Mangroove Apple/Sonneratia caseolaris/කිරළ.. Thursday's Trees Meme # 3

A plant that occurs in wetland habitats, this provides a fruit that makes probably the most delicious juice in the whole world!   I took this photo while canoeing along Bolgoda Lake, more of that expedition on comming Saturday! Learn more about this plant....

Black-hooded Oriole/ Oriolus xanthornus/කහ කුරුල්ලා

Posted for Wordless Wednesday and World Bird Wednesday.

Uninvited Guests.............

I photographed these frogs inside the house at night, using flash,so the quality..errr....  After photographing the two specimens, the identification drill! They turned out to be Termite Nest Frog/Ramanella variegata. There are some interesting facts about these croackers on this wikipedia page.











Posted for Macro Monday.

Egret And Egret....Swamp Saturday # 2

Cattle Egret /Bubulcus ibis/ගව කොකා


Little Egret /Egretta garzetta

Floral Friday Meme # 2

Thursday's Trees Meme # 2

Bael /Aegle marmelos/බෙලි

 This plant provides ingredients for many Ayurveda remedies. The ripe fruit can be  eaten, or used to make juice. Dried and roasted leaves, dried flowers, or dried shell of the fruit make very appealing herbal tea.
learn more...... 

To Build Her Sweet Home.......

Scaly-breasted Munia/ Lonchura punctulata

Wordless Wednesday

What I Saw Was............

        Do you guys remember me promising to post about something I saw on the top of the small rock that boarders my birding patch? I'm keeping my promise, and you are gonna hear the full story.  

        When I asked around for  a trail to climb that rock up, I was told of two different trails, well apart from each other. So I just picked one of them. I set off from home about 6:30 A.M. , walking towards the base of the rock, passing housing schemes and a troop of Dusky Toque Monkeys performing  acrobatics on power cables and roof tops. 

        The climb was pretty steep from the very begging,  but there was a decent layer of soil on the rock and enough trees to hang on to. But after a few yards the trees thinned out and I hit sheer granite rock. There were pygmied trees, shrubs and tall grass with razor-sharp blades, scattered over the rock where there was room on it to hold some soil. I somehow hanged on to them, and pulled my self up bit by bit, realizing what a eight-hours-a- day sedentary job can do to your body!  

       After much puffing,sweating, and getting scratched, I came upon a very small cave, the rock face covered with soil and small trees beyond that all the way to the top. As the sun was literally unbearable then, I squeezed in to the cave and rested a moment, and took this picture.

   
















   The rest of the climb was not so bad, and I passed another small cave and fairly big trees.

     

























But I was pretty hacked as I neared the top, but there was excitement and anticipation for I knew what awaited beyond the other side of the rock could make it up to me, and I realized I was right when I saw this! 

I could have gazed at that crystal lake, sitting comfortably on the rock, for hours, but had taken far too longer than anticipated,   so I reluctantly turned back. Obviously I took the other trail for the descend, which proved to be far easier! It was 11:30 when I finally landed on ground, and I was barely able to drag myself  for  a cold drink! I saw numerous butterflies,dragonflies, birds including the most stunning bird of prey that I ever saw, and Dusky Toque Monkeys. But I was too busy with my   hands at all these encounters, so no photos! :-(

Posted for That's My World Tuesday. 

 

   

       

Web Master..................

     This is somewhat  a common spider I see around. I know this one belongs to the genus Agriope but I don't know what species it is. Could anybody tell me?
       By the way, do you guys remember my last post, about my birding retreat? The rocky outcrop covered with vegetation, one that boarders the coconut Plantation, I climbed it today. When I got to the top I saw it, right in front of me........ Whooa, I almost told you! Stay put for tomorrow's post if you wanna know! (wink)

                                           Agriope sp

 














Posted for Macro Monday.

My Local Birding Retreat.................

Allow me to present my nature escape, quite a little heaven consisting of rice fields, a coconut plantation with many other varieties of trees scattered over,  a rocky outcrop with surrounding thick vegetation, an exhausted granite mine now filled with water, just with in five minute's walk from home. Here's a   list of some of the creatures that I have observed there sofar.

Asian Openbill Stork /Anastomus oscitans
 
Little Cormorant /Microcarbo niger/දියකාවා

Rose-ringed Parakeet/Psittacula krameri
Black-hooded Oriole/ Oriolus xanthornus
Indian Roller /Coracias benghalensis  
Indian Pond Heron ,Ardeola grayii

Scaly-breasted Munia, Lonchura punctulata
White-rumped Munia/Lonchura striata
Spotted Dove/ Spilopelia chinensis
Three species of birds of prey that I couldn't ID
Copper-smith Barbet
Sri Lanka Small Barbet
Brown Headed Barbet
Scarlet Minivet/ Pericrocotus flammeus 
Crimson-backed Flameback Woodpecker
Ashy Prinia/Prinia socialis 
White -breasted Waterhen
 Mongoose species I couldn't ID 





White-rumped Munia/Lonchura striata

Indian Roller /Coracias benghalensis 

Ashy Prinia/Prinia socialis

Swamp Saturday Meme#1

This Asian Openbill Stork /Anastomus oscitans was in my local birding retreat a couple of weeks ago. It was really a mutual understanding between him and me, as he calmly perched on a  tree top, preening and giving me an occasional glance of curiosity.

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Floral Friday Meme#1

These tiny little blooms are from my local birding retreat. I've not identified them, and will be grateful for any help with that.










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Thursday's Trees # 1

Mimosa pudica/නිදිකුම්බා

Submissions have been closed.

Tempted....................

             
                                                                                                                                                                                        A post for Wordless Wednesday.

Macro Monday.................

This insect is  a Paddy Fly/Leptocorisa varicornis/ගොයම් මැස්සා, and is considered a major paddy field pest. I know hardly anything else about this bug, and all you my dear readers are invited to share whatever you might know about this one. This is a post for Macro Monday.

A Narrow Escape......................

It was 25th of last month. I was absorbed in a text book, studying for an exam, when I heard a desperate squeaking  sound which was undoubtedly from some creature  being caught by a predator. I couldn't but help putting the book away and head in to the garden where the sound came from. There was this frog clamped in a crow's beak. When the crow saw me, it dropped this poor beggar and took flight. Having a closer look at the creature, I realized that it was some thing totally unfamiliar to me.  I took a couple of quick snaps of the frog and put it in to a well covered corner in the garden.  Then I surfed the net trying to find out what species it was. My tentative conclusion is that this is a Common Hourglass Tree-frog/Polypedates cruciger , a common frog endemic to Sri Laka. I've uploaded this image here too for confirming the identification. Perhaps some of you guys could help me with that?