Comments on: Colugos from Singapore

By: Chetana

Chetana — Wed, 17 Mar 2010 04:57:25 +0000

That sure is a wierd looking creature, with that shiny membrane over entire body, arms and even tail. Very wierd. Thanks for sharing!

By: santhosh gujar

santhosh gujar — Mon, 15 Mar 2010 12:29:36 +0000

wow, first timer for me.
Beautifully captured with narration.
TFS.
Love ur journal.

By: Sandeep R

Sandeep R — Mon, 15 Mar 2010 06:11:38 +0000

Fantastic stuff Kalyan. Do you remember which documentary of Attenborough? One of Life series?

By: Divya

Divya — Sun, 14 Mar 2010 06:15:21 +0000

Unless things have changed in recent times, I think Singapore buys its water from Malaysia. They spend a lot on desalination and the tree cover is not enough watershed to meet their demands. New York is the best example of choosing to preserve its watershed in the Catskill Mountain than go for expensive but equally challenging engineering solutions to secure its water supply.

By: Kalyan Varma

Kalyan Varma — Sat, 13 Mar 2010 14:52:35 +0000

Nope. Was hoping to see them but did not. They used to have leopard cats it seems.. but now they are out. They think the flat headed cat is also very rare in malaysia as well these days. Draco is very much there.. but again I missed it

By: Sameer Bakshi

Sameer Bakshi — Sat, 13 Mar 2010 09:19:55 +0000

Hey Kalyan,

Did you see or hear any Tokay Geckos or Giant Forest Geckos (they sound pretty similar, and are the same size but have different patterns) while you were walking in the Bukit Timah Forest? Do they also report Draco over there as well? Flat headed cat? Leopard Cat?

Thanks and Regards

Sameer

By: Sameer Bakshi

Sameer Bakshi — Sat, 13 Mar 2010 09:05:50 +0000

Hey Kalyan,

Great article and shots. I was hoping to get lucky with Colugos myself over the last couple of years myself as I spent a fair amount of time in Singapore and Indonesia (Borneo). I remember the staff at the night safari park telling me they were found in the area and though I tried in vain I only ended up seeing a rat cross my path. I did manage to see a very interesting sight of a Changeable Hawk Eagle (white phase) perched atop a tree next to the road in the evening watching the Jurong traffic go by underneath it. A good example of preservation of city forest as you say and you can really see its expanse and connection to Johor in Malaysia when you fly above the place. If I do go back there one day I’ll definitely appreciate the contact of the person from the National Parks service who took you to try and see the Colugos and other wildlife of the area because it would be so worth it.

Once again Amazing Shots man and lovely to read about it as usual.

Sameer

By: Nagesh

Nagesh — Sat, 13 Mar 2010 05:05:18 +0000

Lovely Kalyan. I remember my visit to Singapore and being amazed at the rainforest cover they preserve for their water supply. Rightly pointed out that we should learn. How I wish our Indian cities learnt this aspect from Singapore than (or in addition to!) trying to ape it in terms of its urban infrastructure only. Was also reading through your response to AtishG above and learnt a few nice tips Thanks for sharing such lovely stuff – the images, the writeup and the tips

By: AtishG

AtishG — Fri, 12 Mar 2010 21:48:38 +0000

Bhooshan, I agree. While there is always an element of randomness to wildlife photography, the best practitioners seem to mimimise this through anticipation. Kalyan, in his reply, brought up the anticipation of the light conditions. You brought up another key skill – anticipation through jungle craft. Thanks to both you and Kalyan for taking the time to respond to my questions. I learnt something here.

By: Bhooshan

Bhooshan — Fri, 12 Mar 2010 09:19:43 +0000

Atish, I know Kalyan has answered you and I am no professional photographer, so take this with a pinch of salt. The premise of your question is that you will have to make a quick shot- thats something will jump on you unexpected, out of the blue and you will have to simply point and shoot and I have a problem with that. I realise this can happen time to time to amateurs (and perhaps happens to me all the time!) but if you are a good professional photographer this should not be happening at all or if at all at a very minimum. Pardon me for saying this, if something jumps on you, then you are not prepared and do not know your subject. This is true of wedding photographers(“the ring”, “the kiss”, “the knot”, “arundathi” and the rest of the murari cant be somethign that sneaks upon you) as it is equally true of wild-life photographers who know their subject and its behaviour(the ensuing fight among the big cats after a kill should not be a surprise for a photog). This is not to say no should be surprised ever but it should be an exception and not a rule. My point would be that your settings, focus etc cant so drastically off the charts to your surroundings in which you are in and tuned into the behaviour of your subject. And at the top of her game a photographer is shooting ahead of the moment, anticipating and prefocussing the shot- the exposure, the focus and the composition is all ready and the subject just walk into the trap at the right moment! Thats the magic.