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EARTH DAY 22ND APRIL SUNDAY @ SBG

BWV

Meet Harrry the Monster caterpillar

"Hai!", Harrry the super hairy caterpillar

"I'm chillin out on this cool wooden railing...quite on my own..."

"...'cause my caterpillar friends think im freakin big & scary, probably due to the very many hairs i've got all over my freakin big body that turns them & even those dare devil predators off!"

Unknown to Harrry, there are other loners around as well. Perhaps they prefer to chill out or move around alone (you know how tough it can get moving in a mob especially if you & your peers have 100 or more legs);

Or perhaps it's way better staking out prey by yourself - imagine having to compete with your peers for food when food is hard to find, & if you are extremely hungry (& most likely grumpy), not to mention it's so not easy to spot things in the dark

OR your food (e.g. algae, lichen, fungi, plants, pet food) doesn't really move about much so lucky for this guy, he can afford to take his own sweet time to slime around the forest
('guy', 'he' & 'his' are generic terms of reference, not specific to the male sex)

"What da?" to us but "Woo Hoo!" for these snails, they were gathered here for a super duper feast of pet food left on the pavement by some kind soul, who became an unexpected snail saver

OR you simply like to act stickily pretty...

OR just need a rest from all that restless flying about...

OR it's more effective for your body colour to merge with the background to avoid starving predators...how would you like it if your hyperactive peers scurry around impatiently, attracting unwanted attention while you are hard at work trying to stay still & camouflage?
Just check out these guys below,

But of course, these Giant Forest Ants are of a different league - they are naturally colonial & instinctively, have the capacity to tolerate living in a roomy ant nest with a large major extended family. ANyway, these guys seemed to be on a mission to transport the babies to God knows where...GOOD LUCK ANTS!

Bad Bird Behaviour

A woodpecker (Common Goldenbacked) attempting to break into a vehicle?? Hmm..i wonder what's in the car..worms? *shrugs* Didnt manage to snoop around to check out as i was beginning to look like a 'suspicious' character loitering around the parked car..eeekks! Oh btw this was at Pasir Ris Park Carpark C (where the preserved mangroves are) where many bird species were reportedly spotted by visitors & the stall uncle. P.S. incidentally there were few others e.g. Oriole, Asian Koel & 3 Hanging Parrots nearby when i was filming this guy!


White crested Laughing Thrush busy thrashing about & messing up the forest floor (BBNP) early in the morn. Not notorious, just its normal foraging behaviour as it flips dead leaves & twigs in search of bugs & yummy yum yums crawling under. Real cute guy which allowed me to go real close without getting scared out of its wits heheh


The Elusive Straw Headed Bulbul - a melodious forest bird that frequents BBNP.
Really couldnt spot the guy or guys calling! Eventually we caught sight of 2 on a tree behind..i missed a shot while fumbling to change from movie to snap mode *roll eyes*

I see (more than) seashells on the seashore

Pasir Ris...not just a fisherman's village...
(the following animals & litter featured are just the tip of the sandberg)

Olive whelk (Nassarius olivaceus) with hitch hiking barnacles

Peanut worm (Phascolosoma arcuata)

An angry frothing Stone/Thunder Crab (Myomenippe hardwikii)

Snapping/Pistol Shrimp (Family Alpheidae)...check out those cute beady eyes (* . *)

UI Octopus (Family Octopodidae)..you can spot the teeny weeny chromatophores
that are oh-so-important for its 1st line of defence i.e. Camouflage!

UI Marine Leech...i've never encountered 1 at the seashore before
...eewww..where are my leech socks??

Can you imagine living in such a plasticky-glassy-
stinky-grossy-messy-sucky HOME??!!
No wonder people say:
"Pasir Ris got things (as in marine life) to see meh??? blink blank look*"

*All animals, plants, algae 'caught' were gently placed back in their original (super polluted) habitat; none managed to sneak into people's homes.

Lizzies Delight

Spotted House Gecko

Not so common in houses now anymore
Click!
Click Click!

Marbled Forest Slender-toed Gecko
Pretty reddish brown eyes with blue eye shadow, slender toes
Click!
Click click!

Dwarf Gecko
The short limbed one
Click!

Green Crested Lizard
Stunning bright green with bluish tinge on head;
species threatened to be replaced by Changeable Lizard
Click!

Sun skink

Clouded monitor
Click!

Maritime gecko
Click!

Water monitor sun tan

All you ever wanted to know about our very own Colugo!

The COLUGO book by Draco Publishing and NUS is finally out...

COLUGO: The Flying Lemur of South-east Asia. Norman Lim.

The book launch is on 3rd Feb (Sat) at Nature's Niche and it is now going for a special price of S$20 (without DVD) and S$30 (with DVD). After the launch, the book will be sold at Nature's Niche, Kinokuniya, etc. for S$25.20 (without DVD) and S$37.80 (with DVD). Keen to check out Colugo calling & gliding? Grab the version with DVD, which include a sound clip of the Colugo calling, video clips of its natural behaviour in the wild and of course, gliding sequences.

Upcoming BWV ReefTalk Sat 30 Sept