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30/10/2025

A mating pair of Narrow-banded Bluebottle
නිල් ජවසැරියා (Graphium teredon)

26/10/2025

Plain prinia
සරල ප්‍රීනියා
(𝘗𝘳𝘪𝘯𝘪𝘢 𝘪𝘯𝘰𝘳𝘯𝘢𝘵𝘢)
A tiny little bird from the Cisticolidae family, the family of warblers. Even though it's smaller in size, the song and the calls are quite sharp and heard from a distance.
The plumage is grey- brown on the back and white on the underside. They have white supercilium (a stripe that runs from the base of the beak, above the eye and running towards somewhat behind the head). The tail is longer and wags it similar to a common tailor bird.
Common in paddy fields. Quite active and swiftly moves (flits) among tall grass and seen commonly on wires.
Their nests are hidden within the grass. A cup shape nest woven from the grass or paddy is used to lay eggs. They are insectivorous. The song consists of repeated clik-clik-clik notes.

20/10/2025

Instant Beauty 💚♥️

This common green forest lizard (Calotes calotes) was basking in the morning sunlight when I noticed a gradual but fascinating transformation. Its body colour, including the limbs, began to darken, and the white stripes along its sides became more prominent. Meanwhile, the head and neck region turned a vivid bright red.

In just 1–2 minutes, an ordinary looking lizard had transformed into a strikingly bold and vibrant creature 🤭. It then looked up toward a branch above and began performing the characteristic push-up display perhaps to show off its strength or dominance.

Since I couldn’t spot another lizard nearby, I’m not entirely sure whether this behaviour was meant to attract a potential mate or was a reaction to a perceived threat. Interestingly, after about five minutes, the colours began to fade and the red hue disappeared, and the body returned to its usual green tone.

Previous observations suggest that such colour changes can occur either as a stress response or as part of a courtship display. Either way, it’s a fascinating example of how expressive these lizards can be by using the body colours. The mechanism behind this colour change is an equally interesting thing for another post.

19/10/2025

Sri Lanka black tipped flashwing
(𝘝𝘦𝘴𝘵𝘢𝘭𝘪𝘴 𝘢𝘱𝘪𝘤𝘢𝘭𝘪𝘴 𝘯𝘪𝘨𝘳𝘦𝘴𝘤𝘦𝘯𝘴)
A beautiful metallic green damselfly species which is endemic to Sri Lanka from the Calopteygidae family.
The thorax and abdomen are metallic green except the terminal segments of the abdomen which are black in colour. The eyes are black and green. The males have a black tip on the apical region of the wings while the remainder is hyaline.This black tip is absent in females.The legs are thin and elongated. Can be easily identified from the above features.
They are found closer to streams and rivers.

Identification and information from " A field guide to the dragonflies and damselflies of Sri Lanka" by Mr. Amila Prasanna Sumanapala.

17/10/2025

Dusky striped squirrel පුංචි ලේනා
(Funambulus obscurus)

Endemic species of squirrel found in the wet zone. From the South west wet zone forests like Sinharaja up until very high elevations like Horton plains they are distributed. As the name suggests, smaller in size compared to Indian palm squirrel and darker in colouration. The upper parts of the body are dark brownish to black in colour with three paler dorsal stripes. The tail is fluffier and with a black tip. The fur coat is short and dense. The call is almost like a bird. Feeds on small insects, seeds and fruits. Seen in forests and marginal home gardens.

12/10/2025

A branded swift ( Pelopidas sp.). Not sure about the exact species probably a small branded swift 🤔.

11/10/2025

Highland toque macaque/ රිලවා
(𝘔𝘢𝘤𝘢𝘤𝘢 𝘴𝘪𝘯𝘪𝘤𝘢 𝘰𝘱𝘪𝘴𝘵𝘩𝘰𝘮𝘦𝘭𝘢𝘴)

Toque macaque is one of the common and important primate species which is endemic to Sri Lanka. They have their distinct swirl of hair on the toque, which is unique to them. They are found from dry zones up to montane forests. Despite various environmental conditions, they have developed specific adaptations to thrive in those. There are three subspecies

1. 𝘔. 𝘴. 𝘴𝘪𝘯𝘪𝘤𝘢 (Dry Zone Toque Macaque)
2. 𝘔. 𝘴. 𝘢𝘶𝘳𝘪𝘧𝘳𝘰𝘯𝘴 (Wet Zone Toque Macaque)
3. 𝘔. 𝘴. 𝘰𝘱𝘪𝘴𝘵𝘩𝘰𝘮𝘦𝘭𝘢𝘴 (Highland Toque Macaque)

The ones in images belong to M. s. opisthomelas or the highland subspecies. As the name implies, they are found in highlands or montane areas above elevations of 1,500 m. These ones were seen near Pattipola, the elevation is approximately 1,897.5 m.

