My Little Friends

It was one of my weekends in the province. I was scouting around for some subjects to photograph. I've finished with the flowers, which are not plenty anymore as the rainy season is already on its tail. In a few months it will be very dry again and very hot, as the dry season comes in. I have also been waiting for butterflies, but not many are visiting now, maybe the flowers are already loosing their nectars too.

This baby praying mantis is very visible as it is on the yellow heliconia. I wonder if there is not much predators for baby praying mantis. But birds are noisy on the tree canopies above, don't they see this. Or i guess it is still so small for the birds to waste their time. I looked for a bigger adult but i can't see any. 

I played with it, touch it with stick, prodded it to walk or jump, but it just moved up and down the heliconia flower or just moved the head left to right. It seems that its head is so big proportionately with its body. Maybe the head enlarge ahead of the other parts of the body, as even the adults have this size of heads. How long still before it develops its wings, i also am not familiar. But the sawed forelegs are already developed and scary.

I also turn around, and it flipped its back as if showing the inner surface of its lower abdomen. I hoped i know what flipping up the lower abdomen means. Probably, it is displaying some signals which i don't know. But recently a new friend who has pet mantises told me this type is more fierce than those with steady long abdome. Oh so maybe it got angry because of my teasing! Good i didn't put my finger close to it. 

 The above insect is barely more than a centimeter in length from head to the tip of the wings. I cannot anymore get a much bigger focus, but its head design is complicated, not the same with other insects i am familiar with. It is an insect decomposer i suppose as it is normally found on decaying fruits and barks.

And this more familiar one is hanging at the tip of a vine, swinging with the wind. It is a hawksmoth larva already nearing its completion for pupation. This larva change in color from emergence to the stage before pupa. Early on, i thought i've been seeing different species, but actually the colors are variations between instars. 

  

This little hairy larva is again eating the flower buds of my hoya, so i transfered it to a farther place. I hope it doesn't know how to ruturn. It could develop into a lovely moth.

 I've been looking at the web of this jumping spider. It has a very prominent design at the middle of its web, however the owner is very tiny that i had difficulty focusing it. There is a group of gathered debris at the center where it alights on, so make it feel very big to predators, and be a bit scary!

 

This golden orbweaver, Nephila sp., is as long as 2 inches.  And its web is even much bigger, about one meter in diameter. Look at that "face", do you think it can scare predators. I have long been seeing them in the wild, but haven't  seen it being eaten as a prey. 

Look at that web net, isn't it lovely! Can you see the single citrus fruit near its abdomen tip? Its presence in that citrus plant limits us from getting the fruits. 

Saturday Critters

My Latest Sunsets

views from my 5th Floor Window

Skywatch Friday

A Visit to Calaguas Islands Part II

Continuation of the visit to Calaguas Islands: Calaguas post Part I. For a more concise photos of this trip please visit the link above.

I promised in the first part that i will be posting the continuation of this visit to Calaguas Islands. So please join me in the fun.

 panoramic phone shot of the Calaguas Cove

other islands among the Calaguas group of islands

typical boats plying these waters on a 2.5 hr-ride to Calaguas

a tall mountain still intact of its primary forest, a solid resource for this region

some of the native huts at the end of the beach, also caters to tourists

 a lodging place in Calaguas, owned by the present Brgy. Captain, an active accomodating lady

 Another view of the lodging place where we stayed for a night. The lady Brgy Captain said she used her retirement money in building this place.

Nature Notes
Our World Tuesday
Outdoor Wednesday

A Visit to Calaguas Islands

I just realized i have not posted yet about this trip. I was thinking of something for posting in this blog, as i relegated all the common things i see at home to Pure Oxygen Generators (my 2nd blog). Somehow i already assigned the out of town experiences and photos to this original blogsite. Now i am thinking why of all travels i forgot to post this trip to Camarines Norte, Bicol Region! Imagine, this was still in the last 2 days of April this year.

It was actually an official trip for the evaluation of the soybean project, as well as some training on processing and cooking soybean products for the less fortunate women in one of the barangays in that island. We rented a van, and someone from the university as our lecturer/breeder joined us there later the following day. My previous trips there was by plane, which is only about 45 minutes. Since it was my first trip there by land i savored every landscape and things seen on the way, which lasted practically from sunrise to sunset. While my companion was sleeping on the front seat, i didn't close my eyes at all, my only live companions were WAZE and Facebook!

It was a circuitous route, through the mountains and sometimes along the sea! We just stop the van for lunch and sometimes at the gas stations! The first 3 photos are along the way, where we stopped by for lunch.

