Paradise Tree Snake Chrysopelea paradisi @ SBG by Micheal Lim

http://forums.clubsnap.com/showthread.php?t=247488

"The Paradise Tree Snake is considered by some to be rare, however in Singapore it is commonly encountered in a variety of habitats including mangrove, secondary forest, and parks and gardens. This is a back-fanged colubrid with weak venom sufficiently powerful to immobilise its small prey, which comprises mainly tree-dwelling lizards. The species is active by day."
Excerpted from ecologyasia.com

Hmmm I wonder with all the rain what happens to the sun loving reptiles... probably more lethargic and more daring to come out into the open for more warmth..Excellent combi for photography?

Bone Rooms, Bird Bodies, and Biodiversity Informatics

link
Wow, there's certainly stuff that I can learn from here! Excited!!

Elegant bronzeback(?) eating a Green crested lizard by yangsf

Can anyone convince the snake to change its diet to the more common non-native Calotes?

ps is this elegant bronzeback?

Striped Kukri Snake @ Lower Pierce by Mendis

http://forums.clubsnap.com/showpost.php?p=2687206&postcount=1

Phew one more post before i log off... there's a comment on whether the blue tip is part of a microchip tracking device? Any idea ppl?

Thanks for Mendis for kindly offering his photo for me to use on this blog. Photo copyrights belong to him!

Carpet Eel Blenny Congrogadus subducens @ Raffles Lighthouse by Danny Soh

Nice close up shot of a marine fishie!

Type: Blenny
Scientific Name: Congrogadus subducens
Common Name: Carpet Eel Blenny
Date Taken: 4th Feb 2006
Place: Raffles Lighthouse, at depth of about 6m.
Size : Slightly larger than the size of a large tube of tooth paste

Hard coral genera of Singapore by Jeff Low and Staad3

http://www.flickr.com/photos/cat64fish/sets/72157594364391590/

post from Jeff
"I started to compile some of my hard coral photos and put them in this album. As my collection grows, hopefully it will cover all the coral genera that we have in Singapore. Sorry I can't go to species, because most (but not all) corals will require microscope work for that. The main reason I started this was because most of the idenification websites either cannot be searched, or use scientific names to search. If I already knew the scientific name (or common name), I probably won't need to search, right? So, anyway, at least for corals, you can use growth form to narrow down your search, based on the collection that is in the album. Staad3 has also contributed some of her photos If this "idenitification" album works out, I will try to do for the other organisms as well. Comments to improve the search functions of the album welcome. If you have photos you would like to add to the collection, please let me know. Enjoy! Jeff"

Bruguiera cylindrica @ SBWR by Sherlynn

This picture of the flowers of the Bruguiera cylindrica was taken at about 9:28 am on the 26th of November at Sungei Buloh Wetland Reserve (Mangrove Boardwalk).

edit: yangsf has kindly pointed out that this is a picture of Bruguiera cylindrica actually :) and not Nyrieh (Xylocarpus granatum)
"The leaves of Nyrieh do not grow in a whorl and are compound leaves, not simple leaves as shown in the picture posted. The flowers are also different. Below is a pic of Xylocarpus granatum, leaves :) "


CoUrTeSiEs:
OnG QiAn Yi SheRLyNn

Yellow Bittern hunting @ SBWR by skfoo

http://forums.clubsnap.com/showthread.php?t=244574
beautiful series of photos by skfoo once again. This time its of a Yellow
Bittern hunting for fish 

Little heron Butorides striatus catching a tilapia(?) @ SBG by Steven

http://forums.clubsnap.com/showthread.php?t=242806
haha I wonder if the little heron finally got the fish into itself. I suspect that the fish is a tilapia (an introduced food species) which is very aggressive both in behaviour and in terms of replacing many of the native fish species. I never thought that other than humans there are animals that feed on tilapias here in Singapore.

read more about little herons here
http://www.naturia.per.sg/buloh/birds/Butorides_striatus.htm

Various marine life

Sea snakes, Eeltail catfishes, pufferfish, Anemone shrimps, etc at this unexpected stretch of shore at Sentosa where wild life other than Stone fishes can be found
link

" TWO small cuttefish" and "groupers, rabbitfish, fusiliers and TONS of nudibranches." and "Juvenile Tigertail Seahorse" at P. Hantu..
link

Note: I be away for army training so expect a break of 3 wks for this blog.. sorry guys..

