Black-hooded Oriole

The Black-hooded Oriole is a common, widespread garden and forest bird. It is a resident breeder in southern Asia ranging from India and Sri Lanka, east to Indonesia. Read on for more images and info.

The female Black-hooded Oriole is more drab with greenish underparts. However, it still has the characteristic black hood. Immature birds are similar to the female but have dark streaking on the underparts and their hood is not completely black, specially on the throat. The black head of this species is an obvious distinction from the Golden Oriole. 

   

The bird nests in trees and clutches comprise of two eggs. They are not the easiest birds to see as they spend most of their time in the canopy feeding on insects and fruits.

These images were taken in our garden in Colombo and in Anuradhapura. I used the Canon 7D with the 100-400mm lens for all these shots.  The bird was nice enough to perch on a branch which gave me an unobstructed view. Fortunately I was upstairs and was able to shoot from a similar height to the perch. This enabled me to capture these images from a slightly different point of view. The fact that the bird was only about 20 meters away from me also helped. I wasn't as fortunate in Anuradhapura and had to shoot from the ground below the bird.

Puliyankulam Tank - Anuradhapura

Puliyankulam is a relatively small tank and is situated on the A9 highway north of Anuradhapura. It is about a ten minute drive from the centre of town and is definitely worth a visit. For those of you who are not aware of what a "tank" is, it is a man made lake that is used for irrigation. The north central province of Sri Lanka is covered with a number of tanks that have been built over a thousand years ago, with the aim of collecting rain water in order to cultivate paddy in the drier months. More info and images after the jump.

We visited the tank one evening in January with the hope of doing some bird watching. It was around five in the evening when we got there and the light was fantastic for photography. Apart from a herd of water buffalo, we had the place to ourselves. As can be seen in the first and third images of this post, there was an abundance of lush green grass growing in the fertile soil around the tanks and in the shallows. Beyond the grasses the tank was covered with lotus and the area was teeming with bird life. Our sightings that evening included Common Kingfishers, Egrets, Grebes and Darters. 

We didn't wonder around too much to be honest.  We found a large rock on which we sat while watching the sun dip below the horizon. I'm an outdoors person and this to me, was one of the best ways to spend an evening, surrounded by wildlife and far away from the hustle and bustle of a city. 

All the images on this post were captured using the 7D with the 100-400mm lens mounted on it. These images must be viewed large.

Asian Brown Flycatcher

The Asian Brown Flycatcher is an insectivorous species which breeds in Japan, Eastern Siberia and the Himalayas. It is a migrant and winters in Southern India and Sri Lanka.  More info after the jump.

This species is about 13cm in length and is similar in shape to the larger spotted flycatcher.  The dark bill is relatively large and is broad based. The adult has grey-brown upper parts which become greyer as the plumage ages. The under parts are whitish with brown tinged flanks. Younger birds have scaly brown upper parts, head and breast.

   

This bird is quite vocal and is a canopy dweller. It is found in different habitats, including urban gardens, as long as there are plenty of mature trees. It is usually detected by its regular somewhat loud calls. It has a habit of flying in a loop to catch prey and return to its perch.

I hadn't seen this species in our garden until December 2009. It turned out to be a regular visitor and was frequently seen feeding in the evenings. As usual it was it's call that gave away its presence. In order to capture these images I climbed up onto the roof near one of the birds regular perches. I used a Canon 7D with the 100-400mm lens to capture these images. 

Purple-rumped Sunbird

The Purple-rumped Sunbird (Leptocoma zeylonica) is endemic to the Indian subcontinent . Like other Sunbirds, it is small in size and feeds on nectar and the occasional insect.  More images and info inside.

These birds are around 10cm in length and have a curved bill of medium length.  They also have brush tipped tubular tongues. The males, shown in the first image, have a dark brown upper side with a blue-green crown. The crown is clearly visible at certain angles when the sun catches it. The violet patches on the throat and the rump are only visible in good light. Both the blue-green crown and the violet patches on the throat are visible in the image below. The female has a white throat and a yellowish breast.

