manta blog

Another Visit to Pasir Ris Park

noreply@blogger.com (~mantamola~) — Mon, 14 May 2012 12:38:00 +0000

Situated just next to Pasir Ris Interchange/MRT and is so accessible, Pasir Ris Park remained one of the park that I visited the most to-date. With the board walk that bring visitor deep into the mangrove area, one can visit mangrove without their leg getting muddy.

It has been raining the whole night and it is still drizzling when I visit the park on Sunday morning.

This tree must have been struck by lightning!!

Not just one side, but both side of the tree trunk was affected!

With the weather getting hotter, most migratory birds already on their way back to their breeding ground. The park remained as busy with all the resident birds such as this Spotted Dove

Common Flame-Backed Woodpecker

There are lots of flying dragon in the garden too.

Re-introduced, once extinct orchid was seen blooming on one of the tree trunk - Bulbophylium medusae.

I cross over to the Boardwalk and lots of Tree Climbing crabs are out for feeding. Tree Climbing crabs are also known as Vinegar crabs as they are pickled in vinegar & black sauce to go with porridge.

Tree Climbing crabs are primarily leaf-eaters and they are known to attack propagules, as such are seen as pets of mangroves. They will also scavenge for meat if there are any!

Wulai Halfday Tour

noreply@blogger.com (~mantamola~) — Mon, 07 May 2012 09:04:00 +0000

Is not an easy task to pick a location for outdoor nature walk in Taiwan if you have few hours to spare! There are so many nice places to go and I ended up travel to Wulai, a small town in Taipei County, famous for its hot springs and aboriginal culture. I rented a transport cum tour guide (6 hours block) from Taipei City and it took me about 45mins to reach Wulai.

Even in Wulai itself, there are quite a lot to cover and is not possible to finish it in one day, I decided to cover just 2 area - the old Wulai street & Neidong Forest.

I only stop here for a waterfall photo shoot on the way to Neidong Forest.

What an impressive waterfall! I can't capture the whole waterfall with my 28mm lens!

Nice carving near the entrance of Neidong Recreation Forest.

Map of the forest near the entrance, this give me an idea to plan my route so that I don't miss my transport back to Taipei in 2 hours time.

After filling up my particulars for insurance purposes, I'm ready to explore this forest!

Among all the signs, I pay attention to this particular sign - about hornet (Vespa afinis) since they are very active during this period.

If you travel to Taiwan during April/May, you will notice that many part of the park, hill or mountain are cover with 'snow'! Tung Oil tree (Aluerites fordii Hemsi) are very common in Taiwan and they are blooming during April/May. If you miss the Cherry Blossom blooming, this Tung Oil tree bloom immediately after Cherry Blossom. Check out the video below.

If you are into macro photography, this place will not fail you.

Minivets are quite common in the forest.

White-bellied Yuhina is another bird that not difficult to spot as they are quite active hunting from branch to branch.

Endemic to Taiwan, this Black-browed barbet is preparing for next generation!

The reflection of the sunlight give the stream a very nice colour!

One of the smaller water falls in the forest.

I like this special built hand washing basin. The water, the wood are all from the forest. A real green innovation.

After quick exploration of the forest, I go to the Wulai Old Street. This is the place famous for its natural hot water springs bath. I have to give it a miss as I have used up my 2 hours slot allocated and go straight to the famous Taiya Po Po (泰雅婆婆美食店) restaurant for my lunch. All the vege sold are organic!

Other than vegetables, the restaurant also offer fresh water prawns & a very unique 'rice in the bamboo'.

If you are a mushroom lover, you will be happy to get your supplies here too!

This place really worth to come back over and over again!!

Lesser Necklaced Laughingthrush

noreply@blogger.com (~mantamola~) — Thu, 12 Apr 2012 12:21:00 +0000

During my short trip to Thailand last month, I visited Huai Kha Kheang Wildlife Sanctuary, a nice quiet place not too far from Mae Wong National Park.

