Lemon Pansy

A Lemon Pansy photographed in Anuradhapura, Sri Lanka

The Lemon Pansy is a common butterfly found throughout southern Asia. It is the most common of the six pansies found in India. The Lemon Pansy is known to be territorial and aggressive. I came across a number of these butterflies in Anuradhapura and found them quite easy to photograph. Their flight is strong and consist of strong wingbeats with less fluttering.  However, they do spend a fair bit of time perched on shrubs and flowers. More info and images inside.

A Lemon Pansy photographed in Anuradhapura, Sri Lanka

Like the Chocolate Soldier,  the Lemon Pansy rests on or close to the ground with it's wings spread. It settles in wet patches on the ground more frequently than other Pansies. When I was photographing these butterflies they were feeding or basking in the warm early morning sunlight. They are a small to medium sized butterfly with prominent "eyespots" on the upper sides of both wings.

A Lemon Pansy photographed in Anuradhapura, Sri Lanka

Male Lemon Pansies are known to perch at strategic locations with the aim of intercepting females and inspecting potential mates. It is quite well camouflaged when it sits still with its wings held above its abdomen. The male is known to move into new locations if their current locations are unsuitable.

A Lemon Pansy photographed in Anuradhapura, Sri Lanka

This butterfly loves to feed on Nectar and can frequently be seen settling on shrubs and other small plant's to feed.  During this time it displays the upper sides of its wings. In the evenings they move into thickets and settle on a tall grass stems with their wings folded above their abdomen, to spend the night. It is known to have a typical posture, which it takes when it spreads its wings. As a result a lot of the photographs taken of this species look similar. 

A Lemon Pansy photographed in Anuradhapura, Sri Lanka

I photographed these butterflies in an overgrown plot of land in Anuradhapura. There were a number of large bushes with flowers in bloom and these butterflies were feeding on them. They didn't seem to be too bothered with my presence and I was able to get quite close to photograph them. I had the 100-400mm lens on the 7D and was able to get some frame filling images.

A Lemon Pansy photographed in Anuradhapura, Sri Lanka

A Lemon Pansy photographed in Anuradhapura, Sri Lanka

Ashy Prinia

An Ashy Prinia photographed in Anuradhapura, Sri Lanka

The Ashy Prinia, or the Ashy Wren-Warbler, is a common bird found throughout Sri Lanka and the Indian subcontinent. It's colours, an Ashy upper-part and buff underpart, and upright tail make it easy to identify. These images were shot in Anuradhapura in the north central province of Sri Lanka. It actually perched on this small branch and let me photograph it for quite a while. More info and images after the jump.

An Ashy Prinia photographed in Anuradhapura, Sri Lanka

Like most warblers, the Ashy Prinia is insectivorous and can be distinguished by the loud snapping noise it makes during flight. According to sources on the internet, no one knows for certain how this noise is produced. Possible sources of this noise include, the birds mandibles and the beating of the wings against the tail. The resident Prinia genus shows biannual moult which is rare among passerines.

An Ashy Prinia photographed in Anuradhapura, Sri Lanka

The Ashy Prinia builds its nest close to the ground in a shrub or tall grass. A clutch usually consists of 3 - 5 eggs which are laid in a nest made of leaves. The eggs vary in colour from a brick red to a rich chestnut.  The eggs hatch in around 10 - 12 days. The breeding season varies with the locality but is mostly after the monsoons (December to March or August to October in Sri Lanka). The species is considered to be monogamous and both the male and the female incubate the eggs (to varying extents).  

An Ashy Prinia photographed in Anuradhapura, Sri Lanka

These images were captured with the Canon 7D and the 100-400mm lens. I was very close to the branch which the bird perched on and was quite surprised by how unconcerned it was with my presence.

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.   

   

Plain Tiger

The Plain Tiger, also known as the African Monarch, is a common butterfly found throughout Asia and Africa. It belongs to the Danainae subfamily of the brush footed butterfly family, Nymphalidae. It is also supposed to have been one of the first butterflies used in art. A 3500 year old fresco in Luxor features this butterfly and is the oldest known illustration of the species.  More images and info inside.

The Plain Tiger is a medium sized butterfly with a wing span of around 7-8 cm. The male Plain Tiger is smaller than the female but is brighter in colour. This leads me to believe that the butterflies in the first two images are male.

Male Danaines have a number of secondary sexual characteristics. In the case of the Plain Tiger, these include, a pouch on the hind wing and two brush  like organs which can be pushed out of the tip of the abdomen. The pouch of the male is white with a thick black border and bulges slightly. It is a cluster of specialised scent scales used to attract females.

This butterfly is found in any environment including the desert (if there is food available) and up to an elevation of 9000 feet. This butterfly is probably the commonest of Indian butterflies and is a familiar site to almost everyone on the subcontinent. 

The Plain tiger is protected from predators due to the unpalatable alkaloids ingested during the larval stage. Due to this fact the butterflies fly at a leisurely pace in a straight line giving would be predators ample time to identify it and avoid attacking it.  The butterfly has a tough leathery skin to survive occasional attacks. When attacked, it fakes death and oozes a nauseating liquid which makes it smell and taste terrible. The advantage of protection has led to a number of edible butterflies evolving to resemble inedible butterflies. They are referred to as mimics. The resemblance is not limited to colour, shapes and markings but also in behavioural and flight patterns. The Plain tiger is mimicked by the Indian Fritillary and the Danaid Eggfly. The Indian Tamil Lacewing, the Leopard Lacewing and the Common Palmfly have a general resemblance common to both the Plain Tiger and the Common Tiger.

All these images were captured with the Canon 7D and the 100-400mm lens. I would have been able to get closer to the butterfly but was limited by the minimum focusing distance of the lens.

Green Skimmer

The Green Skimmer is a widespread dragonfly in Sri Lanka. It is frequently found hovering near ponds, water ways, paddy fields and streams. More info inside.

This image was taken at Arankelle near Kurunegala. We were travelling up to Dambulla at the time and had planned to stop at Arankelle for breakfast as we wanted to have a look at the ruins of the ancient monastery. As I approached one of the ponds in the complex I noticed that it was teeming with dragonflies. The majority of them were either Green Skimmers or Scarlet Baskers. I sat on the steps leading down into the pond and waited a couple of minutes until this Green Skimmer settled on one of the reeds in the water. Fortunately I had the 100-400mm lens on the camera and was able to capture the image above without having to move any closer. The light was fairly good and I was able to shoot at 1/1000th of a second.

I also noticed a pair of dragonflies in the wheel position in flight but was unable to capture an image of them. I managed to lock focus on them but they moved before I could release the shutter.

I'm still not very good at identifying dragonflies and had actually thought that this Green Skimmer was a Sri Lankan Forktail. Thankfully Amila was able to correct me.