Variable Flutterer Dragonfy- Female

Variable Flutterer is (Rhyothemis variegata) another common resident dragonfly of Sri Lanka.  I observed and photographed  this female specimen in my own garden, like most of the dragonflies that appear on this blog.

When Your Subjet Really Decides To Cooperate..................

Today I arrived home around noon, very exhausted after running some errand in Kandy. I was gonna have a quick shower and hit the bed for a nap, but this Scarlet Basker Dragonfly Urothemis signata signata ,that  caught my eye the moment I entered the garden,  made me change my mind. The next thing I remember doing is grabbing the camera and clicking away madly at the dragonfly, oblivious to my wife's fuzzing over my lunch getting cold. But it was all worth the trouble, for this particular Scarlet Basker literally posed in front of my camera!  The whole garden was flooded with blazing sunlight, and this critter was on a twig,calm and contempt, obviously enjoying the hot sun.  This proved the fact that Scarlet Baskers love sun bathing, the habit that has given them their name.      

Blue-eared Kingfisher, (Alcedo meninting)

There were three of these birds at the dirty canal I talked about earlier. They were extremely vary of me at first and took flight when I got barely close enough for a video. But I observed that they came round every time.   Then I realized why. They were feasting on  Thilapia  Juveniles which were swarming that part of the canal. So I decided to hang around a little, hoping they would get used to me,and they did. Eventually, I was able to get as close to them as teen feet, roughly. But these kingfishers being quite small, even that wasn't close enough for my camera to make a well zoomed and focused footage, but this turned out a little better than my earlier video of the same species. I 'll keep trying, with them as well as White-breasted Kingfishers.   

Peculier Luminous- Green Bugs

There were three of these shiny green bugs on a Manioc plant near my house this afternoon, a copulating couple and another probable male playing the bad guy trying to push the lover off the female bug's body. I don't recall ever seeing these critters before. They were on an impossible spot for a still, so I opted for a video. It's a pity that my camera is not the kind of toy to video them hovering. They do buzz around like bees, that's quite a site. I need some one's help to identify these too.   

An Indian Black Turtle Juvenile

Image by roosterfeather via FlickrThis little tortoise was crawling a neighborhood garden when I saw it. After taking some quick photos and video I set it free in to a stream in a nearby rice field. It was so small that two of the same size could  easily have fitted in to my palm .
The link at the end of the post says that  Indian Black Turtle or Indian Pond Terrapin (Melanochelys trijuga) is limited to the northern low wet and dry zone parts in Sri Lanka, but I've seen them often in the western province too, where there is still or slow flowing   fresh water such as rice fields, ponds, rain-filled old granite mines etc. 

Image by roosterfeather via Flickr

 It's said that these tortoises are near threatened. One factor which may contribute to that in Sri Lanka is  that people have a taste for it's meat. Some people hunt these and some times these critters bite on fishing bait get themselves caught. 
 Image by roosterfeather via Flickr

This link here   provides a whole lot more information on  Indian Black Turtle.


 PS-Hi all, Looks like my identification of this animal is not entirely correct,as my  friend Bushana says in his comment. I'll quote him here in case you don't notice it.

"............What you have photographed here is Spotted black turtle(Melanochelys trijuga thermalis) a sub species with a face with bright red, orange or yellow spots. This subspecies has wide distribution in Sri Lanka(It doesnot imply that it is common) and specimens were reported from varies places throughout the country such as Colombo, Jaffna, Trinco, Kandy,Anuradhapura, Tissamaharama, Kalpitiya, Welimada..etc. Other subspecies M.t.parkeri or Parker's Black turtle -comparatively larger than this one and no color spots on the face- is restricted to Northern part of the country. So as a species it is distributed throughout whole island in suitable habitats contrary to what it is said in the link you have given above............"

Thanks Bushana!

White-breasted Waterhen

This video is the result of weeks of waiting and observing one single spot near a paddy field in Kurunegala. On the route I've chosen to walk between my workplace and home is a big shallow hole close to a rice field that gets filled by the rain in the rainy season. That's where I saw an opportunity to have a go at a  White-breasted Waterhen(Amaurornis phoenicurus), locally known as Korawakka . But it was no easy task. These birds will remain in the open as long as I leave them alone, but dash in to hiding if I so much as  just look at them. But today in the morning I got lucky with one. Having made a couple of videos, I moved on for work. Although it was pretty hot and humid when m,y work was over, I decided to walk home with out taking a bus, hoping I'd be lucky again. And this time there were two of them. I couldn't get the two together in the video though. Like some scientific information of this bird?   