While I wander in the park, I saw four Lesser Necklaced Laughingthrush (Garrulax monileger) having their bonding time while taking sun bath.

However, their peaceful moment were interrupted by an uninvited guest - a monitor lizard!
After sending their chicks to safety, the parents take turn to attack the monitor lizard.
The attacks continue non-stop for few minutes by both the parents. The monitor lizard move away at last.
The family are still on alert even after the monitor lizard move away.
The parents decided to move their chicks to a higher place before they go and look for food. The chicks follow their parents to a nearby branch.
After settle their chicks on the tree branch, the parents leave to look for food.
Both parents come back with food.
First to the chick on the left.
Follow by the chick on the right.
The parents treat both of their chicks fairly. Each time they come back with food, both of their chicks will be fed.

When the food are abundant, all chicks are treated fairly without bias or sacrificing the weaker or slower chick. Even the tamest bird can be very aggressive and will not hesitate to protect their chick during nesting period. So, when you are 'harass' by birds, you might have step into their comfort zone of the nesting area. If that happen, just back off and leave the bird alone.

Hanging Darter

noreply@blogger.com (~mantamola~) — Thu, 05 Apr 2012 13:02:00 +0000

What a slow & painful way to go for this Oriental Darter.

Just a fishing line... enough to get this beautiful bird entangled and killed!

Birding at Bung Boraphet, Thailand

noreply@blogger.com (~mantamola~) — Thu, 29 Mar 2012 15:04:00 +0000

Bung Boraphet is a man made reservoir originating from a natural basin situated close to the city of Nakhon Sawan, where the two rivers, Mae Nam Nan and Mae Nam Ping meet. During wet season, the size can reach to 600 sq km which is very close to the size of Singapore! It is also one of the biggest wetland in Thailand.

The majority of the people living around the lake/reservoir gain their livelihood from both farming and fishing and the lake is the largest source of fishery products for central Thailand.

Bung Boraphet is also an Important Bird Areas(IBA). Birding can be done with renting a boat and explore this areaon your own pace. This place can be visited in any season but visit during birds migratory period will see more species.

Once you leave the jetty, you will be welcomed by the sea of lotus & hundreds of birds!

This pair of Black Crown Night Heron is preparing to breed.

Black Drongo perch on the vantage point looking for unlucky flying insects for breakfast.

I've lost count of the number of Darter after 5 minutes. There are so many of them!

Chinese Pond Heron taking flight when we come closer.

It can't be denied that Cotton Pygmy-Goose are very beautiful & cute!

Pheasant-Tailed Jacana is in breeding plumage too! Look at the long tail!

A very skittish Bronze Winged Jacana.

It may looks like Grey Heron but it is a Asian Openbill.

Little Cormorant is looking for food in the reservoir.

The Little Grebe.

Black Winged Stilt just look at us while we cruise pass them.

Flock of Pied Kingfisher fly pass us on the top.

A not so common Glossy Ibis.

I didn't realise that Purple Swamp Hen can actually hold their prey with their leg!

This place was badly hit by the flood last year! The water mark on the roof of the building give the indication of the seriousness of the flood.

Raptor Watch 2012

noreply@blogger.com (~mantamola~) — Sun, 18 Mar 2012 17:45:00 +0000

I have been hearing about this special event for more than 10 years and this is the 1st time I'm attending this annual nature wonders. The very first Raptor Watch was held way back in year 2000! Raptor Watch is now one of the biggest eco-tourism in Malaysia!
Since this is my first visit there, after getting a few friends we decided to stay at the resort where the event was held - Ilham Resort! Not the best option in terms of economy. But is where the event was being held, so the convenience really cost a lot more.

We timed our arrival one day earlier to avoid the crowd so that I can explore the inter-tidal area. The last time I visited here was more than 2 decades ago!!

Seaweed,

Corals & crabs can be seen during this hot afternoon. But I'm more interested in the army that will emerge in short while...

Saw the 1st one...

and soon the whole army emerge from no where!! It was a very unique experience to be swarmed by thousands & thousands of small little crabs! You may watch the video here from my earlier post.

