I hope you guys are not bored by the Yellow-billed Babblers constantly appearing here. I really couldn't help showing this shot off. I think it turned out nice, what do you think?                                                              

Yellow-billed Babbler, Turdoides affinis

Here's a Jungle crow eating ripe jack fruit.  The population of this species seem to be declining, while the House Crow population is going up. Urbanization and increasing garbage dumps seem to have benefited the House Crow, and apparently Jungle Crows are not very good at competing with them.
  
Jungle Crow (Corvus macrorhynchos)

This is a juvenile Land Monitor I photographed in the garden.

       Land Monitor (Varanus bengalensis)

This butterfly is a Common Palmfly.


Common Palmfly, Elymnias hypermnestra

My last picture for this week is a  wee spider I saw on a flower-baring ornamental in the garden. If any body could ID it for me, I'll be grateful.

Posted for Camera Critters, Macro Monday, World Bird Wednesday.

Oriole, Bulbul, ETC......

Hi everybody what's been going on in your part of the world? It's definitely spring here, with a fair amount of rain, which is typical of this time of the year.

Black-hooded oriole is a species of bird that has really tested my nerves when it comes to photographing them. This week I managed to get some barely presentable shots of one, and it did give me a run round   my and  a neighbor's gardens.

Black-hooded Oriole, Oriolus xanthornus

Below are the other birds I managed to capture.

Red-vented Bulbul (Pycnonotus cafer)

 Yellow-billed Babbler, Turdoides affinis

I also photographed  a female Common Mormon butterfly and  a gecko, which has to be Spotted House Gecko (Hemidactylus brookii parvimaculatus),  according to what Bushana says here, and caterpillar 
that I couldn't place.



female Common Mormon,  Papilio polytes

Spotted House Gecko (Hemidactylus brookii parvimaculatus)

 

Posted for Camera critters, Macro Monday, Best Posts and World Bird Wednesday.

The Uninvited Guest And The other Critters........

Last night there was this small snake just outside the house, slithering close to a wall. I trapped it in a bottle and released it in to a  block of land that has been left unattended for so long. I couldn't get any decent photos of it as my wife was freaking out while I handled it. I will upload the images to Lakdasun forum for possible identification.

This Common Lime butterfly was by the driveway when I took my little girl for walk last evening.


Common Lime butterfly,    Papilio demoleus

This beautiful beetle was on the bird feeder bowl yesterday morning. Do check the video out, I think it turned out nicely.

 


Birding has not been very good this week, I've only got a House Craw to show you guys. May be better luck next week, so stay tuned, I'll probably be posting in next Friday again.

House Crow (Corvus splendens)

Posted for Macro Monday , Camera Critters, and World Bird Wednesday.



P.S.- My friend Bushana  at Lakdasun has identified the snake to be Russel's Kukri Snake,(Oligodon taeniolatus ceylonicus), a non venomous endemic sub-species. Thanks Bushana!

A Scavenger......

This  Water monitor (Varanus salvator) I've photographed occupies the same spot where the Waterhen family lives. It's said that when these scavengers consume a decent meal they lie motionless till it is properly digested. I believe it's true for when I took the bottom  picture yesterday, the creature's belly was enormous and it didn't move at all.

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"!

      

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. 

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.

Hey, Litlle Fella!

My Camera Critter this week is a juvenile Common Green Forest Lizard (Calotes calotes). He was in a shrub by the driveway, and dashed away before I could get close enough for a macro.

I'm Photogenic!...........

Oriental Garden Lizard/Calotes versicolor/ගාර කටුස්සා









See more close-ups on Macro Monday.

At The Lake In Kandy.........................

I spent a little time at the lake in Kandy last Thursday. I like this particular lake for the photographic opportunities it offers. On one side of the lake there are some dead trees fallen in to it and you can always see a variety of waterbirds, turtles and huge water monitors perched on them and enjoying the sun.  Inhabiting a lake in the middle of a very thickly populated city, these birds are not as vary of us humans. However, this photography expedition didn't go all that well, the sunlight was way too bright, and I haven't    got the hang of exposure compensation and spot metering. Dah!.....

Asian Openbill Stork/ Anastomus oscitans


















Black-crowned Nigt Heron/ Nycticorax nycticorax

 





















Black-crowned Night Heron /Nycticorax nycticorax Juvenile

Little Cormorant /Microcarbo niger/දියකාවා

Parker's Black Turtle/ Melanochelys trijuga parkeri/ පාකර්ගේ ගල් ඉබ්බා

                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                 


















Water Monitor/Varanus salvator salvator/ කබරගොයා

The Skink Goes Crawlin'.........උරගෙයක් හදුනා ගනිමු

I used to see these lizards around my old place in Panadura quite a lot, but during the near six years I've been in Kurunegala, I've seen them only twice.  This particular one you see in the photos was on a palm tree trunk near the tank of Kurunegala, my second siting of this reptile in this area. I searched online for identifying this one, and it seems to be a Common Skink/ Eutropis carinata lankae/සුලබ හිකනලා,  an endemic subspecies. 

 

An Indian Black Turtle Juvenile

Image by roosterfeather via FlickrThis little tortoise was crawling a neighborhood garden when I saw it. After taking some quick photos and video I set it free in to a stream in a nearby rice field. It was so small that two of the same size could  easily have fitted in to my palm .
The link at the end of the post says that  Indian Black Turtle or Indian Pond Terrapin (Melanochelys trijuga) is limited to the northern low wet and dry zone parts in Sri Lanka, but I've seen them often in the western province too, where there is still or slow flowing   fresh water such as rice fields, ponds, rain-filled old granite mines etc. 

Image by roosterfeather via Flickr

 It's said that these tortoises are near threatened. One factor which may contribute to that in Sri Lanka is  that people have a taste for it's meat. Some people hunt these and some times these critters bite on fishing bait get themselves caught. 
 Image by roosterfeather via Flickr

This link here   provides a whole lot more information on  Indian Black Turtle.


 PS-Hi all, Looks like my identification of this animal is not entirely correct,as my  friend Bushana says in his comment. I'll quote him here in case you don't notice it.

"............What you have photographed here is Spotted black turtle(Melanochelys trijuga thermalis) a sub species with a face with bright red, orange or yellow spots. This subspecies has wide distribution in Sri Lanka(It doesnot imply that it is common) and specimens were reported from varies places throughout the country such as Colombo, Jaffna, Trinco, Kandy,Anuradhapura, Tissamaharama, Kalpitiya, Welimada..etc. Other subspecies M.t.parkeri or Parker's Black turtle -comparatively larger than this one and no color spots on the face- is restricted to Northern part of the country. So as a species it is distributed throughout whole island in suitable habitats contrary to what it is said in the link you have given above............"

Thanks Bushana!