Not in my guidebook!

Somehow, it never occurred to me that this could happen but today, it did. I came across a butterfly not in my butterfly guidebook. My trusty, thick, heavy, full of pictures guidebook which has about every butterfly in Singapore that I've ever had the luck of coming across. Who knew it could happen? It was always possible but oh so improbable! 

It started normally enough. I was on my regular walk in my neighborhood garden when a flash of orange caught my eye. Watching for a few moments, I quickly realized several odd things about it that quickly told me it wasn't one of the usual orange butterflies I knew.

1. The orange was too bright so it wasn't a tawny coaster
2. The shape of the wings was too narrow and angular so it wasn't a leopard or a peacock pansy or any of the tigers
3. It was fast! Really fast! And big too. The wingspan of this butterfly was really large and so that significantly reduced the number of butterflies I knew with that wingspan.

And, including those I knew which also had that wing shape and color, that left...nothing.

It was probably around this time that I realized I had no idea what this butterfly was. Now, I've been flipping through my butterfly guidebook for years and, just from seeing those pictures over and over again, I usually have an idea of what the butterfly could be even if I have never seen it outside the guidebook. The image recognition is usually there but not this time. I had not the slightest idea what it was.

Intrigued, I tried to follow this butterfly but it was a fast flyer that infrequently landed. There was no way to really follow it either. It was so fast I lost sight of it more than once. Lucky for me, it seemed to favor a particular bush near me and so I just waited there. I didn't have to wait too long either before it finally landed and, once again, my phone camera shone. The butterfly seemed to have decided it needed a rest too and I quickly snapped a few pics as it finally stayed still.

Do you see it? that flash of orange at the bottom?

And there it is!

Well thank goodness for the latest 30x zoom in the phone UI upgrade! That and Google's new image search using AI where I can just circle my screen to search. That was how I found out that this butterfly is likely a Julia Heliconian (More here!). The name confirmed my suspicions. I had certainly never seen a butterfly with this fanciful name before. It's name blows names like 'Leopard', 'Tawny Coaster', and 'Peacock Pansy' right out of the water.

It's a recent immigrant to Singapore from the Americas and was first seen in June 2021. Now that explains why I've never seen it in my guidebook. I've certainly had it for more than 4 years.

Still, that was amazing. A new butterfly! And right in my backyard!

Absolutely loving my new estate,

May

I saw a Nightjar! XD

Okay, I think my title gave it away but, for context, this was a bird I have known about for a very long time but had never expected to see. After all, nightjars are nocturnal and I am very much diurnal. Not only diurnal but sun loving. Why should I expect to see a nocturnal bird?

Just a bit of history, I first learned about nightjars when I came across an illustration of one when I was probably in secondary school. There was large poster/folder of birds you could see in the botanic gardens and a nightjar was among the illustrations. It caught my eye for being so unique. It had an unusual shape and nests on the ground. However, right from the name, I never expected to see one and so I just filed it away under 'unusual birds'. That was over ten years ago.

Fast forward to today. I was taking a morning walk around my estate's garden and was about to head back home when I decided I wanted to do a half turn more. Now the only way to do a half turn in a circular path is to walk back along the path you'd just taken and then turn around and walk it again.

And that was when I saw the nightjar. I recognized it at a glance. "Is that a nightjar?!" I exclaimed and, thankfully, as there was no one near me, I wasn't troubled with a response. I was almost sure but not entirely sure. After all, it was just sitting there on the fence, sunbathing. I hurried over and whipped out my phone and took a - okay, I confess, many - pictures. I searched it and yes! It was a nightjar!

I was over the moon! A nightjar! A real nightjar! To be precise, a large tailed nightjar (See it here), and it was just sitting there! Sunbathing of all things. I had seen a nightjar!

If you read this blog, how can you doubt what came next? My phone was already in my hand and here are the results. By pure chance the nightjar was located near a housing block and that meant I could get to the void deck and take a variety of shots from different angles. Just a tip if you want to do the same; however happy you are, try to be quiet when taking the shots and move slowly. No point scaring away the bird in the process of enjoying it. 

Of course, if I gave this tip, I did not scare away the bird and look at the results! Boy it was hard keeping quiet though.