Star Puffer Arothron stellatusand Sliver Moony (fish) @ Pulau Hantu by Debby

http://habitatnews.nus.edu.sg/news/pulauhantu/2006/11/star-puffer-and-silver-moony.html

Colugo (brown variant?) Cynocephalus variegatus by Daniel Koh

Another sighting of a brown lemur posted on clubsnap
refer to earlier post as well link

Fact sheet and photos of colugos on Kwok Wai's WildLife Singapore
website
http://www.wildsingapore.per.sg/discovery/factsheet/colugo.htm

the true nature of naturespies-PostgreSQL, GIS,GPS, photos

Dear readers,
I don't know if i have mentioned this before but I had loftier dreams
for naturespies than in its current incarnation. The idea was a photo
database preferably with GPS coords and time of spotting of the
individual(hmm shld add comments about individual markings to id the
individual). The idea was a wildlife research resource. So that
population statistics and even movements of these animals can be
tracked and be used in studies. Trap and recapture info would be great
too. The initial idea was met with slight opposition which are valid
concerns about the data being used for poaching. (so i think i should
refine the idea to keeping the coords data open to people who email me
for access). I am still in the process of refining the design of the
database. Any comments and ideas are appreciated! email me if privacy
is required :)

Leopard Lacewing Cethosia cyane (Drury, 1773) @ Jurong by Sunny Chir

"here is a record shot of a male Leopard Lacewing taken in the shade at low shutter speed on the vicinity where the 2 females were shot "


link
Photos and text copyright of Bluesteel edit: Thanks for allowing me to repro the fantastic pics!
excerpted from original post
"One specimen of the butterfly was first seen and recorded on Western Singapore on 13 Dec 05 , another butterfly was last seen on 7th June 06 at Upper Seletar Reservoir Park.Have the good fortune of encountering 3 of them today on a field off Old Jurong Road.With this encounter , it appears that the butterfly has established itself on the Island."

to see more of Sunny Chir's photos (Silverstreak) for more beautiful butts go to The Circle of Butterfly

possibly Clouded Monitor Varanus nebulosus @ BTNR by Leonardo

link
pending verification
clues
1) smaller (scale from the logs)
2) its in BTNR (forested areas are the Clouded Monitor's habitat)
3) pending (position of the nostril)

Green Crested Lizards

link
Wow a starting post by hiker invited lots of shots by various ppl. warning- not for those with lizard phobia ;)

Wagler's Pit Viper @BTNR by hiker,sponge

Close up shots by Daniel of the adult and a headshot of a juvenile by sponge.

Owl in Jurong Apartment by Yullis Gwei

video at
http://202.157.174.100/20061019-news-owl/Player.html
Original post in http://www.stomp.com.sg/stompcast/newstips.html

'Exotic owl found in Jurong apartment   19 Oct 2006 - It's not everyday a 'giant flying object' lands in your living room. Yullis Gwei and her son, Jia Jun, were stunned to find an exotic-looking owl in her Jurong East condominium on 12 October. The owl was later released back into the wild by condo's security guards. "Could it be the haze that is causing this unusual big bird from the wild to seek refuge in buildings?" Yullis wondered.'

sorry wanted to link to the article but the site isn't done like a blog with a permanent link. So I had to resort to replicating the post here in case it gets lost.

Mousedeer spotted! Rare sighting! by Daniel Koh

cropped pic
link to CS

WOW! Double Wow!! Daniel has outdone himself again by managing to photo a mousedeer *gasp* in our forests this weekend!
Trying to get more details
added a cropped pic with the copyright left in for a better view
in here...

Banded Leaf Monkey by hiker/Daniel Koh

http://forums.clubsnap.com/showthread.php?t=225021
New sighting for today!! It wasn't too long ago that Daniel spotted them!
Thanks Daniel for kindly allowing me to directly link to his pictures.

edit: sorry to Daniel for getting his name wrong! Wat a faux pas!!

