The Critters of Dairy Farm NP

Joined my friends for a walk at Dairy Farm NP this Sunday morning after hearing of a sighting of the Black-crested Bulbul there by Geri Lim. But it did not show. A few of us had brief glimpses of the Greater Green Leafbird feeding on the White Mulberry. Other than that it was rather quiet. So we ended up looking for the other creatures at the Park.

Thanks to Meilin Khoo for showing us this Stink Horn Fungi growing by the roadside. Unfortunately the sweepers unwittingly broke half of the “skirt”, but it was still a good find. The smell of rotting flesh of the spore head attracts flies and other insects, and they in turn help to disperse the spores.

The Nephilengys malabarenis was first found at the Malabar Coast of South India. This particular specimen was spotted by Art Toh hanging under the pile of Tembusu logs at the hilltop at its web. It quickly moved away just as we were trying to get some shots.

Assassin Bug lived up to its name. This one found a male Golden Orb Spider. It will inject vernon to kill the prey and then suck out its dissolved remains.

A pair of Oriental Whip Snakes by the Wallace Center provided us with some distraction. This one was moving its head up and I managed to catch a view of its underside. Mildly venomous, it can take small birds like the Pygmy Sunda Woodpecker.

St. Andrew’s Cross Spider rest with each pair of legs stretched out forming a cross. They also spin zig-zag whistish webs in the form of an X just where the legs rest like in this photo. Females are larger than the males.

A Malay Viscount, a common butterfly at the park looks very similiar to the Horsfield Baron.

Upper Seletar Reservoir Park Surprises

I seldom leave empty handed from visits to the Upper Seletar Reservoir Park. It is also one of the more accessible forest parks in Singapore. You can step right into the forest straight from the carpark. Even during midday, it can be rewarding if you venture into the nooks and crannies, away from the open areas.

The bird activity around this time was poor. Most were resting in the cooler shade inside the forest. But the butterflies loved the sunny day. One of the workers there was photographing this female Great Mormon and was kind enough to alert me. He seems to know his butterflies. Later he showed me hundreds of photos of butterflies and insects taken with his hand phone at the park. He even had a photo of the rare Plane. I was impressed!

The male Great Mormon had to be the luckiest butterfly around. It had so many forms of females to choose from. This beautiful female is of the esperi form.

The find of the day had to be this 20 cm uncommon Variable Reed Snake. Serin Subaraj told me that reed snakes are like warblers, all of them are very similiar. He identified this by the black bands at the underside near its head, which is absent on the Pink-headed Reed Snake.

The young Variable Reed Snake has a orangy red head which makes it looks like a Blue Coral Snake. According to Ecology Asia it lives in mature forests and is confined to the Central Catchment. It is nocturnal and not known to be venomous. 

A treehugger hugging a wall, thanks to Lena Chow for the ID. Looks like the Sapphire Flutterer except that it does not have the bright blue on the base of the hind wings. 

Singapore during the time of Raffles was a great place to collect beetles. It is not so easy to find them now unless you know where to look. I don’t and was happy to see this Bess Beetle out in the open. Their pair of antennae has many more smaller antennae. They lives in groups inside rotting logs and stumps. 

Not the most spectacular butterfly this Brown Awl is still a good find as they stay still in the undergrowth.

Ended the day with a lazy Clouded Monitor Lizard out sauntering and sniffing around with its long tongue. These are forest lizards can be separated from the water monitor lizards by the snort position. 

So the next time you visit a forest park in Singapore, take your time to look around. You will never know what is lurking around the corner.