Morning Walk At Windsor Nature Park (11 Nov 2017)

It has been raining almost everyday for the entire week and this morning although the sky was cloudy, it didn't look like it will be raining, and so I decided to take a quick morning walk at Windsor Nature Park for some macro photography actions. I am not having much expectations as the place would probably be wet due to the heavy rain the night before.

As expected the vegetation were dripping wet with rain and many parts of the trail were muddy. Here's a photograph of a Common Sun Skink (Eutropis multifasciata) encountered near the end of the trip when the sun was up.

The first beetle of the trip was a Leaf Beetle (Lema diversa) found around a patch of low grass.

Near to the Leaf Beetle were several large Elephant Ear Plant (Alocasia Macrorrhiza) where several of this Ant-like Flower Beetle (Anthelephila cyanea) were on the underside of the gigantic leaves.

At the entrance of the Venus Loop was this lone beetle larvae, with an interesting spherical water droplet on it.

The surprise for the trip was the encounter with this Tiger Beetle (Cicindela aurulenta) on a big leaf. I am surprised that it remained very still despite of my camera flashes. This is probably due to the cool temperature and wet vegetation.

A stone's throw away from the Tiger Beetle was a pair of mating 3 mm Leaf Beetle (Argopus brevis).

Coming to a wood pile, I am surprised to find this 10 mm Fungus Beetle (Eumorphus assamensis) as they are nocturnal.

On a small tree further down the trail was this lone Fungus Beetle (Eumorphus westwoodi).

High up on the same tree with the Fungus Beetle was a 5 mm Fungus Weevil. It was quite a challenge photographing this beetle as it was way up the tree.

On the side of the trail was a tree stump with a large Bracket Fungus Mushroom and there were several of this Fungus Beetle (Eumorphus politus) on it.

On a fallen tree further down the trail were several of this Fungus Beetle (Episcapha quadrimacula).

Because of the wet weather, it was only after a while of walking before I found this 2 mm Ambrosia Beetle on a leaf.

The highlight of the trip was the encounter of a "long time no see" Lizard Beetle (Languria mozardi).

Just a short distance from the Lizard Beetle was this beetle that I have yet to identify. It looked like Netwinged Beetle but without the netted elytra.

While I was walking along the trail, I saw a yellowish insect flew under a leaf. I was curious as to what insect it might be and so decided to take a quick look at it. To my surprise, it was a Leaf Beetle (Galerosastra sumatrana).

No other beetles were encountered until this 3 mm Fungus Beetle found on a small leaf.

The last beetle for the trip was a 2 mm Ladybird  Beetle.

As expected the trip was not as fruitful as previous trips but it was not unexpected given the less than ideal weather. According to our National Environment Agency, we are currently in the Inter-Monsoon period and thunderstorms are expected during this period. The North-East Monsoon will start at the end of November.

Morning Walk At Dairy Farm Nature Park (17 Jul 2015)

With the not so fruitful trip the night before, I decided to go to the Dairy Farm Nature Park for a walk since it is a public holiday. The weather was dry but when I reached the place, my heart sank as the place looked like it just rained with the vegetation dripping with water. Seemed like it will be one of those not so fruitful trips.

The walk from the car park to the trail to ZhengHua Park see zero actions and it was only after walking to the end of the trail that I found this small Darkling Beetle (Strongylium tenuipes) on the side of a small tree.

Near to the Darkling Beetle was this Lizard Beetle (Languria mozardi) warming up on a leaf.

No more actions until I entered the Wallace Trail which is adjacent to the trail leading to ZhengHua Park. The first beetle that I encountered on Wallace Trail was this small 5 mm Net-winged Beetle (Xylobanellus erythropterus). I always like to photograph this beetle because of its bright red color which contrasted nicely with the fresh green leaf.

One of the interesting thing about Dairy Farm Nature Park is that you can find a number of different Tiger Beetles. Possibly due to the wet weather, I only managed to find this 5.5 legged Tiger Beetle (Therates dimidiatus) during this trip.

Moving on for another 10 minutes without finding any beetle, this beetle larvae on the side of a tree was a welcomed sight.

I slowed down my pace further to hopefully find more beetles. Thankfully, I was able to find this 3 mm beetle which usually come out after rain.

Nearby was another Net-winged Beetle (Calopteron rubricolle).