Blue-Throated Bee Eater Merops viridis @ Marina by skfoo

link to photos

Beautiful photos!

references
info on the Blue-Throated Bee Eater
http://www.naturia.per.sg/buloh/birds/Merops_viridis.htm

nesting behaviour on the BES blog
http://besgroup.blogspot.com/2006/09/blue-throated-bee-eater.html

More images on google
http://www.google.com.sg/search?q=Blue-Throated+Bee+Eater

Common Kingfisher Alcedo atthis @ SBWR by Steven

link to photos

Did you know that the 'Common' kingfisher in Singapore is not common? And it might be a true "fisher" in the sense that it really specialises in fishing!

references
Info on the common kingfisher
http://www.naturia.per.sg/buloh/birds/Alcedo_atthis.htm

Photos @ Pulau Hantu by Jeff

Take a peek into Singapore waters! Who said sg dives are boring?
link

kacang-kacang Aegiceras corniculatum @ Pulau Ubin by Shufen

kacang-kacang Aegiceras corniculatum @ Pulau Ubin by Shufen
Originally uploaded by koiyau.

Spotted by Shufen on one of our trips to Ubin, this uncommon mangrove plant

was just beside us when we were looking at mudskippers. Its in a rather

precarious position right now.(right beside a track). A funny story was that

when we saw the propagules, one of us thought its immature, another thought

that it can't be all immature at the same time and clustered together in one

bunch. Guess who was right? Hint: check out the word crytovivipary



mangrove flora: kacang-kacang (Aegiceras corniculatum)

http://mangrove.nus.edu.sg/guidebooks/text/1048.htm

Vivipary

http://mangrove.nus.edu.sg/guidebooks/text/1044.htm

Red Jungle Fowl Gallus gallus @Central Catchment area by Daniel

link to post

Wow. Another rare sighting and by hiker (aka Daniel Koh). They are rare and even described as "almost living dinosaurs and are of great interest and value." ( ref1). I saw pics of it at the Ubin info center and on habitatnews, but never thought that they can be spotted on mainland. But apparently I was wrong when I checked this with Dr Wee YC from the BES blog

edit: added photo whose permission was kindly granted by daniel. All copyright remain his.
References

Jungle Fowl
http://www.geocities.com/RainForest/4665/JUNGFOWL.htm
Pulau Ubin stories
http://habitatnews.nus.edu.sg/heritage/ubin/stories/2004/06/red-jungle-fowl.html

Green Crab Spiders Dieta virens (Thorell) 1891 by tchuanye

Great photos again by tchuanye looking at these photos I would think this spider is really really hard to spot. Much less to photograph so beautifully. I can hardly id this from the online photo in the guidebook.
if you wish to purchase any of his pictures
visit his gallery at http://www.tchuanye.smugmug.com

"A Guide to Common Singapore Spiders" by Joseph K. H. Koh
http://habitatnews.nus.edu.sg/guidebooks/spiders/text/Dieta_virens.htm

Banded Leaf Monkeys @ Lower Pierce Trail by hiker

link to clubsnap post
WOW!! .. Rare sighting !!!

note: thanks to hiker for generously allowing me to post the pics here for you!
all rights remain his.


if the name doesn't say it all for you visit here for the reason why this is exciting
http://www.wildsingapore.per.sg/discovery/factsheet/bandleafmonkey.htm


and here's the firsthand account of the sighting!
(with minor edits to hide the location to protect the monkeys)
email if u NEED to know the location.
p.s. i wonder if there were sightings of more than a pair by others.

its was friday, 11aug, about 1745hrs.
i was walking along lower peirce reservoir, XXX trail.
then i heard a loud 'crash' among the canopies, at first glance,
i thought they were the common long-tailed macaque...,
then i saw one swinging pass the trees like a spider monkey!!

!!Banded Leaf Monkeys!!!
then a second one swing by.. , about 20m behind the first one.
i took out my camera to shoot but no more came by....
THERE ARE ONLY TWO???

both the monkeys disappeared into the trees before i could get any shot.., i waited at that spot for some time to see if there is any
more coming.... , sadly, no..

so judging the direction they were going..,
i made my way to XXX trail and waited..

