Malayan Giant Terrapin

My friend and I were busying ourselves with a pair of tiny bugs when we heard a tiny splash of water. We looked nearby and noticed a stream with a bridge along the way. When we looked down, this was what we saw.

Yes, a really large turtle. It was later identified as a Malayan Giant Terrapin. It was huge, in fact, more than a metre long. Here's a photograph to illustrate its size.

This was the first time I was seeing a turtle/terrapin in these reserves. And yet this was such a large one. We continued snapping more pictures so as to help ourselves with identification. Thank you tHE tiDE cHAsER (www.tidechaser.blogspot.com) for the help with identification!

There was another turtle too, a smaller one. However, it was too far away for us to get a clear shot.

The Flower, The Spider and The Bee

I spotted this attractive flower in MacRitchie, so I decided to take a photograph. Here's the flower.

Just after my first shot, a small fly, looking like a bee flew onto the flower. I tried taking a few shots of the macro insect with manual focus. It was gripping on really tightly onto the flower's part.

And right then, a spider jumped out to try to catch and prey on the bee. I didn't wait to see if he was successful; I had to move on.

Damselflies from MacRitchie

I just posted on the dragonflies I spotted in MacRitchie, well now here are the Damselflies. They are as common as dragonflies, except that it is quite tough for an amateur like me to differentiate one species from another.

A mating pair, species which I suppose is the Blue Sprite.

This is one of the most common species of damselflies seen in the area.

A view from the back.

Dragonflies from MacRitchie

MacRitchie Reservoir is home to a large variety of Dragonflies, due to tha large reservoir and many swamps surrounding the area. Here are a few species of dragonfly I managed to spot and shoot during the walk through the forest. A common species, orange in colour.

Another species, the Shaded Basker. I used to see this species commonly in Bukit Timah.

Here's a large dragonfly, no idea which species though. It was hanging onto a twig silently for a long time. And my, I do love its blue eyes caused by the camera flash.

Leafless Tree, Still Alive

I spotted a leafless tree somewhere close to the reservoir at MacRitchie. Before I left, I took a closer look and realized that the tree wasn't really dead, since it was occupied by a large number of birds, probably a species of pigeon or dove. Found this rather interesting, so decided to post it anyway.

Minute Residents of MacRitchie

So I was back in Singapore and as the March Holidays came closer, I got ready to go for more hunting, this time in MacRitchie Reservoir. Once again, I borrowed my friend's 450D, Well of course, we came across more than a hundred different species of invertebrates, most of which are insects. Here are some of the interesting ones. A species of Pansy butterfly.

A colourful fly with large red eyes.

Snails... they were everywhere since it had rained just a few hours ago.

A tiny leafhopper along the boardwalk.

Termites crawling off in large numbers.

A mating pair of Micropezid Flies.

Colourful forest crickets, they were everywhere as well.

A tiny Flower Mantis, brown in colour. This one was particularly hard to shoot due to its size.

A Giant Millipede perched onto a tree. It's the first time I'm seeing such a big one in Singapore. These are common in India.

Last but not least a hairy caterpillar with a smiley face :).

MacRitchie's Beasts

Had a few more critter shots from MacRitchie. Here are some insects that I found on the way.

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This pretty butterfly was spotted together with the Orange Skimmers at the drain. They were drinking and basking at the same time. There were a few more of these butterflies, which I presume are Blue Jays, near the drain. I managed one simple shot of two but they are pretty far apart in the picture.

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There were other creatures like this pair of mating beetles.

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And a shedded exo-skeleton of a big spider, similar to the ones I see in India.

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Apart from these invertebrates, there were lots of squirrels but this time I managed to grab a shot of a Plantain Squirrel as it jumped toward us.

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And finally there was a baby Malayan Water Monitor trying to take shelter in a tree hole near the exit. This ended our journey too. It was as if the monitor was there saying "Goodbye for now! Come back soon!" Well of course I'll be back soon.

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Dragonfly Hunt

Dragonflies were common throught the whole journey, especially near the water. It was the first time I was using a dslr to photograph dragonflies so I did find it quite different. However, I was pleased with most of my shots. The first one was a mettalic blue one, Cratilla metallica.

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There were many Red Grasshawks, but I just took a single shot as they were common and sometimes hard to shoot.

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We reached a path that had a big drain beside. Along the drains there were plenty of Orange Dragonflies. I have identfied them as Orthetrum testaceum and their common name should be Orange Skimmer. However, they were also hard to shoot and I only managed one good shot.

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This is one species that is yet to be identified. Found it along the forest path.

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And this one's my favourite, the Red Swampdragon. This attractive little fellow was spotted near a stream heading to Venus Drive. It was really pretty and co-operative too.

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I spent a few minutes shooting this dragonfly. I kept trying to focus on the eyes but sometimes I would miss as the wind would be pushing it around. But in the end I got these four shots well-taken.

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MacRitchie Reservoir Scene Shots

Went over to MacRitchie one day as it had been quite a while since I last visited this reserve. This time I was interested in getting more scenery shots since I had my friend's 450D with me. This is what MacRitchie Reservoir looks like from the reservoir park.

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There were two main routes to take. During June we took the route on the left and found absolutely nothing interesting. That may be because the area is just beside the expressway. So we took the other route on the right this time. This is what the start of the path looks like.

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This is what the typical forest path looks like.

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Path that leads to the Treetop Walk.

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We had some rest on these benches...

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And here's a shot of a fern leaf that I took.

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