Nature « My Itchy Fingers

Rays of Lights

April 23, 2012 at 9:52 pm | Posted in itchy fingers | Leave a comment
Tags: Environment, Nature, Photography, Uniquely Singapore

Itchyfingers just finished a long day of bird photography session and was walking home after dinner, when I noticed an unusual red tinge showing through the horizon against the HDB flats. Unfortunately the view was partially covered by the hoarding of the construction work. The moment I stepped out of the lift, I turned to the direction of the setting sun…and was I glad to have done that! It was an exceptionally hot day when we were out in the field, and that must had contributed to the intensity of the orange glow of the sun. It was breathe taking…and I was glad I was there at the right time!

The brilliant rays of lights from the setting sun were shining through the
layers of clouds…This was not the work of Photoshop! It was the work of
Mother Nature!

In just a few seconds’ time, like a torch with a weakened battery, the rays
started to withdraw back to its source

Missed it and you gotta wait for the next time!

Also see related post:
> iLike. iLight

Night at the Cemetery

April 7, 2012 at 4:04 pm | Posted in itchy backside | Leave a comment
Tags: Animals, Birdwatching, Nature, Uniquely Singapore

The time was close to a quarter to nine at night. Although there were street lights nearby, they seemed to be too dim and weak to compete with the Darkness. The road was almost pitch dark to urban folks like Itchyfingers who are so used to having bright lights around. As we drove past the gate into the territory of the Dead, all we could hear were the sound of the insects and our car engine. Suddenly, we saw something reflective on the ground…

“Oh, a cat…” I said. My first thought was that it came from the reflective eye shine of a cat…

“No! It’s an owl!” Exclaimed Tisu Boy, who had acclimatised faster to the low light. “Buffy….!!!!!”

Oh my goodness!!! So, the moment Itchyfingers drove past the gate of the Bukit Brown Cemetery, we saw a Buffy Fish Owl sitting on the open patch of tarmac road! What great luck! It was not the first time we saw the Buffy Fish Owl in the wild but it is always exciting to see an owl…any owl!

But darn! It stayed only for two seconds before it flew and perched on a nearby tree!

We quickly jumped out of the car, trying not to make too much noise. Although we saw where it perched, but by the time Tisu Boy set up his camera, I was too blind to track his movement. We had lost him! Nevertheless, it was still great to see the owl again.

A Buffy Fish Owl that Itchyfingers saw some time ago in our nature reserve

Our friends arrived shortly and we started our night walk at the cemetery. Itchyfingers have visited Bukit Brown Cemetery numerous times for bird watching and also visited the many big tombs of various prominent figures of Singapore. But all those trips were made in bright day light. This was the first time we came for a night walk. Our friend had hoped to spot the highly elusive Sambar Deers that were sporadically sighted before in the area.

The most abundant sightings of the night must be the Large-tailed Nightjars. We saw so many of them that I had lost count. Must had been at least 10 or more…

Like owls, these nocturnal birds have large eyes and irises that reflect light
where ever the torch shone. Most of these nightjars were lying motionless
on the road. Maybe it was warmer? Some were spotted perching on tombs,
but we didn’t photograph them out of respect to the deceased. Of course
if you are the superstitious kind, you wouldn’t want to have something extra
(and whitish perhaps) appearing on your photo! Hahah….

We saw this big spider having his Forest Cockroach dinner…eeee….Not sure
which spider was this though

I think he got nervous with so many giant eyes spying at him that he
dropped his big fat dinner….Luckily he got hold of it with the trusty web

Another spider with an egg sac…We also saw the tarantula….

Look carefully and you can see baby scorpions on the mother’s back! It
was a bit too high to get a closer picture…

A Lesser Fruit Bat hanging around….literally….hahah

Our sharp-eyed friend kept spotting this small owl, probably because he had done many night walks before. Most of the time the owls were quite far and flew off very quickly before we could take a better look. This one stayed the longest for us….

The Collared Scops Owl was relatively common at cemetery, but being so
small, it was hard to spot! This one was the most obliging. Isn’t he cute?
It was the first time we saw this owl at night…

We didn’t manage to see or even hear the Sambar Deers, but it was still a good trip as we managed to see two species of owls. Bukit Brown Cemetery will be developed soon for road work by early next year. Eventually all the tombs would be exhumed for housing development in another few years’ time. Along with it, the many majestic trees would have to go too. Where would these wonderful creatures go then….?

The Walking Stick

March 26, 2012 at 11:51 pm | Posted in itchy fingers | Leave a comment
Tags: Animals, Bugs, Nature, Uniquely Singapore

Initially, we were looking at the numerous cute tiny grasshopper nymphs on the leaf of the Sea Hibiscus (Talipariti tiliaceum). Then, as I casually scanned the rest of the plant for more nymphs, I was really thrilled to find another cutie! He was tiny, and the colour blended in with the environment quite well and could easily be overlooked unless you were looking for something intentionally. It happened to be one of my favourite insects….

Itchyfingers had just stumbled across the stick insect among the many
grasshopper nymphs! But wait. You may ask why were there only three legs
on this stick insect? Look carefully and you will notice that the first pair of legs
were actually stretched out straight to so it would look more like a stick….
Its 6th leg was also nicely tucked close to the body…

Itchyfingers always carry a measuring tape with me so I can record the
sizes of interesting insect or plant specimens that I see…

I was really delighted to have I found two more stickies on the same Sea Hibiscus plant…!

The second stick with stretched limbs…But this one was really missing a leg!

Stick insects are able to shed or break their legs if they were grabbed by predators so as to escape. Juvenile sticks are able to regenerate and grow back missing limbs during molting, as long as it is not the last cycle of molt before they become adults. Adults may be able to force themselves to molt again to regain a lost leg. However, the regenerated leg is often smaller and not as good as the rest of the legs.

Strangely, those stick insects that I have encountered in the wild were all found staying on leaves and not on branches or twigs. I guess if they were on branches, I may not have spotted them as easily…hahah…There were many birds in the area, so I tried to transfer them to the branches to better conceal themselves…afterall, these teenagers may not know the danger around them…hahah :p

Itchyfingers picking up a tiny walking stick….Generally, stick insects do
not move a lot and they move slowly to avoid being noticed by predators…
They do not bite and are generally harmless except for some stockier species
or those with tiny spikes on the body. These may give out a bad tasting
chemical or inflict pain. If you have to handle a stick, be gentle and do not
snap off their legs by pulling them forcefully away from their perch!

Oh my goodness!!! Did Itchyfingers accidentally kill this stick? Dun worry.
When stick insect failed to camouflage themselves or escape from the
predator, they may just drop from their perch and play dead! The predators
may not be able to find the immobile insect or if they found them dead, they
will lose interest since most would prefer fresh food! :p How smart! Here
this stick was still pretending dead by turning to its side…

He turned alive and immediately grabbed on the branch when I placed him
there…Imagine his colour were to be the same as the branch. Can you
still spot him if you were to walk pass leisurely?

This one was a bigger one at close to 9 cm with the first pair of legs stretched
out…

You can see the little compound eye and his leg joint. Strangely, this stick
preferred to slowly walk back to the leaf…

Just as Itchyfingers thought this was the longest stick we saw for this trip, we found another even bigger on right on top of another leaf!

This was about 12 cm and reddish-brown in colour. It could be an older
female as the rear end looked like the ovipositor

It was missing a front leg too

A look at the joint where once upon a time there was a slim and slender leg

It was the fourth time Itchyfingers encountered wild stick insects. The previous encounters were all individual sticks while this time we spotted four sticks at the same spot! It really made our day!

See how a Stick Insect walks!