Stare Down, You And Me.......

Plexippus petersi, a Jumping Spider

Two Newcomers & Some Others..........

Below is the highlight of this weeks photos, a  couple of Golden-fronted Leafbirds that I bagged today in the morning at the Ethugala rock forest area. This is the first time I've ever photographed these beauties.


Golden-fronted Leafbird (Chloropsis aurifrons)

These two Toque Macaque monkeys were captured during not very far from where the birds were.

 toque macaque (Macaca sinica)

Interesting creatures keep bumping on to me in the garden, even in the house. This hairy caterpillar was on the back doorstep.

As I took the caterpillar out and tried get a macro of it, a rustling sound under my seed trays betrayed the presence of this skink. I think it's the same one which was in the compost bin, as it's just about the same size and always hangs around where I keep my gardening stuff.

I also managed to capture  some woodpeckers and a Rose-ringed Parakeet.



 Black-rumped Flameback (Dinopium benghalense)

 Rose-ringed Parakeet (Psittacula krameri)

I'm also throwing in a very sinister-looking caterpillar I found on my curry plant and a spider on a tomato plant.

I'm really happy to show you folks such a mix bag of creatures, hope you would enjoy. Wish me luck for some more photos in the week to come, and drop by around next Saturday.



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

I Feel Good..!

Hello folks, how are you? This week has been the very opposite of the last, being sunny and hot. I was able to bag some really interesting critters to show you.





I'll start off with the birds. The tiny one you see below was completely new to me. Does any one know what that little bird is? 
   



















And here is a Red-vented bulbul perched on the TV antenna.

Red-vented Bulbul (Pycnonotus cafer)

This one is a female Asian Koel.


Asian Koel (Eudynamys scolopaceus )

A female Purple-rumped sunbird is in the bag too.


Purple-rumped Sunbird (Leptocoma zeylonica)

This Boulenger's Bronzeback snake used to come to a   Citrus tree in the garden every day and lay still on a branch for hours, but it has been absent for two days now.


 Boulenger's BronzebackBronzeback,Dendrelaphis bifrenalis

This Oriental garden lizard was on the trunk of a mango tree in the garden next door.


Oriental Garden Lizard(Calotes versicolor)

I also photographed and filmed a millipede, a considerably  big specimen for this area.

This orb Weaver that I asw in the gardening was really small. Can any body provide me with the species name please?


Agriope sp

This Peacock Pansy was filmed in the garden today.




I didn't know that Weaver ants were such interesting creatures till  a local news paper published an article about them  recently. visit this link and see for yourself.

Weaver ant (Oecophylla smaragdina)

I saw a bug dragging a spider way too bigger, as I was working on one of my vegetable plants in the garden. I don't know weather the bug killed the spider or it just came across the carcass,    but I think the latter is more likely.



There are some caterpillars on my Winged bean plants . They don't do much damage to the plants, and I'm waiting to see what they develop in to.

Okay, that's about it, hope you would enjoy. Stay tuned, and wish me luck, I'll be posting again next Friday. Ciao!

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

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.

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.

Web Master..................

     This is somewhat  a common spider I see around. I know this one belongs to the genus Agriope but I don't know what species it is. Could anybody tell me?
       By the way, do you guys remember my last post, about my birding retreat? The rocky outcrop covered with vegetation, one that boarders the coconut Plantation, I climbed it today. When I got to the top I saw it, right in front of me........ Whooa, I almost told you! Stay put for tomorrow's post if you wanna know! (wink)

                                           Agriope sp

 














Posted for Macro Monday.

Aaaarrrrrrgh!!!!!!!!!

Allow me to present some spiders that I've captured this week.



Image by roosterfeather via FlickrI used to see to see this strange looking spiders back at my old place when I was a kid, and it was years till I spotted another  in Kurunegala.












This one was on a permanganate plant in my garden.











I photographed this spider inside our house. This common species inhabit the house holds and don't seem to spin webs.











 This very colorful spider was in a well wooded home garden a little further way from Kurunegala.

I have not been able to pin down proper identifications on any of these spiders, but I'll try as usual. Any help from you dearest readers are much appreciated.


On next post, Quack Quack!........     Stay put!

Know what this spider is?

I took this photo yesterday. This spider was on a  really impossible place by a roadside, on a web spun among some grass. However I tried, I couldn't make a well focused shot at this one. I couldn't bring myself to discard all those images though. I chose one of the least crappy ones, had a go at it with Picnik's auto fix tool. Then I did some tweaks to the background with my favorite Gimp, and here's the result. I've uploaded this image here on Lakdasun forum for possible identification. Pleas do tell me if you know what this species is.