These birds common and can be found in most gardens, even in major cities. These images were shot in a garden in the heart of Colombo. These birds are found in varying habitats ranging from scrub to habitats with trees and even cultivated areas. It is usually not found in dense forests.   

The Purple-rumped Sunbird breeds throughout the year and may have two broods. The nest is made up of fine plant fibres and cobwebs. The exterior of the nest is decorated with pieces of bark and lichens. The nest is generally built on the end of a branch and is elaborate and pear shaped. The nests also have a distinctive entrance roof above the entry hole. A clutch consists of about two eggs which are oval in shape and are pale green and white with spots and streaks. Chicks fledge in about 17 days. Other females and possibly the young from the previous brood help the parents feed the young.

Since the birds tend to perch when feeding on nectar from flowers, they pollinate many plant species. They do not hover as much as the Loten's sunbird. They are said to maintain special scratching posts which they use to get rid of pollen and nectar stuck to their heads. 

    

These shots were taken with a Canon 7D with the 100-400mm lens mounted on it. I used an ISO of around 400 in order to control the noise and use a fast shutter speed. I was fortunate to be able to approach these birds and shoot in fairly close proximity. As a result, the images on this post were only very slightly cropped.

 

Lankathilaka Viharaya, Kandy

 

The Lankathilaka temple, situated on the outskirts of Kandy, is one of the finest examples of Sinhalese temple architecture. More info and images inside.

 

The temple was completed in 1334 by king Buwanekabahu IV, who had chosen Gampola as his kingdom. The five kings who ruled from Gampola made significant contributions to art and culture. The Gadaladeniya and Embekke temples, which will be covered in future posts, are also from this period.

 

The Image house contains devales to the four guardian deities of the island, each with his consort. A Pali inscription can be found on the rock which the temple is built on and it is supposed to be a record of the valuable gifts given to craftsman who worked on the temple. The exterior of the image house is decorated with sculpted elephants and other decorative designs.

 

The arched passage of the image house leads into an inner sanctum which is decorated with floral designs. The two side walls and the ceiling are covered with paintings and the inner sanctum contains a huge statue of the seated Buddha under a "Makara Thorana". I was unable to go into the image house as the priest was not around and the image house was locked. However, I was able to take a few shots of the artwork that decorated the main door to the image house.

 

 

The shot below shows the wooden carvings found on one of the windows.

Common Jezebel

The Common Jezebel is a medium sized pierid butterfly found in many areas of South and Southeast Asia, especially in the non-arid regions of India, Sri Lanka, Myanmar and Thailand. More images and info inside.

The wingspan of both males and females range from 6.5cm to 8.5cm. The upper and under sides of the females wing  are similar to the male but the black edging to the veins and the postdiscal transverse bands on both fore and hind wings are much broader than that of the male.

This butterfly is common through most of its range except for the desert tracts, and up to an altitude of 7000 feet. It can be found wherever there are trees, even in towns and cities. The females can be seen flying amongst the trees in search of its food plants, while the males are more frequently observed visiting flowers for nectar or mud-puddling. It rests with its wings closed exhibiting the brilliantly coloured underside.

 

It has bright coloration to indicate the fact that it is unpalatable due to toxins accumulated by the larvae from the host-plants. Like other unpalatable butterflies the Common Jezebel is mimicked by Prioneris sita, the Painted Sawtooth. The Common Jezebel can be distinguished by the shape of the orange red spots on the hind wing. In the Painted Sawtooth these spots are very squarish whereas in the Common Jezebel they are more arrow head shaped. The Painted Sawtooth also flies faster and will also mud puddle.

Source - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Delias_eucharis

All the shots on this post have been taken with the Canon 7D and the EF 100-400mm lens. I used an ISO of 400 hoping to utilise a faster shutter speed and minimise the noise. I managed to get within 2 meters of the butterfy tocapture these images. The butterflies were photographed in Anuradhapura, Trincomalee and Colombo. The largest specimens were seen in Trincomalee.