Gumaca, Quezon - where we stopped for lunch. It was a long stretch along the sea, and in this area are restaurants basically catering to travelers.

The island at the horizon is the Alabat Island, Quezon. 

We specifically chose this restaurant for the native materials they used for the hut. It might not be very visible, but there is a small attic at the roof. The open windows allow the breeze from the sea, which is already a part of the Pacific Ocean. 

This is the boat station on the way to Calaguas Islands, Vinzons, Camarines Norte. Those in the photo are the typical boats that ply this route. It took two hours for us to reach one of the Calaguas Islands where we had training in one of the isolated barangays.

It took us about 40 minutes to navigate the river-estuary before we reached the open sea. Nipa palms grow on both sides of the river, which has many tributaries to Vinzons. 

These are already some islands in the Calaguas group of islands. 

Another islands in the Calaguas group of islands. We can discern white beaches in some of them.

Above is a barren rock devoid of green vegetation, but there are also tourists that go there, evidenced by those boats at the sides.

Above is already the main tourist beach of the Calaguas Islands. Before coming here, i thought Calaguas Island is only one island, it turns out that the posts just described this place termed Calaguas Island. But there are actually many beaches in the other islands and at the back of this one, but not as developed yet as this.

This is the longest stretch of white beach in these areas. At the far end at the left is where the camping tent areas are. At night it is full of brightly colored tents. This is the view to the left, and below is the view to the right.

We reached this place at sunset, after our training lectures at the other island 30 minutes from here. 

 I still have lots of photos of the sunset and the other views in the morning of our stay. Actually, we just stayed for the night had dinner there and left again in the morning.

Next post is still about this beach. Please stay tuned.

Nature Notes

Our World Tuesday

Outdoor Wednesday

Sunset Positions from my Window

Skywatching again!

You all know how fascinated i am in oserving the movements of the earth through my sunset views. Those of you who have been here in the past when i posted these sun's positions appreciated them, my photos. I hope some of you will be here again for this post. As there's no other way for me to choose, i only have the same position where to put my camera, and that is my 5th Floor West Window.

So these are the changes not only of the cloud conditions in each particular day of the month this year, but mostly the sun's positions in relation to the very distinct landmarks in my horizon. This is my small observatory, and i am doing this yearly. I am not only chasing Butterflies, i also chase the sun! 2017.

Note: These are all unedited photos straight from the files, not even cropping!

 January

 February

 March

 April

 May

 June

 July

 August

Below you will notice two almost identical shots. I noticed this only when i was choosing the photo to be representative of each month. I realized that i have many photos to choose from in April, and the sun's positions are clearly changing on top of that middle building from among the 3 prominent landmarks in my horizon. So it was in August when the same position was attained by the sun on its way back to the original position, far left of my 3 structural landmarks.

The sun was farthest right in June, the month when it starts to go back to the left. And in August it was at the same position at that building. My impatience was not able to wait until December, for me to say if the sun will be able to be back at the original position in January. I am sorry about that, but i will later update you on the happenings for the next 4 months. Please stay tuned!

 August

April

Our World Tuesday

Outdoor Wednesday

Some Wildflowers

There was a time in the past when all the flowers are wildflowers! When people started to have houses and parks, there are also plants that became domesticated and cared for by the people. Domestication probably started for food, for medicinal values,  and eventually for aesthetic reasons. Some wildflowers in some locales maybe domesticated in others, as per the cliche "beauty is in the eye of the beholder". Then after decades or centuries of domestication, some plants eventually become wild again. These could be those left by some people, escaped domestication, and reverted back to become wild.

Our wildflowers in our area are not as colorful or attractive to men as those in colder climes. Besides, they are not very plentiful in contiguous locations. I uploaded here in pairs some that are found around our area in the province. They might not be lovely for humans, but they are much favored by butterflies.

Wedella trilobata 

This is previously a ground cover for some landscapes. It has been declared invasive in some US cities. Maybe this in our area is planted as ornamental plant but eventually become invasive and conquered an area nearby. I don't mind it near our area as the Tiny Grass Blue butterflies love this.

porterweed, Stachetarpheta jamaicensis

Dark Blue Glassy Tiger, Tirumala orientalis semper

 unknown to me

Lagundi, Vitex negundo

 unknown to me

Tridax procumbens - that is a skipper which suddenly left when i am about to focus. 

This is a Palm Bob skipper that nectars on the plenty of Tridax procumbens flowers.

Wildflower Wednesday
Floral Friday Fotos