22/10 - Ang Mo Kio Town Garden West (18 Sep 2010)

Every Saturday is a special day for all NPSS IMOG members.  Early in the week, the trip leader will broadcast the venue to explore, announce the time to meet and how to get to the location.  By Thursday, all enthusiastic members will RSVP their attendance and a final headcount will be taken. Our much anticipated Saturday lies in the hands of the weather God.  


It was a great day to begin with and the weather was cool in the early morning.  I think it rained in the wee hours of the morning. The big pond was filled with a large number of lotus leaves but not many flowers were in bloom.  The garden keeper told us that June would be a better time to visit.   By the way, the fisherman had gone fishing elsewhere because fishing is not allowed in the pond.  




While the rest were busy setting up their equipment, I took a walk to the pergola and it was pretty in pink with Antigonon leptopus (common name Coral Vine, Honolulu Creeper, Chain of Love, Hearts on a Chain or Love Vine) in bloom.  Compared to Ang Mo Kio Town Garden East, this park is bigger and built on a hillock. A 120-step staircase will take you to a public square where many elderly uncles and aunties were swatting themselves to the rhythm of some frumpy music.  One of them told another that it could get rid of aches and pain. Hmmm ... I seriously doubt so!


We did not just forage for subjects around the pond this time, but we ventured across the garden.  Shereen found a Chrysalis with very colourful thorny spikes. I actually counted and there were at least about 20 spikes!  For the record,  a Chrysalis is the pupal stage of a butterfly.   The term is derived from the metallic gold-colouration found in the pupae of many butterflies.  I have never seen anything like it and I wonder what species of butterfly would emerge from it.

(Chrysalis taken by Allan Lee, spotted by Shereen Ng)

While I was intrigued by the Chrysalis and trying to figure out which was the best composition I should take, Peck Kheng, Shereen, Freddie, Rosemary and Choon Phiow moved on to another site near the playground. There, they found Shield Bugs both the adult and juvenile. They are commonly known as Stink Bugs because they have glands in their thorax between the first and second pair of legs which produce a foul smelling liquid. This liquid is used defensively to deter potential predators and is sometimes released when the bugs are handled carelessly.  

(Mating Stink bugs taken by Peck Kheng)

(An adult & two juvenile stink bugs by Chan Choon Phiow)

People were seen walking along the footpaths that meander through the forest.  After an hour of walking, foraging and clicking, the sun came shining down on us including the droplets of water and little bugs.  

(Shadows by Anthony Quek)

We gathered around the butterfly nectar plants and there were at least 3 species of butterflies hovering around the Lantana camara bush (common name Shrub Verbena, Spanish Flag or Tick Berry / in  Chinese 五色梅).  Not too far away, I chanced upon a Batik golden web-spider, known for the impressive webs they weave.  I stood about 3 feet away and the web spanned 2 feet across me.  

(Batik golden web-spider taken by Sharon)

Acisoma panorpoides (common name Asian pintail, grizzled pintail or trumpet tail) was found perched on a log.  It flew away a few times but each time it returns, it landed on the same log.  It was very shy but cooperative so I took the opportunity to move in closer.

(Dragonfly taken by Sharon)

We gathered around to chit-chat and waited for Ong L S to have a go at the Stink bugs.  Hopefully he is happy with his shots otherwise there will always be another opportunity for improvement.

Participants (14) : Sharon S. Lim (Trip Leader), Anthony Quek, Endy Tan, Allan Lee, Joshua Fong, Tan Peck Kheng, Shereen & Freddie, Yeo T L, Kyaw Htay, Rosemary and Chan Choon Phiow, Simon Ow and Ong L S.

21/10 - Pasir Ris Beach (11 Sep 2010)

Within the Pasir Ris Park, there is a small patch of mangrove at the river mouth of the Sungei Tampines. The substrate of this mangrove is kind of sandy, or sand mix with mud, which is a good habitats for a good variety of crabs such as fiddler crabs, soldier crabs, ghost crabs, sand bubbler crabs, etc..

(Sand Bubble Crabs by Hazel Han)

These crabs normally live inside burrows that they created or just hide under the sand when the tide is up, and come out to look for food, (algae deposited on the sand surface, organic detritus, or dead organisms, etc) looking for mates and other activities when the tide is down and the sandy beach is exposed. The weather condition and tide level is just fine and we did enjoy the observation and shooting. Most of us adopt the wait and shoot approach, i.e. waiting for the crabs to come out of the burrow, then shoot them in distance. Yan Leong, with his two friends, together with Peter Low, all laying down on the sand/mud beach to get a good low angle shots dispite the wet mud... The exciting part of the trip is actually for many of us to see a lot of interesting behaviour that we never have experience before. A good behaviour is how the tiny sand bubble crab creats so many sand bubbles.