They have the largest body size among the 3 SS and the longest crown hair with a fluffier look. The hair colour is lighter compared to M. s. aurifrons and appears in a golden colour. These adaptations help them to maintain body temperature in cold climate conditions in the highland regions.

Read more about the other primates of Sri Lanka 👇🏻
https://www.jetwingeco.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/01/Primates-of-Sri-Lanka-Canon-2009-10-15-LP.pdf

10/10/2025

🦋 Indian Fritillary – කොටිති අලංකාරිකයා (Argynnis hyperbius)

The Indian Fritillary is a beautiful butterfly belonging to the family Nymphalidae. It closely resembles the Common Leopard butterfly in both color and pattern specially the male, but can be distinguished by the two rows of bluish streaks along the black outer margin of its hindwings. (See image 3 for differences between male and female butterflies.)

These butterflies are swift flyers, often seen gliding gracefully over hilltop grasslands. They are not as common as the Common Leopard, mainly due to their preference for higher elevations.

The larval food plants of the Indian Fritillary include Viola pilosa and Viola betonicifolia, both of which grow in cooler, elevated regions. Watching one of these vibrant butterflies flutter by is truly mesmerizing!

09/10/2025

Angled Pierrot/ කැළෑ ගෝමර-නීලයා (𝘊𝘢𝘭𝘦𝘵𝘢 𝘥𝘦𝘤𝘪𝘥𝘪𝘢)

A small butterfly from the Lycaenidae family. The wings are white with black markings. The markings are bit similar to that of Banded blie pierrot, but the submarginal spots are absent in angeled pierrot. Males and females have a similar pattern in the lower side, but the white patch on the upper side is divided along the veins of males while it is not in the females.
Males involve in mud puddling and they feed on nectar. Usually fly around the shrub level. Larval food plants include Ziziphus rugosa and Gouania microcarpa.

27/09/2025

Mime (Papilio clytia lankeswara)
රැවටිලි පැපිලියා

The Mime is a beautiful swallowtail butterfly and an excellent example of mimicry in nature. This remarkable adaptation is evident throughout its entire life cycle, as reflected by its very name.

Caterpillar stage – The newly emerged larvae closely resemble bird droppings, helping them stay unnoticed by predators.

Pupal stage – The chrysalis perfectly mimics a broken, dried twig, offering further camouflage and protection.

Adult stage – Even as a butterfly, the mimicry continues.

There are two main adult forms in both males and females:

Dissimilis form – Mimics Blue Tiger butterflies, with striking white and black markings. (The one shown in the pictures.)

Clytia form – Mimics Crow butterflies, with brown-colored wings.

The larval host plant includes Litsea glutinosa (locally known as බෝමි).

20/09/2025

Giant honey bee/ බඹරා (Apis dorsata)
A species of wild honey bees well known for their aggressive attacks. They are a social species and their hive is a large single comb hanging from branches and cliffs. The honey extracted from their hives are also used specially for indigenous medicines. They are distributed from south to southeast Asia.

07/09/2025

𝐆𝐥𝐚𝐬𝐬𝐲 𝐓𝐢𝐠𝐞𝐫 (𝘗𝘢𝘳𝘢𝘯𝘵𝘪𝘤𝘢 𝘢𝘨𝘦𝘭𝘢) පළිඟු ගෝමරා
Another beautiful butterfly from the Nymphalidae family. The backgrounds of the wings are dark brownish black with glassy white markings which results in a beautiful pattern. Both males and females are alike apart from the two scent pouches of the male at the hind wing.
The scent pouches are like small pockets where the males store chemicals they obtain from dead Heliotropium indicum (ඇත්හොඬ. Not only glassy tigers, but also several other Nymphalids show this kind of behaviour. This chemicals act as "Scents" for attracting females.

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