A Shikra And Some Other Birds.........

Do you remember the bird I show you on last WBW, the one I said a Crested Serpent Eagle? Well, my identification was wrong, it was infact a Shikra. I was able to photograph another one this week. It makes two Shikras in two consecutive weeks!


                                                                                     Shikra, Accipiter badius

This White-breasted Drongo was right in front of our house.


                                                  White-breasted Drongo,Dicrurus caerulescens

Perched on the same wire was this very sympathetic White-throated Kingfisher.

                                                  White-throated Kingfisher, Halcyon smyrnensis

 

Time for another ID correction. What I showed you as an Ashy Prinia last week was really a Plain Prinia. Below is another photo of one. I'll show you an Ashy Prinia soon, both Ashy and Plain Prinia can be observed near paddy fields around here. Come back for more birds on next Wednesday.

                                                          Plain Prinia, Prinia inornata

The last bird I'm showing you this week is   this  White-breasted Waterhen hiding among paddy in a freshly planted field.

A post for World Bird Wednesday.

The Dragons of Rockpool......

Dozens of these stunning dragonflies, and some other types as well, is a sure sight at an abandoned granite mine now filled with water, within my birding patch. I think this particular species is Dawn Dropwing, Trithemis aurora, but I'm not entirely sure.

This is a post for Macro Monday.

This Week's Birds......

How's the birding  been this week, folks? It's not been too bad for me. My walks to and from work as well as hanging around the birding patch has yielded some nice birds.
                                                                          
                                                                     ROSE-RINGED PARAKEET Psittacula krameri
Well, let's start off with some Rose-ringed Parakeets, they are in full swing now.



























CRESTED SERPENT EAGLE Spilornis cheela
This juvenile Crested Serpent Eagle was a lifer, my fist bird of prey! The photos are nothing to brag about though.

                                                                                                               ASIAN OPENBILL Anastomus oscitans
Rice fields are being planted for the next season, so the fields being prepared attract lots of water birds, who come looking for small critters unearthed by farmers. I only managed to capture this Asian Openbill Stork.

                                                               Oriental Magpie Robin (Copsychus saularis)

This immature Oriental Magpie Robin was catching bugs on the ground by the railroad track.



















ASHY PRINIA Prinia socialis

 An Ashy Prenia and a Jerdon's Bushlark were perched on a power cable running over  a paddy field.

















 
Jerdon's Bushlark (Mirafra affinis)                                                       

                                                                     WHITE-THROATED KINGFISHER Halcyon smyrnensis
This White -throated Kingfisher was by an irrigation canal.




Well,that's about it, lets hope next week will be even better! if you have not linked up your bird posts to Wold Bird Wednesday yet,you must!

Beautiful Damsel.......

Ah, a damselfly after a long time.  I find damsels  be a very tough area in macro photography. As I understand it, their very limited body surface area makes it hard to focus on the subject, some object behind the subject comes on to focus. Things are not so bad if there is solid background immediately behind the subject, like when the damselfly is perched on a leaf.

However, I got really lucky with this very striking damselfly a few days ago, among some overgrown grass by the driveway. I think it's a White-tipped Spreadwing (Lestes elatus),judging by my friend Bushana's blog post here.

Posted for Macro Monday.

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"!

      

Babblers Babble......

Yellow-billed Babbler(Turdoides affinis) is  a very common and widely spread bird in Sri Lanka, which roam open vegetation and home gardens in small flocks. These birds are quite tolerant of human  presence. I see them in my garden almost everyday, hopping about the ground in search of food, preening and relaxing,  and mostly chattering nonstop! These are omnivorous birds and would eat just about anything.
A post for World Bird Wednesday , ABC Wednesday 

Beauty!

I took this photo and made the video yesterday on  a shrub by the driveway. I didn't know what it was called then, so I looked for and found the ID to be Common Mime( Papilio clytia). This is my post for this week's Macro Monday.

See The Skink....

I recorded this video this evening at my in law's garden, and thought to post it for this week's Camera Critters.  This Common Skink(Eutropis carinata lankae) was feeling around among the rubbish with its tongue, probably for food. 

I Can't Help Falling In Love With You............

ABC Wednesday
World Bird Wednesday
Wild Wings Wednesday
WordlessWednesday

The Painted Butt......

A very small spider I captured in the garden a little while ago. The marking on the abdomen is really some thing,huh? I don't have a clue about what species it is. Do you? A post for Macro Monday.

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.