A 'Red-vented Bulbul', Avissawella, Sri Lanka.

The commonest bird next to the crow in Avissawella. Very plucky and playful. If a ripe banana fruit is left uncovered on a table they will cry with glee and start pecking into it leaving the mate as a look out. They nest on trees. Predators like the cat-snake ('Garandiya' S- 'Saarai' T) and the Coucal ('Aeti kukula' S-'Senpadaham' T) occasionally eat the young ones. The lower picture shows a fledgling learning to fly, a time when they are most vulnerable to predators..

Red-vented Bulbul eating a slice of Papaw , Avissawella, Sri Lanka.

'Companions' - I saw this couple at Yala, Sri Lanka.

I saw this couple a 'Black-headed Ibis' and an 'Open-bill' keeping very close company at Yala, Sri Lanka.

'Brown-headed Barbet' - Megalaima zeylanica, Avissawella, Sri Lanka.

Picture taken in our home garden, Avissawella, Sri Lanka. These birds are attracted by the bight yellow colors of the 'papaw' and banana fruits. When the fruits are placed in the feed box in our garden, they eye the food from a tree top close by and make a loud cry repeated many times. Then they quietly swoop down and consume the fruit in absolute silence. Their cry is the most frequently heard cry in the jungle. This interferes with recordings of 'bird-crys' of other birds.

'White-throated Kingfisher, Yala, Sri Lanka.

Brahminy Kite and an elephant, Yala, Sri Lanka.

Scene inside the Yala National Park, Sri Lanka

'Brahminy Kites', Yala, Sri Lanka.

Pictures taken inside the Yala National Park, Sri Lanka. It looked like the parents and their off spring, still in juvenile plumage were perched on a tree overlooking a pond. Junior might have been undergoing training in hunting.

A 'Bittern' and a 'Cormorant', Yala, Sri Lanka.

Picture taken inside the Yala National Park, Sri Lanka.