Meet The Green Guy........

Common Green Forest Lizard (Calotes calotes) juvenile

Sour-beaked Parrot & Others......

Hey, folks, sorry for not posting for two weeks! The rain continues to pour down here, with me struggling to do some photography when things get a bit dry every now & then. Today's highlight is this Rose-ringed Parakeet I spotted on our Bilimbi tree.  The fruit is extremely sour, & a very important in local cuisine both as  a substitute for lime & some very palatable side dishes to go with rice. The fruit can be eaten raw too, but I'd say no thanks!


Rose-ringed Parakeet (Psittacula krameri)

This is  a caterpillar of Blue Tiger butterfly. It was on a Wattakaka volubilis plant, which happens to be this butterfly  species' host plant.

Caterpillar of Blue Tiger (Tirumala limniace)

I have a habit of getting in to the garden at night, aiming a flashlight here & there as I go. This has proven to be an excellent way to spot all kinds of interesting creatures. Below are a moth I spotted on a Solanum plant
and a Juvenile Oriental Garden Lizard on a Lantana.

Oriental Garden Lizard (Calotes versicolor)

Well, that's about it folks, thanks for visiting, all comments are  welcome! I'll probably post again on next Saturday, stay tuned!


Camera Critters, Macro Monday, World Bird Wednesday.  

I Feel Good..!

Hello folks, how are you? This week has been the very opposite of the last, being sunny and hot. I was able to bag some really interesting critters to show you.





I'll start off with the birds. The tiny one you see below was completely new to me. Does any one know what that little bird is? 
   



















And here is a Red-vented bulbul perched on the TV antenna.

Red-vented Bulbul (Pycnonotus cafer)

This one is a female Asian Koel.


Asian Koel (Eudynamys scolopaceus )

A female Purple-rumped sunbird is in the bag too.


Purple-rumped Sunbird (Leptocoma zeylonica)

This Boulenger's Bronzeback snake used to come to a   Citrus tree in the garden every day and lay still on a branch for hours, but it has been absent for two days now.


 Boulenger's BronzebackBronzeback,Dendrelaphis bifrenalis

This Oriental garden lizard was on the trunk of a mango tree in the garden next door.


Oriental Garden Lizard(Calotes versicolor)

I also photographed and filmed a millipede, a considerably  big specimen for this area.

This orb Weaver that I asw in the gardening was really small. Can any body provide me with the species name please?


Agriope sp

This Peacock Pansy was filmed in the garden today.




I didn't know that Weaver ants were such interesting creatures till  a local news paper published an article about them  recently. visit this link and see for yourself.

Weaver ant (Oecophylla smaragdina)

I saw a bug dragging a spider way too bigger, as I was working on one of my vegetable plants in the garden. I don't know weather the bug killed the spider or it just came across the carcass,    but I think the latter is more likely.



There are some caterpillars on my Winged bean plants . They don't do much damage to the plants, and I'm waiting to see what they develop in to.

Okay, that's about it, hope you would enjoy. Stay tuned, and wish me luck, I'll be posting again next Friday. Ciao!

Posted for Camera Critters, Macro Monday, World Bird Wednesday. 

Looks Do Matter.......

I've always been fascinated by some animals' ability to change the way they look. So I present you folks with such an animal, the Oriental Garden Lizard(Calotes versicolor), with different specimens showing different colors. The first picture shows an adult male with mating season coloration, the look that earns thew title"Blood Sucker"!

      

Not Sure what This Is.........

I photographed this lizard today in the garden. It looks like a male Oriental Garden Lizard(Calotes versicolor) but this particular color pattern makes me wonder.... Any ideas?

Posted for Camera Critters.

Hey, Litlle Fella!

My Camera Critter this week is a juvenile Common Green Forest Lizard (Calotes calotes). He was in a shrub by the driveway, and dashed away before I could get close enough for a macro.

I'm Photogenic!...........

Oriental Garden Lizard/Calotes versicolor/ගාර කටුස්සා









See more close-ups on Macro Monday.

The Skink Goes Crawlin'.........උරගෙයක් හදුනා ගනිමු

I used to see these lizards around my old place in Panadura quite a lot, but during the near six years I've been in Kurunegala, I've seen them only twice.  This particular one you see in the photos was on a palm tree trunk near the tank of Kurunegala, my second siting of this reptile in this area. I searched online for identifying this one, and it seems to be a Common Skink/ Eutropis carinata lankae/සුලබ හිකනලා,  an endemic subspecies. 

 

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 

Oriental Garden Lizard

                                                                                                                                                                                        

                                                                                                                                                                                              Here     are    some     photos    of     Oriental Garden Lizard(Calotes versicolor)   that I've taken. This is a female juvenile that I've observed to be  a permanent tenement of my garden.

This one here is an adult male that I photographed at my workplace' Garden.

Vibrant Live In A Dirty Canal 3, Water monitor, (Varanus salvator) Aka Kabaragoya, A juvenile

The lizard you see in this video is a scavenger, and is well adapted to urban environments and commonly seen in most part of Sri Lanka. If confronted, it strikes aggressively with its tail. Need more info? Here it is....

Common Green Forest Lizard(Calotes calotes)

I captured these crawlers in my neighborhood. These are not as common as oriental garden lizards. learn more...... 

From The Recent Trip To My Old Place 01- Common Indian Monitor (Varanus bengalensis)

I spent three days with my Parents at my old place in Panadura nearly two weeks a go. That's when I shot this footage in a coconut plantation. These lizards are seen  in various parts  of the country, including human habitats. They prey on worms, arthropods, and snails. It's a simple matter for them to crush a snail's shell with a snap of jaws. I don't know whether they have any predators other than some local folks who have a taste for their flesh and eggs. Learn more................