4-6-2023 UBUD, BALI - STAR OF BETHLEHEM (Hippobroma longiflora)

Hippobroma longiflora, also called Star of Bethlehem or madamfate, is a flowering plant in the family Campanulaceae. It is the only species in the genus Hippobroma. It is endemic to the West Indies, but has become naturalized across the American tropics and Oceania.

It is notable for its concentrations of two pyridine alkaloids: lobeline and nicotine. The effects of nicotine and lobeline are quite similar, with psychoactive effects at small dosages and with unpleasant effects including vomiting, muscle paralysis, and trembling at higher dosages. For this reason, H. longiflora (and its various synonyms) is often referenced for both its toxicity and its ethnobotanical uses.

When uprooting this weed, it is important to wear gloves: the sap is an irritant which can be absorbed through the skin, and a small amount of sap in the eyes can cause blindness.

4-6-2023 UBUD, BALI - SCARLET SKIMMER DRAGONFLY (MALE) (Crocothemis servilia)

The scarlet skimmer or ruddy marsh skimmer, Crocothemis servilia, is a species of dragonfly of the family Libellulidae, native to east and southeast Asia and introduced to Jamaica, Florida, and Hawaii.

It is a medium sized blood-red dragonfly with a thin black line along the mid-dorsal abdomen. Its eyes are blood-red above, purple laterally. Thorax is bright ferruginous, often blood-red on dorsum. Abdomen is blood-red, with a narrow black mid-dorsal carina. Anal appendages are blood-red. Female is similar to the male; but with olivaceous-brown thorax and abdomen. The black mid-dorsal carina is rather broad.

It breeds in ponds, ditches, marshes, open swamps and rice fields.

4-6-2023 UBUD, BALI - JUNGLE FLAME (Ixora coccinea)

Ixora coccinea (also known as jungle geranium, flame of the woods or jungle flame or pendkuli) is a species of flowering plant in the family Rubiaceae. It is a common flowering shrub native to Southern India, Bangladesh, and Sri Lanka. It has become one of the most popular flowering shrubs in South Florida gardens and landscapes. It is the national flower of Suriname.[citation needed] Commercially important medicinal plant, used in ayurveda. All parts including flower, leaves and root are taken for various medicinal preparations for skin disease, Diabetes etc.

4-6-2023 UBUD, BALI - BRACKET FUNGI (Ganoderma lobatum)

Ganoderma lobatum is a fungal plant pathogen.

 

4-6-2023 UBUD, BALI - HAIRY WATER LILY (Nymphaea pubescens)

The hairy water lily (\(Nymphaea\) \(pubescens\)) is an aquatic plant native to Africa and Asia with large, round, and slightly hairy leaves that have wavy edges. Its showy flowers, which range from white to pink, mauve, or purple, are about 15 cm wide, often close during the day, and open at night. It thrives in shallow, still water and is used for ornamental purposes, traditional medicine, and its ecological benefits, such as providing shade and shelter for aquatic life. 

Appearance Leaves: Large, round leaves (15-26 cm wide, sometimes up to 50 cm) with wavy, toothed edges that float on the water. The underside of the leaves is densely covered in tiny hairs. Some leaves can also rise slightly above the water's surface.Flowers: Large, fragrant flowers that can be up to 15 cm in diameter when fully open.

Color: Flower colors vary, ranging from white to pink, mauve, or purple depending on the variety.Stems: The plant has thick underground stems called rhizomes that anchor it to the mud, and slender stolons that help it spread. 

4-6-2023 UBUD, BALI - RED WATER LILY (Nymphaea rubra)

 Nymphaea rubra is a species of plants with 1179 observations

4-6-2023 UBUD, BALI - AUTUMN LEAF BUTTERFLY (Doleschallia bisaltide)

Doleschallia bisaltide, the autumn leaf, is a nymphalid butterfly found in South Asia, Southeast Asia, and Australasia. In Australia it is also known as the leafwing.

 

4-6-2023 UBUD, BALI - DARK BRANDED BUSH BROWN BUTTERFLY (Mycalesis mineus)

Wet-season form: Upperside dark Vandyke brown; forewings and hindwings with slender subterminal and terminal pale lines. Forewing with a single white-centred, fulvous-ringed, black ocellus, generally set in a square pale area, in interspace 2, occasionally a similar smaller ocellus without any pale surrounding area in interspace 5. Hindwing uniform sometimes with one or two obscure postmedian ocelli. Underside: ground colour similar; forewings and hindwings crossed by a transverse dusky-white discal band, well-defined inwardly, diffuse outwardly, followed by a postdiscal series of ocelli surrounded by a dusky-yellowish, sometimes purplish white, line; the ocelli are similar to the ocelli on the upperside, and vary from two to four on the forewing and from five to seven (the preapical two being sometimes obsolescent) on the hindwing; of these latter the posterior four, not three as in Mycalesis perseus, are in a straight line; finally, beyond the rows of ocelli on both wings there are pale or purplish-white subterminal and terminal sinuous lines.

