Back In Black..........

Hey folks, it's wonderful to be back blogging again! I'm sorry for the long absence, but I'm back, and with some exiting stuff too.

Last Saturday was a great day in my life, for I was able to bag a really magnificent bird of prey, a Crested Serpent Eagle! He was perched on a power pillar in a rice field nearby, probably looking for some game, and obliged me with these two presentable shots before flying away.

Crested Serpent Eagle (Spilornis cheela spilogaster)

  The same day I captured  a family of Red-wattled Lapwings, two juveniles and their mother, as well as  flock of Scaly-breasted Munias.  

Red-wattled Lapwing (Vanellus indicus)

And here are some more birds from the garden.

Yellow-billed Babbler  (Turdoides affinis)

Oriental Magpie Robin (Copsychus saularis)

I hope you enjoyed my photos and videos, and I'll drop by your blogs too. I will post again on next Friday if capture anything new by then, so stay tuned. Ciao!

Posted for World Bird Wednesday and Camera Critters.

Birding On The Go.......

Ahh, time for World Bird Wednesday! What kind of striking birds have you got this week, folks? Well, I've got a few! The highlight of this week is a family of White-breasted Waterhen  that I came across and videoed at a small pool near a paddy field on the way to work.  There were two adults looking after three chicks, so I assume both parents of this species take care of their offspring. The chicks are coal black so you need to look carefully to make them out in the video. I took two snaps of the adults too.

                                            White-breasted Waterhen, Amaurornis phoenicurus

The freshly planted paddy fields these days are hosting quite a large number of birds, and  I bagged Red-wattled Lapwing, and Indian Pond Heron.
                                                                 Red-wattled Lapwing, Vanellus indicus

 

Indian Pond Heron,Ardeola grayii

I photographed  a Common Kingfisher at the same spot where the Waterhens were, and another on a bank of the canal.
                                                           Common Kingfisher, Alcedo atthis

This  Cormorant( whetherLittle, Indian or Great I don't know) was by the canal too.

                                                       ? Cormorant

I saw quite a large, mixed, flock of Scaly-breasted and White-rumped Munias today near the canal too, but I only managed to capture  one Scaly-breasted Munia. 

                                       Scaly-breasted Munia, Lonchura punctulata

There was a couple of Rose-ringed Parakeets on a tree this morning by the road I use to reach our hospital, and one was very obliging.

Finally, a Purple-rumped Sunbird that I captured in a neighbor's garden. 

                                               Purple-rumped Sunbird ,Leptocoma zeylonica

A post for World Bird Wednesday.

Personal Hygiene ...............................

 

 

Red-Wattled Lapwing

I took these photos on one bank of the canal I talked about earlier. I can recognize this particular bird from the rest of its flock with it's thinner built and the indifference it has started showing for my presence around the canal.

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.    

Red-wattled Lapwings(Vanellus indicus) In a Paddy Field

I recorded this video today at a Paddy field in Kurunegala. These birds always seen where there is plenty of water, such as Paddy fields and wetlands.   Lots of scientific information about Red-wattled Lapwing is available here.