Lots of activities going on at the main event area and this is also a good opportunity to try out new camera, new bino or simply find out more about other nature area that is available both local or in the region.

I'm particularly interested to find out more about birding in Taiwan.

There are lots of IBA (Important Bird Areas) in Taiwan with many endemic bird species! I will have a hard time deciding where to start... :)

Some of the endemic birds of Taiwan.

While on our way to the highlight of the event which is happening at the Tanjung Tuan Lighthouse just next to the resort aA brief direction of the migratory path was shown on the sign next to the lighthouse.

After 10 minutes or so, we finally reach the lighthouse!!

It was a super hot day and see how my friends try to hide from the sun...

Other than raptors, this place is also a good area to watch this cute leaf monkeys. Looking forward to the next Raptor Watch in 2013!!

Soldier Crabs

noreply@blogger.com (~mantamola~) — Sat, 17 Mar 2012 02:58:00 +0000

During low tide, thousands of soldier crabs will emerged from their burrow for feeding. They will have to feed before the tide return. Soldier crabs feed on detritus in the sand or mud. They will scoop up sand and mud with their front claws and sift through the sand for food, dropping unwanted sand and mud which form the ball shaped sands.

Butterfly Puddling

noreply@blogger.com (~mantamola~) — Fri, 09 Mar 2012 13:45:00 +0000

Saw thousands of butterfly along the trail when I was at Kaeng Krachan Nature Park of Thailand last month.

Is believed that male butterflies are more likely the one that do puddling. When butterfly sips water from the ground, they also take in traces of minerals that dissolved in the water.

Mammals at Kaeng Krachan Thailand

noreply@blogger.com (~mantamola~) — Mon, 05 Mar 2012 12:33:00 +0000

I was at Kaeng Krachan, Thailand last week supposedly a birding trip but was attracted to many of their non-bird vertebrates. Thanks to Marcus Chua for the id!!

Western striped squirrels (Tamiops mcclellandii)
Lesser mousedeer (Tragulus kanchil)
Grey-bellied squirrels (Callosciurus caniceps)
Indochinese ground squirrels (Menetes berdmorei)
Northen treeshrew (Tupaia belangeri)
This must be my lucky year... I even got to see this big cat - a leopard face to face!!

I certainly will go back again to explore another part of the park!

Oriental Honey Buzzard

noreply@blogger.com (~mantamola~) — Wed, 15 Feb 2012 14:34:00 +0000

Oriental Honey Buzzard (Pernis ptilorhyncus) is quite common and can be seen in many part of Singapore during migratory period.

I saw one in Pasir Ris last week in a windy morning. This buzzard perch quite high up on the tree. Since is quite windy, the tree sway from time to time. This buzzard must have loose her balance while trying to jump to a higher branch.

The buzzard use her feathers (primaries) to gain back the balance. I believe this has caused the feathers to wear faster.

The buzzard managed to jump to a higher branch at last.

Butterfly Galore at Pasir Ris Park

noreply@blogger.com (~mantamola~) — Sat, 04 Feb 2012 08:21:00 +0000

Further to my earlier post on the mass feeding/pollination by butterflies & other insects, here are more butterflies taken on last Sunday. I'm not too familiar with butterfly, do let me know if I got the id wrong.

This butterfly looks like a Autumn Leaf (Doleschallia bisaltide australis)

Striped Black Crow (Euploea eyndhovii gardineri)

Dark Glassy Tiger (Parantica agleoides agleoides)

Peacock Pansy

Painted Jezebel

Lemon Emigrant

And also lots of other insects...

Flowering Tree Attracts Mass Feeding

noreply@blogger.com (~mantamola~) — Fri, 27 Jan 2012 13:04:00 +0000

Chance upon this flowering tree at a neighbourhood park that attracted more than 20 different species of insects! Butterfly, bees, beetle,...

