What's In Me Bag?

Purple-faced Leaf Monkey{Endemic}

 

                                 Brown-headed Barbet

                                      House Sparrow

                                ?Juvenile House Toad

                                                     Pink Skimmer

                                              Spotted Dove

Birds In motion....

Hello folks, I have got a few birds to show you, all in video. I simply didn't manage to make any good stills this week.


Here's a Shikra tearing at an Oriental Garden Lizard that it snatched off the ground in my garden. Not a very good video, you can't see what the bird id eating, or the bird it self properly because of the impossible place it perched on our t tree,   but I thought I'd post it anyway.

Shikra (Accipiter badius)

This is an endemic Ceylon Small Barbet.

Ceylon Small Barbet(Megalaima rubricapillus)

This Common Tailorbird was  on our Hibiscus plant.

Common Tailorbird (Orthotomus sutorius)

Finally, a Black-rumped Flameback Woodpecker, also filmed in my garden.

 

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?

Playful And Carefree........................

A Small Strech Of Forest In The Middle Of The City Of Kurunegala -2, Toque Macaque Monkeys This Time

Toque Macaque  monkey (Macaca sinica ) Aka Rilawa is endemic to Sri Lanka. I saw this small troop near the top of Ethugala Rock. It is almost impossible to pass a troop of them without  bribing them with food. These dare devils snatch anything edible from the hands of the travelers. It's a common occurrence at every travel destination with these monkeys. I feel  very uneasy thinking what kinds of food find their way in to these monkey's systems, as travelers happen to carry all kinds of food with them. It must have been people who gave the macaques a taste of picnic snacks by throwing tidbits at them. 

You will find some very interesting facts about these monkeys here, here, and here, they are world famous!