Black-backed Dwarf Kingfisher

Happy New Year!

I shot this avian gem today at point-blank range at Kithulgala. How many colours can you detect in its plumage?

Stuck on you

I photographed this Thick-billed Flowerpecker Dicaeum agile at Tissa few weeks ago. A close examination of the base of the beak - lower mandible to be precise, shows a few seeds sticking to it. Here's a close crop.

Flowerpeckers mainly feed on fruit, most notably those of mistletoes - hemi-parasites that grow on top of other trees - known in Sinhala as pilila. The formal name for flowerpeckers is Pilalichcha in Sinhala, which reveals the close ties between the two. Another example that stridently brings this two to the fore is the famous Mistletoebird Dicaeum hirundinaceum of Australia.

Mistletoes depend on birds for dispersing their seeds. For that these plants have come up with a rather smart plan. That is to pack their juicy fruits with sticky coated seeds. Therefore, when the birds feed on the fruits, the gluey seeds get attached to their beaks - often making them rather messy. And when the birds wipe their beaks clean on branches, or pass out the droppings, the seeds achieve dispersal - a handy payback. The stickiness of the seeds is caused by a material called viscin, and it hardens and attaches the seed firmly to its future host.

Long time ago, I saw a documentary by Sir David Attenborough that featured the Mistletoebird, and saw that their droppings, unlike most birds, do not drop like they usually do due to the stickiness caused by viscin. Therefore, the birds have to smoothly wipe their bottoms on the branches to get rid of the droppings effectively. This in turn makes sure that the droppings packed with mistletoe seeds won't fall to the forest's floor and go wasted, but get firmly established on a branch instead, where they have a better chance of commencing their life, tapping into the nutrients and water of the host plant.

And yes, birds wipe too.

Macro Monday

Plexippus petersi ready to pounce. This is a common jumping spider at my house. It is widely distributed in Asia.

MM HQ is at Lisa's Chaos

Mahinda and Ranil singing to Fonseka

We interrupt this transmission to lighten up the mood ahead of Sri Lanka's long anticipated presidential election, which is due to be announced on Monday.

I think Ranil and Mahinda must be in full song these days to Gen. Fonseka, like two Spot-winged Thrushes with overlapping territories at Sinharaja rain forest on a misty morning. If I am asked to pick less melodious versions to describe those songs, they would be like this. First, here's Mahinda's song to the General.

And this would be Ranil's song to Fonseka these days.

There will be only one winner at the end. I will hint bluntly who I will pick to rule Sri Lanka for the next 6 years in a post done, next year. If you are new to Sri Lankan political scene, too bad - I am not going to explain anything here. Explore Kottu - the awesome Sri Lankan blog alligator aggregator to see many blog posts dedicated to it, among other matters. If you can't be bothered, just enjoy the songs.

Back to the main control room.

Sociable Glider

The Sociable Glider Tramea limbata is one of the dragonfly species that colonised my garden after I built my dragonfly pond. It has now become a regular breeder. I shared a sequence of its emergence shots in this post. These were taken using my Canon 100-400mm lens, which I must admit is not my most favourite lens for dragonfly photography. Why? Because I just don't like too much of distance between me and the subject, when shooting smaller forms of life.

I'd like take this opportunity to share a picture of my little neighbour, Malisa Phillips, who will be celebrating her 1st B'day next month.

In the meantime, November rain continues...

Extreme Macro

Yellow Waxtail Ceriagrion coromandelianum - a Common damselfly found at my dragonfly pond.