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.

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!

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

ABC Wednesday
World Bird Wednesday
Wild Wings Wednesday
WordlessWednesday

You Made Me Happy When The Sky Was Grey.............

After about two weeks of bright sunny days, the gloomy,drizzly weather has begun again. Good times don't last! Sigh. I've had to opt for traveling to and from work  by bus instead of walking, and it kills me to see increasing bird activity all around as the spring is slowly approaching, without being able to take my camera and and go about photographing them.   My parents told me a couple of Red-vented Bulbuls/Pycnonotus cafer/ෙකාණ්ඩ කුරුල්ලා were building a nest inside their very room at my old place and my cousin brother told me a Black-hooded Oriole/ Oriolus xanthornus/කහ කුරුල්ලා was building one in a very-easy-to-photograph spot in his garden! As I was just on my way to sign off duty yesterday this Rose-ringed Parakeet/Psittacula krameri/රැන ගිරවා came to perch on  a very small tree and stayed just long enough for me to take a snap. As it was quite gloomy I shot with increased exposure, just  a little too much. I had a touch it up with Picnik's auto fix feature to make it a little more presentable. Wish me luck for fair weather soon, my dear readers, it's the best time of year for birding!

Parrot French Kiss

I was on the way to work as usual this morning when I witnessed this at a spot close to where the Pond Heron was last morning. This pair of Rose-ringed Parakeets(Psittacula krameri krameri)
were engaged in something remarkably like passionate kissing. They did it three times and, flap flap,   off they flew.


Endemic Birds of Sri Lanka