    

First glance

A shot from the back! Look at its lashes in the sunlight!

I think it sees me

Yup, it sees me. Hello! 

No worries, we didn't trouble each other and it was still there when I left

Ahhh, I'm over the moon, into the sky, and up to the stars. Who cares about the rest of the day or even the rest of the week? My day and week are made!

Don't fault me for dancing,

May

Pupa

 Of the 4 stages of the butterfly's life cycle, the most commonly seen is the butterfly itself in it's adult form, the second is the caterpillar, the third is the pupa, and the fourth is the eggs. I've only seen butterfly eggs once and I very rarely see pupas at all. So, imagine my surprise on seeing all these pupas one one of the Rukam Asam near my home! Yes, I saw all of these on one plant. As you can imagine, its leaves were rather holey.

Yup, that's all on one tree. Four in total. The second one I fear is dead. The mortality rate for pupas is rather high I'm afraid. When my primary school tried raising them, all but one died. There was apparently a little fly that drilled holes in the pupa to eat it. (Morbid yes, but facts are facts) I hope this hasn't happened to the second one but I seriously doubt it's alive. From the markings these appear to be the pupa of leopard butterflies and they should be green.

Which brings me to the first one. It's not green. It's black and red and seems quite alive. I've never seen this before and I suspect it means the butterfly is almost fully formed and will emerged soon. I've been checking it every day since but it hasn't changed. I really hope it becomes a butterfly.

As for the last two, now these are pupas that I've never seen. They are empty pupas! The success stories that have become butterflies and left these empty shells behind. Perhaps I've seen them flying around. Who can say? There are so many leopards here!

By the way, I've said I see caterpillars more often than pupas and yes, in my experience, that has been the case. Yet, I have only seen one since I've moved here. Where are they? Given all these pupas, they must be around somewhere. And where are the eggs?

Wishing my eyes were sharper,

May

Update some months later

Okay, I'm late but just an update, the first one was also dead. Looks like only the green ones are alive.

The Best Butterfly Photo I have ever taken

 I'll let the photo do the talking but I'm ecstatic! Hard to believe one photo out of several taken on a rainy day could end up being the best butterfly photo I've ever taken. Look at the light! It's shining through the wing! And it was so sharp! My phone camera was worth its cost. It managed to take this picture of a moving, flighty leopard butterfly!

What a wonderful gift and a gift it truly was. 

And look! I found a caterpillar too! I think it's the caterpillar of a leopard butterfly. This is its host plant after all.

I'm literally dancing,

May

Delightful Surprises

When I was thinking of writing this post, I was going to title it 'Unexpected Surprises' but then I realized a surprise is by definition unexpected and so that was a rather redundant description. So let's title it delightful instead for it was certainly delightful.

If you've read my other posts, you'll know by now that I'm quite the butterfly seeker. I love butterflies and have been known to chase them for a considerable time every once in a while. I don't exactly look out for them consciously but, after over twenty years' of practice, I find them quite easily. I just notice them. It's become System 1.

So imagine what it's like when I didn't find it but it found me!

That was exactly what happened today. I was out on the rooftop garden at my workplace after lunch as usual when I noticed a little movement. I looked down and lo and behold, a butterfly had landed on my mask! Thankfully that mask was hanging on my bag. If I had been wearing it I would have only been confused.

Just look at it!

As far as I can tell it's a Line Blue Butterfly but I can't tell which one. Maybe a Tailless Line Blue? It looks the closest (See more here and here for the various Line Blues!) I don't think I've ever noticed it before though, much less gotten a picture of it. Isn't it adorable?

And it found me!

Unexpectedly Happy,

May

P.S. The irony of a Line Blue landing on a blue mask does not escape me. It even crawled around for a bit. Perfectly happy I see. That makes two of us!

Butterflies Galore!

 At the rooftop garden at my office, butterflies are a common sight. Grass yellows, lemon immigrants, and a couple of pansies are normal. However, every once in a while, there comes so many butterflies that your heart goes wild at the sight of them. And they can come so close! There might even be a couple of surprises among them.

Today was such a day and it was difficult to keep from dancing along at the sight of so many wonders weaving and twisting all about me. I came across some old friends too, made some new ones, and, of course, took some pictures. I absolutely love my phone camera. The 10x zoom is wonderful.

