Night Walk At Pasir Ris Park (05 Aug 2016)

I was wondering what sort of beetles will I find at the mangrove and so I decided to head for the Pasir Ris Park's mangrove for the night macro photography session. Here's a photograph of a Oriental Whip Snake (Ahaetulla prasina) found at the mangrove.

The first beetle for the trip was a commonly encountered Chafer Beetle (Adoretus compressus). There were several of this beetle encountered during the trip.

Near to the Adoretus compressus Chafer Beetle was another Chafer Beetle hidden under some low bushes.

Walking further down the trail, another commonly encountered Chafer Beetle (Apogonia expeditionis) was found on a half eaten leaf.

The surprise find for the night was this Tortoiseshell Beetle (Laccoptera nepalensis).

Near to the Tortoiseshell Beetle was a colony of this lovely orange color Leaf Beetle. It was interesting to find so many of them in one location.

Just next to the colony of Leaf Beetle was a lovely Ladybird Beetle (Heteroneda recticulata).

Moving closer to the mangrove, I found several of this small 5 mm bronze color Leaf Beetle.

Reaching the end of the stretch of low vegetation, this Chafer Beetle (Maladera castanea) was found hiding under a hairy leaf.

At the edge of the low vegetation was this skittish Sweet Potato Weevil (Cylas formicarius), which flew off after only two photographs of it.

The low vegetation gave way to a row of small trees that lined the walking path and on one of the trees was this lone 1 mm Fungus Beetle.

On another tree was this Fungus Weevil (Eucorynus crassicornis). I am surprised to find it on a healthy tree as they were usually encountered on fallen logs or dead trees.

On the same tree was this 3 mm Darkling Beetle.

Just a stone's throw from the entrance of the mangrove boardwalk was this Tiger Beetle (Cicindela aurulenta). I always enjoy photographing Tiger Beetles at night as they remained very still and thus allowing very close macro photographs to be taken.

I was not expecting to find many beetles at the mangrove and sure enough, I only find this type of small 4 mm Darkling Beetle on the boardwalk railings and no other beetles.

The last beetle for the trip was a Spiny Leaf Beetle found on a blade of grass near to another entrance.

Although the walk at the mangrove was pretty boring as there are not many critters encountered besides the Weaver Ants (Oecophylla smaragdina) which could be seen all over the mangrove boardwalk, the trip is still a fruitful one as I am able to photograph a few interesting beetles and to test out my twin-flash macro-setup.

Night Walk At Pasir Ris Park (21 May 2016)

It been a while that I went macro photography with my friend HW and so we decided to go to Pasir Ris Park for a night macro photography session together. The most interesting encounter for the night was the sighting of this crab on a leaf. Although there is a mangrove area at Pasir Ris Park, this particular crab are easily 50 meters from the nearest body of water that I am aware of.

The first beetle for the trip was a small 5 mm Chafer Beetle. This beetle looks like the Maladera castanea Chafer Beetle but differs in that it is almost half in size and has translucent elytra. The weather must be right for this beetle as I found a number of this beetle during the trip.

Near to the Chafer Beetle was another commonly encountered Chafer Beetle (Adoretus compressus) resting on a leaf.

Although this is a commonly encountered Tiger Beetle (Cicindela auarulenta) at Pasir Ris Park, it has been a long time that I last come across them aggregated in large number within a small area.  On this trip, the place was full of them and you see them almost everywhere you turn. This is how they looked when they aggregate in large number.

This time round we started off from our usual end-point where the MRT Line ends. Not sure what is going on there, but there were quite a bit of construction activities going at the spot that we usually find different beetles. Thankfully for this trip, we were still able to find several of the usual residents at the spot, such as this metallic bronze colored 5 mm Leaf Beetle, moving actively on a leaf.

Close to the Leaf Beetle was another commonly encountered beetle at the spot, a Sweet Potato Weevil (Cylas formicarius). Do pardon the poorly taken photograph as for some strange reason, the lighting just didn't turn out right even though I didn't change any of the camera or flash setting.

The highlight of the trip is the encounter of this lovely Tortoiseshell Beetle (Laccoptera nepalensis).

Walking further down the track, I was thrilled to find this 20 mm Darkling Beetle.

On a small tree nearby was this small 1 mm Darkling Beetle.

At a patch of tall grass, HW and I were busily photographing this commonly encountered Chafer Beetle (Apogonia expeditionis). The reason why we were interested in this common Chafer Beetle was that both of us were testing out our new macro rig. HW was testing out his collapsible flash diffuser that has a built-in LED focusing light, and I was once again testing out my old dual arm flash macro rig. The interest in this particular type of beetle was because of its shiny elytra which is a good test of the flash diffuser.

Just a meter from the Chafer Beetle was this small 15 mm Long Horned Beetle, which we almost missed out while focusing on the Apogonia expeditionis Chafer Beetle.

After a while of walking, I was glad to find this small 8 mm Click Beetle (Xanthopenthes schawalleri) hiding in a crevice at the base of a big tree.

On the same tree was a 8 mm Darkling Beetle.

The last beetle for the trip was a smaller 3 mm Darkling Beetle.

