The Striped Albatross

I was at school the next day. It had nearly been a month since I last hunted in my school. I rushed to my traps during recess to check if I had caught anything. There was a Large Spotted House Gecko, about 20 cm in length, hiding under the stones. But just as I was about to take my camera out, it rushed into a nearby flat hole. So I went over to the field to find what I could. I noticed a Striped Albatross flyttering around the grass. I waited for it to rest as I got my camera ready. Just as it sat on a grass leaf, I moved my camera through the fence and took some shots.

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This is a common species of butterfly which can be found in the urban areas of Singapore. Males are sometimes observed feeding on damp seepages on roadsides in numbers. The females do not demonstrate such behaviour, preferring to feed on the nectar of flowers. Although I seldom look at Butterflies, these special encounters are slowly bringing me closer to them. So that was it for my mini-hunt.

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Brahminy Kites in the Air

The briefing had nearly finished when we heard calls from some birds in the sky. I stood up to find myself looking at a few Brahminy Kites flying low. Although I had seen these kites a number of times, I never got the opportunity to photograph any of these. This time, I decided to give it a try though. I stood under the hot sun, my camera turned on and in ready position to shoot any kites that fly nearby. Just a few seconds after I turned on my camera, one of the kites flew above me. Just in the nick of time, I took a shot. Well, for a starter, this should not be bad.

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The picture was shaky and blur. If I had been less shaky the result would have been much better. Soon I managed to take a few more shots of the kites. But most of the time I did get the chance, I either missed them, or the picture would have turned out really bad. Within that few tries, this was the best shot I got.

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After a few more minutes of waiting, I chanced upon an individual nearing a tree. I immediately focused my camera on it and took a shot. Although slighlty blur and shaky, I did manage to capture the whole bird in the photograph, which I thought that I didn't.

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I decided to take a break for a few minutes, due to exhaustion. After my break, instead of standing up and looking at the sky with my hands in the air, I lied down on the grass with my camera resting on my chest. Just as I waited, a large Kite swooped very low above me. And just in time, I got an awesome shot of it, with the full body visible. The shot was rather clear and not shaky either! After zooming into the picture I took, I realized that I could actually see its open mouth and its legs too.

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I was really pleased with the shot that I got that I showed it to almost all my groupmates taht very moment. I knew that I could take even better shots from now on, and just as I lied down once again, another big kite flew lowly above me. I was still very excited and hence when I took the shot, the photo was shaky and s did not go better than the previous shot.

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It was about time for us to leave already. Two hours flew away with the Brahminy Kites that easily. At lest I was happy with that particular shot that I took.

Mole Cricket Nymph

I was once again back at West Coast Park for the rejuvenation of the Marshland there. Unfortunately for the previous day, other than the Sun Skinks, I did not spot anything else. For today, I was not expecting to find anything interesting but I did come across a few creatures. We were being briefed on what to do for today when a hyperactive guy in one of the Secondary-1 class started jumping around, trying to avoid something. I went to see what the matter was and then found it. There was a small cricket under the grass. After taking a few shots, the cricket seems to look like the Nymph of a Mole Cricket.

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The hyperactive guy could not stand anywhere near it that I had to relocate it nearer to the Marshland. After releasing it I took another similar shot and headed back for the briefing.

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Sungei Buloh's Sun Skinks

It was the third trip to Sungei Buloh this year and once again, we were going to guide about the fauna and flora of Sungei Buloh. I happened to meet up with a number of Common Sun Skinks that particular day. Just by the Visitor Centre, there was one of these skinks resting near the Mangrove Broadwalk.

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It was the first time the new students were seeing such an animal, and hence everyone started to crowd around the area for some shots. I knew that if they were to make so much of noise and crowd around so badly, the skink would most probably move away. So i took another shot of it before making my way out of the crowd.

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Soon after all the students had taken their own photographs, the skink had already moved a few metres away from where it originally was.

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A few minutes after we started the mangrove broadwalk, a student said he saw something moving in the leaf litter. After moving in closer for a good look, the animal was also another Common Sun Skink. I did not use flash for this shot.

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And just as we finished the mangrove broadwalk, another individual was spotted basking on a rock near the T-Junction of the broadwalk. This skink had the orange sides, unlike most of them we had encountered.

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Dragonfly Wonders

Our School was currently doing a project called 'Dragonfly Wonders', where the main aim is to attract dragonflies to the School's Constructed Treatment Wetland. Dragonflies, according to what they say, are also very useful as they eat up many mosquitos and other harmful flies. Well, slowly, the number of dragonflies started to increase in our school, and hence I decided to try photographing the dragonflies. On the first day, my photographs did not turn up really well. This is the best picture I had of it.