First of, some old friends. A Chocolate Pansy. I see these all the time but rarely do I get a chance to take a good photo or video of them. I quite failed at the picture this time but look at the video!

If you hear a high pitched noise somewhere, that's me squealing in delight. (Yes, I am born in the year of the Pig and am allowed to squeal in happiness once in a while. It's a privilege of the zodiac.) I mean, look at it! I've only seen such shots in documentaries and those videos they use to sell TVs. And I managed to take it! Wheee!

Next up is a new friend. This was fiendishly difficult to identify but I think it's most likely a Small Branded Swift. (See more here). The problem with identifying butterflies is that the change in the placement of a white mark or the number of dots or the tiniest detail is the difference between one butterfly and another. Also, the Small Branded Swift is known to have many lookalikes so, take this identification with a pinch of salt. All I can say for sure is that it's probably a swift.

Still, I'm so happy with this picture. I've fallen in love with my phone camera all over again.

Do excuse the high pitched noise. I can't help it. It's so sharp! Boy am I glad that swift stayed still then. It kept going from flower to flower. Taking pictures of butterflies is as much a test of patience as endurance. I still remember going after that Blue Pansy when I was in JC. I must have spent ages chasing it down to the amusement of all watching. Still, I got a good picture out of it (A Blue Pansy).

Speaking of pansies, I found another friend from the pansy family. This one is comparatively elusive. I see Chocolate Pansies all the time and Blue Pansies I see every once in a while but this one I hardly come across. 

It's a Peacock Pansy! Lovely isn't it. This one was sunbathing some distance away so I thank God for my high quality zoom once again. Gosh, so many pretty butterflies today. I was over the moon. They are just soooo pretty!

I think the rest of the garden had had enough of my squealing though and so plotted a surprise to shock me back into my usual senses. There is a spider I often see in the lift lobby on the way back up to work. It's a jumping spider so you can guess that it's about 1.5 cm big which is pretty big for a jumping spider. Today, I opened the door to the lift lobby expecting to see it again and instead saw....

GAH! I said 1.5cm not this almost 15 cm monster. It was right in my face too so it gave me a scare. Here's the door for a size reference. It's an enclosed space. How did it get in there?

I certainly stopped squealing,

May.

Urban Wildlife

Strange things happen sometimes. My office isn't close to any natural reserve or forest or even any proper gardens (unless you count the more concrete than grass roof garden I frequent every lunch). No, it is close to offices, the MRT, more offices, a busy road, hotels, and very urban buildings in general. Yet, wildlife seems to just pop up at times.

For instance...

This female common flameback woodpecker I found clinging onto the glass as I walked to work this morning. What is it doing there? I don't see any secondary rainforests, mangroves, or any proper urban parks near woodlands here.

Do you?

Thinking it got lost,
May.

Can't Exercise

 Like the header says, it's near impossible to exercise in my new neighborhood. Rest assured, it's not due to the fault of the amenities or anything like that. Don't go complaining anywhere. I wouldn't. But yes, alas, it is simply impossible. You mustn't blame me either - Ok, maybe you can. But not in this instance - After all, how can you expect me to just keep walking when...

There are so many butterflies! XD

I am on leave so I took a walk this morning in the garden and I must confess I hardly walked at all. I kept stopping and stopping and trying and failing to take a picture of all the butterflies I saw. Here's a list of them.

• Grass Yellows (of course)
• Striped Albatross (And there were so many! I have never seen so many before at one time!)
• I suspect a female Striped Albatross too (among the many, many, many males)
• Leopard (of course. I was by their tree)
• Plain Tiger
• Peacock Pansy
• Chocolate Pansy (I think. I think I only saw this very briefly or I might have mixed it up with yesterday when I definitely saw it....or maybe it was the day before...)
• All those little butterflies like Lesser Grass Blues that were too quick and landed too infrequently for me to identify
• A mysterious larger than Lesser Grass Blues but smaller than Grass Yellow butterfly I saw in the distance but couldn't identify. It was white and had a similar structure to a Lesser Grass Blue but with a tip at the end of it's tail and a hint of orange at the back near that tip. (Alas, this description is still too generic for me to identify it)

And all in the span of thirty minutes! How can I exercise I ask? How can I walk? I can't. I must stop and look and admire and try, even if I fail, to take a picture. You can't expect a butterfly lover to just walk past all these.

