Saturday, August 16, 2014

Green Corridor Walk

The first time I went on Green Corridor is when LCSG organizes a cycling trip. Did the complete route from Kampong Bahru Rd to Woodlands Rd. This trip is a shorter version of the same route and is on foot. The trip start from Majilis Hang Jebat (Queenstown) to Hill View Rd.

The trip actually starts from Queensway at the bus stop just before Portsdown Ave. Unknowingly, I pass through a plot of land that is "no trepassing". I only noticed the sign board near to the Green Corridor and is facing the Green Corridor.  I should have gone to the junction between Queensway and Portsdown Ave instead.

Anyhow, it starts drizzling even before I gone onto the Green Corridor. I had to take refuge at the Hang Jebat Mosque to wait for the rain to subside. A friendly Malay wave at me just before I exit the mosque.

The very first picture taken is actually at Queensway near a car park into the plot of land. It is a White Clock Vine.


Not far from the mosque, I saw this Common Sailor.


The larger version of the untouchable Mimosa is this Catclaw Mimosa. Its name probably come from the dried fruit.



The root of this plant can be eaten. It is a Tapioca in the wild.


The Dark Band Bush Brown suddenly come in pairs as I focused on the first one. Maybe the latter thinks that it is more complete.


By the time I reached the underpass at Portsdown Ave, the rain starts to get heavier. My small umbrella just cannot cover me well enough so I took refuge under the underpass. It is quite dark in there. I stood there for about half an hour. While waiting, three animals start to visit me one by one. The first one is a House Cricket. It is probably driven out by the rain water.


The second one is a Dark Side Chorus Frog (toad). It too swims toward me. This is the first amphibian picture taken in the wild. The only other one was a Bull frog in a frog farm in Kranji. It is interesting to note that I still cannot capture a snake picture besides the one at Bedok reservoir (it is incomplete as its head is already in the drain cover). Well, there is no food so there is no predator.


The third one actually struggles to get away from the flowing water. It is wiggling all the way till it touches some plant and stopped. It then lays completely still. I guess it is out of breath. This is a black centepede.


I heaved a sigh of relief when the rain subsides again. The next picture is a Long Band Bush Brown. It is really difficult to distinguish this specie. They all looked quite alike. You can compare the last picture above and see the difference. Hint, look at the rings.


There are quite a number of my childhood favorite plant, the Buah Cheri, along the path.



The next plant is from a distance away. It is a Bignay tree with its bright orange/red fruits.


This plant looks like a Hibiscus. It is actually a Ceaser's Weed and is in the same family as Hibiscus (Malvaceae).


The Saga Seed Tree is very common in Singapore.


The Giant Taro is also very common along the path.


The Lesser Dart is a butterfly but is not noticeable by many as it is quite small and, like its name, flies very fast. It does look like a dart when resting.


This juvenile Lesser Coucal is of the cuckoo family. I got a hard time trying to identify it as most web sites shows its adult form which is very different from the young. I had to seek help from Nature Society to get it identified. There are many birds along the way. This is the only one I can take picture of.


The blue tailed dragonfly is another of the hard-to-identify-specie. Common one is blue from head to tail. This one got black head and body.


This White-leafed Fig grows just beside the track. I really don't know how its name come about.


This Malayan was originally identified as Common Hedge Blue. A member of iNaturalist corrects me to its actual name.


Another Common Sailor. This time it opens its wing.


I cannot positively identify this aged Cyclad Blue. It is just by guess work based on its remaining colors. Later, I found a photo in FB group "Butterfly of Singapore and Malaysia" saying that it is a Gram Blue. It sure looks like one.


The Peacock Pansy is very common in Singapore. It keeps coming to me so I took a picture of it.


After taking a picture of the Pansy, I realized that a small ground cover plant is just besides it. It is a Purple-leaved Buttonweed.


The Creeping Daisy is also called Singapore Daisy. It is very common.


While taking the picture, a Common Dartmet wants me to take a picture of it too. Its only slightly larger than half the Daisy flower.


Another common butterfly in Singapore is the Tawny Coaster.


Finally managed to get a picture of a female Blue Pansy. The last time I tried for half an hour but never get it to rest (at Woodlands). This one rests long enough for me to take a decent picture. The male butterfly is very much more colorful.


It will not be complete if the grasshopper does not come to show its face.


This Passion flower does not looked its best but it will do.


A pair of mating Great Swift was out of position when I saw it. They gracefully climbed upright for me to take a picture at close range.


By now I have reached Buona Vista junction. This underpass is full of colorful graffiti. It is illegal to do it but at least it is done beautifully.



The common Palmfly always looked black to me when flying. It is only after zooming in then you can see better.


There are many Lantana growing along the way too. I even took a picture of its fruit further down the path.


Butterfly Pea is also very common here. This one is the most complete flower that is very near the path.


This Giant Sensitive plant is another of the Mimosa family line. Cannot find a nice rounded flower though.


Another first time picture of a jumping spider. Before this is a lot of failed attempt to take picture of jumping spiders. This one is a Burmese Lynx Spider. It was busy feeding so did not shy away like many others. Its name come from the Lynx like hunting action.


The next underpass is at Holland Road. This underpass is also filled with graffiti but are bad ones. It is either obscene picture or word. Obviously, I won't take a picture of these toilet graffiti.

There are a few water based plants growing along the way. I think they are introduced by NParks as they were commonly found in parks.

The first one is a Arrowleaf Falsepicke Relweed. It has nice blue flowers.


The other one is a Yellow Velvetleaf. It has a nice yellow flower but forever half blooming.


There are plenty of butterflies. This one is a Silver Forget-me-not. A very small butterfly that many people did not notice.


Another introduced fruit plant is the Turkeyberry. It is native American.


Another grasshopper come to me for a picture. This one is a Little Black-knee.


I always wanted to take a picture of a Common Bluebottle. It never rests till I saw it here. It stopped probably due to the rain which is still drizzling.

By now my camera has run out of battery. I did not bring the charging cable as I did not expect to take 136 (not including discarded ones) pictures on this route. Luckily, I still have a standby camera with 5X zoom. Just hope that I do not need to take full zoom pictures any more.


Just when I was about to walk away, another grasshopper come for a show. This one is a Short-tailed Polychne. My camera just cannot get a good focus before it jumped away.


At the last overpass near Rail Mall, I found another introduced plant, the Australian Mullberry. One blogger said he tasted it and it is tasteless.


The only unidentified plant grows on the overhead bridge. It is a climber but I just could not find a similar picture of it.


On the opposite side of the overpass, I saw this Brake Fern.


The last picture is near the end of the route. It is a Orange Leafhopper (a Cicada). Since I am using the 5X camera, the maximum zoom including digital zoom still is not capable of taking a better closeup. It will do as I already have a few closeups of the same insect at other places.


The whole trip is about 10KM.

The wikiLoc route map is really not necessary as it is a straight route. I just include it here in case you are interested. I am using the Huawei phone which I had to Root and make WikiLoc a system app before I can use it normally. Some of the photos are taken with the 8 MP phone camera.

The full picasa album is here.

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