fun to see if they can spot any sea creatures. When they found a crab or shrimp hidden inside, they will take another rock to chisel at the big rock until the hidden animal scuttles out or is killed by their actions.
More photos are available on :
Sources
- "Aggressive monkey raids homes at Thomson Gardens" (13 November 2012). STOMP. Retrieved from http://singaporeseen.stomp.com.sg/singaporeseen/this-urban-jungle/aggressive-monkey-raids-homes-at-thomson-gardens (20 January 2014).
- "Aggressive monkeys prowl homes at Bukit Timah Hill to look for food" (04 March 2013). STOMP. Retrieved from http://singaporeseen.stomp.com.sg/singaporeseen/this-urban-jungle/aggressive-monkeys-prowl-homes-at-bukit-timah-hill-to-look-for-food (20 January 2014).
- "Monkeys turn aggressive and attack picnickers at Woodlands Waterfront" (16 March 2012). STOMP. Retrieved from http://singaporeseen.stomp.com.sg/singaporeseen/this-urban-jungle/monkeys-turn-aggressive-and-attack-picnickers-at-woodlands-waterfront (20 January 2014).
- "Plastic Pollution : A big threat to wild animals" by Akham Bonbirdhwaja
Singh (31 December 2013). The Sangai Express. Retrieved from http://www.thesangaiexpress.com/tseitm-34144-plastic-pollution-a-big-threat-to-wild-animals/ (20 January 2014, Expired as of 21 June 2014).
- "Please don't feed the monkeys". Wild Singapore. Retrieved from http://www.wildsingapore.com/places/monkey.htm (20 January 2014).
A Walk On The Butterfly Trail
7:39 PM
Butterflies, Central, Fascinating, Features, Urban
Butterfly Trail
Orchard Road
Orchard Road
Central, Singapore
February 2012
Conceptualized by Nature Society (Singapore), the Butterfly Trail @ Orchard features some 50 of the more common butterfly species that can be found in Singapore. This 4 km trail meanders all the way through the Orchard Corridor between the Singapore Botanic Gardens and the Tanglin area and the Singapore Management University and Fort Canning Park.
It was a time to be carefree...
Delias Hyparete Metarete (Painted Jezebel) , Pieris Canidia Malayica (Cabbage White) ,
Doleschallia Bisaltide (Autumn Leaf)
A time to make new friends amidst the competition...
Delias Hyparete Metarete (Painted Jezebel)
And be together...
Chilades Pandava (Cycad Blue , Plains Cupid)
Resulting in hundreds of thumb-sized caterpillars in the heart of town!
Doleschallia Bisaltide (Autumn Leaf) Caterpillar
So that one may grow up to be free again...
More photos are available on Merlion Wayfarer Goes Green's Picasa at :
Lepidoptera - Rhopalocera (Butterflies)
Lepidoptera - Rhopalocera (Butterflies)
Sources
- "Featured Butterfly Species". Nature Society Singapore. Retrieved from http://www.nss.org.sg/old/doc/nss_bto_map_jan2011.pdf (12 January 2014).
- "On The Trail Of Butterflies" by Cheryl LIM. Nature Society of Singapore. Retrieved from http://www.centralsingaporecdc.org.sg/wp-content/uploads/v62/On-The-Trail-Of-Butterflies.pdf (12 January 2014).
The Southern Sunset Wind
4:35 PM
Clouds, Natural Phenomena, Sunsets, Weather
Singapore
January 2014
The slanted rays of the setting sun wash the laden sky with golden light...
At the mercy of a southern wind,
a few fleeting stratocumulus puffs break away from the heavy mass and scoot across the sky...
A stunning sunset panorama...
How Many Legs Does A Caterpillar Have?
11:49 PM
Butterflies, Caterpillars, Fascinating, Nature Reserves, Parks
Caterpillars come in all sorts of sizes and thickness. Close-up, they can look like huge alien worms, with their bright colors, spots and
stripes, and sometimes what looks like hundreds of legs.
The number of legs that caterpillars can have varies with the kind of caterpillar and sometimes with its stage. Usually all of the butterflies or moths in the same family will have the same number of legs on their caterpillars. Most caterpillars of the larger moths and butterflies have 3 pairs of true legs, or a total of six real legs. And most have 5 pairs of prolegs on their abdomen, which makes a total of 16 legs.
Upon maturity, the caterpillar will morph into a butterfly with only 6 legs (from the original pair of 3 true legs).
A Morning With Sleepy Liz & Hungry Cat
2:48 PM
Butterflies, Caterpillars, Dragonflies, East, Lizards, Parks, Plants, reptiles
Tampines Eco Green
East, Singapore
November 2013
A quiet morning in the east amidst a recreated park...
A Calotes Versicolor (Changeable Lizard) spotted!
Within minutes, it gets sleepy, and decides to take a nap...
Zzzzz...
Woah! Something buzzes by and it's instantly awake!
Even with a leg missing, this Oxyopes Birmanicus (Burmese Lynx Spider)
wanders around looking for breakfast...
wanders around looking for breakfast...
Life in these grasslands are not easy, as seen from this dragon's torn wings...
A very hungry family of Cats eating, and eating, and eating...
See those cute little booties they are wearing?
Don't they just remind you of Heimlich from A Bug's Life?
Have you ever wondered how many legs does a caterpillar have?
Munching...
And munching...
And munching...
No leaf is spared, even if only a bit of it remains...
A snapshot of a similar host plant with leaves still there...
And ending the day with a beauty...
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