It's simply impossible.

Should be walking but keeps on stopping,
May.

P.S. This is on the 26th of June 2024. I can't fantom why Blogger says it is on the 25th. The date and time setting is fine on the posting site. Maybe it's a bug....How ironic.

P.P.S Ok, I've fixed it. How did blogger get the idea I was on the other side of the world in Los Angeles? I wouldn't mind visiting California again though. I would love to return to Yosemite National Park, Muir Woods, and Monetary Bay Aquarium.

At Last!

I am very fond of butterflies and some of the most common I see are the Grass Yellow butterflies (there is more than one species but I'll just use a generic Grass Yellow to refer to them. I can't tell if they are speckled, common, or chocolate when they are in flight.). With them, I would often come across another larger, lighter yellow butterfly, the Lemon Emigrant.

This is flighty butterfly. I have rarely seen it land and, despite my efforts, I had never been able to take a picture of it. It's impossible to take in flight and, whenever it does land, it always flies off again before I can take a picture. I almost expect it to fly off the moment I take out my phone.

Until today.

Yes! At long last, today at my workplace's rooftop garden, a Lemon Emigrant landed near me repeatedly and stayed still. I managed to take not just one but several pictures! This is the best among them.

I am so happy. At last! I finally managed to take a picture of a Lemon Emigrant! I did it!

And I came across some other things too.

Here's a yellow vented bulbul...

and a randomly large mushroom I found.

Some days are just filled with delightful surprises.

May 

New Estate, New Garden, Happy Me

 So, it's been a while. Guess that's what happens when life happens. Well, call it a time skip as they call it in the books and comics and take it that the past 6 or 8 years led to progress, growth, and an increase in skills without needing to know the details. Considering the length of time and my age, I'm certain I managed to do all three.

But that's hardly what I want to write right now. I've recently moved to Singapore's newest estate and, if you don't know it's name, I shall not spoil the surprise. Suffice to say it's in the west and is Singapore's first 'Forest Town'. I personally feel it's closer to a garden town. I'm almost living in a garden. It's literally outside my window.

Which is amazing! I get birds and butterflies in the middle of the day and I get to see it all without leaving my room. Though, some things are still best seen in person so, this morning, I finally took a walk around the estate - I am not counting my first night time walk which was rudely interrupted by a stomachache - and got to see the sights. It was shortly after breakfast in the cool of the morning and boy did I find things!

First up was the millipedes. Typical of a new estate, they were everywhere. Hordes and hordes of them all wiggling about. I must confess, I rather look up and at my surroundings than down but I had no choice if I wanted to avoid stepping on the millipedes. They were all over and they move so it's impossible to simply pick a path and walk casually. If you don't cross their path, they cross yours.

And I thought the slugs at my office's rooftop garden were hard to handle. At least those are slow. Well, never mind cause near one of the fitness corner, I found something that sent me over the moon.

Butterflies!

And not any butterfly, Leopard butterflies (Find out more about them here)! They are my old friends from primary school and I released one during my science club butterfly breeding days. It was the privilege of being the youngest and I've been fond of Leopards ever since. There were at least six of them around the trees; four of them flying about in pairs and two mating. I suspect they were around one of the their host plants, the Rukam Masam (Details here). I took a picture of the mating pair and guess what? Upon returning home I found a pupa in the picture too! Can you spot it? I'll give you a hint. It's green and above the mating butterflies. Look slightly to the left.

What a find. And, just in case anyone else lives in this area and wants a look, these are the trees. It's the one with the reddish leaves near the fitness corner.

Remember though, leave the butterflies, pupas, and caterpillars in the wild and do not bother them. It's their garden. We are just visitors. Most of the caterpillars and pupas in my school's butterfly breeding program died. Out of so many, only one became a butterfly. It's a grim statistic I still remember.

