Brown Ringlet

Brown Ringlet - Hypocysta metirius

I photographed a number of Brown Ringlets while I was up at the Barrington Tops. Since I was out early almost every morning I managed to photograph them while they warmed up in the early morning sun. Due to the fact that they were still "warming up", I was able to get really close to the butterfly. Having the 100-400mm lens on also helped.

More images after the jump.

Brown Ringlet - Hypocysta metirius

The Brown Ringlet is a small butterfly and has a wingspan of around 55mm. I would have liked to get a bit closer to photograph them but was restricted by the minimum focusing distance on the 100-400mm lens. It would have been good to use the 100mm lens to photograph them but I didn't want to missout by going indoors to change the lens,

Brown Ringlet - Hypocysta metirius

I'm not sure how other photographers set about photographing butterflies. Do they approach butterflies once they settle on a plant or do they set up hides and wait for the butterfly to settle? The second option could be time consuming and may lead to people "baiting" the butterflies. I've never baited animals for photography before and I am not too keen to start it now.  What do you guys think?

Brown Ringlet - Hypocysta metirius

All photographs on this post were captured with the Canon 7D and the 100-400mm lens.

Chocolate Soldier

A Chocolate Soldier photographed in Anuradhapura, Sri Lanka

The Chocolate Soldier is a common butterfly found in Asia. It is also known as the Chocolate Pansy. These butterflies are territorial and they spend a lot of time close to the ground. I found a number of them in Anuradhapura and they were all, rather surprisingly, within three feet of the ground. More info and images after the jump.

A Chocolate Soldier photographed in Anuradhapura, Sri Lanka

The wingspan of the Chocolate Soldier is around 5 - 6cm. The depth of the brown colour on the upper-sides of both the male and the female vary. The females can be identified by the white markings on the oblique line on the underside of the hind wing.

A Chocolate Soldier photographed in Anuradhapura, Sri Lanka

This butterfly lays its eggs on the ground or on dry twigs in close proximity to host plants. Once the larvae have hatched, they find their way to the host plants. It is unusual that the butterfly does not lay eggs on the host plants themselves. The larvae are a dark, dull brown in colour. 

A Chocolate Soldier photographed in Anuradhapura, Sri Lanka

Surprisingly these butterflies didn't mind my presence as they let me get very close to photograph them. I used the 100-400mm lens on the 7D. I feel I would have been able to get closer to it but was constrained because of the minimum focusing distance on the lens.

Oriental Garden Lizard

An Oriental Garden Lizard

The Oriental Garden Lizard is widely distributed throughout Asia and has also been introduced to many other parts of the world. It is an insectivore which is often incorrectly referred to as the bloodsucker due to it's red throat. More images and info after the jump.

An Oriental Garden Lizard

The coloration of these lizards vary from an uniform brownish or greenish olive or yellowish. The ground colour of the lizard is generally a light brownish olive but the lizard can change it to bright red or black or even a mixture of the two. This change is sometimes confined to the head but can also be distributed throughout the body and tail. Black streaks radiate from the eye and some of them are continued over the throat, running obliquely backwards. These bright changeable colours are peculiar to the male during breeding season. 

It is very common in Sri Lanka and the specimens found on the island seem to be relatively large. A specimen measuring 16 inches has been recorded in Sri Lanka. 

An Oriental Garden Lizard

Males are highly territorial during the mating season. They are known to discourage intruding males by brightening their red heads. The males try to attract females by inflating their throats and drawing attention to its coloured head. About 10 - 20 eggs are laid and buried in moist soil. The eggs are long, covered with leathery skin and are known to hatch in about 6 - 7 weeks. 

The lizard is known to feed on insects, and small vertebrates, including rodents and other lizards. The lizards teeth are designed to grip prey and not to tear it up. Prey is swallowed whole after it has been captured and stunned by shaking it vigorously. 

 

A male Oriental Garden Lizard

These images were shot in Kandy, with the Canon 7D and the 100 - 400mm lens.

Indian Roller

The Indian Roller is a stocky bird measuring around 26-27cm in length and can only be confused within its range with the migratory European Roller. It is found in open grassland and forest areas ranging from Iraq to Thailand. More images and info after the jump.

