Oriental Whip snake swallowing a lizard

I stood diagonally across from this tree to take these shots of an Oriental Whip snake slowly swallowing a lizard till only the tail of the lizard was visible. It is not something I want to see again.

Dragonflies in the Singapore Botanic Gardens

Butterflies, birds and dragonflies - these are creatures I love to photograph. Butterflies,because they have colourful wings. Birds, because they are a challenge and dragonflies, because they are the easiest to photograph as they do stick around longer than the time it takes the shutter of the camera to open and close on a sunny day.

Smiling lizard

This scaly lizard was resting amongst the tall grasses unperturbed by my photography. Perhaps it was used to such attention and I was no threat.

 

 

Wallace Trail dragonflies

When I saw this dark-tipped forest -skimmer dragonfly I was so excited because it was a shade of brilliant blue and I was so afraid that it would disappear from sight before I could be satisfied with at least one photo of this winged creature. So I took this shot from a safe distance just in case.

I moved closer to the dragonfly and in the shade of the tall trees tried my best to get the camera's auto focus to hit peak performance. Unfortunately, auto-whatever or auto-anything works best only in bright sunlight, hence the not-so-sharp pictures here.

Still, it was my first encounter with this particular specie of dragonfly.

Outstanding wings!

On the side of a drain, I spotted this common forest-skimmer.

Further on, a pink dragonfly with large pink eyes was resting on a twig.

Next to it was this dragonfly with orange wings. So pretty!

A couple of dragonflies

Correct me if I am wrong about these two dragonflies that I had the good fortune to encounter one morning between Kentridge Park and the Hortpark. I think that they are the Camacinia gigantea, also known as the largest dragonflies in its class. I spotted the red one which is male at eye level on a dangling twig. Curious as to why it did not move when I approached, I discovered that it was slowly devouring a helpless insect. I wish I had a better camera with me but under the circumstances, I made do with what I had.

 The wings were well spread out as I was approaching the dragonfly.

 The dragonfly altered the wing positions ready to take-off when it felt threatened enough. As it appeared, the dragonfly was enjoying its meal so much that even when I was near enough to touch it, I was not considered a serious security threat.

 Tired of taking the back view, I went round to the front of the dragonfly. Its mouth was too full to express surprise.

 Now it is getting a little more ruffled than before.

 So I left it to enjoy the rest of the meal in peace.

 Nearby I caught sight of this female dragonfly of the same specie and it has beautiful yellow wings.

Wallace Trail creatures

Last Sunday morning, I took a walk along the Wallace Trail inside the Dairy Farm Nature Reserve. I was delighted to have seen these creatures:

A tiny butterfly that liked to hover close to the ground fluttering its wings at rapid speed. The wings had a bluish hue when they were open - really beautiful!

A group of photographers were very excited by this discovery of what one of them described as "A Christmas tree". I couldn't agree more. This is one of the strangest caterpillars I have ever seen.

I wonder what kind of butterfly it will turn into.

Near the caterpillar, a praying mantis kept very still and unafraid of the inquisitive humans going near it to take pictures.

A rugged-looking grasshopper, not like the green ones seen in our gardens and backyards.

A butterfly pausing for a moment before fluttering away.

A handsome cricket eyeing us warily.

A blue dragonfly basking in the hot sun.

Another butterfly that likes to stay at ground level.

This one was harder to photograph because it kept moving from place to place.

That was a great morning for a nature walk.