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I did not give up hope, though. A few days later after spotting a few resting on the high twigs of the water plants, I tried my best to photograph them again. This time, I improved a lot compared to my previous shots. Here are a few of them.

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I always thought that using flash was always the best. But this time, I realized how nice a photograph would look even without flash. These are two of my best shots without flash.

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I soon came across a slightly bigger one of the same species. I managed to get really close-up with this dragonfly that the next three shots were actually taken without any zoom at all. Using a soft flash, I came up with this shot.

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I then took a shot with normal flash. The result was better even though its eyes could not be too clearly visible.

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The dragonfly soon moved its wings a bit more towards the front. I used flash and got a very clear shot that looked somewhat like a visual image. Zoom into the picture and you will see the difference.

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The Best from a Butterfly

I was all set to leave the reserve. For a few minutes I was held up with the students, but as soon we were done, we had to rush to the buses. I left the Visitor Centre and as I walked through the Nature Path leading to the carpark, I noticed a very colourful butterfly about to sit on a leaf beside the path. I was already late, but I was going to take the chance. The butterfly sat, and immediately I took the shot. Here it is.

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Comparing this particular butterfly with the other species I have photographed, this one was the most beautiful and attractive one. I was overjoyed as I got onto the bus looking at this photograph. Never have I ever photographed such a beautiful Butterfly. Although I have no idea of the species of this butterfly, I know that this is one very attractive one that I may never get to shoot again. A really gorgeous butterfly it is.

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White-Brested Waterhen

I was about to get my bags out of the lockers at Sungei Buloh when my friends alerted me of a bird standing close-by. I went towards the first bridge and across the water, I spotted a White-Breasted Waterhen. I tried my luck and took a shot of it as it neared the water.

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This bird is a common resident of Singapore that is most commonly spotted near water bodies. I had tried many times to photograph this bird but I just did not get the 'perfect shot'. Anyway this time I finally managed to get a decent shot of it.

Close-Up with a Monitor

After guiding the pupils, we were in the canteen having a small snack, when some of the visitors there started taking photographs of something close to the path. Out of curiosity I moved closer to have a look. I later realized that it was a Malayan Water Monitor, about a metre in total length. It was resting just below where we were standing.

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Soon, it started to walk around the area. I took a shot of it as it searched for food near the soil. I noticed that its entire tongue was nearly out in the shot I took.

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It wasn't long after that when it tried to get itself onto the wooden ground where we were standing. The Monitor gave us a weird look at first, then slowly tried to climb up the wooden stand. But someone's flash suddenly disturbed it, making it retreat back onto the ground.

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Well, the Monitor seemed to be determined to succed in his mission in climbing up the wooden stand. Just after a few of the students left, it slowly got its heavy body onto the wooden stand, just inches away from our toes. I took a shot as it slowly walked around on the stand. The tongue is nearly entirely visible in this shot too.

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After finding the area a warm and suitable place to rest,it lowered its legs and lied down there like a baby. Awww... Well, these lizards, although being the largest lizards in Singapore, are commensal with humans and hence are not very aggresive. They may look cute and fierce at times, but in all, it is a harmless giant that will not do anything to you, unless provoked.

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It was time for me to leave the wetland already. Just before leaving, I led down on the wooden stand, put my camera on the floor and took two side-view shots of the Monitor. It gave an awesome look to the photograph, although I had never tried this method.

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A Huge Web Artist

I never knew how big a spider in Singapore could be. Golden Web Spiders, being one of the largest spiders in Singapore, were not really fascinating to me though. Wheneber I saw any of these, they were about just five centimetres long, until this encounter. I was curiously walking around the path trying to spot some animals when I nearly walked into this huge spider. I could not believe my eyes as this beast was absolutely huge. It was nearly as big as my palm! Lucky I did not walk into the spider, for that would cause a disaster to me and to the spider.

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Through these photographs I am not really able to show how big it was. I did try to show my palm and the spider in the photograph to compare it with my palm, just to show how big it was. But unfortunately, whenever I moved my hand close, it would start to 'jump' in a way that forces me to retreat my hand. So i just took a few random shots of it. I later noticed how attractive and huge its web was.

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Absolutely one creature that you would not want hanging around in your wardrobe.

Monitor Swimming Gracefully

Having ended the Mangrove Broadwalk, we headed to the bridge hoping to find some migratory birds. I did spot a few but they were far away, too much for my camera's zoom. In the meantime I photographed a large Malayan Water Monitor swimming across the water. It swam very gracefully like a mermaid, although those sharp claws and thick skin doesn't make it look like one.

