05/2017 – Windsor Nature Park, 13 May 2017 (T_199)

I did a search in our blog and the last visit to Venus Drive was in October 2015! It was our trip #17 led by Anthony Quek.  Fast forward  two years later, this same location is now called Windsor Nature Park however, our playground namely Venus Loop remains unchanged and untouched.

The park was opened by National Parks Board (NParks) on Saturday 22 April, with three new trails  including Drongo trail, Hanguana Trail and Squirrel Trail.  Instead of walking on the muddy ground, especially when it rains the night before, visitors can now walk on  the boardwalk.

All the participants gathered around at 730am for a quick briefing on the trail etiquettes (Do’s and Dont’s) before we explore the renovated park.  We did not remain on the boardwalk for long and quickly moved on to our macro photography site at Venus Loop.  We were delighted to still see a rich habitat of wildlife.

Jumping spider by Dion

Mating flies by Sia

Common Flashwing Vestalis Amethystina by David Wong

Assassin bug by Allan Lee

A marsh habitat was created using the natural terrain to provide an additional wetland habitat for the biodiversity. Here, a rich diversity of dragonflies can be seen.

Dragonflies by Cathy

Wasp by Allan Lee

Copper-cheeked frog by Allan

Hammerhead worm by David Wong

Spiral ginger (Cheilocostus) by Sharon

Robber Fly by Allan

Chocolate pansy by David Wong

Flat millipede by Cathy

Skipper by Kyaw Htay

Natural canopy by Endy

by Allan Lee

Fungus by Anthony Quek

A group of nature park enthusiast led by an English-speaking female guide had gathered around us.  The guide was explaining to them about the facts and habitat information on St Andrew’s Cross Spider.

St Andrew’s cross spider by David Wong

The were also looking for the resident Malayan Colugo which they finally caught a glimpse of this beauty resting on the tree bark.

Colugo by Allan Lee

by David Wong

Heliconia plant

Rose Myrtle by Endy

Fungus

Beautiful water droplets by Endy

Dragonfly by David Wong

Moss on tree bark

Treehugger (female) by Cathy

The trip ended in the late morning as it started to rain. A few participants left us a little earlier to have breakfast with their loved ones.  If you have missed our outing, do remember to join us next time.

Participants: Catherine, David Wong, KT Sia, Dion, Henry Tan, Latish, Kyaw Htay, Wong Heng Meng, Allan Lee, Anthony Quek, Endy and Sharon S. Lim (trip leader).

 

04/2017 – Bukit Batok East Avenue 2, 15 Apr 2017 (T_198)

Some participants were late, we waited for a while and moved on.

On the way, there was a big patch of fungus under a tree! So many of them!

Fungus under a tree by Timothy Tan

Allan found something interesting.

Hopper on fungus by Allan Lee

Among the brown fungus there were other little white fungus, too.

Little White fungus by Endy

Close up by Allan shows an intriguing pattern!

Fungi Pattern by Allan Lee

Then, we proceeded to the new site.

Slug by Endy

Many species of slugs were busy doing their business. And there were also other creatures :

Gilled mushroom by David Wong

Nymph of planthopper by Henry Tan

A Tiny Moth by David Wong

Many frogs were around a ponding water:

Frog (top view) by Endy

Frog (side view) by David Wong

Spiders were seen too:

A Spider by Allan Lee

Jumping Spider by David Wong

Green eyed Spider by David Wong

On the way out, some beautiful fungus beetle and a beautiful cup fungus were spotted:

Fungus Beetle by David Wong

Cup Fungus (top view) by Timothy Tan

Cup Fungus (side view) by Allan Lee

We completed the route by 11am and had a nice lunch together : )

See you in the next trip!

Participants (14): Sia KT, CP Syn, Timothy Tan, Foong Kham Tho, Phang Wai Keong, Henry Tan, Dion Wong, Linda Phua, Flor M Juera, Said Sulaiman, Samuel Dai, David Wong, Anthony Quek, Allan Lee, Endy (Trip leader)

 

03/2017 – Toh Tuck Woods, 04 Mar 2017 (T197)

Some photos taken during outing :

Bird Dropping Spider by Endy

Snail on Fungus by Kyaw Htay

Malayan Lascar by Endy

Jumping Spider by Htike Htike Win

Resting Plain Tiger by Endy

Tiny Butterfly by Anthony Quek

Caterpillars of Malayan Eggfly by Endy

Mating Moth by Ryan Tan

Ginger Flower by Endy

Blogging in progress . . .