Near to the Net-winged Beetle was a dying palm tree and on it was this lovely orange color Fungus Beetle.

More walking without finding any beetle, so I was not about to give this small 1.5 mm Leaf Beetle a miss when an ant came by to check out the beetle.

It was almost at the end of the Wallace Trail that I came across this all time favorite Fungus Beetle (Stenotarsus pardalis) resting on a leaf.

It was time to call it a day and as I was walking towards the exit, this first-time-encountered Pintail Beetle was found resting motionlessly on leaf, looking very much like an insect poop at a casual glance.

The last beetle was a Chafer Beetle (Maladera castanea) found just meters from the car park.

I am thankful that even though the trip was a little disappointing, I am still able to find a first-time-encountered Pintail Beetle.

Morning Walk At Upper Seletar Reservoir (29 Sep 2013)

The weather was a little overcast but good enough for a trip down to Upper Seletar Reservoir. This is a familiar path that I usually take when I am at Upper Seletar Reservoir. This path is seldom visited by joggers and hence it remained pretty wild, which is wonderful for beetle watching.

The first beetle that greeted me was this Leaf Beetle (Argopus brevis) which seemed to be the permanent residents of Upper Seletar Reservoir. This is probably because of the presence of several of its food plant.

The next beetle was this Tiger Beetle which initially was pretty hyper-sensitive to movements. After flying and stopping for a few times, it decided to stay put on this wild cinnamon leaf. I am glad that it remained pretty still for me to take some nice close-up photographs.

Moving further into the path, I was pleasantly surprised to find this first-time-encountered Leaf Mining Leaf Beetle (Gonophora xanthomela).

The tell tale signs of this beetle's presence is its straight feeding tracks on leaves. Here's a photograph of some old tracks on a leaf.

Resting on a shaded leaf was this lovely Leaf Beetle. Its color reminded me of jelly sweets.

Near to the Leaf Beetle were several 2 mm Leaf Beetles. Interesting to find different same size Leaf Beetles on the same plant. All these tiny beetles are first-time-encountered beetles.

Moving further down the path, this colorful Leaf Beetle was resting on a low bush.

Moving on, I came across this commonly encountered Leaf Beetle (Hoplasoma unicolor). Although you can easily find them in Upper Seletar Reservoir, photographing them is another matter altogether as they are super alert to movement. I was fortunate to come across this particular beetle that was so engrossed with its breakfast that it allowed me to take a few photographs of itself.

Moving to an area where there is a sand pit where a number of this Tiger Beetles (Cicindela aurulenta) can be found. This is another permanent resident of Upper Seletar Reservoir, but I fear that they will disappear as the sand pit is being overtaken by grass and weeds.

At the entrance of another trail, I found this first-time-encountered Leaf Beetle. It was hiding in a large patch of vegetation.

The trail was not very productive as it took me a good 15 min of walking before encountering this small 5 mm Leaf Beetle.

After walking for another 15 min without encountering any beetles, my eyes finally caught sight of this lovely patterned Chafer Beetle. This is another first-time-encountered beetle. Fabulous!

Coming to a rotten tree trunk, I finally found this colorful Fungus Beetle. This is the only Fungus Beetle that I encountered through out the trip despite the fact that there are many fallen and rotten logs along the trail.

Just when I am about to end my trip since I have been walking for another 30 minutes without encountering any other beetles, this brightly first-time-encountered beetle appeared. You can imagine how glad I am to have encounter this beetle. Not sure what beetle it is but it looked like it belongs to the Lizard Beetle family.

Moving on and after don't know how long before I encounter this tiny 2 mm beetle. It was so hyper-sensitive to movements that I could not get a nice photograph of it. Here's a blurry photograph of it as a photograph record on what beetles I have encountered. Notice the interesting looking antennae of this beetle.

After walking for another long while without encountering any beetles, I decided to turn back. And on the way back, I encountered this chocolate brown slightly hairy Leaf Beetle. This is the second time that I encounter this type of chocolate brown color Leaf Beetle.

Just before reaching the end of my trip, I found this Leaf Beetle with almost transparent elytra.

The trip has been fruitful with me finding 8 first-time-encounter beetles, but the trip was very long and at times frustrating especially when not encountering any beetles after walking for a long while. Guessed that I will continue to come to this place as long as there are still first-time-encounter beetles to be "discovered".