Moving on with my walk, I also came across some other plants. First was the Arabian Jasmine which I smelled before I recognized and which are incredibly fragrant. I also came across a bush of Cape Honeysuckle near one of the blocks. Alas, Google's latest capability of identifying plants with Google Lens also meant I forgot to take pictures of them. So please refer to these links instead.

Arabian Jasmine: https://www.nparks.gov.sg/florafaunaweb/flora/4/3/4343

Cape Honey Suckle: https://www.nparks.gov.sg/florafaunaweb/flora/2/4/2498

I did take a picture of one flower though, the one below. It's lovely isn't it? That's why I took a picture before I searched it up. It has a lovely pinkish red hue. I simply had to admire it first.

Isn't it lovely? You think so too, right? Just look at it.

Yes, look at it but don't let its beauty fool you, Ladies and Gentleman, for that is no mere flower. That is an Oleander. Now I hear a gasp from some of you while the rest may be confused by my theatrics (except my sister, who knows I am dramatic about many things). This time, I assure you, my theatrics are well placed because, my dear readers, an Oleander is famous for one thing besides its beauty.

It is deadly.

Ok, but only if you eat it. An Oleander is poisonous if ingested which, in my opinion, is a very good reason to check before putting anything into your mouth. However, like so many poisonous things, it can also have medicinal properties (See WebMD) though chances are you are likely to be poisoned before receiving the medicinal effects. Its sap can also cause a rash so I would recommend not touching this plant (I'm glad I didn't!). Here's the Npark's factsheet on it. It really is the same plant written in WebMD. (NParks Oleander)

Though, if you don't eat it and don't touch its sap, I think this plant is quite safe. It is a lovely ornamental flower and I suspect it may be more common than we think. After all, it is also known as a garden plant.

The sun got hot after this and, although it's only two days in, June is still June which is still hot so back home I went. I guess I'll take another walk again someday when it's cooler. For now though, I'm happy to watch from the comfort of my room.

Till the next time, 

May.

LOA

Well, it looks like I unintentionally started a 2 year leave of absence after my last post. Guess I'll have to do some back dating again and so on. Not sure there are as many photos as previously though. In 2016, my holidays were taken up with internships and after that, I started work. (I know, unbelievable right?) I didn't go on as many nature trips as I used too. The weather's gotten horribly hot too. I rather stay at home and write stories now. Well, whatever it is, let's put up some of what I have. It'll be nice for memories.

May

Indian Cupid! RARE Butterfly!

Yes! All my life I keep a look out for new butterflies and in my current workplace, I've found one! Behold! The Indian Cupid!

 

My new workplace is beside a little farm/garden where they grow all sorts of vegetables. Inside, they have a hydroponics bay so I suppose you could say it's quite a green work place. When I can, I go out to the garden to look around and imagine my surprise when I saw this!

At first, I thought it was a lesser grass blue, the more common butterfly in Singapore that's around this size. However, when you examine the wings, you can see that it is quite different. The lesser grass blue is duller and more brown while this is more grey and has vivid orange and black spots near the tail.

So, as always when I can, I took some pictures of it and went home to consult my guidebook. There, I discerned from the location and size of the wing spots, as well as the color of the inner wing, that it was most likely an Indian Cupid: A rare butterfly!

Yes! I've always wanted to see rare butterflies and I found one right beside my work place. I was ecstatic. Lucky too. I went back again over the next few days and I never saw it again. I guess my timing just happened to be right the last time.

Woohoo!!!
 May.

Floral Sunrise

My work brings me all around the country but one thing never changes, it's always in an inhabited, usually office area. There aren't that many trees around and consequently, I don't get to see much of nature other than the usual Mynas, Sparrows, ants etc. that seem to coexist extremely well with humanity.

However, that's not to say that there isn't beauty and nature regardless. Sometimes, all you need to do is know where to look.

Look at this. It's the early morning sun over a field of flowers. Now that's beauty in nature. In a garden city, it's everywhere.

You only need to know where to look.

May

Fishes in the Canal

I started work about two months ago and one of my workplaces is right beside a park connector network (PCN). It's a lovely place to walk during lunch, especially when the office is effectively a fridge and you desperately need to warm up.

