18/10 - Venus Drive (19 Jun 2010)

I love the new blog skin. Do you? I think it is refreshing! I hope I get to see a new skin every other month. Thank you, Anthony!


Since 2008, NPSS IMOG made 7 trips to Venus Drive inclusive of a night macro.  We visited the illustrious site again and found that the authority had chopped down some trees at the entrance of the trail.  The surrounding looked roomy than before I must say. 


Like we always do, we surveyed the grass patch with expansive undergrowth prior to the trail. Nothing much really except some common Lynx Spider, Moth and Dragonfly. By 7.30 am, there was a steady stream of people walking towards the trail for their morning jogs and walks. One of them came from the trail and stopped by to have a little chat.  


The weather was great with a mix of cloud and sun. Amongst the regular Macro photographers, Carlos Caparas from the Philippines took the time to join us on this occasion.


As we walked along the trail, we noticed the habitat was a little different.  There were many flood-damaged shrubs and an elderly man told us that the recent flood caused havoc to the vegetation near the stream.  He gestured his hands to his waist and told us that the flood rose to waist high!

So what were our findings?  


Our “leaf stalker” spotted an unusual sighting again.  Hazel was attracted to the rich warm colours on the leaf and upon closer examination, she also noticed there were tiny transparent eggs on the leaf.  

Simon saw a relatively huge spider resting on its spick-and-span web.  Passerby asked what we were looking ... when told, they went "Ew-ew-ew!" ... "Oh look! A Spider!"  ... "Where?!  Where?! ...
There!!" ...  It was a hilarious moment.  These beautiful creatures are inconspicuous if you are not observant.

Allan discovered a hideous murder along the forest trail ... what seem to be Cordyceps, a parasitic fungus that had infected a Bee. The filaments had spread into the internal organs of the Bee and sucked it dry. 


Last but not least, these cute little tiny Fungus were found growing on a tree bark. They also appear to be glowing in bright daylight.  Apart from this, there were other unusual stumpy looking fungus.  We were wondering could the recent heavy down pour and flood contributed to the growth of these fungus?

We ended our morning adventure in the late morning as our tummies were rumbling.  On this note, we wish to inform all readers and followers that we will be taking a short break in July.  Our next IMOG adventure and update will be in August.  Till then, keep exploring and may the bugs be with you!  

We hope to see you again.

Present (11) : Simon, Michael, Allan, Kyaw Htay, Eugene, YiXiong, Yeo TL, Carlos, Tony, Hazel and Sharon (Team Leader).

17/10 - Holland Woods (12 Jun 2010)

It was a fine morning. The outing started earlier than normal as some of our shooters wanted to get more of the dewy images. The Holland Woods almost recovered to its original outlook as when we started to explore it 2 years ago.

The long standing grasses occupied most of the trail along the canal, and there are full of characteristic macro subjects for the site various dragonflies and damselflies. There were quite a number of spiders too and many other insects such as butterflies, leafhopper, katydids, grasshopper, etc.

Surprisingly, there were no any other people going into the trail during our 4 hours of shooting! The first 100 metre or so, the main part of the trail, remained under shadow of the nearby secondary forest up to 11am, and most of the dews last until we finished the outing at 11:30am.

Participants (6) - Cai Yixiong (Team Leader), Kyaw Htay, Stephen Lim & Son, Carlos Caparas, Vincent & Anthony Quek

16/10 - Upper Peirce (5 Jun 2010)

We were greeted with a cloudy morning at the meeting point and it appeared that it would rain anytime. Nevertheless, we carried on with our shooting plan. There were plenty of uncommon and rare subjects along the way to keep our macro shooters busy as we moved forward into the forested area.

(Four-ridged Toad by Anthony Quek)

These included a no. of caterpillars, many spiders (some with preys), robberflies, unusual flies or mosquitoes, dragonflies, damselflies, green tree snail, etc. A strange white-coloured bug was also sighted but we didn’t manage to capture it in pixel as it kept jumping around.

(A beautiful moth by John Wong)
As we progressed further into the forest, the natural lighting was getting slighting better, although thunders were more frequent and louder. Inevitably, it finally rained at 10.15 am when we reached the 2nd last stream (i.e. the place where we found the “red crab” in our previous outing). We took cover under the waterpipe, packed up and decided to call it a day.

(Spiky catepillar by Kyaw Htay)

Strangely, about 5 minutes later, the rain suddenly stopped. Teck Nam & I decided to do a U-turn and went further into the last stream. We were rewarded with a critically endangered damselfly (purple-coloured form hyalina) and a rare dragonfly (Macrogomphus quadrates).


(Dragonfly - Macrogomphus quadratus by Anthony Quek)

We ended our outing at 12 pm and had lunch at the nearby Causurina Curry Restaurant.

Participants (6) : Anthony Quek (Team Leader) , Kyaw Htay, Teck Nam, Ngee Chye, John Wong & Eddy Lee

15/10 - Sungei Ulu Pandan (29 May 2010)

Interview with the photographers :

Endy : What do you think of this site for Nature Macrophotography?

Cricket on yellow flower by Kyaw Htay

Kyaw Htay : I think it is a very nice place. I have been here 3 times with IMOG and a few times on my own. In fact, this is where I got my "Cricket on Yellow Flower" one year ago. I posted that picture at Nikon Photo Club and was made Editor's Choice. The subjects are aplenty, do a detailed search and you will know what I mean. This morning, I was very lucky to find an uncommon butterfly which I have never seen in my whole life.

Close up on Katydid by Tan Chuan Yean

Stephen Lim : Not bad at all! I brought my son along in this maiden outing of mine. We had a great time. We took so many spiders and katydids (many little ones + a big juvenile).

CP Chan : A Good site indeed. I enjoyed taking photos of the many Katydids and the best was that I got a chance to photograph a cicada on a very low level, this is one of my wishlist items came true.

Twig-like feather legged spider with "soccer ball" by Tan Chuan Yean

Tan Chuan Yean : I was a little late. But surprisingly, although only a small portion of the area was combed, I found quite many uncommon spiders.

Yan Leong : I remember that I came 1 year ago, and there were still quite many insects today. There is a new McDonald Restaurant with Drive Thru nearby now, we had a wonderful meal there after the trip at about 11:30 am.

Participant (6) : Endy Tan (Team Leader), Kyaw Htay, Stephen Lim & son, CP Chan, Tan Chuan Yean, and Yan Leong