A Crabby Encounter On The Way Home

If the weather is favorable, I walk home after work. I see many interesting critters as I move along passing the canal I've talked about, paddy fields, home gardens, and shrubs and  invasive  Pennisetum polystachyon growth on the road sides. It's on such a day that I saw these crabs in a rain-filled puddle near a paddy field. There were about ten, grabbing at the algae slime on the plants that were underwater or in contact with the water, with their pincers. I'm still trying to identify these as well as the one I saw at Thelagamu Oya River.

Vibrant Life In A Dirty Canal- 5, Blue- Eared Kingfisher (Alcedo meninting)

This is the first ever and only Blue-Eared Kingfisher Alcedo meninting I've seen. Hopefully I 'll have better videos and more information for you in the future. Follow this link till then.

Grizzled Giant Squirrel (Ratufa macroura) Aka Dandulena, A Tricky Customer

I've finally got one of these fluffy fellows on a video after much waiting and struggle, but the result is still not very good. Not that they are a rare sight where I live, they  just are more vary of us humans and prefer to be higher up  in the trees than Three -Stripped Palm Squirrels, and none of them have ever come down to my bird feeders.  

Grizzled Giant Squirrel is not as many in population as Three -Stripped Palm Squirrel, nor is as widely spread.  However, they are more of a nuisance for fruit gardeners and farmers where ever they are found. They love fruits and nuts, and can gnaw right through the shell of a coconut!   I've always observed as them to be solitary, and much less active than Palm Squirrels. Learn more.........  

Crimson-backed Flameback woodpecker (Chrysocolaptes lucidus stricklandi) Aka Kerala Pecks At a Large Tree Trunk

This is one of the loveliest birds I see around. I like the crimson color and the crown very much. It reminds me of Woody woodpecker too :-) . There are some very interesting facts about this bird here.

Vibrant Life In A Dirty Canal 4, Little Egret (Egretta garzetta) Aka Eli Koka

Here is another commonly seen bird in and around the dirty canal. Dambulla Road is very close to this canal, and lots of these birds are nesting on trees at the very edge of the road, undisturbed by thousands of traffic and people passing by everyday. Wanna learn more about   Little Egret ?                                                                          

 Wings in the wetlands: A photographic portfolio

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....

Vibrant Life In A Dirty Canal 2- Little Cormorant (Microcarbo niger) Aka Diyakawa

This bird is a very skilled diver. They are capable of floating on water surface like ducks. It's nice to see how they float like that and suddenly dive in ti catch fish. I'll try to make a footage of such a dive. Learn more about Little Cormorant.... 

Vibrant Life In A Dirty Canal 1- Red-wattled Lapwing (Vanellus indicus) Aka Kirala

Close to my work place is a canal that functions as an outlet to a nearby wewa ( man made lake to collect rain water, one of the historical marvels of Sri Lanka) that goes through the south part of the city of Kurunegala. Lots of garbage gets dumped to the canal at many points. But despite that, an interesting number of critters find shelter and food in the canal. If the garbage continues to find it's way in to the canal, there populations will inevitably thin out. Most of the critters I see three is wetland birds, and there is a considerable population of introduced and invasive Thilapia too. Whats in the video below is some Red-wattled Lapwings. Stay put to see the other critters with time to come.    

A Crab That I Saw At Thelagamu Oya

This is the only critter I had a chance to observe in our recent trip to Knuckles.  Could any of you help me to identify this one?

A Short Trip In Knuckles Conservation Forest, Riversturn, Pitawala Pathana And Thelagamu Oya

This is from our(my family and some of my workmates') trip to The Reversturn Peak of Knuckles mountain range on 06/06/2010.  We visited Reversturn, Pitawala pathana grassland, and Thelagamu Oya river, all within the premises of Knuckles conservation forest, which is mainly highland rain-forest, with relatively short trees, less underbrush and hardly any canopy.   As we had to make it a short one day trip, we didn't have much of a chance observing or studying its wildlife. My attempts to gather some info online have so far been fruitless. More images and video are available on my travel blog.  

Lots Of Birds In My Working Place Premises-5, A Purple Rumped Sunbird (Leptocoma zeylonica), Feeding On Nector

This bird was at the same spot where the Purple Sunbird was as shown by the fiust video of this series. You may learn a great deal about these birds here.

Lots Of Birds In My Working Place Premises-4, Indian Robin (Saxicoloides fulicatus), Aka Indu Kalukichcha

Finally I got lucky with an Indian Robin.  This bird literally flew in to my camera and perched really close. Judging by its color, I think it's a female. Unlike Oriental Magpie Robins, few of these birds can often be observed together.