Roosting bat

During the day, bats like this one can be found roosting in our many tall coconut palms. They rest under the fronds inconspicuously. This one moved around a bit, assessing me to see if i posed a threat, ready to launch and fly off at the first sign of trouble.

Terrathelphusa sp. semi-terrestrial crab

 

Here’s another photo of the strikingly-coloured crab posted yesterday. This time a close up of it in self-defense mode. What a beauty!

Land crab with bright red pincers

A hungry visitor: With a snail in one pincer and the larva of a firefly beetle in the other, this beautiful land crab with bright red pincers and a purplish body is a welcome find on a rainy evening!

Will update this post once I have an ID.

Corybas (helmet orchids) emerging from “hibernation”?

 

Here they are... re-emerging after a long, hot and dry season. with the rains starting to fall again, these little corybas or helmet orchids are beginning to put out new shoots from the tiny tubers buried in the carpet of moss.

Each tuber appears to put out only one single leaf from which a flower will appear. From my observation over the years, it appears that during the dry season, they disappear from sight, dropping their leaves till the next monsoon arrives.

Fascinating to see them "carpet" the ground one season, then disappear the next, only to reappear again the following rainy season.

However, there will always be a few who didn't get the memo so it's not surprising to see one or two during the hottest months, albeit in bad shape.

Stay tuned for photos of early flowers…