SOUTHERN RIDGES 1

I started with the grueling climb up the steep flight of staircase to Hendersen Waves and was almost panting halfway. I had to push myself on without stopping and thank goodness I think the jogging paid off.


This is the second time I am up there on this highest footbridge in Singapore. The view up here of the surrounding is spectacular. In the far horizon, I could see the interesting development 'Reflection' which I posted before. From here, the   inward curving buildings reminded me of the demon's castle in Lord of the Rings. It is marvelous how clear some of the details are with the use of the zoom function of the Nikon camera.


There were the familiar trees Albizia amongst the dense forest vegetation and the beautiful orange fruits of the Tembusu tree. Anyway, what is a walk through the park without sight of its fauna? My squirrel friend was frantically dashing across the wooden bridge, presumably because it was not on familiar grounds on the artificially constructed wooden pathway which serves as a nature corridor for such animals to move from one area to another.

TREES

Sometimes, it is interesting to look at things with a different perspective just by looking them from an aerial view. At the Floral Walk, one can look at the landscape from the bridge going up to the Alexandra Arch linking to the Southern Ridges.


From where I was standing, I was looking at a Chocolate Soldier (scientific name: Junonia iphita) sipping nectar from the white flowers of the aggressive climbing weed Smilax aspera growing on the crown of the trees at Floral Walk.


I love to see the different colours and textures of the 2 trees that I planted - Amesiodendron chinense and Caesalpinia ferrea. The former was displaying some nutrient deficiency symptoms but its slightly feathery-like leaves were lighter in colour.


Across the other side of the Alexandra Arch, I took the photos of the flowering Albizia falcata. Walking back towards Floral Walk, I also noticed that the crown of the Amesiodendron showed a 2 tone colour - a lighter green and a light cream colour. Deep inside the crown were the heavily damaged older green leaves caused by chewing insects. There was no sign of any pests on the leaves though.

KENT RIDGE PARK

I have not been to Kent Ridge Park for a while. But I was there recently.

They added a cable car cabin as a decor item near one of the carparks. The Platycerium coronarium (common name: Stag's Horn Fern) was so well-established, much like the one I posted at Ophir Road.

It appeared they have also planted out the Grammatophyllum speciosum (common name: Tiger Orchid) on the tree fork.

The view of the sea from the high vantage point was also amazing. This is probably one of the few hills in Singapore where we can get to see the sea, the houses along the coast, the ships and the wharf.

As I trekked along the footpath down to the pond, I saw this beautiful Passiflora (common name: Passion Flower) climbing on the secondary forest vegetation. I do not know the exact species but could it be P. 'Incense', which is a hybrid crossed between P. incarnata and P. cinnicata? A link on the Passion Flower is shown below for reference.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Passion_flower

The silhouette of the crown of the Albizia moluccana (synonym: Falcataria moluccana, Paraserianthes falcataria, Albizia falcataria, Adenanthera falcataria; common name: Batai, Bataiwood) against the blue sky was amazing.

Then there were 2 photos of the young White-breasted Waterhen (scientific name: Amauromis phoenicurus) scurrying around from bush to bush, seeking the safety within the dense groves of marginal plants.

There were also abundant dragonflies found in the aquatic habitat environment and one particular one was parasitized by wasp as evident by the dense mass of black eggs on its lower abdomen. But such is the law of nature and order to maintain ecological balance through its intricate food chains and webs.