Although there were no first-time-encountered beetle for this trip, I am happy that I am able to field-test my dual-arm flash mcaro rig. I am pretty satisfied with the results of the photographs except for the need to adjust the arms due to my walking movements. I guessed I will need to get a stronger dual-arm flash rig.

Night Walk At Pasir Ris Park (30 Oct 2015)

I have been looking forward to the night to test out my DIY filter using the TTL mode of my speedlite flash due to the not so good results of the manual mode in the previous trip. I decided to go to the Pasir Ris Park as it is a convenient place for me. When I reached the place, I was surprised to find the place not as dry as expected; the vegetation looks very much alive as compared to my previous trip to the place.

I am glad that the resident Painted Bronzeback Snake (Dendrelaphis pictus) is still around the area.

An interesting encounter was this 15 cm centipede having its dinner on a blade of grass.

The first beetle encountered was a Chafer Beetle (Apogonia expeditionis). Many of this type of beetle were encountered during the trip.

Close to the Chafer Beetle (Apogonia expeditionis) was another commonly encountered Chafer Beetle (Adoretus compressus).

After walking for another 10 minutes without finding any other beetles (except the Apogonia expeditionis and compressed Adoretus Chafer Beetle), I was glad to encounter this Apogonia aequabilis Chafer Beetle.

More walking without finding any beetle, until I came to a small tree where there was a small colony of this type of beetle.

Some more walking until I reached the place where there is a healthy colony of Tiger Beetles (Cicindela aurulenta).

On a small tree near to the Tiger Beetle was a small 3 mm Darkling Beetle.

On the same tree were several of small 2 mm beetles.

On a nearby tree was a lone Fungus Weevil (Eucorynus crassicornis).

On the same tree were also several 5 mm Darkling Beetles.

The highlight of the trip was the encounter with this small 3 mm first-time-encountered cream colored Leaf Beetle.

Sadly, the place has some new constructions going on and a large portion is where I usually find different kind of beetles (especially Tortoiseshell Beetles). Nevertheless, I still managed to find this small 5 mm Sweet Potato Weevil (Cylas formicarius) on a plant.

The last beetle for the trip was this black and brown Chafer Beetle.

Although I was not expecting this trip to be fruitful, the results was worse than previous trips because of the constructions that were going on at the place. I sincerely hoped that the constructions would not destroy the habitat of the Tortoiseshell Beetle found at the place.

Night Walk At Pasir Ris Park (21 Aug 2015)

The weather was very dry and the chances of finding beetles to photograph would be lower. Driven by the eagerness of wanting to test out a new combination of diffusers, I decided to go to Pasir Ris Park for a night macro session as it is pretty convenient for me using public transport to get there.

The place was dry like a bone and I am already perspiring profusely while setting up my camera. In my mind, I am expecting one of those sweaty fruitless trip. Fortunately, my focus of this trip is more to field test the flash diffusers and so I would be happy as long as the photographs turned out right. Here is a photograph of a cicada emerged from its late nymph stage. I often see the empty cicada molt on my photography sessions and seldom came across cicada emerging, it was indeed a treat for the night.

The first beetle of the trip was a Chafer Beetle (Adoretus compressus) resting on a leaf. There were many of this type of beetle at the place.

Near to the Adoretus compressus Chafer Beetle was this Chafer Beetle (Apogonia expeditionis), which I found on a dead leaf on the ground. Like the Adoretus compressus Chafer Beetle, the place was teeming with the Apogonia expeditionis Chafer Beetle.

Besides the Adoretus compressus Chafer Beetle and Apogonia expeditionis Chafer Beetle, no other beetles were encountered. Only after a good 15 min of walking before I found this Chafer Beetle (Maladera castanea) on a low Acacia tree (Acacia auriculiformis). Interestingly, there were dozens of them on this small tree.

More walking without seeing any beetles, I was almost wanting to give up and call it a day when this large Chafer Beetle (Phyllophaga marginalis) was seen on a tall bush by the side of a walking path.

Further down the path was a colony of Tiger Beetle (Cicindela aurulenta). Curiously, this is the only type of Tiger Beetle that I found in the night for all my night walks. Not sure where do the other types of Tiger Beetle sleep in the night.

The next beetle was a small 5 mm Darkling Beetle found next to the emerged Cicada at the beginning of the post.

Coming to some Sea Hibiscus (Talipariti tiliaceum), I eagerly looked for a type of small 3 mm Leaf Beetle that I often found on them.

Some more walking before encountering this tiny 2 mm beetle on a tree trunk.

Walking through a stretch of tall Elephant Grass (Pennisetum purpureum), I found a spot where there were some creepers and among the leaves was this LadyBird Beetle (Henosepitachna implicata).

Just when I was reaching the exit, a small 5 mm Leaf Beetle was spotted on a low plant.

Near to the Leaf Beetle were several of this strange looking Sweet PotatoWeevil (Clyas formicarius).

The last beetle was a Tortoiseshell Beetle (Laccoptera nepalensis).

Although the number of beetles found on this trip was small as compared to previous trip, it was still a good trip as I am able to test out my latest flash diffuser setup. Appreciate your comments on the flash diffuser lighting and suggestions on how to improve it further.