Participants (10) : Linda Phua, Htike Htike Win, Tan Swee Yuan, David Wong, Kyaw Htay, Sia KT, Allan Lee, Anthony Quek, Endy, Cai Yixiong (trip leader)

 

02/2017 – Holland Woods, 18 Feb 2017 (T196)

Holland Woods is a forested area located opposite Ngee Ann Polytechnic.  Running through the forest, is a canal that leads to Sungei Ulu Panda. On both sides of the canal are lined with tall grasses, making it a good site for macro photography.

This place used to be frequently visited by members of NPSS & iMOG in the years 2008 to 2010 because there were lots of subjects especially dragonflies and damselflies. Unfortunately, from 2011 – 2013, it became less popular probably due to the overly-managed on the vegetation by PUB contractors as well as large number of visitors and cyclists going through it to the KTM line.  Our last iMOG outing here was 14 Sep 2013.  From 2014, this site was not accessible to the public due to the widening of road around this stretch of area until this year.

We were glad to find that Holland Woods looked as wild as before with plenty of wild flowers greeting us at the entrance.

(Wild flowers by Endy)

The shooting site were surrounded with tall grasses where most of us got our pants wet bashing through.

I was hopping to shooting insects with dew but it was not a good day to do so.  Nevertheless, Henry still managed to photograph a tiny hopper with interesting water droplets.

(Henry Tan)

Surprisingly, not many damselflies were spotted.  We found only a handful of Common Bluetail and Variable Wisp.

There were quite a number of butterflies but not easy to capture them into pixels.

Other subjects found include spiders, various hoppers, Ladybird, hover flies, etc.

It was nice to see many beautiful flowers of different colours growing healthy along the canal.

Can you spot an insect on the flowers below?

We ended the outing at 10.30 am and headed to Bukit Timah Food Centre for our early lunch.

Participants: Kelvin Dao, Linda Phua, Kyaw  Htay, Latish, Samuel Dai, Victor Ong, Lim Ser Yong, Henry Tan, Dion, Endy, Anthony Quek (Trip Leader)

 

01/2017 – Jalan Sam Kong Si, 21 Jan 2017 (T195)

What a good turn out! We were surprised that many friends, including those who only appear once in a very long time, joined this outing.

The new site was very green and beautiful.

We had to enter the site through an opening in a thick foliage.

Flatid Planthopper by Nicky Bay

As we entered, we were greeted by a beautiful planthopper.

Then, we saw many more species. Below are the best from our photographers:

Red bracket fungi by Endy

A little beetle by Nicky Bay

Weaver ant & planthopper by Kelvin Dao

 

Spiders were aplenty there, here are some of them :

Ant mimicking jumping spider by Nicky Bay

A jumping spider by Kyaw Htay

A closer look at the jumping spider by Nicky Bay

Spittting spider by Nicky Bay

 

Many dragonflies were flying around:

Dragonfly in flight by Ben Ee

It was not easy to get close to certain species.

A resting dragonfly by Ben Ee

Close up of a Red dragonfly by Kelvin Dao

But still, there were some that allowed us to slowly approach.

Dragonfly up close by Catherine E

 

Butterflies were also everywhere :

A few butterflies by Ben Ee

Blue Glassy Tiger by Catherine E

They were flying most of the time and stop for a while. Some species just wouldn’t let us get near them.

Peacock Pansy by Endy

 

Photographers among the bushes

 

In the green bushes, we also found:

Yellow ladybird beetle by Catherine E

Katydid nymph by Nicky Bay

Moulting Katydid by Nicky Bay

 

Later that day, Nicky found a Golden Orb weaver spider with prey and showed it to us.

Catch of the day by Goh Teck Leong

Nicky used his latest experimental camera setup to do wide angled Macro and the results are quite interesting:

Golden Orb weaver spider with prey by Nicky Bay

Golden Orb weaver spider by Nicky Bay

 

When were about to leave the site, suddenly, we saw a tree frog :

Four lined tree frog by Goh Teck Leong

It is a nocturnal animal, so it looked hanging there sleepily.