Grasshopper

Insects are the most varied critters of the world, and Sri Lanka is no different. Grasshoppers are my favorite insects next to butterflies and dragonflies, mostly due to the bright colors they boast. This is one of the many types of grasshoppers I see in my own garden.

One Weird Looking Insect

Saw this insect at one my friends garden last Sunday. I'll get back to this if could pin down an identification on this bug.

Spotted Snakehead Fish(Channa punctata )

Spotted Snakehead Channa punctata is a very commonly seen fish among the fresh water habitats of the wet zone lowlands of Sri Lanka. I'm not sure about its availability in other parts of the island.  The biggest I've seen of these is about 3-3 inches in length, though there is online information suggestive of adult Spotted Snakehead fish growing much bigger than that. I've observed these fish to be very vicious predators. When I was a kid, I once accidentally put a live Spotted Snakehead together with some kind of a fresh water insect in a jam jar full of water. Soon after the fish spotted the bug swimming around, the bug found its way into the fish's system with in a shockingly short time!  Learn more......    

Fresh Water Snake

I saw a few of these in a garden pond today. This has to be either the endemic Sri Lanka Keelback (Xenochrophis asperrimus) or The Checkered Keelback   (Xenochrophis piscator), I'm not sure.

White Four-ring Butterfly(Ypthima ceylonica)

This is all I've got to share with you all today. Sorry for the poor quality, but it was the best I could manage to day.

Grizzled Giant Squirrel (Ratufa macroura) Aka Dandulena Building A Nest

Do you   remember me telling you that its been quite a task to get a Grizzled Giant Squirrel on lens? Well, you couldn't imagine my excitement when I found out one building a nest on a Jackfruit
tree in the garden nest door! It was pretty amazing to see the animal busily carrying twigs in its mouth to the nest with out taking much notice of me. This time I got real close to it and made this footage, which would have been impossible had the squirrels wasn't so absorbed in building the nest. If I'm not terribly mistaken, this one is a male, so it must be the male of this species that builds the nest.  I'll keep an eye on this one and keep you up to date with his progress.

Adult Male Oriental Garden Lizard

Oriental Garden Lizard(Calotes versicolor)males display a range of colors from the grayish brown you see in this recently taken photo to crimson red. I hope to post a few photos at once that shoes these critters showing all those colors sometime.
Image by roosterfeather via Flickr 

Pink Skimmer Dragonfly(Orthetrum pruinosum)

This photo is of a Pink Skimmer Dragonfly(Orthetrum pruinosum), another commonly seen butterfly around here.  Like most of my dragonfly and butterfly images this one was taken in  my garden.

Image by roosterfeather via Flickr

Common Sailor Butterfly( Neptis hylas)

I made this video a little while ago at my workplace. Common sailor Neptis hylas is yet another common butterfly around here.

Moth Or Butterfly?

Remember the unidentified butterfly that I told you  about yesterday? I uploaded a photo here for identification, and got one reply so far suggesting it's a moth. But the two specimens I observed yesterday were perched on an eggplant with the wings folded. When I checked this link about the differences between moths and butterflies, I came across  a list of features to consider,  and also learned that every such feature has exceptions. This specimen has two butterfly features, club ended antennas vertical wing fold when perched, but has a stout and hairy body of a moth. Could you tell me what this really is?

Common Bushbrown Butterfly(Mycalesis perseus)

I photographed two butterfly species today. I need to identify one of the two yet, so I posted this Common Bushbrown(Mycalesis perseus) only.

Fragrant Water Lily?

Identifying specimens can be pretty hectic some times. It was really so when I tried to determine the identity of this aquatic plant which is very common in Sri Lanka. The same plant was describe by some as Fragrant Water Lily (Nymphaea odorata) and White Lotus  (Nymphaea lotus) by others online! Any way I believe this to be Fragrant Water Lily, and if it is, it must probably have been introduced during the colonial times. 

A Chocolate Soldier

I was in doubt about what this butterfly really was, for it looks a little darker than the Chocolate Soldier(Junonia iphita) that  I videoed a while ago. So when I uploaded this photo here, my friend Amila confirmed the identification. Thank you Amila!

Green Skimmer Dragonfly (Orthetrum sabina sabina), Close -Up Video

I made this video a little while ago. As in most of my insect videos,this bug was in my garden. Green Skimmer Dragonfly (Orthetrum sabina sabina) is probably the most common dragonfly seen in Sri Lanka, as my blogger friend  Amila Salgado mentions here.