Kestrel spotted by skfoo

http://forums.clubsnap.org/showthread.php?p=1761911#post1761911
by skfoo
"Last year, a Kestrel was spotted at a reclaimed land in Changi. If I am not mistaken, prior to 2004, the last time anyone spotted a Kestrel in Singapore was 10 years ago!

This year, our (Sree and myself) encounter with it came as a shock. Sree almost jammed his breaks when I suddenly sounded out to him that a Kestrel was on the ground. There was a lizard under its claws.

Sree’s equipment was in the car boot. Mine was on the rear passenger seat in his car. Not wanting this rear opportunity to be missed, we decided to setup my gear first. By then, the Kestrel has flown up a nearby tree. As any delay would result in photographing the Kestrel without its food, Sree position his car to allow me to shoot from his rear passenger seat. Half way through, we thought the Kestrel would take its time to feed on its prey. So we backed off for Sree to setup his gear. Setting up the gear was fast but when we returned to the same location, the food is no more. The Kestrel may have swallowed the last bit of the lizard in full."

Grey Headed Fish Eagle Ichthyophaga icthyaetus @ central catchment area by TanGC

http://gallery.clubsnap.com/showphoto.php/photo/13581/cat/500

"A rare resident of Singapore, usually seen only near water."

Grey Heron's Prey @Seletar Dam by Harlequin

http://forum.clubsnap.org/showthread.php?t=165560
Must See Post! Great pics of a grey heron feeding on a prawn, copper banded butterfly fish, catfish. LOL its almost a study on the feeding habits or perhaps fauna at the seletar dam thanks to a very hungry grey heron!

Thanks to Harlequin for allowing me to replicate his photos!

A large prawn for starter



A Copper-Banded Butterfly fish - not a typical fish (as it is flat and very hard for the Grey Heron to swallow).







Now the real main dish. A X-Large catfish !!










A bit too greedy I would say

Malayan Water Monitor Lizard Varanus salvator @ Sungei Ulu Pandan by Kevin

Spotted 2005 December 10^th 15:41. This is beside the jogging trail in sunset way. Was staring at a piece debris trying to think if its a Malayan Box Terrapin when a dark shape loomed into my field of view and I quickly snapped a few off focus shots. My mind was racing wildly even though they are pretty common. But this was the first time I was soooo close to one! They are usually very secretive jumping into the water if spotted. This one was caught by surprised by a surprised me hahaha. I even managed two shots of it swimming in its undulating fashion that was so graceful. You can tell its a powerful swimmer because it was just effortlessly fighting the strong current. It looked like it was almost 1.5m When it saw me it just sank underwater. DARN! Apparently they can remain underwater for up to 30 mins. I circled the area abit and about 5 mins later, it popped its head up again! It was kinda freaky using a telephoto lens to zoom in on its head. It seemed to be measuring me up. Meal or bothersome ape? Oh by the way they actually have brown eyes! That's something I didn't know. I do know that they will eat anything they can swallow and they are particularly fond of carrion. There's abundant armoured sucker catfishes, tilapia there and lots of herons. Never seen it try to attack a heron but apparently they run very fast with their powerful leg muscles. But herons do eat youg monitor lizards. Of course they are prey to humans, even in Singapore. About 12 years ago, I saw a bunch of people setting up traps in west coast park for monitor lizards, and I know of 2 who actually tasted lizard meat before. Heh that's years ago though.

Ref:

Malayan water monitor lizard (Varanus salvator): info fact sheet, photos

http://www.naturia.per.sg/buloh/verts/monitor_lizard.htm

Wildlife Singapore

http://www.wildsingapore.per.sg/discovery/factsheet/malymonitor.htm

Forest cicada near Treetop boardwalk by Kevin

Forest cicada near Treetop trail
Originally uploaded by koiyau.

Spotted this forest cicada somewhere around the treetop boardwalk in the Central Catchment. The date? Erm..its a year ago. Heh I am really good at procrastination. I shot this at 2004 December 4th at 3pm or so. Forest cicadas are so so so hard to miss....their calls at least. When people tell me they enjoy the sounds of the forest, the call of the forest cicada inadvertently comes to mind. This is a really lucky find for me, I just followed the call of this critter because it sounded really really close. And Voila! There it is. Took a few shots but this is my best. Heh but the resolution is poor because I don't have a telephoto then. Remembered this shot because of a post at the habitatnews blog.