Another view of the frog by Hwang Nian Huei

 

Coming out of the site we saw a group of Grass Yellow butterflies drinking on the ground:

Grass yellow butterflies by Catheriine E

 

After photographing the butterflies we went for a lunch together at a nearby Coffeeshop.

Lunch!

The food were good! The photos are not bad eh? Next time do join us in outing again ; )

What a successful outing! See you again soon!

Participants: Syn Chue Pui, Kyaw Htay, Tiang Hwee Ee (Ben Ee), Kelvin Dao, Linda Phua Mee Kan, Samuel Dai, Nicky Bay, Ko Aung, Goh Teck Leong, Dion Wong, Henry Tan, Huang Nian Huei, Catherine, Endy (Trip leader).

 

 

11/2016 – Memories at Old Ford Factory, 26 Nov 2016 (T194)

 

We started off at a very dense bushes with ferns, Colocasia sp., Micania sp., etc.

Fern Leaf by Allan Lee

There were many little creatures . . .

Peacock Pansy by Allan Lee

Little Ladybird Beetle by Anthony Quek

Spider on Fern by Htike Htike Win

Dead hanging grasshopper by Allan Lee

Spider with Prey by Anthony Quek

Surviving Diurnal Cricket with broken legs by Endy

Dews were still in sight . . .

Dews on Leaf by Endy

Long legged fly by Hwang Nian Huei

Fungus grown planthopper by Allan Lee

We, later, moved on to the hidden path under the thick foliage . . .

The internal path

Some Fig trees were fruiting.

Fruiting Fig by allan Lee

At the leaf litter level, we found fungus!

Worm on Fungus by Anthony Quek

Little Bracket Fungus by Endy

Fungus Colony by Anthony Quek

Some other little creatures include:

Bug Front by Htike Htike Win

Striped Bipalium Flatworm by Cathy

A fallen tree had cut the path short. Reaching the end, we saw a nice little frog.

Frog above Water by Endy & A Big Caterpillar by Cathy

Turning back, we saw a big fat caterpillar.

And above the branch, there was a strange looking moth.

Moth in the Day by Endy

Then, before we got out of the canopies, there was a beautiful caterpillar . . .

Golden Caterpillar, side view by Htike Htike Win

Golden caterpillar, top view by Cathy

Out of the path, we climbed the slope to reach the carpark. At Midway, the last subject found us! Ha Ha!

The last subject – Snowlike Fungus by Endy

We ended the trip and had lunch together at MidViewCity. We all had a good time at the new site!

See you again at another new Site    : )

 

Participants: Dion Wong, Henry Tan, David Wong, Htike Htike Win, Allan Lee, Anthony Quek, Huang Nian Huei, Catherine, Endy (Trip leader)

 

10/2016 – Segar Nature Trail, 17 September 2016 (T193)

It has been almost a year since we last visited Segar Nature Trail on 18 October 2015. By 7.45 am, all participants had arrived. We started shooting at the greenery under the Kranji Expressway.

There were plentiful of hoppers and katydids.

(Hoppers and Katydid by Kyaw Htay)

Katydids eat leaves, stems and fruits of many plants but their favourite breakfast has to be these bright colourful flowers.

(Katydid nymph by Anthony Quek)

Endy found a snail on a tree trunk and a beautiful yellow flower filled with morning dew.

There was a farm nearby where we found many familiar vegetables and fruits such as Lady Fingers, Long Beans, Red Padi Chillies, Brinjal, Papaya, banana, etc.

Allan spotted an obedient Changeable Lizard here.

(Portrait of Changeable Lizard by Allan Lee)

It has interesting textures throughout its body.

(By Allan Lee)

There was a longkang (which means drain in Malay) where we could see wild fishes in it.

Dragonflies and damselflies were easily spotted.  Ben Ee captured a Agrionoptera insignis and Agriocnemis femina while Kyaw Htay shot a Orthetrum luzonicum.

Participants : Ben Ee, Kyaw Htay, Yue Teng, Seah Tock Moh, Wong Heng Meng, CP Syn, Alfredo, Henry Tan, Endy, Allan Lee, Anthony Quek (Trip Leader)