(Mudskipper by Cai Yixiong)



When the tide slowly moved up, quite a number of mudskippers also came close to us, and some of us get a good chance to shoot them in a close distance. After the beach shot, some of us went back along the mangrove boardwalk, and got to shoot some colourful bugs and lichen...

               

(Lichen Pattern By Darren Chng)

Participants (16) : Cai Yixiong (Trip Leader), Ng Hwei Min, Catherine Wong, Vivien Wee, Lewis Eng, Darren Chng, Peter Low, Joe Tan, Yeo Tang Lim, Stephen Lim, Lim Chuan Kwee, Hazel Han, Ong Ngee Ming, Lee Yan leong (with two friends).

20/10 - Tagore Forest (4 Sep 2010)

This new macro site is a forested areas along Tagore Drive.  There are quite a no. of durian trees and the path that connects from the main road to this large piece of deserted land is probably created by nearby residents who came here during the durian picking seasons! 

Common subjects spotted include catepillars, spiders, dragonflies, praying mantis, hoppers, etc.  We were also fortunate to capture some uncommon insects such as a female Striped Albatross butterfly, a Gynacantha Subinterrupta dragonfly but the catch of the day had to be the "Squirrel Mantis" spotted by Allan where most of us took turn to have a shot at it.

(Female striped albatross by Darren Chng)

Other images posted at NPSS forum are as follows:

Ornamental Tree-Trunk Spider by Allan Lee
Twig-like caterpillar at Tagore by Darren Chng
Ornamental Tree-Trunk Spider & Leaf Hoppers by Peter Low

Participants (12) - Tony Png (Team Leader) , Endy Tan, Allan Lee, Anthony Quek, Chan CP, Rosemary, Michael Ee, Darren Chng, Peter Low, Ong Lim Sim, Kyaw Htay & Steward

19/10 - Jurong Woods II (21 Aug 2010)

After 2 months without any IMOG outing due to NPSS's Nature Photographic Course, we had a record turnout of 23 participants in today’s outing. We had more than 10 cars and it almost resulted in traffic jam at the Lakeside MRT’s meeting point!

(We parked our cars along the road side near the macro site)

Anyway, it was a pity that “天不做美” as it started to drizzle at 7.15am. We had little choice but to go to the nearby coffee shop for early breakfast. At 9.00am, when the condition improved, we proceeded to the macro site.

Jurong Woods II is a huge piece of wasteland in the western part of Singapore. This place was probably a kampong during the 70s or 80s. There are lots of bushes on both sides of the trail with many wild flowers attracting different kind of insects. These include Katydids, Hoverflies, butterflies, bees, crab spiders, hoppers, beetles, etc.

It was a nice and cool morning to do macro shooting. The lighting was good and not windy. The only distraction was the constant barking of stray dogs, easily more than 10 of them.

When we progressed further into the trail, there was a stream where we found some uncommon damselflies. We spent quite sometimes here taking turn to shoot the damselflies.

Yan Leong spotted a mating pair and went into the stream!  A pity he did not manage to capture them despite his hard work.

(Yan Leong trying to shoot a mating damselflies)

There was also a wetland thereby and it looks like an excellent habitat for dragonflies and damselflies. I went into the wetland to explore with only my track shoe, certainly not an advisable thing to do which I found out later. Many common dragonflies and damselflies were sighted here. There was an uncommon dragonfly (Rhyothemis Triangularis) too but unfortunately, it was quite skittish and I did not manage to photograph it.

(Wetland)

About half an hour later when I was at another stream, I suddenly felt a big slimy thing inside my shoe. I quickly removed my shoe and I was shocked to see a fat leech, about a ten cents coin in diameter and 6 to 7 cm long! I should have taken a record shot of it but I was not in the mood to do so as my 2nd last toe of my right leg was bleeding continuously. Shereen gave me some tissue papers to clean up and stop the bleeding but it only stopped about more than an hour later!

(Bleeding non-stop after biten by a leech)

We called it a day at 12pm and some of us went to the nearby hawker centre at Bukit Batok for lunch and chit-chat.

Images posted at NPSS forum:

JW2 Macro by Stephen Lim 
Bean flower and Yellow-legged Damselfly by Cai Yixiong
Chrysomelidae Beetle by Ong Wee Shien
Common Big-Jawed Spider by Allan Lee
Jurong Wood II by Lee Yan Leong

Participants (23) : Anthony Quek (Team Leader), Allan Lee, Cai Yixiong, Tony Tng, Sharon S. Lim, Stephen Lim, Shereen Ng & Freddie, Michael Ee, Michael Ooi, Pegi Lee, Ong Lim Sim, Yeo Tang Lim, Simon Ow, Teo Jia Yin, Joshua Fong, Lewis kek, Fong KT, Chue Pui Syn, Richael Tham, Lee Yan Leong, Ong Wei Sien & friend

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