Smooth Otters at Pasir Ris Park

Check out syazkal excellent pics of the smooth otters fishing!
All copyrights belong to Azman Ariffin!

You can see more of his pics here
http://s25.photobucket.com/home/syazkal_man/allalbums

Colugo baby

Check out these closeup shots of a colugo baby with it's mom by Francis Yap!
He has a flickr account with more nature shots. Do check it out! All shots' copyrights belong to Mr Francis Yap.

BiodiverCity - A Photo compeition of Local Biodiversity

Singapore BioDiverCity - a photo competition

Singapore is often known as a bustling metropolis and a centre for commerce. Through the lenses of residents, we hope to show that it is also a haven for biodiversity.
Share YOUR photos of our wonderful biodiversity! Winning entries will be showcased in roving exhibitions around Singapore, including the World Cities Summit. What a great way to tell everyone that Singapore has wild places and wildlife!

"BiodiverCity" - a photo competition and exhibition - is organised to support the International Year of Biodiversity by celebrating the rich biodiversity found in our urban environment.

Year 2010 has been designated worldwide by United Nations as the International Year of Biodiversity. The term “biodiversity “ refers to the variety of all living things, be it plant or animal species.

Winning entries will win attactive prizes and be exhibited in roving exhibitions around Singapore, including the World Cities Summit at the Marina Bay Sands Integrated Resort in June 2010.

Categories:
Students (Primary, Secondary, Tertiary)
Open (General Public)

Submissions close Sunday 14 March 2010. Please click here to read the terms and conditions
Extended to 28th March!

Opportunities to have your photographs and art pieces showcased around the island! Attractive prizes await all winning submissions, such as Apple iPods, camera equipment, art and photographic courses, as well as cash vouchers!


Open Category:

Grand Prize $6,000 plus a 4D3N stay for two at Banyan Tree Resort in Maldives. The winner also gets to participate in Banyan Tree's Green Sea Turtle Conservation programme in Maldives.
5 Merit Prizes $3,000 each
Student Category:

Grand Prize $3,000
5 Merit Prizes $1,000 each

Check out the NParks webpage on this event for online submission of photos, to download application form and read terms and conditions.

To find out more about this competition, call or email Lim Wei Ling
(Tel: 64651682/BiodiverCity@nparks.gov.sg).


Updated with prizes

Emerald cockroach wasp (Ampulex compressa) attacking American cockroach (Periplaneta americana)

Chanced upon this during lunch!

Amazing I never knew there's a wasp that targets the american cockroach!

Author's note: I cannot positively id the wasp but it seems to match.

Atlas Moth (Attacus atlas) @ P. Ubin

Patrick spotted this pair of Atlas Moth (Attacus atlas) moths at Pulau Ubin. I am not sure if they are mating or if this is a male female pair though! Comments from readers are welcome.

Thanks Patrick for allowing me to reproduce your beautiful pics here! Pictures are copyright of Patrick. Read his original post here

Blogged with the Flock Browser

Scarlet-backed Flowerpecker (Dicaeum cruentatum) on (Melastoma malabathricum) @ SBG

John Tie has some nice pics of the Scarlet-backed Flowerpecker (Dicaeum cruentatum) perched on a Straits Rhododendron (Melastoma malabathricum). The red is quite appropriate for Singapore's National Day eh?

Check out John's Flickr for more of his pics :)

Thanks John for letting me post your pics here. All photos are copyright of John's

Long-tailed macaque @ Bishan Park feeding on myna

Ewww this is possibly disturbing for those who can't handle gory details..
for those interested you can c the photos at
http://www.clubsnap.com/forums/showthread.php?t=557691

istDeS from clubsnap spotted this macaque feeding on the remains of a myna at Bishan Park. No details as whether the macaque caught a live prey or that it was dead when the macaque got to it.
Meat is definitely a good source of proteins. But I wonder if it was desperation that drove the macaque to eat carrion(?) hmmmm food for thought..

Grey-headed Fish Eagle @ MacRitchie

Sharing this amazing shot by Yih Yeong who has graciously allowed me to reproduce his shots here. Check out his flickr gallery for more amazing birding shots!

Pulau Semakau 7th Feb

IMG_5853.jpg, originally uploaded by koiyau.

Went with Teamseagrass for seagrass survey again! And the Enhalus acoroides put up a good show of fruit and male flowers/pollen for us. For this trip, We were accompanied by Prof Leo Tan.

It was chance meeting for him and the Labrador Angels and they shared their meaningful experiences..


after our long trek to the far away site something took our breath away (erm other than the long hike..)
its a Talang Queenfish! (id by Eric Leong)
the fish measured a whopping 90 cm and was looking weak after being beached like a whale. it occasionally thrashed around trying to escape but to avail.



the Queenfish had its lucky stars to thank for Andy Dinesh risking being cut to bring the fish to shore.... here's a hero shot of him walking back (eh sorry wasn't fast enuff to catch him in the act)




other critters we saw
Sea Cucumber (ID?)

