After spending a long day travelling along the Cuiaba river we were rewarded with this amazing sighting of a Jaguar. We were initially the only boat at the sighting and watched the cat stalking Capybara along the shore. It then appeared to look for Caiman in the shallows before disappearing into the undergrowth.
The Black-hooded Oriole (Oriolus xanthornus) is another frequent visitor to our garden in Colombo. I shot this photograph a few years ago when this individual payed us a visit one afternoon. I was able to shoot from an upstair window as it perched on a branch slightly below eye level. The foliage in the background was a few meters away and that allowed me to isolate the subject at f5.6.
I photographed this Yellow-eared Bulbul (Pycnonotus penicillatus) during an early morning walk in the Nuwara Eliya Park. Although the park is in the middle of town and the main bus stand is in close proximity, the park is known for it's birdlife. This bird was cooperative, as it perched on a branch close to where I was standing and stayed there for a couple of minutes.
A male Sambar photographed on our last trip to Horton Plains in May. If you do venture into the Horton Plains national park late in the evening, you'd see large numbers of Sambar gathered on the plains to feed and if you are lucky, a Leopard. I haven't stayed in the park for years so it's been a while since I saw Sambar in large numbers too.
The Common Mormon (Papilio polytes) is a swallow tailed butterfly found in Southern and South-Eastern Asia. This photograph was taken in our garden in Colombo. A number of butterflies frequent the garden as we have planted a number of natives. I observed and photographed this butterfly mating a day or two after this shot was taken. Hopefully this indicates that the garden is a healthy eco-system!
We came across a Hindu religious festival on our way to Mannar. We were able to get out of the vehicle and walk amongst the crowds gathered on either side of the road and watch proceedings. The Hindu devotees pierce their skin with iron hooks fastened to long ropes which are then suspended off vehicles. This is done to show their devotion to Lord Murugan.
This is actually a spider that mimics the weaver ant in terms of both morphology as well as behaviour. It's not the easiest to sport amongst a number of weaver ants. This one is actually a female and its front legs resemble the feelers of a weaver ant. The males are about 3 mm larger than the females and resemble ...
Mannar is a hotspot for birds during the migrant season which runs from October to roughly the end of February. I was out photographing some birds when this lone cyclist rode passed by giving me an opportunity to take this shot.
Adam's bridge is made up of 16 sand banks or "islands" between Sri Lanka and India. It is firs mentioned in the Hindu epic "Ramayana" where it is said to have been built by Rama's army to allow them to cross to Sri Lanka. Archeological evidence does suggest that the bridge is a man made structure. It was usable until the 1800s.
The White-throated Kingfisher is a frequent visitor to our garden in Colombo. It is probably the most common Kingfisher found on the island. This one was particularly cooperative as it sat on an exposed branch and let me photograph it from the balcony. The background was also a suitable distance away from the subject.
A section of the Abhayagiriya monastery which once housed over 5000 monks. The monastery complex has a number of interesting sites including the "buth oruwa", the Elephant's pond, a moonstone and the Samadhi Buddha statue. It is spread out over a large extent of land and quite often, you have the place to yourself.
The council chamber of King Nissanka Malla can be found on the banks of the Parakrama Samudra in Polonnaruwa. The kings throne is said to have stood in front of the lion but has now been moved to the museum in Colombo. Each of the 48 columns are inscribed with the names of the ministers who made up the council.
The Vatadage in the city of Polonnaruwa is supposed to be one of the best preserved Vatadage structures in the Country. This photograph was taken from the first platform of the structure and shows the north facing entrance to the second platform on which the stupa was built. As shown in the photograph, a Buddha statue is positioned facing each of the 4 entrances to the second platform.
The Greater Coucal is a regular visitor to our garden in the middle of Colombo. As the bird is somewhat used to being around people, given it lives in a city, it's not the hardest species to photograph.
I shot this photograph from one of the pylons on the southern end of the Harbour bridge. Manoeuvring the camera wasnt easy as I had to stick the lens through a small gap between the fence and the pylon wall. The Rocks, the oldest part of Sydney is on the right of the image, the Overseas Passenger Terming is in the centre and Centre Point is visible.
Photographing the Opera House head on and capturing all 3sections isn't straight forward. You are either shooting upwards from the forecourt or you are shooting between the bars of a fence that runs up the stairs leading to the botanical gardens. I shot this by poking the camera through some of the bars along the walkway. It wasn't easy ...
The statues and paintings inside the image house at Resvehera were amazing. The temple is said to have been built by King Devanampiyatissa in around 300 BC. The temple is still in use and If i'm not mistaken, there are monks still meditating in the caves around the temple complex.
Black-rumped Flamebacks (Dinopium benghalense) are relatively common in Colombo and its suburbs. I've been able to photograph them at home on numerous occasions. Although I photographed this bird from below, I thought the head position made the composition a bit more interesting.
An early morning walk along the beach brought me to a small harbour at Mawella. The colourful boats had already come in and were drawn up on the beach. Apart from myself and another man, the beach was deserted.
We came across a pair of female Purple-rumped Sunbirds (Leptocoma zeylonica) fighting on one of our rounds in Yala. The birds were on the middle of the road and were not bothered by the presence of a vehicle. They went at it for about 5 minutes before flying into the undergrowth. Definitely one of the more unusual sightings of the trip.
