#02, Kranji Nature Walk

Ah, this post is pretty late. Last week, I went with Ms Wang and a group of students from River Valley to look for golden orb spiders at Kranji Nature Trail. It's a great place, except that there are mosquitoes which are very ferocious!

Anyw just to deviate from what I'm posting for a lil, I went West Coast Park with my mom today to cycle. It was pretty interesting as we saw around three species of birds, inclusive of the collared kingfisher, some long-necked bird and another unidentifiable bird species. Cooolio.

School's starting but I hope to make time for nature walks still.. So back to what Im supposed to post about...

This is the female golden orb spider, which the students were looking for. You can see the male beside it, which is very much smaller in size as compared to the female. (Read http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Golden_silk_orb-weaver for more information)

In some species, the female will eat the male, but this is by no means a common occurrence. In the species that have been studied, mating occurs while the female is fresh from her last molt; this mating generally involves the dominant male which has been with the female for several days prior to the final molt.


*Non-sticky (first) & sticky spirals

A close up of the spider. These spiders are unique because of the webs they weave. The colour of the spider silk is actually yellowish golden in sunlight.

An interesting fact about these spiders (rather gruesome):-

Some "Golden silk orb-weavers" display an almost manic fear of cockroaches. The cockroach's fast movements and large, dark shape cause some of these spiders to run from or ignore a perfectly delectable meal. "Golden silk orb-weavers" are known to sometimes be cannibalistic with spiders that are even their same size.


This looks like a banana tree to me. Banana trees do not have true stems, rather, they have pseudostems. Also, they are seedless and usually reproduce by having another pseudostem sprouting out, like this one here.. :)

Mangrove swamp during high-tide.

I think these are tree-creepers.


Mangrove roots.


This ishhh a mudskipper. It's really adapted because it can both live on land and in the water. Spotted by Ms Wang, this one was staying perfectly still, allowing me to get a shot of it. It is an amphibian and breathes through its skin/ mouth linings, & have abilities to burrow to thermoregulate (keep constant internal temperature), lay eggs, hide from predators.


This is a butterfly... not very sure of the species, will check it out if I have the time.

I also am not sure of what this is!


A grasshopperrrr. A true grasshopper. They are two types. One are the katydids and the other are the true-grasshopper. Along the way, I spotted many of these insects... in different colours. Pretty cool!



A butterfly... not sure if its species...


What rubbish! (Pun intended)


A nice insect.. not sure if its ID again. ): Lol. Has a nice gradient of black to blue and is a pretty sight whe it flies. About 4 cm long.


Spiny spider. Awwww so cute. About 1-2 cm long.


I think they are mangrove roots.


Another photograph of the spider...


Eucalyptus tree. Its said to have medicinal uses. This plant is distinct because of its long, thin leaves.


T_T Dont know the name of this plant! Will try to check it out soon.


Same plant as the one above, just a photo of the leaf patterns.


A treehopper! I like its colour...

The flowers of a water plant over at Sugei Buloh.

Baby Monitor lizard.. it was hidden among the shrubbery.

Last but not least, a photograph of a dragonfly...

I realized my posts are a little incoherent. Next time I'll try to make it flow better (: See you all some time soooon. The trip was enjoyable, I learnt more about spiiiiiders. :)

3 comments:

Joe said...

This is a great blog! In addition, these beautiful pictures...I wish I was there! :)

Please check out my blog...its new. I am adding your site to my links so I can explore it further and share it!

TS said...

The black with blue fringes insect is a moth, Pompelon marginata. Not sure abt the others though ;p

Ya I agree with Joe, ur photos are nice!

Unknown said...

wow. thanks for ID! it was really a pretty insect (:

thanks, but Im still really improving!

it's nice to visit nature places. p.s. your blog has really nice photographs too!!