Ref:
The Biology Refugia: Cicada Moult
http://staff.science.nus.edu.sg/~sivasothi/biorefugia/2005/12/cicada-moult.html

Robberflies @ Sime Forest, near the Treetop Boardwalk. by Steven Wee

Nice writeup on robberflies and a shot of one sucking the life out of a
forest cockroach. Heh if I didn't know that there are forest cockroaches
and that they are smaller. I would have easily thought the cockroach was photoshopped onto a normal fly...
http://forums.clubsnap.org/showthread.php?p=1708278

here's the writeup by Steven
Robberflies make for fascinating macro subjects. A robberfly hunts its prey (mainly smaller insects) and intercepts it in mid air, stabbing it with its piercing mouth appendage. It will then return to its perch and begin eating its catch. This process begins with the robberfly injecting a fluid into its prey that liquefies the internal parts of the insect so it is easily sucked out. With close to 4,000 species of robberflies found throughout the world this highly predatory insect preys on most flying insects including some species of bees and wasp. In this case the prey appears to be some species of forest roach.

Green iguana Iguana iguana@Sungei Buloh by dominator

Green iguana (Iguana iguana) spotted at Sungei Bulohhttp://forums.clubsnap.org/showthread.php?t=164452

I will be excited as well if its just Calotes versicolor I see day in day out and I see this! Be careful though it might be mildly venomous.Here's another sighting http://pachome2.pacific.net.sg/~tanghb/Green_Iguana.html . I was disappointed though when I found out that these are all exotics. Hmmm seems like there are more and more of these released from the chat going on in that clubsnap thread. Anyway for more info check out the Singapore Zoological Gardens Docents' info trove.


Ref:
Changeable lizard (Calotes versicolor): info fact sheet, photos
http://www.naturia.per.sg/buloh/verts/changeable_lizard.htm
SZG Docents: Complementing educational efforts of the Wildlife Reserves Singapore
http://www.szgdocent.org/resource/rr/c-giguana.htm
Introduced species - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Exotic_species

Brown Shrike, Richard's Pipit, Collared Kingfisher @ Punggol by ortega

Brown Shrike, Richard's Pipit, Collared Kingfisher sightings at Punggol.
Another post on clubsnap! http://forums.clubsnap.org/showthread.php?t=161619

Collared Scops Owl spotted by Fred in East side of Sg!

http://forums.clubsnap.org/showthread.php?p=1695226

Another interesting bird sighting on clubsnap.org. It comes with a good writeup as well! Darn never been able to spot owls .. really great shot by Fred here.. a MUST SEE!

Unknown Caterpillar

unknown caterpillar
Originally uploaded by koiyau.

Unknown caterpillar on a ginger family plant spotted at botanic gardens... leave a comment or email me if you know what it is!
a few have mentioned that it's probably a moth.

DateTimeOriginal
- 2005:10:08 10:21:59

DateTimeDigitized - 2005:10:08 10:21:59

kevin

Malayan Brown Snake on P.Ubin spotted by mphil

http://forums.clubsnap.org/showthread.php?p=1637585#post1637585

Malayan Brown Snake (Xenelaphis hexagonotus) as posted by mphil on clubsnap..
The Malayan Brown Snake is a harmless (non-poisonous to us) snake that feeds on fish as well as small animals(such as rats and birds). I came across not one but 2 of them on P.Ubin one morning. Both were around 6 feet. At that time I did not know what type of snake they were so I didnt try to get closer to take close ups of them. They were moving pretty fast in the warm morning sun. Was not in a good position as the snake was between me and the sun and its skin was pretty reflective.

Though not the best effort, these are still very precious record shots of one of them as they have only been recorded one other time before. In fact, this species has not even made it to the NParks list of snakes found on P.Ubin. Thanks to my source at Nparks for identifying them for me.

Lapwing shot on Ubin by mphil

http://forums.clubsnap.org/showthread.php?t=131955
hmmm might be a last chance to see them on ubin .. according to mphil..

Hornbill pair spotted on Ubin! by mphil again...

link!
Hornbill pair spotted on Ubin! As posted on clubsnap.org. Wow.. i wish i was out there with this guy rather than surfing net at home... ;p

Otters spotted on Ubin by mphil

http://forums.clubsnap.org/showthread.php?p=1637595

see link above for the great shots by mphil of otters!

Nipah Palm (wide angle shot)

nipah palm 2
Originally uploaded by koiyau.

DateTimeDigitized - 2005:05:14 08:55:17



wide angle shot reference earlier post :)

Nipah Palm Nypa fruticans

Nipah Palm
Originally uploaded by koiyau.

