Creatures from the swamp

 didn't mean the famous Swampthing shown on TV during childhood when I refer to creatures from the swamp. The creatures are the habitants found in the swampy region of the Pasir Ris Park.

The photograph below shows a mudskipper :

The rest of the 4 consecutive photographs features crabs, ranging from huge ones to smaller versions. They were taken with our digital camera's zoom-in function :

Ulam Raja / Pelampong (Scientific Name : Cosmos caudatus Kunth)

When we visited the Pasir Ris Park recently, we spotted another breed of cosmos flower growing amongst the Orange Cosmos.

This version of the Cosmos flower is in ombre pink (meaning that there's is a graduation of white to pink on its petals).


Not unlike its orange counterpart, the pink cosmos flower attracts both butterflies & bees as shown in the photograph below:


Based on National Park's Flora & Fuana Web, this breed of flower's scientific name is known as the Cosmos caudatus Kunth.

It is also commonly known as Ulam Raja or Pelampong and its leaves were known to be of medicinal value e.g. it is used to increase blood circulation in traditional medicine in the South East Asia.

Its leaves were also consumed as a vegetable in Malay cuisine.

Golden Trumpet Flowering Climber (Scientific Name : Allamanda cathartica)

This is a flower that is pretty commonly found in nurseries and even at some public places.

HIBISCUS (Different breeds)

Hibiscus flowers are a common sight found in the private gardens of homes & nurseries all year round.

I've tried my luck on Hibiscus but they were tough on me & would usually die off as they require alot of sunlight. The nurseries had also advised me that Hibiscus plants are prone to diseases and not advisable for homes that do not receive much sunlight.
(Rule of thumb: Flowering plants require adequate sunlight to survive & bloom)


The Hawaiian Salmon
As I couldn't find the breed of this Hibiscus flowering plant from the National Park's website, I've looked elsewhere & found that it's known as the Hawaiian Salmon.





The colour of such breeds of Hibiscus does look like the meat of cooked salmon. They are characterised by hanging multi-coloured flowers & are fast growing. According to sources, they are good for outdoors.

Hibiscus schizopetalus

To start with, we didn't know that this was also a breed of Hibiscus because the flowers looked nothing like the typical Hibiscus.



The Schizopetalus Hibiscus was said to be a weeping tree hibiscus. Its flowers are characterised by a parachute-like appearance and can be identified by the dangling stamen and lacy petals. It does look like a pretty, red chinese lantern, which explains why it is also commonly known as the Chinese Lantern / Japanese Lantern.

A less desirable nickname is the Skeleton Hibiscus.

Don't you think that these flowers look like pretty chinese lanterns with tassels & dangling from the branches?


When we first spotted the plant at Pasir Ris Park, it looked quite pathetic although there were plenty of freshly bloomed flowers. Its stature resembled nothing like what we have seen in the photograph attached below. The photograph's version of the Hibiscus looked really healthy with good growth of green leaves.



The version in Pasir Ris Park looked neglected & quite "bare", to the extent that there were only 3 to 4 stalks of leaves on the stem even though there were 5 hibiscus flowers growing from it.

The buds of these blooms resembled smooth-skinned peanuts as shown in the photograph below:


More photographs of the red lanterns


 

The Chinese lantern being flanked by another breed of Hibiscus:

Horses

HORSESThere's a permanent stable of horses that had been stationed at the Pasir Ris Park where riding lessons were being conducted by qualified instructors.

As there were no lessons being conducted while we were loitering around those horses, we took a few snapshots of them while they were "off-duty"






For those who haven't seen horse stools before, here comes a photograph of it. Guaranteed to make anyone puke! Yuks!



Just looking at the photograph would have made anybody's stomach turn. Needless to say, it stank!
We came across another chestnut coloured horse in the ring.  The horse was lazing around, flipping its tail to ward off flying insects,



and probabbly nodding off to sleep soon...






Finally, lying down sideways in the sand to sleep:

Fishes & Tadpoles

FISHES
My hubby had to use fish food to lure these fishes up to the surface of the water in the pool @ Pasir Ris park.

It could be quite a challenge as the fishes were all quite shy & he had many "NG" photographs too!

The first candidate to be featured here in this thread is a 6 inches cichlid who resembled an edible fish known as the Tilapia which is typically sold in supermarkets here in Singapore such as NTUC fairprice.

It's a fish that is supposedly good for those with poor liver health (and skin) & when taken on the long run, there are no side effects.

