A short walk

New year eve today but had no plans to celebrate. Luckily JJ told me my lens is ready to collect and told me to meet at white sands. Man he is so efficient! Since was at the vicinity, thought of going to pasir ris park for a walk.

Termite mud tubes

Saw this plant adversely affected by galls developing on the leaves. From the pictures I took during the garden festival last week, they look similar to those caused by mites but I can't be sure. Galls are abnormal plant growths caused by insects, mites or other organisms (think they are analogous to tumours). They are formed due to increased productions of plant hormones induced by salivary secretions or damage by the organisms. Looks very gross to me. =S

Galls form on a leaf

At the mangrove boardwalk, saw the giant mudskippers again. Wonder why there were so many flies around them.

The Giant mudskipper

Almost time so turned back. Found this ball of leaves and was excited as I thought I discovered some bird nest. Looking more closely, I realised that they were instead weaver ants' nest. Finally! I've been wanting to get a shot of this but couldn't find them. Remembered Dr daren yeo said that they use their larvae to squeeze out silk like toothpaste which is used to seal leaves together. Cute analogy. But these ants remind me more of the Tekong days in BMT, where they were infamous of being damn aggressive when bump into their nest. They will climb all over you and bite a wound on the body and releasing acids from its abdomen (They do not sting). Unfortunately I felt it before and its definitely not a good experience, especially with tens or hundreds of them around the body… The only way we deal with this is to strip the person of his clothing and flap them off. Eeww, still bring the shivers...

Weaver ants' nest

Anne's dream

The Singapore Garden Festival was indeed worth the trip. Lucky I convinced myself to go. At level 6, there were many beautiful landscape designs and Blowing in the wind is my favourite, with a great message to tell, that is to "highlight the importance of valuing and conserving our rich tropical floral heritage" (as described by Far East Flora Pte Ltd, the designer). It was about a girl called Anne who stumbled into a bad dream and how she went about to save her ferns. I took a shot of its extract and typed it down below. But forgot to take 2 of the bubble worlds so can’t show the pictures here.

Blowing in the wind ~ Anne's dream

Girl posing at the dome

"Enter the dome, where Anne, beginning her dream, wanders into a dark cavern and witnesses the death throes of the trees. A surreal setting in which the surviving undergrowth scramble and mutate in order to live in a harsh and climatically-changed world. Even the ever-constant rain is acidic and of little use, only to further swamp the toxic landscape. The once-majestic Rainforest has neared it's end."

The interior of the dome. A barren habitat with some big "bubbles" each telling a small story.

"In her desperation, Anne wafts in and out of Bubble worlds trying to find a new home for her beloved Nephrolepis ferns."

Snow bubble "Can my ferns survive the Arctic cold?"

Desert bubble "Will my ferns shrivel in the harsh Sahara sun"

Underwater bubble "Can I save my ferns from drowning?"

"The sadness increases as she realises that her plants cannot do well in other strange habitat and must returned back quickly to the Rainforest in order to survive. Hope and great relief abound only when she wakes up, and she realises that her favorite ferns are still luxuriating in her backyard garden."

Anne waking up from her dream to find her ferns well in her secret garden

"It is a simple story, a brief flight of Fantasy meant to entertain and yet evoke a deep sense of loss should there come a day when the Forests have all gone. The trees which are taking pride of place in our exhibit were salvaged from reckless disposal and brought here to pose a question of heart."

"Prehaps the answers are blowing in the wind, and therefore we should seek them and heed them, before they fly away forever"

Plant infestations

At level 4, there were many booths selling plants and various other related stuffs. I happily bought 2 bird calendars and a butterfly poster from Nature Society booth. There was also this huge orchid exhibit. Damn, Didn't know that they exist in so many forms =S Also many flower arrangements that were amazing to admire at. But the only thing I was fascinated at was the small booth showing some common plant infestations. Y? Cos I finally know what pests that is bugging me for quite awhile (first picture below). So those are the bag worms.... Many others which I took below.

Could have hit myself on my head when I saw this. Its the question for my plant physio exam! If only this festival was earlier:

Kent Ridge Road walk

Staying at home for the past 2 days really makes me think of alot of negative things. Some things were just not the same again. Haiz... Anyway, some sunshine finally showed out today so I went out for some exploring again. I went into this restricted forested land near NUS (yes, I trespassed again) to see if there’s any interesting stuff inside. Definitely very wild place in there with lots of creepy crawlies. Although there’s a trail present, I kept walking into thick strings of cobwebs. But I saw one large black bird the size of a hen. Not sure what bird it was, will consult dingli when he’s back from KL. However, I was quickly turned off by those nasty mosquitoes. In just 20mins I have 15 bites all over my arm! The last straw was when an insect flew and smack right on my cheek. Gee :S I quickly turned back and walked to NUS. But think there’s much to be discovered there. Will go back next time with some insect repellent.

A nice view was this plant inflorescence of the plant Leena indica, which attracted many of these yellow butterflies and some flies and wasps.

Enlarged picture. A black wasp and a yellow jacket (left circle, body with yellow strips)? A tiny black fly on the extreme left centre.

Back at NUS, I found this orchid with beautiful white flowers on a tree. I had been suspecting that those epiphytes were orchid plants and today finally confirmed it after seeing the flowers. Its pretty surprising for me that there are actually wild orchids in abundance all around. A check on the net actually reveals that it is the most common orchid in Singapore =_=''. It was said that many of them were planted intentionally by authorities to encourage their growth. Also they bloomed when there was a sudden drop in temperature of at least 5.5oC (remembered Prof Loh saying that). All this raining probably cos their blooming now. Anyway, I went to LSlab2, thought of saying hi to Mrs Ang but sadly she was on leave. But I took some Helianthus annus seeds from another lab tech for girl who want to grow them.

Pigeon orchids, Dendrobium crumenatum on a tree near science canteen

It was still early so I thought of taking a walk at Kent Ridge Road, where I visited during one of the Biodiversity lab sessions two years back. It turned out to be a rather pleasant walk.

Red ants harvesting from scale insects

There was this clearing where there was a great view of the forest till King Edward hall and Pasir Panjang wharves. It was here that I heard the crowing of a cockatoo and found it perched high up a tree. Three swallows were also gliding in the sky like tiny aeroplanes. A pink-necked green pigeon came flying on the canopy of another nearby tree. This is my first time seeing it and the its colorful plumage is really amazing. Walking down the road, there was a sudden disturbance at the trees and I saw another large bird in brown and black streaks flew quickly past. Wow...can't catch much of it so dun think can identify.

An Tanimbar Corella (cockatoo), Cacatua goffiniana

Pink necked green pigeon, Treron vernans

Another unidentified bird

There was a pathway leading down to the Medical blocks and at the medical garden, I found out that there were actually mistletoes growing on the weeping willow.

inflorescence on a mistletoe growing on weeping willow

An intial wasted trip to the state land turns out to be not bad at Kent Ridge road instead. At least my mood improved slightly after this trip.