15mins later, both of them came by again!
i managed to shoot those few pics shown in clubsnap..
then they disappeared again heading south..

then i made my way south too, but the forest ends there,
behind the petrol kiosks...,
there were dozens of long-tailed macaque there, some cars
drove by, throwing some food out to feed them.
so i dun think i will see them appear again, so sad.

the end.
http://www.wildsingapore.com/places/lptmap1.htm

Great-billed Heron Ardea sumatrana by skfoo

another great series by skfoo here's the writeup excerpted from his post

images and text copyright of Foo Sai Khoon!

Great-billed Heron (Ardea sumatrana)

---

I have seen a Great-billed Heron on a number of occasions at Chek Jawa (Pulau Ubin). Alone in solitary as it hunts on the mudflats/sandy banks during low tides. Accordingly, this is the tallest living bird in Singapore. It is bigger than the more commonly seen Grey Heron and easily mistaken for the Purple Heron. As its name suggest, it is known for its massive bill. It is a rare resident of the South Islands, very rarely seen on the mainland (West and East only). Its habitat is mangroves, mudflats and rocky islets.

Squirrel eating durians by KK

link

Heh the REAL reason why we shouldn't poach tasty durians in the reserve. It might be a nice treat for us but seasonal treats like this might be  supplementing  the diet of various  animals in the reserve

Nudibranch Tambja oliva ? by Staad3

Type: Nudibranch
Scientific Name: Tambja oliva?
Common Name:
Date Taken: 19 Feb 2006
Place: Western patch reef, Pulau Hantu, at depth of 9m.

Kevin: Lovely shot!

edit:
staad3 sent me this link which might be a clue to its identity.
Anyone knows if its a new species sighting for Singapore?
http://www.seaslugforum.net/factsheet.cfm?base=tamboliva

Four Lined Tree Frog Polypedates leucomystax by syazkal

link

Excellent closeup shots of this "common yet charming species" this color variation is quite different from the one shown in the ecology asia site. But one shot showed the four lines very clearly. ( N.B. feel free to contest the id of this animal I am not sure actually)

ecology asia
http://www.ecologyasia.com/verts/amphibians/four-lined-tree_frog.htm

Rare! Black-winged Starling Acridotheres melanopterus (Daudin, 1800) by Amit

link to post
Shot by Amit
Apparently this is a rare resident of Singapore and this particular shot is of a juvenile. Thanks to Husky for the ID
more adult pics here

Purple Heron @ Sungei Buloh by szekiat

link

Purple Heron caught in flight!

Ornamental Tree-Trunk Spider Herennia ornatissima @ Pasir Ris Spice Garden by syazkal

link to CS post
There's a few macro shots in this series taken by syazkal most interesting is the shots of the Ornamental Tree-Trunk Spider which is well camouflaged.

References:
"A Guide to Common Singapore Spiders" by Joseph K. H. Koh
http://habitatnews.nus.edu.sg/guidebooks/spiders/text/Herennia_ornatissima.htm

Blue spotted stingray @ Pulau Hantu by Thio (staad3)

A regular contributor to the Marine residents thread in clubsnap! Here
is one of her posts showing the diversity of life hidden in the waters!

Type:Fish
Scientific Name:
Common Name: Blue spotted stingray
Date Taken: 18 Mar 2006
Place: Western Patch Reef, Pulau Hantu, at depth of about 5m.
p.s. Pics are copyright of staad3

edit:hmmm my email to blog pipeline isn't working need to figure out why.. here's the pic again sorry guys!

Male Laced Woodpecker @ Bukit Batok by TanHB

http://forums.clubsnap.com/showthread.php?t=207829
quote "Was at Bt Batok Nature Park looking for insects, suddenly heard
someone firing a machine gun behind me, turn my head around and saw this
gunner."

Spotted Wood OwlStrix seloputo and Barn Owl Tyto alba by Arthur Chng

link to pics

Excellent shots of our resident owls! I am still looking for my first!

