The last 2 mornings I have risen at 5am to drive to a new site for me. I have been accompanied by the always affable John Holmes. He knows the New Territories better than Lulu knows her way around a dog biscuit shop and that is saying something. John’s remit is to be the bird brain and I am insect brain. An excellent combo if I knew much about insects, but I don’t. The trail we have been walking is not particularly long – about 4 km – and the walk is well described in David Diskin’s excellent book Hong Kong Nature Walks: The New Territories.
Here then is a selection of my images from the last 2 mornings, in no particular order.
Let’s start with some scenery.
In the distance on the next shot you can see HK’s highest peak, Tai Mo Shan (Big Hat Mountain), a monstrous 957m. No sniggering from you chaps with big mountains in your backyard. This is as good as it gets here.
I have learned from Steve Gingold that you have to do waterfalls to be a proper photographer and today I had a go – colour and B&W.
Back to insects I think. Don’t give up the day job, Hardacre. The first moth was photographed with the toy camera. This is Cyclosia papilionaris and the bright colours are a warning to birds and other predators that it is not good to eat. In fact these moths contain hydrogen cyanide (HCN) throughout all stages of their life-cycle. One for the mother-in-law perhaps. Oh and the blue one is a female. The species is sexually dimorphic.
The next moth is Chaetolopha incurvata. ID courtesy of Dr. Roger Kendrick.
And now its time to meet Bob. Chestnut Bob, Iambrix salsala. Ahoy Skipper!
And last of the butterflies, a Dark Evening Brown (I think). The WSF of Melanitis phedima.
And to wrap up, two flowers. The first is Adenosma glutinosum and the second is Desmodium heterocarpon. I am deeply indebted to Mercury Wong, whose knowledge of HK flora surpasseth all understanding. He ID’d the second plant and confirmed my stab at the first. 
And that is it. I have to engage in some work (shock horror) later this week so it will be a swift trip to Singapore and back. Who knows what next week will bring. And as I am working, well….. it might as well rain until September.
All downhill from here 
Great shots, I love the waterfall.
And the blue moth with a toy camera?? As other have said, a clever photographer will get a good shot from whatever equipment they use, but I’m intrigued to know what you used.
The toy camera is the SX50 HS. It is definitely not a toy but I call it that because it is small, relatively cheap and compared to all the heavy gear I normally carry it feels like a toy. It’s biggest drawback is poor image quality at anything from ISO800 up. The noise becomes unacceptable to me. I’m glad you enjoyed the images. Thank you!
The insects and flowers are really looking good in your photos, Andrew. And so is the waterfall.. 🙂
“Might as well rain until September…” tim-te-tum. I think it will in a couple of days.
Is that really a “waterfall” when it’s only a foot high ? Nice shots, anyway.
Shhhh. John, don’t tell them its only a foot high. Its a secret.
Water falls in my opinion work better in black and white especially when there is mix lighting as you have white balance issues in the water, black and white eradicates this problem and also adds a nice white with contrast against the usually black water.
Yes your waterfall picture looks great in black and white.
Thanks Ben. I think I have a split verdict on the waterfall with perhaps a bias to B&W. I wonder what sepia would look like 🙂
Tremendous scenes Andrew, I particularly like the waterfall in B&W.
All excdellent photgraphs here. The waterfall looks a bit mysterious in B&W. I like the first flower pic too. Really pretty. Maybe it is the angle of the bloom that sets it apart. Not sure. The dangerous to eat butterfly is a real beaty. And the skipper looks a bit like the Fiery Skipper from my yard.
Nice to a new part of the anew Territories. Great photos as usual. I really like the first flower, it has the feeling of a water colour.
The very first landscape appeals to me the most, not sure why. The colorful dangerous lady is very striking.
We’re there no birds?
A few birds, Rod. But this is quite dense habitat. Not easy to see anything. I do a lot of listening, scanning with binoculars and then saying ‘oh bother’ when the bird flies. Best bird today was Grey Treepie.
Absolutely no worries about being a proper photographer, Andrew….at least in my opinion. The evidence is all over this post. I really like the third landscape view…quite lovely scenery, the layers of the first are quite pleasing and, as always, you do a smashing job with the leps. I like the waterfall shot, maybe a bit better in color although the tonal range in the monochrome works a treat. Your trips have been very successful. I hope the business trip goes so well.
OH NO!!!! The third landscape was taken with the toy camera, Steve!!!! Thank you for the encouragement.
Toy camera? No matter. All the more evidence of a proper photographer. 🙂