Sunday, October 28, 2012

Critter spottings in the vicinity of Mui Tsz Lam

Is that a blue tiger or blue glassy tiger (butterfly) in the photo?

This looks to be the common tiger butterfly -- which,
true to its name, is one of the butterflies I spot most
frequently when out hiking in Hong Kong
 
 Not a butterfly but a moth -- but beyond it being
on the small side and my finding it pretty,
I can't tell you much else about it ;(
 
Today being a Sunday with fine weather (i.e., rain-less, cool(ish) and not too humid), no prizes for guessing what I did this afternoon.  This time around, my hiking buddy and I went along a route that took us from Sai Kung (more specifically Tai Ping Tsuen) over to Sha Tin via portions of the Ma On Shan Country Trail, Maclehose Trail Section 4 and part of of a century old path linking the villages of Mui Tsz Lam and Pak Kong whose existence I found out about by reading the blog entry in  Journey to Hong Kong about it.
 
Should there be any doubt, the scenery along this hike was diverse, often interesting and sometimes downright splendid.  And I also did have a number of non-butterfly and -moth critter spottings, including of a golden orb weaver spider in the process of either consuming a grasshopper or wrapping it up some more for storage -- and a couple of lizard like creatures in a stream.

But I was particularly struck today by the number and variety of butterflies and moths my hiking buddy and I caught sight of today.  Interestingly, the spottings generally occurred early into and at the tail end of our trek, with few butterflies and moths catching our eye during the relatively level middle portion of the hike -- and it was when we were in the vicinity of Mui Tsz Lam that these insects were the most willing to have their photographs taken.
 
 
On a less scientific note: I don't want to end this blog entry without asking people to click on my photo of the common tiger butterfly and check out the enlarged visual.  More specifically, I want to know: is it just me or doesn't the very top part of the insect look to you too like a man with a white face wearing dark glasses and large headphones along with antennae?! ;O

6 comments:

HKP said...

Freaky. And there's another smaller head at the top of the headphone strap, also wearing sunglasses.

YTSL said...

Hi HKP --

I'm soooo glad you see it too! Re the smaller head at the top of the headphone strap: I see what you mean but it IS more difficult to see than the one I was referring to! ;D

baroness radon said...

No, not just you. Very techy butterfly, that! (Incidentally, I think my little Charlotte has moved on.)

YTSL said...

Hi baroness radon --

Oh yay, you too! :)

Re Charlotte: has she left because it's gotten cooler where you are? :O

Goodbye HK, Hello YVR said...

That butterfly close up really does look like Quentin Tarantino with sunglasses and headphones!

YTSL said...

Hi "The Fragrant Harbour" --

I didn't want to suggest it on the blog itself as I thought people would really think I had gone mad -- but yep, definitely agree with you.

And hmmm... judging from the comments thread, seems that there are only four of us who see the human face in the butterfly! ;(