Birds, butterflies, insects and others are frequent visitors to our tropical garden in Malaysia! Hope to capture their images and share a little about our ‘interaction’ with them here!
Written articles are arranged according to posting dates, starting with the latest. Thus, it’s easier to search for a specific wildlife visitor, by referring to the Tropical Wildlife Photo Gallery category, situated on the left side of window.
Elymnias hypermnestra agina (Common Palmfly)
The Common Palmfly is a nymphalid butterfly that often visits our tropical garden, especially attracted by our potted palm trees, located at the frontyard as well as the backyard.
We grow three palm species, namely Manila Palm, Lady Palm and Macarthuri Palm and all have been ‘invaded’ by caterpillars of different [...]
Lerema accius (Clouded Skipper)
This attractive dark-brown skipper butterfly seems to love visiting our urban home-garden. It is seen so frequently flitting from bloom to bloom that I was never in a haste to capture its image knowing that I will never run out of photo opportunity.
However, one morning early last month, it decided to [...]
Cephrenes trichopepla (Yellow Palm-dart)
Everything seem so marvelously perfect in our tropical garden setting in June. Foliage plants are at their luxuriant best, flowering plants/shrubs are happily blooming non-stop, mealy bugs/white flies are least seen, and even the weather was extra kind, neither too hot nor too wet.
The month of May 2008 was very significant for us! We have VIP visiting our home garden since the third week of May. A pair of White-browed Bulbul (Pycnonotus luteolus) had finally succeeded in building their nest outside, on our potted Rhapis excelsa (Lady Palm), at our front yard! Yippee, the breeding season/cycle has begun! [...]
Graphium agamemnon (Tailed Jay, Green Spotted Triangle) -
Whoa! I’m enraptured! Found this magnificent beauty in our garden a few days ago!
A large tropical butterfly with a wingspan of 7-8 cm. What a spectacular looking butterfly!
Apple green spots and bands of variable sizes beautifully contrast against its predominantly black upperside and fashioned in fabulous symmetry! Typical [...]
Eurema andersonii andersonii (One-spot Grass Yellow) -
Humph…such a restless flier! This lovely yellow butterfly rarely stops to enable me to capture its image. Very often, the moment I glimpsed it flying around the Pithecellobium dulce ‘Variegated’ (Variegated Madras Thorn) in our garden, I’ll zoom in with camera but end up disappointed many a time.
Nevertheless, I [...]
Geopelia striata (Zebra Dove) -
Locally known in Malaysia as ‘Burung Merbok’, these Zebra Doves are marvelous to look at as they go about pecking at the edge of the tarred road outside our front yard. Visiting daily and sort of routine-like, they seem oblivious of the surroundings and vehicles plying the route. Sometimes, the Zebra [...]
Agriocnemis rubescens rubeola (Red-tipped Shadefly) -
“Come quickly, darling…there’s a damselfly on the orchid stalk”, beckoned John, my dearest hubby on a gloomy afternoon recently. Heart beating with excitement, I ran out with my camera! But the tiny insect was perched too high to capture an image. Without hesitation, John gently brought down the [...]
Tirumala septentrionis septentrionis -
Commonly known as Dark Blue Tiger that aptly describes its blue tigerish stripes! What a fascinating butterfly it is! Even if I had wanted to, I could not forget this beauty that captured my attention almost a year ago. It provided me my first ever butterfly adventure in our garden and [...]
Papilio polytes (Common Mormon) -
Looking out into our backyard from the kitchen around 1pm last July, I spotted this gorgeous beauty flying restlessly, moving from the Curry Leaf Plant (Murraya koenigii) to the Annona squamosa (Custard Apple) tree, then back again to the Curry Leaf briefly and settled on the Pigeon Berry (Duranta [...]
Papilio demoleus malayanus (Lime Butterfly) -
A relatively large butterfly with wingspan about 8-9cm that is quite a frequent visitor to our front yard garden. It is to be found hovering around foliage and flowering bushes, quite happy to remain still for sometime but take a quick flight whenever I approach too close for a [...]
Sarcophaga spp. (Flesh Fly) -
What a gorgeous insect this fly is!
It flew right into our courtyard and landed with ease on the leaf of Dieffenbachia Amoena ‘Tropic Snow’ as I was checking for mealy bugs that are rampant on some of our foliage plants. How wonderful to be able to capture some images of it [...]
Trithemis aurora (Crimson or Dawn Dropwing)
Wow! I just couldn’t believe my eyes! What amazing colors this captivating dragonfly displayed! I am so delighted that it stayed almost still for about 20 minutes on the Crossandra undulifolia flowering spike. Haha, long enough for me to get over the initial fumbling with my point and shoot camera [...]
Nyctemera coleta -
Just have to document here the appearance of this gorgeous moth on one lovely afternoon in our tropical garden last December 12th. It looked so pretty, resting on the dark green foliage, in wonderful contrast!
I’m so delighted that I had browsed through my photo archives of garden visitors today, otherwise I’d missed out [...]
Calotes versicolor (Changeable Lizards, Garden Fence Lizards) -
These attractive-looking Calotes versicolor are really attracted to our little garden paradise! They’re frequently seen loitering around, probably because our garden is packed with all kinds of tropical plants, from the low-growing annuals or perennials to the shrubby plants, scrambling vines and tall palms. There are ample vegetation [...]