The nice thing about PCNs is that they tend to be right beside a canal. And when the canal is as full as this one, that means only one thing: Fishes! Haha. I doubt I can eat any of them but it's nice to see signs of life and nature during your lunch break. Man, those fish sure are lively. They dart around, in and out of the brown swirling dust. It's very nice.

May

Blue Glassy Tiger

Another catch up post just to record what I saw during another visit to the botanic gardens in 2017. Off hand from memory, I identify this butterfly as a Blue Glassy Tiger. It's pretty isn't it?

Eyes wide open,
May

Crow-billed Drongo

Yup, another catch up post. It seems to me that there are very many different species of bird nestled in the botanic gardens. I find all sorts of birds that I've never seen before there. This is yet another one, the Crow-bill Drongo. I don't think I've ever seen it again. Hmm. I haven't been to the botanic gardens in a while. Maybe I should go again. Who knows what I will find.

May

New Year at botanic gardens

Hey. This is a catch up post so I honestly cannot remember what happened that day. However, judging from the pictures, I must have had a blast! There are so many wonderful things I saw on new years day 2017.

 Dragonfly!

 Darn. The squirrel is so super cute. Look at its round head and chubby cheeks!

 Damselfly. They are related to dragonflies but are somewhat different. I'm not sure exactly how but I think it's the wing colour.

 Greater Racket-tailed Drongo. You can tell from the two long tails ending in larger roundish fins hanging from the bird's tail.

 I have no idea what this butterfly is.

 More Damselflies.

 A banded woodpecker. They are supposed to be fairly common in the forests but I think this is the only time to date that I've ever seen one. We spotted it in the National Orchid Garden

The closest I can find to this in my guidebook is a Striated Heron. It matches the best but it doesn't seem right either. This one is more bluish and white instead of grey and yellow round the beak. I think it's a different bird but I have no idea what. 

White Breasted Waterhen chicks!

For some reason, it always seems easier to find the adult version of an animal than the kids. Maybe it's because they tend to be adults for most of their lives and are hidden away and protected as kids. Well, whatever the reason, I was extremely fortunate today to come across White Breasted Waterhen Chicks. That's right. I saw the babies. Too a video too since the chicks are all blurry on camera.

Got a picture of the parent and one of the chicks here. There are several.

And here's the video. I got interrupted by some people at the end. To be fair, I was blocking the path. Oops.

May

Gardens By the Bay with friends

Now I go to Gardens by the Bay very often but seldom do I venture beyond the two domes. This time, however, was different. My friend had a project she needed to do and we visited the gardens looking for ideas. Of course, for an ecology project, these ideas came from animals. so we tried our very best to look for them. Boy did we find them! I have never regretted leaving my camera behind so much. Now I will have to content with those taken by my camera. But just to give you an idea of what we saw:

- several plain tigers (butterflies)
- yellow vented bulbul
- white breasted water hen
- little heron
- grey heron
- various fish
- pond skater/ water strider
- Water monitor lizard
- Olive backed Sunbird (female usually)
- Golden Pheasant
- apple snail eggs
- spotted doves
- various lizards
- the usual mynahs, swallows and sparrows
- painted Jezebels (butterfly)
- Apple snail eggs
- Several dragonflies
- Damsel flies
- Several butterflies which we could not identify
- Homosapien (Us)

Wow, now that I put it together, that is quite a list. I didn't manage to get a picture of everything of course. But I am glad I saw them. It was a most productive trip. Enough talk now, photos! As poorly taken as they are...

I don't know if you can see it but there is supposed to be a orange gold dragonfly in the center of the photo

 Spotted Dove. This one was slightly injured but we couldn't do anything.

The Golden Pheasant is found in the aviary. A truly magnificent bird. I am not too sure about its camouflage ability though.

 A sunbathing lizard

 Behind the frog statue, on the rocks, is a little heron.

 Water monitor lizard swimming in Kingfisher lake.

 A grey heron standing over a meter tall. We saw it fly out of the undergrowth and it took us completely by surprise. A very pleasant surprise too. But it was so far away. If only I had my camera!

 I think these are morning glories. Whatever they are, they look beautiful in the shifting sunlight.

Homosapien, the most populous creature in GBB. There are too many of them!





It was a really fun day and the amount of wildlife we saw was phenomenal. It was great!

I have to do this again,
May K.