Central Catchment Reserve - Full Of Surprises

Central Catchment Reserve

Central, Singapore

October 2014

The Central Catch Reserve is always full of surprises. On a Sunday morning, these were the surprising finds in the northern part of the Reserve...

Oriental Whip Snake

If there is a favourite snake category, this will be one of Merlion Wayfarer's favourite snakes, for its sheer elegance and beautiful eyes.

The Ahaetulla prasina (Oriental Whip Snake) is arboreal and lives in bushes and trees.

Normally shy creatures, they are not that easily spotted, as they blend well with the environment, with their vine-like body, are usually found above or below eye level, and do not stay still long. They can climb extremely fast up a tree, or across branches.

Little Surprises

An adorable little grasshopper...

It was the season for pondskaters (Gerridae). They were there by the thousands...

The melodious call of a male Dicrurus paradiseus (Greater Racket-Tailed Drongo).
Survival here must be tough; half its tail feathers were missing...

Butterflies & Moths

Pausing on a leave, a male Tanaecia iapis puseda (Horsfield's Baron) shows off its velvety black upperside with a broad bright blue marginal border on its hindwings...

A caterpillar caught in a web that it spins, ready for pupating...

A colourful little caterpillar looking lost...

Dragons 

A male Tyriobapta torrida (Treehugger) Dragonfly resting on, what else, a tree...

A male Trithemis aurora (Crimson Dropwing) Dragonfly lands and assumes the obelisk position to exposure to the weather on a hot day...

Froghopper / Spittlebug

Seeing the spit-like foam is an indication that there are spittle bugs around. The foam is where young spittlebugs live. These insects are protected by the foam. They usually do not do much harm to the plants.

The space inside the foam is moist to keep the bugs’ soft bodies from drying out. And the foam tastes bad, so it keeps away most animals that would eat the bugs.

Looking a puddle of foam are spittle bug eggs....

Spiders

Clasping a thin blade of grass with four of its legs,
this Tylorida striata (Striated Tylorida) rests almost hidden...

A playful male Phintella vittata (Banded Phintella) Spider hops about from leaf to leaf, brilliant against the light in its shimmering colours...

The Flying Lemur was sighted too!

Sources

• "Oriental whip snake" (February 2014). Wild Fact Sheets, Wild Singapore. Retrieved from http://www.wildsingapore.com/wildfacts/vertebrates/snakes/prasina.htm.
  
• "Oriental Whip Snake - Venomous - Not Dangerous" by Vern (16 October 2010). Thailand Snakes!. Retrieved from http://www.thailandsnakes.com/venomous/rear-fanged/oriental-whip-snake-venomous-not-dangerous/.

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Sungei Buloh - The Dark Dangerous Branch

Sungei Buloh Wetland Reserve

North, Singapore

December 2013

A species of mangroves and coastal forests, the Cryptelytrops purpureomaculatus (Shore Pit Viper) has a reputation for being unpredictable and should be approached with caution. Giving no warning signs, this snake will strike readily and far at any threat, and its powerful haemotoxic venom can cause serious illness or even kill. 

This shy snake looks just like another branch in a mangrove tree where it usually coils motionless. A small snake with the typical broad triangular head of a viper, it has large red eyes on a rather angry looking face. It is more active at night.  By day it can be found resting on low branches one or two metres from the ground.

Its colour can vary from a uniform dark grey or purplish-brown to a weakly-patterned brown, with a white stripe along each flank, or even greenish-yellow with dark mottling. The scales are strongly keeled (i.e. ridged). Males grow to a total length of 66.5 centimetres (26.2 inches), females 90 centimetres (35 inches). The maximum tail lengths are then 12.5 centimetres (4.9 inches) and 14 centimetres (5.5 inches) respectively.

Feeding on lizards, frogs and other small animals, possibly small birds, similar to other vipers, it has heat-sensing pits on its lips to detect its prey.

Sources

• "Shore Pit Viper". Ecology Asia. Retrieved from http://www.ecologyasia.com/verts/snakes/shore_pit_viper.htm (06 July 2014).
• "Shore pit viper". Wild Fact Sheets. Retrieved from http://www.wildsingapore.com/wildfacts/vertebrates/snakes/purpureomaculatus.htm (06 July 2014).
• "The Dangerously Venomous Snakes of Myanmar, Illustrated Checklist with Keys" by Leviton AE, Wogan GOU, Koo MS, Zug GR, Lucas RS, Vindum JV ( 2003). Proc. Cal. Acad. Sci. 54 (24): 407-462.
• "Trimeresurus purpureomaculatus". Wikipedia. Retrieved from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trimeresurus_purpureomaculatus (06 July 2014).
   
  

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A Chance Sighting Of Mating Cobras

Sungei Buloh Wetlands Reserve

North, Singapore

07 December 2013

"Ssssshhh!" The man signalled. Thinking that it is a sighting of a bird or a monitor lizard, Merlion Wayfarer approached quietly, respecting the uncle's need for silence. Tough, in the gravel-lined path with thousands of loose pebbles that crunch with every single step.

Reaching there, the question was asked, "What is it, Uncle?"

"Cobras!" he replied.

And there they were. Two dark shapes entwined with each other. Like sea serpents, they churned in the shallow forest stream, seeming at odds with each other.

At times, they separated, rearing up with their notorious hooded heads in some trance-like dance.

And when it finally ended, the female slithered away into the other bank of the stream, while the male suspiciously monitored his surroundings, looking in our direction before moving parallel to our direction.

Merlion Wayfarer knew when to keep her distance. These were after all, 2m-long Equatorial Spitting Cobras (Naja Sumatrana) with a potential spitting distance of up to 2m and a potentially fatal hemotoxic and neurotoxic venom.

It was a truly magnificent experience to be there to experience this!

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More photos are available on Merlion Wayfarer Goes Green's Picasa at :

Places - Sungei Buloh

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