Dry-season form: Upperside similar to that in the wet-season form, but paler. Underside from ochraceous brown to dusky brown of a darker shade; basal half of the wings conspicuously darker than the outer portions; the whole surface irrorated (sprinkled) with fine brown striae; sometimes a distinct dark discal band crosses both wings; ocelli nearly obsolete, indicated by minute white specks, the posterior four on the hindwing in a straight line as in the wet-season form. Antennae, head, thorax and abdomen brown; the club of the antennae with black and ochraceous marks. Male sex-mark in form 1 as in M. perseus, but the patch of specialized scales on the underside of the forewing half as large again.

 

4-6-2023 UBUD, BALI - MEXICAN RUELLIA (Ruellia simplex)

Ruellia simplex, the Mexican petunia, Mexican bluebell or Britton's wild petunia, is a species of flowering plant in the family Acanthaceae. It is a native of Mexico, the Caribbean, and South America. It has become a widespread invasive plant in Florida, where it was likely introduced as an ornamental before 1933, as well as in the eastern Mediterranean, South Asia and other parts of the eastern hemisphere.

 

4-6-2023 UBUD, BALI - RED BUTTON GINGER (Costus woodsonii)

 Costus woodsonii, the red button ginger or scarlet spiral flag, is a species of flowering plant in the family Costaceae, native to Nicaragua, Costa Rica, Panama, and Colombia. A rhizomatous geophytic perennial, it is recommended for coastal gardens, borders, containers, and general wet, tropical garden applications.

3-6-2023 UBUD, BALI - SWAMPWATCHER DRAGONFLY (Potamarcha congener)

Potamarcha congener is common through much of its range, which stretches through parts of South Asia, South-East Asia, and Oceania, including in countries such as India, Indonesia, China, Australia, and Vietnam. Owing to its wide distribution, the species has been classified as Least Concern by the International Union for Conservation of Nature.

Potamarcha congener, known as a yellow-tailed ashy skimmer, common chaser, or swampwatcher, is a medium-sized dragonfly with a bluish black thorax and yellow tail with black markings. Face is olivaceous yellow to steel black or brown. Eyes are reddish brown above and bluish grey below. In male adults, the thorax and first four segments of the abdomen are covered with bluish pruinescence. In young adults, yellow markings are visible through the pruinescence. The rest of the abdomen is black with orange markings, with the last two segments entirely black. The female thorax has yellow and black stripes on the sides. The abdomen is black with dull orange markings, and has prominent flaps on each side of segment eight. The flaps may serve to hold the eggs in place during oviposition.

This dragonfly is found in terrestrial areas with standing water. This can include near small ponds, rice fields or marshes where it breeds.

 

14-5-2023 PULAU UBIN, SINGAPORE - BEACH SPIDER LILY (Hymenocallis littoralis)

 Hymenocallis littoralis, commonly known as the beach spider lily, is a species of plant in the amaryllis family Amaryllidaceae. It is native to warmer coastal regions of Latin America and a widely cultivated and naturalized plant in many tropical countries.

14-5-2023 PULAU UBIN, SINGAPORE - BAMBOO ORCHID (Arundina graminifolia)

 Arundina graminifolia is a species of orchid and the sole accepted species of the genus Arundina. This tropical Asiatic genus extends from Myanmar, India, Sri Lanka, Nepal, Thailand, Vietnam, the Ryukyu Islands, Malaysia, Singapore, China to Indonesia, the Philippines and New Guinea. It has become naturalized in Réunion, Fiji, French Polynesia, Micronesia, the West Indies, Costa Rica, Panama, Belize, and Hawaii.

14-5-2023 PULAO UBIN, SINGAPORE - CREPE GINGER (Hellenia speciosa)

Cheilocostus speciosus, or crêpe ginger, is a species of flowering plant in the family Costaceae. Some botanists have now revived the synonym Hellenia speciosa for this species.

It is native to southeast Asia and surrounding regions, from India to China to Queensland, It is especially common on the Greater Sunda Islands in Indonesia. It is also reportedly naturalized in Puerto Rico, Mauritius, Réunion, Fiji, Hawaii, Costa Rica, Belize, Melanesia, Micronesia, and the West Indies. It is widely cultivated as an ornamental.

14-5-2023 PULAU UBIN, SINGAPORE - TORCH GINGER (Etlingera elatior)

Etlingera elatior (also known as torch ginger, ginger flower, red ginger lily, torchflower, torch lily, wild ginger, combrang, kecombrang, bunga kantan, Philippine wax flower, Indonesian tall ginger, boca de dragón, rose de porcelaine, dala , and porcelain rose) is a species of herbaceous perennial plant in the family Zingiberaceae; it is native to Thailand, Malesia and New Guinea.