Hornbill sighting of the unnatural kind

The picture does say it all doesn't it? U can hardly argue with domestication of dogs, cats, chickens as pets. For dogs, u have to walk them to keep them happy with activity. But I can hardly imagine any sort of activity (mental/physical) that will keep these two happy to be caged up. For me the joy of observing any animal is watch its behaviour in relation to its environment i.e. bird behaviour described in the BES blog, heck even a cat stalking a house gecko is visually more entertaining than a caged hornbill with no stimulation.
The keeping of rare/exotic pets/plants is certainly a problem that can't be solved overnight. Especially when there is no overwhelming impetus for the local authorities to stem the problem. I have heard stories even of biologists guilty of such things. Things like these makes you reflect on the human condition and suddenly you are not amazed at why the world is in a mess.

here's the rest of the original post from Joseph Lai.
"I cannot begin to describe how heavy my heart felt recently when I found two huge Blyth's Hornbills being crammed into a tiny cage and put on sale at Chua's Pet Trading in Hougang. If there is any proverbial cupboard where skeletons are to be found in 'First World' Singapore, Hougang is one. It's the 'Guantanamo Bay' of Singapore... and freedom is taken away for no other crime than being 'wild and exotic' birds.

What else can I say? : ( Beyond what I have just wrote, how do I begin to describe the intimacy with which our own freedom are tied to theirs? I am truly lost for words. However, let me share this photo (right), and invite you to step back in time with me and witness how insistent the hornbills were at biting the cold hard wire

of the cage. They just want to be free; as free as all wild birds are born to be. Would you, my dear sentient friends, share your thoughts and feelings with me too? I look forward to post them faithfully here. Thank you.

WHEN THE BUYING STOPS, THE TRADING WILL TOO."

Banded Woodpecker @Fort Canning Park by Denosha

link to clubsnap post

haven't got much luck with woodpeckers myself. I wonder where these ppl keep finding them! ;p
Thanks to Denosha for graciously letting me post the pic here. Do visit http://denosha.shutterchance.com for more shots!

1st record of Buffy Fish Owl Ketupa ketupu @Sentosa by Yury

link

With regards to the earlier id which was wrong this is actually the rare Buffy Fish Owl Ketupa ketupu. Great Catch Yury! And according to Subaraj, this is a first species record for that island!

Paradise Tree Snake Chrysopelea paradisi @ Sungei Buloh by

link
Wow its just lying on the boardwalk! Lucky chap.. of course he could be luckier and actually spot it 'flying' ... (Yups this snake is able to flatten its body and glide through the air!)
"The Paradise Tree Snake is considered by some to be rare, however in Singapore it is commonly encountered in a variety of habitats including mangrove, secondary forest, and parks and gardens. "

p.s. read on the thread about another blog on Singapore Snakes

References
Snakes of Southeast Asia : Paradise Tree Snake - Chrysopelea paradisi
http://www.ecologyasia.com/verts/snakes/paradise_tree-snake.htm

Flying Snake Home Page by Jake Socha, University of Chicago: frequently asked questions on the species, quick-time video clips of their flight, photos, maps of their distribution, taxonomic details

Woodpeckers Common Flameback Dinopium javanense) @ Pasir Ris Park, Holland by Nur Bin Muhammad and hiker

A thread in clubsnap with quite a few woodpecker shots
There's one pic of a woodpecker pecking at its reflection in a mirror. Here's a funny report on the damage that it can do (non-ecologically speaking).It's  probably trying to fend off rivals, but I didn't expect females to do it as well. Doing a search on the topic made me realise I was wrong,

Bagworm renovating its bag, photos & write up by Adrian Wee

This is a mystery solved for me. For ages I have wondered what creature hides within this clump of twigs, being the morally inclined naturalist, i was reluctant to pry the home open to appease my curiosity.  But now I know!

here's a passage from the excellent writeup
"Bagworms are a group of highly specialized lepidopterans belonging to the family Psychidae and exhibit extreme development of sexual dimorphism. Males are winged whereas females lack functional appendages. Larvae of both males and females, soon after hatching from the eggs climb up to the top of their host plants in order to have an access to the soft and palatable tips of the growing shoots. They construct a small but tough bag of silk of either cylindrical or conical shape and glue small fragments of plant tissues around their cases. Larvae always keep their body inside the cases. While moving about, their head and thorax are protruded out so that they move forward on their thoracic legs dragging the case behind them, which is gripped by hooks on the abdominal prolegs. When taking rest, the rims of the cases remain attached to a twig by means of silken thread so that the cases hang vertically with both their openings remaining closed."