Mangrove Pitta Handling Crabs

noreply@blogger.com (~mantamola~) — Tue, 24 Jan 2012 18:52:00 +0000

Ever since I picked up nature photography 2 years ago, biggest satisfaction came from the extra knowledge and the opportunity to observe & learn more about things that I don't get to see or previously unknown.

Through the course of photography, I learn more than just the name of the plants or animals that I photographed. I learn about their behaviour, their diet, their distribution & most importantly their habitat as well as their challenges.

Is quite a satisfaction being able to see this uncommon/rare Mangrove pitta (Pitta megarhyncha) in the wild! Is getting more difficult to see one as this species of pitta can only be found in the mangrove area. Looking at the area of mangroves in Singapore shrunk to just ten over percent from the original size over the years. That's no accident why Mangrove pittas are so rare now. (Mangrove pitta is also considered globally near-threatened)

While I was searching more details about this bird, most of the sources saying that the main diet are earthworms and snails. Pittas also consume a variety of invertebrates such as ants, beetles, bugs, centipedes, spiders, and termites, as well as small frogs, skinks and snakes. No crabs was mentioned!

This is my second sighting of this beautiful pitta and again, throughout the one hour of my observations, this pitta only take crabs and nothing else. It took three crabs before disappear from my sight.

Different from other birds that I seen, Mangrove pitta prepare their prey by simply removing their legs.
Mangrove pitta hold their prey by their leg and shake vigorously to dislodge their leg. After the initial shake, half of the legs on the right of the crab been dislodged.
Targeting the legs on the left side of the crab.

Only one leg left still dangling on the crab.

The last leg was torn off too.

All the legs of the crab are gone and only one pincer seen remained. The pitta is now ready to consume his catch.

After finish the crab body, the pitta pick up the legs from the floor and nothing is waste.

The legs of the crabs are removed and not the pincer, I wonder is it because to cripple the crab from escaping or prevent the crab from 'scratching' their stomach wall? Aren't the pincer can cause some damage too?

Even after 2 observations, there are still more things to be learned from this pitta...

Mangrove Pitta of Singapore

noreply@blogger.com (~mantamola~) — Sun, 15 Jan 2012 12:57:00 +0000

Mangrove pittas (Pitta megarhyncha) are rare resident of Singapore and are considered as nationally-endengered due to loss of habitat.

Is certainly a great pleasure to watch this beautiful bird feeding at the few remained mangrove in Singapore.

The Thief

noreply@blogger.com (~mantamola~) — Mon, 02 Jan 2012 08:42:00 +0000

With the wet season almost over, some birds has started their breeding preparation!! This Black-Naped Oriole(Oriolus chinensis) is certainly one of them. I saw this oriole keep going back to the same branch a few times. Not that there are insects nor fruiting on that tree but to steal the material needed for their nest building!

The oriole will use the bill to purposely got themselves entangled with the spider web, then try to 'hoover' (short flight and back to the same branch) and try to grab as much web as possible before flew off. Within 30 minutes while I was there, the birds repeated the process for 4 times!

My observations from the last season:

1. Protecting the nest

2. Feeding of chicks 1

3. Feeding of chicks 2

Birds at Pulau Sekudu

noreply@blogger.com (~mantamola~) — Tue, 27 Dec 2011 13:23:00 +0000

We pay a visit to Pulau Sekudu during the Christmas Day. While the rest are still busy looking at the inter-tidal creatures, I do a quick scan on the birds that are around this tiny island that only surface during spring low tide.

This island is covered by sea water and only surface during spring low tide.

There are people that already on the island before we arrive. Since special permit is required for visit to this island, I assume this part-time fisherman got special permit??

Greater Crested Terns are the most common birds on the island.

Collared Kingfisher &

Common Kingfisher can be found on the island too.

Saw a Brahminy Kite too. Other birds spotted includes Little Egrets, Whimbrel & Grey Heron.

It Will Be Nice If...

noreply@blogger.com (~mantamola~) — Sat, 10 Dec 2011 12:51:00 +0000

After a very fruitful trip this morning with HY at Mc Ritchie while on my way home, I drop by a tiny beach next to Seletar Dam that is one of the favourite fishing spot. Fishing rod can be seen day & night week day or week end!!