Indian Paradise-flycatcher

The Indian Paradise-flycatcher is usually about 20cm in length but the long tail streamers double this. The bird in the images on this post is roughly three years old. The adult Indian paradise-flycatcher has a white body but the juvenile has a chestnut coloured body, similar to the Ceylon Paradise-flycatcher. The juveniles start moulting into their white plumage in their third year. The bird pictured in these images has just started the moulting process. More images and info after the jump.

The females of both species are similar to the males in colour but lack the long tail streamers. Several races are recognised but further study is required. Subtle differences in colour and markings differentiate the races from each other. The race found in peninsular India and Sri Lanka has very long streamers and crests.  The Paradise flycatcher is a noisy bird with a sharp skreek call. It also has short legs and sits very upright whilst perched. They bathe in small pools of water in the afternoon by diving from a perch.

I have grown up with this bird visiting my garden towards the end of every year. We started recording the date which it first appeared and found that for a period of over ten years, the variation was around 10 days.

It was pretty easy to see this bird as it arrived in our garden at roughly the same time every evening. It also followed the same path to the pond where it had a bath. Unfortunately the perches it used were in the canopy or quite well hidden from view. The bird was also very shy and would fly off as soon as it saw anyone. This made getting a clear shot of it almost impossible.

The image above clearly shows the tail feathers and some of the upper parts moulting into white plumage. This would mean that the bird is three years of age.

These shots were captured over a period of a month between mid December and mid January. The shots were taken when the bird had paused for a relatively long period of time to feed. All these shots were taken with a 100-400mm lens mounted on a Canon 7D. The ISO was around 400 in order to use a faster shutter speed.

Western Monasteries - Anuradhapura

In the quieter parts of the sacred city of Anuradhapura lie the Western Monasteries or the Tapovana Monastery. The Monastery was inhabited by meditating forest dwelling monks who came into prominence in the seventh century. More info and images inside.

The main component of the hermitages of these monks was the padhanagaras or the meditation houses, which were beautifully built of well proportioned and meticulously-dressed plain stone. A curious feature of these monasteries is the ornamented urinal stones. These are the only elaborately decorated features found in the Monastery which is otherwise characteristically devoid of ornamentation except of the simplest kind.

Architecturally the habitations of these monks of the tapovana sect also called Pamsukulin are generic, and are duplicated in many other monasteries of the fraternity as at Ritigala and Arankele. However according to scholars the monasteries at Anuradhapura represent the padhanagara pirivena in its most developed form.
Source - http://www.angelfire.com/in4/anuradhapura/tapovana.htm

All the images shown above were shot with a Canon 400D with an EF 50mm f1.8 lens. The image of the cave comprises 6 images stitched together using Hugin.

Yellow-fronted Barbet

The Yellow-fronted Barbet is an endemic bird found in the well wooded area in the wet lowlands and mid hills of Sri Lanka. More info and images after the jump.

This is the second largest Barbet found on the Island (the Brown-headed Barbet is the largest). It is unmistakeable with its yellow forehead and blue face. It frequents tall trees but descends to lower branches, especially when these are in fruit. It mainly feeds on fruit but is known to occasionally eat insects as well.

The breeding season is during February and May with a secondary season form August to September. The nest hole is similar to that of the Brown-headed Barbet but is slightly smaller in size. The cavity is oval in shape and, if new, is 8 inches in depth. The Yellow-fronted barbet uses its nest for several years running, digging it deeper each year.

I came across this bird at our place in Kandy where it was seen feeding on these flowers at around 7.00 am every morning. Getting the shots above wasn't hard. All I had to do was make sure I was around at the correct time. To capture these images I increased the ISO to 640 with the hope of getting a faster shutter speed. In hind sight, I should have used an ISO of 400 and a bit of fill flash. This would have reduced the noise. Something to keep in mind for next time....

Other images / info on Barbets

• Brown Headed Barbet
• Yellow Fronted Barbet
• Crimson Fronted Barbet