Savanna Nightjar Caprimulgus affinis by Foo Sai Khoon

Excellent writeup with great pics to boot! No mention of locality where he spotted this one but he does mention where u can see them

here's a preview of his writeup
"Nightjars are birds of legend. In the 17th century Britain, nightjars are thought to be "goatsucker" as people really believed that nightjars visited goats at night and drank their milk! Incidentally, Caprimulgus is a latin word for goatsucker. So you can imagine there are calls for action and cries for the creature blood. But none of the frightened crowd volunteers to venture out into the night ……
In south-eastern parts of USA, it was once thought that the number of times a Whip-poor-will (related to nightjar) sang in succession indicated the number of years it would be before a man married.
In Sulawesi, the Satanic or Diabolical Nightjar (Eurostopodus diabolicus) was named because of the belief that the call it made by night was the sound of it pulling out people eyes!"

p.s. sorry for the long break in posting i shall endeavour to post more frequently!

Defensive Colugo mother spotted by Daniel Koh

link

A mother colugo and her baby shot by hiker from clubsnap. If you are wondering why a colugo needs to fear Homo sapiens you can read it here. The joy of a chance meeting in the reserves with a wild animal is indescribable. To be able to take pictures of them and show others takes the enjoyment of nature up a notch. The mildest word i can think of to use on poachers that choose to take away all these from us is SELFISH. The stronger words I shall reserve.

Thanks to Daniel for graciously providing me with the images!

Oriental Pied Hornbills Anthracoceros albirostris@ Changi by wong1979

Thanks to Wong1979 from clubsnap for graciously allowing me to reproduce his excellent pictures of the Oriental Pied Hornbills [ Anthracoceros albirostris ] here on this blog. Thanks to Sharkspin for id of the birds. I would like to take this opportunity to highlight the

Hornbill Project Singapore you CAN make a difference. Read all about
our own hornbills and how you can help with your sightings on the
bird ecology blog http://besgroup.blogspot.com

Be Watchful for poachers though when admiring these birds. It would be sad if they were caught by poachers (like the colugo incident) or the nests were disturbed.

Links:

Oriental pied hornbill on the Forest Department, Sarawak website: brief fact sheet

Fact sheet with photos on flora and fauna of Chek Jawa, Pulau Ubin

Picture of a Male from the Oriental Bird Club.

Wonder about the name in Chinese, Japanese and vietnamese?

Rat catching White-bellied Fish-Eagles? @ changi boardwalk by wong1979

LOL I stared at the screen for 5 mins to think of a title for this post. Firstly I didn't know that rats can swim out to sea until the owner of these pics did a bit of research(see original thread). Can anyone id the eagle and also comment on this behaviour? text in italics belong to the pic owner

UPDATE: Thanks to Dr Wee and Mr Subaraj, the identity mystery is somewhat solved. They should be juvenile White-bellied Fish-Eagles Haliaeetus leucogaster

here's rest of Subaraj's reply
Though somewhat dark, they appear to be juvenile White-bellied Fish-Eagles Haliaeetus leucogaster. Fish Eagles are known to take anything swimming in open water. Besides fish, they are also known to take sea snakes and turtles. A rat swimming should be no exception. This rat could have been swimming across somewhere or may have come off a boat.

I saw some eagles hovering above the sea and thought they must be fishing for fish until on closer inspection ...huh? Fish got tail meh?




I thought it could be some kind of monitor lizard or sea creature with a tail, but from the vague shape I can make out of, it looks like a rat. So I went googling and found out that indeed, a rat can swim half a mile out into the sea.

After which, I saw another eagle sparring with it, as if to snatch the food:
hmm the pic looks brighter with another computer but its too dark to see anything on this one.. uploading new edited for brightness

Collared Kingfisher on No fishing sign by Roger

http://forums.clubsnap.org/showthread.php?t=191188

Check out this humorous pic by roger! Although amusing, i think it does
drive home another more subtle message. The message or rather the reason
for not fishing illegally at nature reserves. While you are there
fishing for some weekend fun, these creatures are just feeding their
mouths and that of their offspring (and they do not have weekends mind
you). Depriving them of a food source is really make their already hard
lives (due to habitat loss) harder. In fact the first time i held a
collared kingfisher was during my class when we set up mist nets to
catch birds in Kent Ridge as a demostration. It might not be obvious but
at that time I was like "WHAT?? KINGFISHER?? IN SECONDARY FOREST? KENT
RIDGE? GOT FISH MEH???" hahah well, apparently some of them have taken
to alternate feeding habits and not feeding on fish solely. I wonder if
this will lead to further speciation but that's another topic... its
truly sad that a kingfisher has no fish to feed on.