As I was looking for sign of any water birds, I spotted some tiny birds were running around this very tiny beach.

This Malaysian Plover (Charadrius peronii) was the tiny bird that running around the beach. I was trying to get a clean & clear shot of this bird but I gave up after a while!

No matter how I try, there are always some unwanted FOB (foreign object deposits) in my photo!!! :(
Saw this Common sand piper (Actitis hypoleucos) on the higher shore near the rock wall & the condition is as bad!
This tiny beach is a more quieter beach compare to all other beaches and is one of the very few beach on the main land that watching of shore birds is still possible. It will be nice if the beach is cleaner!! Perhaps visit to this part of Singapore is not that convenient without own transport. Out of sight out of mind?

Monkey Business 4 - Happy Family

noreply@blogger.com (~mantamola~) — Mon, 28 Nov 2011 14:04:00 +0000

Saw this family enjoying the warm morning sun after the overnight rain at the Central Catchment Nature Reserve last week end.

This is their home and this is the place that they belongs to. There are plenty of food in the reserve and enough to feed every of their family member. However, things changed when people start to feed them. Out of convenience, out of curiosity and perhaps the fancy packing of humans food, some started to rely on human food instead of finding their own food in the reserve.

When they start to depend on humans food, they will become aggressive and start to snatch food whenever they see people eating or carry bag that look like carrying food. When the monkey 'walk out' from the forest, they can get themselves killed by the passing traffic.

Help them and also help ourselves...don't feed the monkey. Feeding the monkey is an offence and can be fined!

Monkey Business 3

noreply@blogger.com (~mantamola~) — Tue, 01 Nov 2011 12:22:00 +0000

No doubt that monkey are the very intelligent creature. I have seen long-tailed macaque on several occasions, doing things just like us - human being!

This time round, I saw long-tailed macaque trying to put on a shirt!

This macaque grab a shirt from a chair that someone place it there for drying.

It caught the attention of other monkey and all 3 of them trying to take control of the shirt.

This monkey managed to 'own' it and he grab the shirt running away from the rest.

It must have seen how human put on their shirt and this monkey trying to follow the same. It almost put it on!

To prevent other from getting the shirt, this macaque just run with the shirt to another corner and try to put on again. They are the smart one, now you agree?

If you miss my previous sightings on this smart creatures... read this:

Monkey Business 1 - having some real hot actions!!

Monkey Business 2 - trying to have easy food!

Semakau Exploration with Bedok View Sec

noreply@blogger.com (~mantamola~) — Sun, 30 Oct 2011 10:48:00 +0000

I was at Semakau again 3 days after the last trip. I was the guide for students from Bedok View Sec, a group of young, enthusiastic and fun people. We are glad the weather was good and the hunter seeker did a very good job. We saw a lot of very interesting animals that can only be seen by divers! However, due to the spring low tide, we manage to see them during the short period of time when the tide are low.

Group photo on the shore of Semakau!

Seize that moment! Capture this special moment with camera, the sun will drop below the horizon in no time!

More group photo!

One of the many interesting animal that we saw - Head Shield bug (Chelidonura pallida)

Thanks to Ms Goh & her students, I have a great trip too! :)

Semakau Inter-tidal Walk 26 Oct 11

noreply@blogger.com (~mantamola~) — Wed, 26 Oct 2011 15:26:00 +0000

Is have been almost a year since I last exploring Semakau during the evening low tide. When we arrived at Semakau, the storm is brewing & looks like a heavy downpour coming very soon. Luckily, the wind is strong and blow all the rain clouds away. We have a real good weather exploring the Semakau rich inter-tidal area!

One of the many beautiful creatures that we saw include this beautiful nudibranch!

This is my group, from Singapore Poly taking group photo at the area usually submerge underwater! This area will only expose during low tide.

We also managed to reach the most southern part of Singapore! Cool weather, colourful creatures, what a good way to celebrate!