However, we are not sure if this 6-inch cichlid was a tilapia.

One thing for sure is that it's really camera shy.





This is a last shot of the 6 inch cichlid gobbling up his food in a swift finishing stroke before he darts deep down into the pool, going into hiding again.



Swordtail fishes are my hubby's favourites becox he had plenty of them in the pool during his kampong days as a kid.

The photographs below shows swordtail fishes in the pool @ pasir ris park, swirling around in their red scaly cloak & sword-like tail.

We had managed to take a few shots of them coming up to the water surface with plenty of NG photographs :






A close-up shot of swordtail fishes meandering & engaged in a "dance" with one another in the pool:




We discovered quite a number of tadpoles at the sides of the pool. Since they were jetblack in colour, these are babies of a toad.

And perhaps food for the larger fishes too???

The Sound Of Music: Nature's Beauty @ Pasir Ris Park (Brief Introduction)

After Hubby Dearest brought me for a long-distance jog into Pasir Ris Park, it was tough to ignore the beauty of mother nature in there.

So, I have decided to do a write-up of plants, lived-in insects and animals found at the Pasir Ris Park.

As usual, please enjoy the photographs which had been taken painstakingly by both Hubby Dearest & myself.

We didn't have any issues with the plants becox they don't move around.  However, the real challenge came with the insects & animals as they don't stop fidgeting & some flew off at the slightest movement or noise coming from their surroundings.

We hope that readers for this topic would enjoy the photographs as much as we did as the owners of these photographs. :)

I was surprised to see how a boat had been used to create a pond & took a snapshot of the boat. Oops, the 2 stalks of withered papaya leaves are showing up in the photographs like sore-thumbs! Forgot to remove them before photographing.

 

Please stay tuned for more photographs of the inhabitants of Pasir Ris Park & we promise nature lovers that you wouldn't be disappointed in the outcome! :)

Demise of my three "musketeers" ... *SOB*

Finally, the potted plants breathed their last breath and didn't manage to get revived even when I brought them down to the community garden.  ;(

These plants had brought us plenty of joy & happiness, helping us to get closer to mother nature in befriending yellow spotless ladybirds & olive-backed sunbirds.

Even towards their last remaining days, they had never failed to add beauty to our environment with their pretty blooms.  And for that, we're extremely grateful to their existence & their subsequent recilience against diseases.

As such, we would like to recite an eulogy in this blogging entry to commenmorate our precious plants who had died at our hands of excessive kindness (too much fertiliser) & we shall do so with deep regrets.

There is no night without a dawning

No winter without a spring

And beyond the dark horizon

Our hearts will once more sing...

For those who leave us for a while

Have only gone away

Out of a restless, care worn world

Into a brighter day

(No Night Without, by Helen Steiner Rice)



Adieu my darling plants, for I am sadly reminded by your presence through your "babies" who are found to be thriving so beautifully in the community garden. *SOB*

But perhaps, we felt a strong sense of consolation that you are survived by your young ones that are growing so vigorously & healthily at our neighbourhood's community garden!

The story of My "tree" musketeers - Signs of ailing health

After pruning off stalks which had aged beyond their ability for further growth, we were pretty relieved that new shoots had made its way out of the surface of the soil.

However, we did notice that these new shoots aren't as healthy as before because one of them came up with holes "burnt" into the stem as shown in the photograph below.




The rest of the green shoots seemed to have a reasonably healthy appearance as shown in the photographs attached below:

The Yellow ladybird - A faithful friend of my ailing plants

This regular visitor who is a friendly companion to my "Ginger" plants was seen frequently by myself.


Isn't it cute?

Doesn't it remind us all of the Volkswagen beetle as shown here in the photograph below?


Disclaimer: I do not own the photograph featuring the Volkswagen yellow bettle as shown above. Kindly give full credits to the owners of this image. Thank you.


More photographs of my "Ginger" plants in a state of blooming :

The Olive-backed Sunbirds' feast

There was a great feast for those olive-backed sunbirds today.

A hole which is clearly seen on every flower is a clear indication that the sunbird/s had already extracted the nectar. I believe they did it by "drilling" (piercing) a hole into the bud with their long sharp, needle-like beak.


After a heavy downpour yesterday, we were surprised that the "Ginger" plants were blooming vigorously. And as usual, we didn't manage to take any snapshots of the birds becox they would fly off the minute they sense any movements near the plants.

Even though the photographs of our "ginger" plants were repetitive in style, we hope that viewers would enjoy them as much as we do.