Flying Lemur/Colugo @ Bukit Timah Nature Reserve by vbs1979

link

Abit wary of posting colugo sightings after the poacher incident
But there's no denying that these creatures are in the central nature reserve. We can't fight for the conservation of forest plots if there are no species(plants and animals pls) there worth preserving but letting others know of the presence will tempt poachers (of plants and animals too!) to go in there and take what is meant to be shared. Undeniably, humans are the biggest impact on wildlife proof is here. Still no news of the poachers, and I doubt they will be caught but I hope that people out there will keep a lookout for poachers while noting the fauna as well. On a brighter note check out an 'ah beng' version of the colugo lol wonder where it gets its fur dyed.

1.5m Spitting Cobra(?) Naja sumatrana @ Kent Ridge Park by Curare

link

ID unsure and kindly done by cerebrus. Any input please post in the comments.

on a personal note: DARN IT! How come I never see them before?? haha but if it is a spitting cobra I guess I won't want to go too near to them as well.

Orange-bellied flowerpeckerDicaeum trigonostigma by Jeff

Images copyright of Jeff from CS
link to CS post.


There is a beautiful picture of the bird on a bottlebrush tree (Callistemon rigidus). Can't find alot of info on the bird but there's a site that describes it as residing in 'upper canopy' and ' primary and disturbed forests, open wooded areas, beach vegetation and stunted kerangas forests'. Strange huh? Wouldn't think it will be found on low enough ground to be shot then. but here it is on what I am guess is a Melastoma malabathricum so i guess it justs goes where there's food and not limited to high canopies. Want to see more of this bird? I guess you can plant more Straits Rhododendron shrubs and bottlebrush trees then. Oh another thing apparently members of the Nectariniidae are not found in Japan!

Birds of Sarawak
http://www.geocities.com/RainForest/Vines/6980/dicaeum.html
Mangoverde World Bird Guide Species Page: Orange-bellied Flowerpecker
http://www.mangoverde.com/wbg/spec/spec169-22.html
straits rhododendron (melastoma malabathricum): info fact sheet
http://www.naturia.per.sg/buloh/plants/melastoma.htm
Nectariniidae
http://www.cjvlang.com/Birds/sunbird.html

More spiders by tchuanye @ Henry Park (showing food web!)

http://forums.clubsnap.org/showthread.php?t=187642
Amazing series of shots documenting the demise of 2 spiders....

excerpted "I was at Henry park again today, and I saw a really amazing site! Really the law of nature at work.

First, the Lynx was already feeding on this spider...not sure how long....when I notice this little heavy jumper sneaking over, peeking at them. At first, I thought...nah...so small its not going to eat the lynx.

Later, it started to approach closer, than stalk it....than "POUNCE!" in a blink of an eye, it grabbed the lynx at the middle and ended up suspended with its safety line. The lynx meal was thrown aside of course. The jumper stayed at that position for quite sometime, I guess to let the venom sink in. Later it started to drag it along to somewhere.

Wow, I have seen spider eating spider before, but not 3 in a row....so seems like Heavy Jumer>Lynx>some unknown spider... thats the law of nature at work!

I am posting the sequence as I saw it, and both taken with FZ10+6T+Sigma CU and A610+reverse lens, + my Achiever 828 with taped on Stofen.
All at F8, ISO 50 various speeds"

Estuarine Crocodile 2.1m Crocodylus porosus@ Sungei Buloh posted by Freddie Young

Wild Crocodile at Sungei Buloh

Dear All,
This is another wild crocodiles spotted at Sungei Buloh Wetland in March 2006. The location of the sighting is below the bridge and it is about 2.1 m long. I understand from the park ranger that this beautiful creature is often found roaming underneath the bridge during low tide.
Thank you,
Freddie Young