Raptormania at SBG

noreply@blogger.com (~mantamola~) — Sat, 22 Oct 2011 07:18:00 +0000

I was at Singapore Botanic Garden (SBG) this morning for my usual birding trip. Since is now the peak of the raptors migratory season, I saw 3 raptors within 5 minutes!!
I first saw this Grey Headed Fish eagle Follow by a juvenile Brahminy kite
and follow by Chinese Sparrowhawk! Really a raptormania morning. More & more winter visitors are arriving such as this Asian Brown flycatcher

and also the Drongo cuckoo.
A very beautiful native bird - Oriental Magpie Robin that join the list & sing out loud just to make sure she will not be forgotten..

SBG is one of the few good birding spot in Singapore that always have something to discover... :)

Can't Decide What Camera to Buy?

noreply@blogger.com (~mantamola~) — Wed, 19 Oct 2011 13:54:00 +0000

Ever got confused with all the different types of digital camera on the shelf and every manufacturer claim that theirs the best?

Got this illustration from ST Digital Life on today's paper. Hopefully it give you some idea on which type of camera you think is best suit you.

Other than the 4 major types of sensors available, there is actually another type - Full Frame camera. The sensor size is based on 35mm film roll. This type of sensor are used on Pro/Semi-Pro camera. The camera I'm using for most of the shots on this blog belong to this category.

If you just want a not so heavy, yet powerful enough to let you manually set some or all setting while shooting, my opinion is go for Micro four third camera. This type of camera have wide range of lenses that you can use & smaller than APS-C or DX cameras.

Happy shooting!

Birds Watching at SBWR

noreply@blogger.com (~mantamola~) — Sat, 15 Oct 2011 11:56:00 +0000

With more & more arrival of the migratory birds, is time to head to Sungei Buloh (SBWR) to watch this once a year affair!

While I was washing my hand in the toilet, I heard someone knocking on the roof right on top of me. I was more than happy to see a pair of Oriental Pied Hornbill! Perhaps, they are knocking on their own image from the glass reflection.

There are quite a number of egret perch on top of tree just opposite the Main Bridge.

I saw this spider before entering the Main Hide. There are lots of birds feeding in front of the main hide.

This egret trying to scare the prey from their hiding so that she can hunt them.

Whimbrel is one of the bigger shore bird among those feeding on the mud flat.

Marsh sandpiper

This Lesser Sand Plover been to Singapore before! The ring (green & white) means it was tagged/ringed in Singapore before.

One of the best thing to do is just sit there watching the arrival/taking off of these birds.

Other than birds, the mud skipper can be found near the water edge. Good weather, good sighting & hope tomorrow the weather is as good! :)

Feeding Asian Paradise Flycatcher

noreply@blogger.com (~mantamola~) — Sun, 09 Oct 2011 07:39:00 +0000

Last quarter is always the best time to go birding in Singapore. On top of native birds, there are lots of migratory birds that will arrived from the north to avoid the cold winter. Asian Paradise flycatcher is one of them.

Asian Paradise Flycatcher is one of the many birds that I like to see it in the wild. This year must be my lucky year, I have seen quite a number of them and even have the opportunity to learn more about their feeding behavior. I'm so happy that I saw this flycatcher just caught a cicada! The flycatcher is trying to align the cicada so that it can swallow it.

Perhaps the cicada is consider too big? The flycatcher transfer the cicada to the claw.
The flycatcher then start by biting off the head of the cicada.
Instead of taking the whole prey at one go, the flycatcher taking this cicada bit by bit.
The flycatcher now hold the half eaten cicada with its beak.
With one gulp, the half eaten cicada go down the flycatcher throat.
Is quite unusual for flycatcher to have this feeding behavior. They do not have strong & big talon to hold their prey & they also do not have curved or hook-like bill to tear their prey. Nevertheless, is an fantastic experience to be able to know more about this beautiful bird. This flycatcher continue to perch there for me to take more shots before flew off. What a satisfying birding trip for me! :)