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After getting the first shot, the monitor actually 'dived' into the water for some reason. I tried my best to get a shot of it with just its tail visible, but by the time I had my camera ready, it was back on the surface again, leaving me with this shot.

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Spot The Horshoe Crabs

I was informed by some of my groupmates that several students there had spotted horshoe crabs on the mudflat. I moved in towards the crowd to check them out. There were about seven Mangrove Horshoe Crabs in total at that area itself. Althoguh in such a large number, most of them were very small and hence I couldn't really get shots as clear as I wanted.

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I aimed mainly for the bigger ones as like with the Tree-Climbing Crabs, the bigger ones will be much more visible in the photographs. I slowly took a few clean shots while a particular one crawled along the flowing water.

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I don't exactly know if these creatures are common or rare, but to me, this was an awesome experience as it was the first time I was looking at wild Horshoe Crabs. Despite not being able to get clear shots, I have not given up as there would still be many more trips to Sungei Buloh from our school. I hope to find a few bigger ones next time.

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Tree-Climbing Crabs

As we started our walk, I took my usual photographs, that includes every animal that I see. Tree Climbing Crabs were one of them. Although they were so common, I rarely got a clear picture of any. This is because they are always at the very bottom, forcing me to zoom in as much as possible. When I zoom in, the quality decreases. This time, I decided to just take shots of them with half-zoom. Well, this method did work out better...

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How's that? Not bad for a digital camera. I took shots of the biggest crabs as they would be more easily visible. Here are some of the crabs that I shot.

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During low tides, you can find these crabs on the mangrove floor feeding on leaves. During high tides, you can usually find them at a height high enough to clear the water level and they will remain motionless on tree-trunks, leaves or boardwalk legs.

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This is probably a predator-avoidance behaviour, especially with the many predatory species of fish and crabs that hunt with the incoming tide. Out of the water, they remain motionless to avoid other predators like kingfishers, monitor lizards and otters. At night time or dusk, they have been seen climbing up trees to heights of more than six meters to graze on algae as well as eating leaves.

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These Crabs are also called Vinegar Crabs as the Teochew are known to pickle this crab in black sauce with vinegar, and take it with porridge.

Although they look harmless, they are sometimes considered pests of mangrove plantations for their habit of attacking propagules (seeds of the Lenggadai, a threaten species of mangrove).

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I seemed to have had taken far enough photographs and hence I kept a look-out for other creatures. I spotted a few Horshoe Crabs and so I focused on them instead.

Paradise Tree Snake

We were waiting for the primary school pupils to come at the Visitor Centre. Having nothing to do, we went near the pond to see if we cold find anything. As we walked, a slight movement from the bushed beside us forced us to look closely at what had made it. At first look I didn't see anything, but in a few seconds my friend screamed 'Snake!' I moved in closer to check it out. The next few words that came out from his mouth was 'Paradise Tree Snake' and that forced me to run to him and photograph the snake. It was a beautiful snake, a Paradise Tree Snake, one with the Red Flower Pattern on its back. Just after taking my first shot I zoomed in to notice that it was actually feeding on a House Gecko!

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I immediately took a few more shots of the snake with the gecko in its mouth. Here's one of my best.

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The gecko was soon swallowed whole and I took my opportunity to photograph the snake as the gecko passed down its throat. If you look carefully at these two pictures, you should be able to notice the bulge at the snake's neck.

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It soon moved around the bush slowly, hoping to lose itself from our sight. But we were really focused that we could not possibly miss the snake. I got this picture of the top of its head clearly visible. Although it does have the Red Flower Pattern, this pattern does not stretch all the way to its head or tail.

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The Red Flower Pattern can be seen on its body through this shot.

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I still had not managed to get a full-body shot of the snake. I tried to agitate it so as to make it move its head the other side. Slowly, it slithered towards the other end, and just in time, I got a perfect shot of it with its whole body nearly visible.

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But that was not to be, though. It started to coil around the palm leaf it had slithered onto and it gave me one nice pose which allowed me to take a superb photograph of it. I did take a number of shots but this seemed to be the best.

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Soon, it seemed to have had enough of the flashlights and it slithered up onto a tree. I did keep a look out if it was attempting to glide from the tree to another, as it could be possible. But as soon as it was high up on the tree, it disappeared into the high canopy and very soon I lost sight of it. I didn't see any snakes flying in the air after that, so i assumed that it should have made itself at home on one of the trees. It was an awesome find though, a Paradise Gliding Snake.