Thursday, November 08, 2007

Asian Koel Eudynamys scolopacea eating Alexandra Palm fruits by Kevin


1c Koel eating, originally uploaded by koiyau.





By a stroke of luck I managed to capture this series of a female Asian Koel Eudynamys scolopacea) swallowing a large Alexandra Palm fruit! (Archontophoenix alexandrae). Actually, I could have been luckier and gotten group shots. I was drawn to the loud calls of the birds (yes pural) as there were two males vying for her attention. strangely it was her that was doing all the calling. It was quite a cacophony of resounding bird calls. At first I had assumed its the males vying for attention from a potential mate. However, it seems like the female was more interested in food.

The whole thing was so fascinating for me. Ha but apparently there are others who are quite angry with the calls of the koel in their estate and wished them gone(can't find the article again). I would think Koels are the least of our noise pollution. Buses have deafening beeps promptly declare to the entire bus that u have paid ur fare. I really can't fathom why.

Do also check out Dr YC Wee's entries on Koels and Alexandra Palms!

To swallow and regurgitate? Not the Yellow-vented Bulbul!

Asian Koel eating Indian cherry">Asian Koel eating Indian cherry

Tuesday, November 06, 2007

Tigertail Seahorse @ Pulau Hantu

http://www.pulauhantu.org/51/ --- "Finally, everyone's favourite and a gem in Hantu's reef - Tigertail seahorses can be spotted on a regular basis. Similar to slugs, they move slowly (infact, seahorses are the slowest fishes in the sea!) and are easily photographed. Because of that, they are also easily collected for the aquarium trade. Like Black coral, all species of seahorses are prohibited from trade because their use in traditional medicines has severely threatened their survival."

Species might be Hippocampus comes from http://www.seahorse.org/library/articles/quickid.shtml

Monday, October 29, 2007

Python @ Potong Pasir by Keith

http://singaporeseen.stomp.com.sg/viewPost6267.aspx ---
STOMPer Keith, a Potong Pasir resident, spotted a 12-foot long python that swallowed an animal. It was resting at the Potong Pasir riverside. He took this photo this morning (23 October) and sent it to us via MMS at 8.35am. He told STOMP: "There have been previous sightings of pythons in this area but it's the first time I've seen one that swallowed an animal. "This is along the jogging path beside the river. There is a patch of woodland nearby," he said. He did not see the animal that the python swallowed. He told STOMP that children do not generally play in the area. However, joggers do use the running track along the waterside. STOMP had contacted the Police and the AVA. Both said that they did not receive any call on a python.

Sunday, October 28, 2007

Asian Palm Civet Paradoxurus hermaphroditus@ Chek Jawa by Kevin


Asian Palm Civet, originally uploaded by koiyau.

Was helping out with seagrass survey at a rainy evening at Ubin this Sunday. Guess what I saw??
Wah! Thanks to sharp eyed Ria who spotted this! squeezed off a few lucky shots with a medium zoom but when i came back with a longer zoom it was hiding already :( Ria prob got a nicer shot.. watch out for hers..

Finally got to see the animal behind RMBR's mascot!

edit: See Ria's post and pics! HERE

p.s.
I got the sp name here
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Common_Palm_Civet

geotagged this photo on flickr as well. not sure if i got the place right though

Tuesday, October 23, 2007

anyone seen a Humming Bird Moth?




melvynyeo took these in Xinjiang but he says that they are available locally!
The photos paint a 'better picture' so to speak why they are commonly called humming bird moths.
Fascinating!
Has anyone photographed them locally? would love to post here.
Thanks to melvynyeo for graciously allowing me to reproduce the photos here.
see the orig post here

Read the wikipedia entry on it

Tuesday, October 09, 2007

Greater Racket-tailed Drongo Dicrurus paradiseus @ BTNR by Ryan Heah


This post has a slightly blur but IMHO great pic of a Greater Racket-tailed Drongo Dicrurus paradiseus. The angle is nice and it has a catch in its beak! hmm can't tell what it is though. Do you know?

here's a cropped pic from the forum. So far educated guesses have been flower or butterfly. Even a guess at the butterfly. Post your guess in the comments!

p.s. Thanks to Ryan for graciously allowing me to post the picture here!

Wednesday, September 12, 2007

Kingfishers @ Japanese garden by Arthur

http://forum.clubsnap.org/showthread.php?t=308764

Gerygone feeding Little Bronze Cuckoo @ Chinese Garden by Daniel



"The cuckoos lay their eggs in other birds' nests so that these other parents would take care and feed the cuckoo's young. The adopted parents' original eggs may even be pushed out by the cuckoo. These unknowing parents would merrily keep on feeding their adopted child, even when the kid is bigger than themselves, as seen in this instance." text by laokayu

Thanks to Daniel for allowing me to reproduce his pics here!

Monday, September 10, 2007

Spiders @ Nee Soon by budak

this link is not from Budak's blog but it has a selection of spider pics and a writeup :)

Monday, September 03, 2007

Wednesday, July 11, 2007

Oriental Pied Hornbill pair @P.Ubin by Jeff

Male


Female, shown foraging in wild orchids


"From Ubin all the way to Ferry point Jeff heard a chain of loud cackle, yak-yak-yak. These feathers appear to omnipresent. A widespread and fairly common resident throughout most of the region. Rare resident in Singapore.

Came as a pair. Female's casque is smaller and darker than the male's. Shown pair in available evening light only."

Thanks to Jeff for kindly allowing me to reproduce his images here. All rights remain his!
original post

Saturday, July 07, 2007

Oliva miniacea RODING, 1798 Cowrie @ Cyrene by Kev


IMG_1604_cowrie, originally uploaded by koiyau.

This cowrie(?) was a fast burrower in sand! I had left it on the sand hoping to take a few shots of it after a few landscape shots but it had nearly disappeared into the sand. After some gentle digging around I found it again. So I placed it on some nice green algae to get my shot then replaced it back into the sandy substrate. Anyone knows what this is?


edit:thanks to wei for the id and the additional info!

Pelagic Crab feeding on algae


IMG_1612_crab_algae-2, originally uploaded by koiyau.

Saw this little critter busy picking at the algae JUST when the tide's coming in and we all had to leave.. snapped a few shots thru the wavy water so the image isn't sharp.. a video would have be nicer...

Sandfish Sea Cucumber (Holothuria scraba) @ Cyrene by Kev


IMG_1608, originally uploaded by koiyau.

Geoff spotted this pretty specimen of a sea cucumber and fondly called it tiger stripes and got it to pose for me. Ha.. need to find out its species name.. it slips my mind for now.. I believe this is the edible variety (post processing of cos)



edit:gosh can't believe it took me so long to find the species name.
I proudly declare its found ha. but am still a little unsure.
erm supporting link here

Wednesday, July 04, 2007

Wednesday, June 27, 2007

Dolphins near St John's Island and Lazarus

DOLPHINS! 6-10 wild dolphins in our waters!
photos and clips on the urban forest blog
http://uforest.blogspot.com/2007/06/dolphins.html
and ashira blog
http://ashira.blogspot.com/2007/06/dolphins-in-singapore.html

p.s. sorry for long hiatus in posts! have been trying edit some photos to try to get them out on the blog  stay tuned!