Hornbill snacking on a mantis by Allan Teo

Interesting shot!

" The Hornbill not only likes to eat a lot of fruit. It also takes
Lizards, Snakes and Insects..
In this case the Mantis which is still alive , looks shocked that it
has been caught off guard.. This particular mantis is quite
large if you compare it to the size of the Hornbill's beak"
link

LIzards and Monkeys

trying out posting videos as well.. so dun be shy give me ur low res videos as well.. if its a sighting its a sighting..
this particular one i chanced upon from google video :)
the author has this to describe ..
" The first shot is a lizard on the first floor of Jen's mom's condo. Next is a shot of the condo complex over the resevoir and then...nothin' but monkeys!"



I might be digressing too much but seeing postings of commonly seen animals often gets me thinking..

was reading an article in the papers today about expats living in sg. This guy said something about how kids of yonder years could name any tree/ creature but kids now are so divorced from nature they hardly can tell the difference between two. I can substantiate his story with friends (with a Bsc in Biology) who thought that penguins are mammals, whales are fish and other related guffaws..

Perhaps this is the root cause of environmental destruction. When you lack a name for something you kinda of are more detached to it.
case in point?
this report starts with
" Since 1500, more than 150 bird species have disappeared from the world,...."
hmmm 500 years and only 150 extinct? that doesn't sound too bad..

but the full sentence reads
" Since 1500, more than 150 bird species have disappeared from the world, including the much lamented dodo. "

Ah the dodo, I could tell you stories about why it is lamented that the dodo died and if only ppl cared more ....
I wonder if there are 149 more stories like the dodo.. or were there none simply cos too few got to know the animals beyond a scientific name or a given name to care..

Shark, Cuttlefish, Longfin Batfish, SeaHorse @ P.Hantu by Chay Hoon

Wow all these were shot on the same dive!! Amazing huh? I just hope that posting a list of the marine creatures found at Hantu I dun in advertently create a shopping list for unethical marine aquarists. If you poachers just note the details and inform the coast guards!
link

Nudibranches, Octupus @P. Hantu by Ivan

Gosh his pics are gorgeous! I would love to see the bigger res ones tho!
25th Feb sightings

edit: Thanks to Ivan for graciously providing his images for use here. :)
click the link to view more (I have only taken a few to show for lack of space)
Visit his site for deals on dive reference books!
link

Monitor Lizard mistaken for croc @ East Coast by Stomper Gerald

The curious title "Baby croc" spotted at East Coast? made me click on the link. Reading the article confirmed my suspicion that its just a monitor lizard. It isn't the first time that people mistaken it for a croc (which is rather curious when you consider most have not seen a croc in the wild before). Although there are real wild crocs here in sg.

see my previous post for more info on the monitor lizard
link

Huge Nudibranch @ Kusu isle

This one is really BIG.. not kidding you have to see it to believe it...

edit: found this post on seaslug forum about the biggest nudibranch
link

Common Gliding Lizard & Banded Woodpecker @ SBG by meerkat(AngHY)

There are interesting creatures at SBG as well! Happy CNY to you!
link

edit: thanks to AngHY for allowing me to reproduce his images for direct viewing!

OT: Wildlife Photo Contests

Sony Nature (ending 28 Feb hurry!)
http://www.a-click-of-nature.com.sg/aclick/index.htm
Shell Wildlife Photographer of the Year 2007
http://www.nhm.ac.uk/visit-us/whats-on/temporary-exhibitions/wpy/Competition/

Sorry for the off topic but thought this might interest you readers.. here's a photo to finish this pseudo post :)

Earth Shots

Photo of the Day: 16 Feb 07

White Crested Laughing Thrush bathing @ BTNR by pacer

Hmm hot weather must have made this pool a popular place
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Mangrove tree dwelling crab Selatium brockii @Southern Isle by kevin

Mangrove tree dwelling crab Selatium brockii @Southern Isle by kevin
Originally uploaded by koiyau.

This crab was posing quite inanimately on a juvenile mangrove tree. (am tempted to call it Mangrove small tree Clinging for dear life crab) Thanks to the sharp eye of ysf (who was trying to id the tree actually) I could take a close shot of this crab and id it from a BP guidebook from the greenish tinge of the eye. I am guessing the loss of habitat for this crab forced it to find shelter in quite an inappropriate tree size for itself

Male Ornamental tree trunk spider by syazkal

link

Variable squirrel Callosciurus finlaysonisnacking noni fruit by Daniel Koh

Wow haven't even heard of this particular species before. Its also known as Finlayson's squirrel species name is Callosciurus finlaysoni . Id is by Daniel Koh (how does he spot these creatures??) Got the name from Kwok Wai's Wildlife Singapore. Its listed at wikipedia as an introduced species (i can't confirm this. anyone can verify?)

Budak points to this other source that says its introduced

p.s. for more shots of this furry creature check out Daniel's post

Land hermit crab Coenobita purpureus @ Southern Isles by Kevin

Land hermit crab Coenobita cavipes @ Southern Isles by Kevin
Originally uploaded by koiyau.

Ha this poor bloke was housed in a Giant East African snail shell (which is very incongruous with a sea shore). Even though the shell was already pretty large, the Land Hermit Crab still can't hide itself into the shell. Oh well at least the soft bits are protected.

wow thanks felix for digging up this old post!

I based my id on this http://mangrove.nus.edu.sg/guidebooks/text/2063.htm

will doublecheck this...

here's relevant links for those interested in the differences.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coenobita_purpureus

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coenobita_cavipes

Storkbilled Kingfisher Taken @ Pasir Ris Mangrove Swamp

there's also a unknown bird in this thread
link

Common Kingfisher Alcedo atthis by Arthur Chng

Female with a fish

link

Singapore Fishing Spider Thalassius albocinctus at singaporefauna blog!

link
http://www.singaporefauna.blogspot.com/

Various Insect Macros @ BTNR by Wee Lee

Thanks to Wee Lee for consenting to use the pics here
link to cs post

Jumping Spider eating mosquito @ Punggol Park by tchuanye

More great shots by the maestro of macro

Seahorse @ Chek Jawa by Shufen

For their other finds check out Teamseagrass

Thanks Shufen for letting to use her great photo!

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?