Catopsilia pomona pomona (Lemon Emigrant or Common Emigrant)
A very pale yellow butterfly came visiting a few weeks ago. Being both a gardening and butterfly enthusiast, I’m always on the lookout for these beautiful insects as I potter around in our garden.
This time, while weeding yet looking up every now and then, I spotted this [...]
Amathusia phidippus phidippus (Indian Palm King, Palm King)
Wow! What a beauty this gorgeously patterned butterfly is! How wonderful to be able to capture a dozen close-up shots of it with my compact camera Canon Powershot A60, and to continue delighting in all its fabulous images on my personal computer as and when I desire, [...]
Suastus gremius gremius (Palm Bob, Indian Palm Bob) -
Though a relatively small and common skipper butterfly, all the same it is beautiful in my eyes! I first found it last April in our garden, darting from plant to plant in quick succession until it finally rested on a hibiscus leaf. How excited I was to [...]
Attacus atlas (Atlas Moth)
Yay, I have finally unravelled the identify of this stunning beauty!
How wonderful to be able to name it after almost 4 years since it was last sighted at our backyard in January 24, 2004. And, to know that this was a handsome male moth and learn so much more about it. [...]
Orthetrum testaceum testaceum (Burmeister, 1839) -
A gorgeous red dragonfly that is quite a frequent visitor to our tropical garden spot! But its recent morning visit a few days ago, on December 12 was exceptionally exciting because it landed on ME and stayed for two whole minutes…unbelievable! And the best part was I was able to [...]
Ypthima huebneri (Common 4-ring)
I chanced upon this beautiful butterfly yesterday morning as I walked in our garden admiring the many colorful flowers greeting me.
Could not believe my eyes when I counted the number of eyespots on the underside hindwings of this beautiful butterfly…one, two, three, four! Wow! It is definitely a newcomer to our [...]
Ypthima baldus newboldi (Common 5-ring)
What an attractively dressed beauty this tropical butterfly is!
I found it fluttering around our garden plot in the early afternoon, stopping at a few stations to bask in the sunlit areas. And I remembered being terribly excited following it around and being rewarded with some lovely poses for my [...]
Such beautiful creatures of the animal kingdom found in our lovely garden spot! And I simply love taking pictures of them whenever I get the chance! Be it an ordinary fly, spider, or other small living things, all fascinates me so as they share our wonderful world of nature!
Do enjoy some of these winged beauties [...]
Orthetrum sabina sabina (Slender/Green Skimmer, Green Marsh Hawk)
What a wonderful coincidence! While googling for the identity of my red dragonfly, I came across the ID for this beautiful chartreuse one that I captured in April this year! My very first capture of a dragonfly in our frontyard garden.
I can clearly recall its apparent collaboration [...]
Orthetrum testaceum testaceum
What a stunning red beauty, this dragonfly of the Orthetrum species is!
I’ve frequently seen it flying by our garden though more concentrated along the monsoon drain outside our backyard. It flies swiftly to and fro as if staking its claim over the route it plies! How blessed I was to be able [...]
What a gorgeous creature this butterfly is!
Scientific name: Junonia almana javana
Common name: Peacock Pansy
Neurothemis fluctuans (Red Grasshawk dragonfly)
I just love it if an insect visits our garden when least expected, like a visiting relative!
This gorgeous looking Red Grasshawk dragonfly flew in and perched on the leaf tip of Sansevieria trifasciata ‘Golden Hahnii’ whilst I was happily snapping the colorful mounds of Ruellia Brittoniana ‘Katie’ that grow [...]
Our tropical garden visitors are interestingly beautiful and a delight to watch, to me anyway!
There are many fantastic bugs and insects found loitering at our front yard when I seek them out, especially to photograph their details which is visibly unseen with my naked eye. Somehow their amazing forms and patterns stand out in macro [...]
Yippee! Helpful bugs and insects - come and swarm our garden, you’re most welcome!
Garden pests - be gone! You’re not at all welcomed!
I can’t get enough of these lovely creatures visiting our garden, especially our Malaysian butterflies and bees! Here’s sharing some wonderful captures of our garden visitors! Enjoy!
Hypolimnas bolina (Great Eggfly, Blue Moon Butterfly)
What an absolutely glorious sight! And to succeed in capturing this beautiful butterfly with my Canon PowerShot A60 point-and-shoot camera is beyond my wildest expectation!
I was actually capturing images of our Brunfelsia calycina/pauciflora bush one lovely sunny morning in May when this Great Eggfly fluttered around and decided it [...]
Continuing from delighting in our garden plant life to exciting adventures with the animal kingdom that share our wonderful world!
April had been an extraordinary month for me as I undertake to capture images of the many visitors to our garden. Of particular interest to me are the birds, butterflies, bees, dragonflies, snails, wasps and others. [...]
Pycnonotus luteolus (White-browed Bulbul)
These lovely birds, commonly found in our tropical country, can teach us humans a thing or two about love and romance! They’re regular visitors to our garden and are always sighted flying in pairs, although distancing a few feet from each other as if on a reconnaissance mission!
Ever watchful and always cautious, [...]