In North Sumatra (especially among the Karo people), the flower buds are used for a stewed fish dish called Arsik ikan mas (Andaliman/Sichuan pepper-spiced carp). In Bali, people use the white part of the bottom part of the trunk for cooking chilli sauce called "Sambal Bongkot", and use the flower buds to make chilli sauce called "Sambal Kecicang".

In Thailand, it is eaten in a kind of Thai salad preparation. In Malaysia, the flower is an essential ingredient in cooking the fish broth for a kind of spicy sour noodle soup called "Asam Laksa" (AKA "Penang Laksa"), in the preparation of a kind of salad called Kerabu and many other Malay dishes. The fruit is also used in Indonesian cooking.

The showy pink flowers are used in decorative arrangements, and are an important ingredient across Southeast Asia.

14-5-2023 PULAU UBIN, SINGAPORE - ZEBRA DOVE (Geopelia striata)

The zebra dove (Geopelia striata), also known as the barred ground dove, or barred dove, is a species of bird of the dove family, Columbidae, native to Southeast Asia. They are small birds with a long tail, predominantly brownish-grey in colour with black-and-white barring. The species is known for its pleasant, soft, staccato cooing calls.

 

14-5-2023 PULAU UBIN, SINGAPORE - SOUTHEAST ASIAN WATER MONITOR (Varanus salvator ssp. macromaculatus)

 Varanus salvator macromaculatus is a subspecies of reptiles with 6562 observations

14-5-2023 PULAU UBIN, SINGAPORE - HOUSE CROW (Corvus splendens)

The house crow (Corvus splendens), also known as the Indian, greynecked, Ceylon or Colombo crow, is a common bird of the crow family that is of Asian origin but now found in many parts of the world, where they arrived assisted by shipping. It is between the jackdaw and the carrion crow in size (40 cm (16 in) in length) but is slimmer than either. The forehead, crown, throat and upper breast are a richly glossed black, whilst the neck and breast are a lighter grey-brown in colour. The wings, tail and legs are black. There are regional variations in the thickness of the bill and the depth of colour in areas of the plumage.

In the New World, a small population of house crows is established in the area around St. Petersburg, Florida. As of April 2009, the introduced population of house crows in Socotra Island, Yemen, has been eradicated to avoid negative ecological effects to endemic species of Socotra.

It is associated with human settlements throughout its range, from small villages to large cities. In Singapore, there was a density of 190 birds/km2 in 2001 with efforts to suppress the population in planning.

Due to a human population explosion in the areas it inhabits, this species has also proportionately multiplied. Being an omnivorous scavenger has enabled it to thrive in such circumstances.

House crows roost communally near human habitations and often over busy streets. A study in Singapore found that the preferred roost sites were in well-lit areas with a lot of human activity, close to food sources and in tall trees with dense crowns that were separated from other trees. The roost sites were often enclosed by tall buildings. Before flying into roost trees, crows make pre-roosting aggregations perched on TV antennas, roof tops, wayside trees, open fields, and feed or preen during this time.

14-5-2023 PULAU UBIN, SINGAPORE - SHORT WINGED RICE GRASSHOPPER (Pseudoxya diminuta)

Pseudoxya diminuta is a species of grasshopper in the monotypic genus Pseudoxya (subfamily Oxyinae).

This species occurs in Indochina, Malesia, and southern China. The holotype is a male from Yunnan, China.

 

14-5-2023 PULAU UBIN, SINGAPORE - SULTAN DRAGONFLY (Camacinia gigantea)

Camacinia gigantea is a species of insects with 603 observations

 

18-6-2023 VILLALONGA SERPIS, VALENCIA - SPECKLED WOOD BUTTERFLY (Pararge aegeria)

Europe and Asia, and also parts of Africa. It is resident in much of its range, but some populations from the more northern parts migrate southwards in autumn. A bird of wetland areas, it can be seen around lakes, rivers, ponds, marshes and on the sea coast. It feeds mostly on aquatic creatures which it catches after standing stationary beside or in the water, or stalking its prey through the shallows.
 

17-6-2023 GANDIA SERPIS, VALENCIA - GREY HERON (Ardea cinerea)

The grey heron (Ardea cinerea) is a long-legged wading bird of the heron family, Ardeidae, native throughout temperate Europe and Asia, and also parts of Africa. It is resident in much of its range, but some populations from the more northern parts migrate southwards in autumn. A bird of wetland areas, it can be seen around lakes, rivers, ponds, marshes and on the sea coast. It feeds mostly on aquatic creatures which it catches after standing stationary beside or in the water, or stalking its prey through the shallows.

