Blue Winged Pitta !!!

I was taking a walk in the Singapore Botanic Garden's

Ginger Garden to look for butterflies. The Ginger Garden

is a major playground for sunbirds. ( below-olive-backed sunbird female )

A large butterfly swooped by and caught my eye.

I cut through the nearby restaurant, hoping to get a better

view of it. I soon lost sight of it but was diverted by a small

green bird in the dense undergrowth. I peered closer. It was

a PITTA!!! A BLUE-WINGED PITTA!! My first sighting of the

evasive bird! I could hardly contain my excitement. I wasted no time,

quickly snapping photographs. ( below-BLUE-WINGED PITTA !!! )

I kept shooting until the pitta wen't out of sight.

Nearby a family of rufous-tailed tailorbirds darted around

the thick bushes. I managed to get a shot of a juv. tailorbird ( below )

I headed home, still over exerted by that Blue-Winged Pitta.

Toa Payoh Town Park

Toa Payoh Town Park is an excellent

location for butterfly watching. The species recorded

are basically urban ones, though forest butterflies will

occasionally make surprise visits to the garden.

this is the story of my trip on my trip.

When I got to the park, I could tell why the park was

so popular to butterflies. There were bushes of ixora,

lots of cat's whiskers, stalks of heliconia and bougainvillea

climbing all over. Blues were fluttering in company of three-spot

grass yellows. Chocolate pansies (below ) were aslo abuntant there.

I spotted a common mormon and a chestnut bob. ( below )

Suddenly, rain started pelting down on me, so I

had to take cover. I waited and waited for about an hour!

I headed back home after the rain got slightly lighter.

NYPS Pictures