File Fish


Homo Sapiens
haha actually wanted to show the drift net that was laid across our 3 transects and our happy seagrassers doing their survey


Cuttlefish trying to act spongelike


Parting shot of seagrasses enjoying nature


You can see more of the geotagged images here
http://www.flickr.com/photos/koiyau/archives/date-posted/2009/02/11/

six_armed_seastar (Luidia_penangensis) @ Chek Jawa

IMG_5725_six_armed_seastar_Luidia_penangensis.jpg, originally uploaded by koiyau.

This is another shot of the sea star i took at CJ. I geotagged this!
so go to the flickr page and you can see where it's taken..

the location might be a bit off due to time synchro of my camera with the GPS satellite but from what i can c its pretty accurate..
but flickr got the name wrong, it says

Taken in Kampong Pasir Ris, North East
which i guess is the nearest human inhabited place in their maps.

Comments?

Pretty cool for a $180 device that fits in ur pocket yah?

four-lined tree frog (Polypedates leucomystax)

IMG_5646_Copper-cheeked_Frog_Rana_chalconota-Edit, originally uploaded by koiyau.

One of the little critters we found near the toilet at Chek Jawa, P. Ubin.. I guess it was a dry spell and it was finding shade and moisture near the toilet.
I think its a
Copper-cheeked_Frog_(Rana_chalconota)
But I am no expert in this field.

Edit:

Hmm Ivan has suggested a different ID for this animal so have changed the title to

four-lined tree frog (Polypedates leucomystax)

Thanks Ivan! Would more photos at different angles help in your ID?

Reference
http://www.wildsingapore.per.sg/discovery/factsheet/frogcuchk.htm

Google rewards KML use in research with prizes!

Google LatLong: Create cool KML, win cool prizes

Neat! Just found out about this contest here. Sadly, I think I dun have enough species data here to present anything nice. Anyone has data they wish to display on Google Earth? Offering my skills for a chance at the contest!

The rules of the contest kinda skipped Singapore for one of the countries eligible for the contest although in their demo use page they showed a Singapore Dengue distribution map. I hope they recitfy this. Although I hope to join not for the prizes

the excerpt of the rules is here

Eligibility: To be eligible to enter the Contest, you must be at least 18 years old and a resident of one of the following: United States, Australia, Austria, Belgium, Canada, China, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Japan, Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Poland, Russian Federation, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Taiwan, United Kingdom. Contest is void where prohibited by law.

Gallery - The best wildlife photography of 2008 - Image 1 - New Scientist

http://www.newscientist.com/gallery/dn14854-best-wildlife-photography-2008 --- The shortlist has been announced for the 2008 Wildlife Photographer of the Year competition. The remarkable images include flocks of birds twisting into exotic shapes, brightly-coloured tropical fish and bats in mid-flight

Google Developer's Fest

Lolz writing now from the Google DevFest at Singapore... hmm sadly its not packed to the brim right now.. maybe cos its just after a long weekend. oh well, am pretty excited though.. will post relevant updates if any..

Update: There's going to be a SE Asia OpenSocial Application Contest

Check out details at http://code.google.com/events/apacdevfest/contest/

The Event website

http://code.google.com/events/apacdevfest/

my online notes as the event progresses

http://docs.google.com/Doc?id=dhj8xhdw_47djn633f6

Google Developer's Fest

Lolz writing now from the Google DevFest at Singapore... hmm sadly its not packed to the brim right now.. maybe cos its just after a long weekend. oh well, am pretty excited though.. will post relevant updates if any..

Oriental Pied Hornbill (Anthracoceros albirostris convexus) @ Henderson by eleveninth

Interesting pic and story by eleveninth. apparently a macaque monkey was trying to catch this hornbill (for food perhaps? or just playfulness?)

Thanks to eleveninth for graciously allowing me to reproduce his pic here. all rights remain his.

p.s. sorry I haven't been blogging much .. been busy!
just bought a new toy a GPS data logger! very soon I be able to geotag photos!
but i might only geotag those photos that are of species that are less sensitive for fear of poachers.
I think its a sad thing when u have fellow human beings that appreciate the beauty of nature but only thinks to want to own it so that he/she alone can enjoy the beauty in private and in violation of legal laws. Just have a look at what this guy commented on SLOG

Otter footprint @ Chek Jawa P. Ubin by Kevin

Can you see the two footprints here? the magnified view of the top one is below

IMG_2779_Otter_footprint, originally uploaded by koiyau.

Was out with teamseagrass at Chek Jawa and I spotted this set of paw prints VERY close to the broadwalk!
Judging from the depth of the print i think he/she had a easier time walking through the soft mud then me..
I tried following the trail but naturally it didnt end in a pot of gold or an otter..
I wonder what species it is!

Smooth Otters (Lutra/Lutrogale perspicillata) @ Punggol River by hiker (Daniel Koh)

http://www.clubsnap.com/forums/showthread.php?p=4143882#post4143882 --- Daniel got another fantastic shot this time its a " pair of super loving smooth otters at punggol river"
Thanks to Daniel for allowing me to reproduce his pic here :)

Frog Fish @ Cyrene by kevin

Thanks to Chay Hoon for spotting it! This fish still eludes my eye!

Sea Urchin @ Cyrene by kevin

only 2 of these were seen that day