Standing up to 1 metre (3 ft 3 in) tall, adults weigh from 1 to 2 kg (2 to 4 lb). They have a white head and neck with a broad black stripe that extends from the eye to the black crest. The body and wings are grey above and the underparts are greyish-white, with some black on the flanks. The long, sharply pointed beak is pinkish-yellow and the legs are brown.

The birds breed colonially in spring in heronries, usually building their nests high in trees. A clutch of usually three to five bluish-green eggs is laid. Both birds incubate the eggs for around 25 days, and then both feed the chicks, which fledge when 7-8 weeks old. Many juveniles do not survive their first winter, but if they do, they can expect to live for about 5 years.

In Ancient Egypt, the deity Bennu was depicted as a heron in New Kingdom artwork. In Ancient Rome, the heron was a bird of divination. Roast heron was once a specially prized dish; when George Neville became Archbishop of York in 1465, 400 herons were served to the guests.

 

17-6-2023 GANDIA SERPIS, VALENCIA - SPOTTED FLYCATCHER (Muscicapa striata)

The spotted flycatcher (Muscicapa striata) is a small passerine bird in the Old World flycatcher family. It breeds in most of Europe and in the Palearctic to Siberia, and is migratory, wintering in Africa and south western Asia. It is declining in parts of its range.

This is an undistinguished looking bird with long wings and tail. The adults have grey-brown upperparts and whitish underparts, with a streaked crown and breast, giving rise to the bird's common name. The legs are short and black, and the bill is black and has the broad but pointed shape typical of aerial insectivores. Juveniles are browner than adults and have spots on the upperparts.

Spotted flycatchers hunt from conspicuous perches, making sallies after passing flying insects, and often returning to the same perch. Their upright posture is characteristic.

Most passerines moult their primary flight feathers in sequence beginning near the body and proceeding outwards along the wing. The spotted flycatcher is unusual in replacing the outer flight feathers before those nearer the body.

The flycatcher's call is a thin, drawn out soft and high pitched tssssseeeeeppppp, slightly descending in pitch.

They are birds of deciduous woodlands, parks and gardens, with a preference for open areas amongst trees. They build an open nest in a suitable recess, often against a wall, and will readily adapt to an open-fronted nest box. 4-6 eggs are laid.

Most European birds cannot discriminate between their own eggs and those of other species. The exception to this are the hosts of the common cuckoo, which have had to evolve this skill as a protection against that nest parasite. The spotted flycatcher shows excellent egg recognition, and it is likely that it was once a host of the cuckoo, but became so good at recognising the intruder's eggs that it ceased to be victimised. A contrast to this is the dunnock, which appears to be a recent cuckoo host, since it does not show any egg discrimination.

17-6-2023 GANDIA SERPIS, VALENCIA - EUROPEAN GOLDFINCH (Carduelis carduelis)

The European goldfinch or simply the goldfinch (Carduelis carduelis) is a small passerine bird in the finch family that is native to Europe, North Africa and western and central Asia. It has been introduced to other areas, including Australia, New Zealand and Uruguay.

The breeding male has a red face with black markings around the eyes, and a black-and-white head. The back and flanks are buff or chestnut brown. The black wings have a broad yellow bar. The tail is black and the rump is white. Males and females are very similar, but females have a slightly smaller red area on the face.

The goldfinch is often depicted in Italian Renaissance paintings of the Madonna and Child.

The European goldfinch is native to Europe, North Africa, and western and central Asia. It is found in open, partially wooded lowlands and is a resident in the milder west of its range, but migrates from colder regions. It will also make local movements, even in the west, to escape bad weather. It has been introduced to many areas of the world. It was introduced to Bermuda, Canada, the United States, Mexico, Peru, Argentina, Chile, the Falkland Islands, Uruguay, Brazil, South Africa, Australia, and New Zealand in the 19th century, and their populations quickly increased and their range expanded greatly. In Australia, they now occur from Brisbane to the Eyre Peninsula, and are also spread throughout New Zealand. In the United States, they have become established in the western Great Lakes region.

The nest is built entirely by the female and is generally completed within a week. The male accompanies the female, but does not contribute. The nest is neat and compact and is generally located several metres above the ground, hidden by leaves in the twigs at the end of a swaying branch. It is constructed of mosses and lichens and lined with plant down such as that from thistles. It is attached to the twigs of the tree with spider silk. A deep cup prevents the loss of eggs in windy weather.

14-5-2023 PULAU UBIN, SINGAPORE - COMMON LEOPARD BUTTERFLY (Phalanta phalantha)

Phalanta phalantha, the common leopard or spotted rustic, is a sun-loving butterfly of the nymphalid or brush-footed butterfly family.

The butterfly is found in Subsaharan Africa and southern Asia (including India, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, and Myanmar) in a number of subspecies.