AH today

Went to AHBT today, hoping for some common imperial.
The first thing that caught my eye was these two common

rose cats. They were big and fat,and nearing pupation.

I was lucky that this female common birdwing landed

for me, and landed at eye level.

There were many barons flying around, darting from

leaf to leaf. When they landed, they would flap their wings

slowly,which was how I got this underside shot.

In the trail, I chased this tattered centaur oakblue

for half an hour. In my shot, a little of the brilliant

purple upperside is visible.

When I returned after cooling down, this white

crested laughing thrush was good enough to let me

touch the bush he was in.

When I was looking for the oakblue, this plain plushblue

landed on the leaf in front of me.

The last thing that was interesting, was this empty

pupal case of a blue glassy tiger. It is not damaged,

which means the tiger eclosed this morning.

Please comment.

Flashes of red

The time I went to USR, when I saw the eagle, I also saw two

male common red flashes. The first one was at a patch of wildness,

near the water edge. It was just behind a forest, a suitable habitat

for many butts. He was very good, staying still while I shot him.

He was a little hard to shoot, as he kept darting off to

scare other butterflies away when they came too close.

After a stroll along the reservoir, I decided to come to the

same spot to check on him. There I met a man, from

the Butterflycircle. He was also shooting the red flash.

However, it was tattered. Bird attack? I don't know.

It is the same one, as he would not let any other male red

flash enter his area. I was lucky to see the fab upperside,

as red flashes only open their wings from 4: 20-6:00.

Both male & female have pale grey undersides.

White bellied Sea Eagle

I was at Upper Seletar Reservoir earlier on, looking for some
butterflies. I heard a call, and above me was an adult white
bellied sea eagle. It soared for a while, then lowered to take
a fish from the water. This was exciting, below is a shot
before its legs touched the water.

The bird failed to catch the fish, as seen in the image below.

It flew back into the sky, and slowly got higher and higher

and............................................

Please Comment.

Mac. Nature trail

Went to MNT ( Macritchie nature trail )a few days ago.

Saw many butterflies, birds and dragonflies. The first three

quarters or so, there were no butterflies. Piles of rattan but no

butterflies. There were a few dragonflies however. This is

my favourite. It kept flicking itself into the air, making some

"clicking noises", then it would come back to the tree trunk.

There were a number of branded imperials along the trail,

many were too skittish to shoot. They flew around me,

not giving me a chance, but this one was rather co-operative.

I spent the next ten minutes trying to locate this common faun,

which landed somewhere in the undergrowth. It was after

much of being pricked by rattans and bitten by spiders, that

I got this shot.

A familiar bird was watching overhead, the greater racket

tailed drongo. It was probably looking for a c. faun to eat.

The last thing I saw was this strange insect hanging from a

fern. If you look carefully, the insect is dead and hollow,

with a hole on its back. Its death was probably due to

a parasitic wasp, which its grubs fed on the body and left

through the hole.

The end of this post, Please comment.

Happy Lunar New Year!

Wishing all Bluebottle's veiwers a very happy and properous

Lunar New Year!

Hort Park

I went to the Hort Park yesterday. Saw quite a few showy
butterflies, but most were very skittish. They were very active
and kept flying as it was a really hot day, and there were few
clouds in the sky. The first one I spotted was a plain tiger,
that it only came to rest after a long time of waiting.

There were many three spot grass yellows and peacock pansys
on the way but they were way too wary for me to photograph.
This leopard lacewing flew onto a flower, and it was rather co-operative.

The common tigers were also present but did not rest and simply
glided nonstop with the wind. My only shot of them was burr. :(
For the rest of the walk, I saw nothing but tigers and the skittish
lemon emigrant, which I tried and tried to get a good shot.
Patience paid off!

. . . . . And feeding on deep purple.

Had to go for 团年饭, so THE END!

All about it - Common Mormon

This, is the first butterfly featured in 'all about it' and I had worked

to collect the photographs and info. This butterfly is the common

mormon. It is seen common in nature reserves, but can be spotted in

urban parks as often. The males fly much faster than females and are

more active. They may come down to rest with the wings spread out.

A male common mormon resting on its host plant, the Indian curry

plant.

Males are also fond of puddling on damp ground, and may be quite

tame to the observer. They may puddle for a second, or maybe for

an hour, based on the medium, and traffic.

The females, which seem to be less common than males, can be

observed when feeding on flowers. They mimic the distasteful

common rose, and like bougainvilleas...

And other flashy blooms...

Besides the curry plant, the mormon breeds on many citrus plants.

These are the lime, pomelo, and discarded 'kumquat' plants after the

Chinese New Year.

The common mormon is often attracted to Chinese violets growing

at forest fringes, however, they do not land to feed on the nectar.

Like other swallowtails, they only use their forewings when hovering

and flying.

Ypthima fasciata torone

I was out at Mount Faber, marang trail. At the end of the trail,
or the start, I encountered a few ypthimas. I have a feeling they
are fasciata torones, but they could be the more common, five rings.

There is a small spot below the first two on the hindwing,

and the first two spots are of different size. This means

that it's a fasciata, unless the spot is an aberration on the

five ring. The one below has a very tattered wing.

Please inform me if I have gotten the ID wrong, even though

I am pretty sure. Hope to see him again.