DateTimeDigitized - 2005:05:14 08:55:17


Attap chee anyone? Heh! I saw this fruit on a trip to Chek Jawa and
resisted the temptation to pry open the fruits to look for attap chee ;p

edit: made a mistake! its fruticans not fruiticans ... thanks to shufen for spotting it

Ref: Nipah palm Nypa fruticans on Chek Jawa, Pulau Ubin, Singapore - Link1

Nipah palm Nypa fruticans: info fact sheet, photos Link2

Wagler's Pit Viper Tropidolaemus wagleri

click here for the post on clubsnap.org
DateTimeDigitized - 2005:07:16 16:53:07

First time seeing a viper up close! spotted it at BTNR in the Hindhede Park while taking a course for guiding apparently this is just a juvenile... but beware! its poisonous.. i only dared approach nearer as it seemed oblivious to camera flashes and humans crowding around it for a good view... i reasoned that because of the cold weather it just had to crawl out into the relative open space to have a good sunbath else it prob starve at night cos its too slow. Notice the triangular head!

Wagler's Pit Viper Tropidolaemus wagleri
Originally uploaded by koiyau.

Ref:
Snakes of Southeast Asia : Wagler's Pit Viper - Tropidolaemus wagleri
http://www.ecologyasia.com/verts/snakes/waglers_pit_viper.htm

Clouded Monitor Varanus bengalensis nebulosus

Clouded Monitor Varanus bengalensis nebulosus
Originally uploaded by koiyau.

Spotted this ~1m specimen in the Macritchie Reservoir whilst going for treetop walk in november.. heh it was trying to hide in the bushes when it spotted me.. but I managed to catch a shot of it..DateTimeDigitized - 2004:11:06 16:11:45



Ref:

Lizards of Southeast Asia : Clouded Monitor - Varanus bengalensis
nebulosus

http://www.ecologyasia.com/verts/lizards/clouded_monitor.htm

Not sure if i got it right..correct me if you know? Thanks!

Lime Butterfly Papilio demoleus malayanus

Papilio demoleus malayanus (Lime Butterfly)
Originally uploaded by koiyau.

Papilio demoleus malayanus (Lime Butterfly)

Spotted in clementi. I think this has to be one of the most common butterfly in HDB estates. the number of lime and pomelo plants around provide ample food for the caterpillars which when young are a perfect example of mimicry.
the young caterpillars look like bird poop. haha really! when bigger they change to a 'lime' green.

2005/01/25 17:44

Singapore Green Plan 2012: Three-Yearly Review

http://www.mewr.gov.sg/sgp2012
if you are not at all interested at least the $5 borders card may entice u?

Singapore Green Plan 2012: Three-Yearly Review

Every time you drive a car, throw away rubbish, use water, you are affecting our environment. Add these actions up. Multiply by the number of people living in Singapore and we would have made a huge difference to the kind of living environment we have.

Governments, communities and businesses are all doing their part to protect our environment. You can, too.

The Singapore Green Plan 2012 (SGP2012) is our national blueprint to build a sustainable environment for generations to come. Highly focused and action-oriented targets and programmes have been developed since to preserve, protect and enhance our environment and water resources for the next decade.

The SGP2012 three-yearly review is your opportunity to do your part and share your views on how we can make a difference to protecting our environment!

Common Iora nest

Common Iora Aegithina tiphia

spotted this bird which i believe to be the common iora (
Aegithina tiphia) on Pulau Ubin[14/5/2005, 8:23am]. From far it looks
like another yellow bird, It's smaller than an oriole and bigger than
the olive backed sunbird. At first I thought it to be a very accustomed
to humans as it didn't really avoid me when i tried to inch closer. it
was only when the bird flew away that I realised that this little one
was so silly to have build its nest on a treelet and its nest was so low
that i could reach up and grab it.. see the pic i have of the nest.
sorry my photo of the bird is underexposed but you can see the two
prominent white bars on the wing. For more pics, refer to the excellent
guide book: "A guide to the common birds of Singapore" by Clive Briffet
(a BP & science centre co-published guide book). Apparently it 'forages
in trees for insects' and it's found in 'open wooded areas' like parks
and gardens. Also it has a 'pleasant musical whistle and trill' whilst
'feeding in trees'.hmmm now that really confounds me... either insects
are deaf or this little bird really likes to talk during lunch....
Ref:

common iora (Aegithina tiphia): info fact sheet, photos
http://www.naturia.per.sg/buloh/birds/Aegithina_tiphia.htm

Briffet, Clive  "A guide to the common birds of Singapore"

Painted Bronzeback Dendrelaphis pictus

Here's the pictures of the poor snake that died on friday, 8th Mar
05. it should be Painted Bronzeback (Dendrelaphis pictus). It has a
characteristic black and yellow lateral band, and it runs across its
eyes.

posted by Shufen

Passiflora sp.

Passiflora sp.
spotted this while on the trail to Chek jawa in May.

Passiflora sp.

Passiflora sp.
spotted this while on the trail to Chek jawa in May.

possibly Nepenthes gracilis

Found while hiking in central catchment area near mandai ave 25/3/05
Not very good with plants so can't be sure of id! BTW its Weiwei's first pitcher sighting!