These birds are usually seen perched on telephone wires or bare trees and descend to the ground to catch prey. They usually feed on insects, small reptiles and amphibians. The Indian Roller is not known to be shy of man and can even be found on cricket pitches in Colombo. They have been known to follow tractors in order to capture disturbed invertebrates. 

Because of its brown breast and dark blue wings it can look "quite dull" when it is perched. However, when it takes flight, the primaries and secondaries show vividly banded light and dark blue. In Sri Lanka, it is found throughout the lowlands and up to the mid hills but it is a lot commoner in the dry zone. Records show that the Indian Roller has been found at a density of 50 birds per square km in agricultural areas in southern India.

During the mating season, the male is known to perform aerobatic displays with lots of twists and turns. It is this behaviour that has led to its English name. The breeding season is from March until June and they nest in a lined hole in a tree or a building laying about 3 - 5 eggs. 

Since the  Indian Roller is very common in India, it features in several legends. Its local name is neelakant (which means blue throat), a name associated with the deity Shiva (who drank poison which resulted in a blue throat). In the past, captive Indian Rollers were released by local rulers during festivals. The Indian Roller has been chosen as the state bird of a number of Indian states.

While I was in Sri Lanka and traveling in the dry zone to Anuradhapura and Trincomalee, I saw this bird very very regularly. Every 2km stretch of the Habarana - Trincomalee road saw an Indian Roller perched on a telephone line. 

These images were captured with a Canon 7D and a 100-400mm lens.   

   

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. 

White-rumped Munia

The White-rumped Munia or White-rumped Mannikin (Lonchura striata), sometimes called Striated Finch in aviculture, is a small passerine bird from the family of waxbill "finches". More info inside.
The White-rumped Munia is about 10-11cm in length with a stubby grey bill and a long black pointed tail. Adult birds are brown above and on the breast and lighter below. Sexes are almost impossible to distinguish in all subspecies.

The bird is a resident breeder ranging from South Asia, to Southern China, East to Taiwan and South to Sumatra. It frequents open woodland, grassland and scrub and adapts well to agricultural land use. It is a gregarious bird which feeds mainly on seeds, moving through the undergrowth in groups. The nest is a large domed grass structure in a tree, bush or grass into which 3-8 white eggs are laid. It is a common and widespread species across a large range and is not considered a threatened species by the IUCN.
Source-http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/White-rumped_Munia

I photographed this bird in our garden. It was having a drink in the bird bath when I noticed it and luckily the camera, with the 100-400mm, was with me. I had to push the ISO to 1600 as it was late evening and the light wasn't good. The fact that the birdbath was in the shadow of a tree didn't help matters either. I'm pretty happy that I managed to capture a sharp image of the bird using a shutter of 1/40, handheld.

Scaly-breasted Munia

The Scaly-breasted Munia is a common bird found throughout Sri Lanka, ascending to the highlands where it may be seen in the same habitat as the endemic Black throated Munia. More info after the jump.

The Scaly-breasted Munia, also known as the Nutmeg Manikin or the Spice Finch, is a resident breeder in tropical southern Asia from India and Sri Lanka east to Indonesia and the Philippines. It has also been introduced to Puerto Rico where they are already widespread in lowland agricultural areas. It feeds on seeds and can been seen foraging on grasslands and crops and is therefore considered a pest.

A typical clutch consists of 4 - 10 eggs which are laid in an untidy and dome shaped nest. It will move into gardens to occupy suitable nesting habitats. They move around in restless flocks, seldom staying in one place for long. The sexes are similar, juveniles have light brown upper parts  and have uniform buff under parts.

I found a small flock of these birds near the Thalangama tank one morning. They were moving about in the undergrowth feeding on seeds in the grass when I came across them. They move around a lot and it took a bit of patience to capture the image above. The bird in the image perched on a stick and paused for a little while to look around before disappearing into the undergrowth. Fortunately there was enough time for me to lock focus and capture the image.

Brownies

My breakfast

Cherries?