Stripe-headed Threadtail (Prodasineura sita)

Rather common endemic damselfly found in streams and riverine habitats from lowlands to mid-hills.

කුකුරුමාන් [Kukuruman]/Spiny randia/Emetic-nut/False guava (Catunaregam spinosa)

An indigenous shrub or small tree common in dry scrub lands, monsoon forest understory, coastal areas and open secondary vegetation in the low country. 

Nilgiri Tit (Hypolycaena nilgirica)

Rather uncommon butterfly occurs from lowlands to mid-hills. Males often settle on damp earth and stream beds. It flies close to the ground and flight similar to much common White Four-Ring (Ypthima ceylonica). So it can be often mistaken for it and thus ignored. Its larval host plants are orchid species such as Arundina graminifolia, Thrixspermum pulchellum, Arachnis flos-aeris, Malaxis versicolor, Spathoglottis plicata (Philippine Ground Orchid), Vanda tessellata and Vanda testacea. Its larva also fed on Cymbidium aloifolium in the lab when offered.

Vanda testacea

Rather common epiphyte found on trees of tropical dry mixed evergreen forests in dry and intermediate zone lowlands up to mid hills. 

Annotated checklist of vagrant Doves and Pigeons (Family: Columbidae) recorded in Sri Lanka

    Birds that appear outside their normal range are known as vagrants. This post summarizes up to date published sight records of vagrants of the family Columbidae (Doves and Pigeons) in Sri Lanka.

     1)Pale-capped Woodpigeon [Purple Woodpigeon] (Columba punicea)

Single specimen collected by Layard from Sri Lanka is deposited in Poole museum.He remarked that it is but rarely a visitant of the island and believed it occurs during the fruiting season of cinnamon trees (Legge V., 1880:906). While doubting that it visits only during the fruiting season of cinnamon, since visit of it does not occurs annually Legge noted a sight of a flock of brown color pigeons on cinnamon bushes near Borella in latter end of 1869 about the size of the present species. Since there is no other species which would answer the description he concluded that it might be a flock of Purple Woodpigeons. (Legge V., 1880:906) Kotagama and Ratnavira noted few sightings (Kotagama S. & Ratnavira G. 2010: 238 Quoting CBCN 1983, May:18)

     2)Red Collared-dove [Indian Red Turtle-dove] (Streptopelia tranquebarica tranquebarica)

Layards procured half a dozen specimens of this tiny turtle-dove from a small breeding colony in a Palmyra and coconut palm tope, in the middle of a parched plain between Point Pedro and the Jaffna/Chavakachcheri area (Legge V., 1880: 921-22). Neither Layards nor any other observer met with them nesting in Jaffna or any other area of the country then after. Wait believes that Layard’s finding was probably occurred during April (Wait W.E., 1931: 299). It was not recorded since then till single adult male was collected on the 24^th November 1951, near Panama, on the east coast (Phillips W.W.A., 1978: 44 quoting Phillips W.W.A., 1952 checklist:53). Recently Vimal Tirimanna and Anura Ratnayake reported a sight record of possible juvenile female Red Collared-dove from Kithulgala - rather unusual place than its previous occurrences- on 10^th March 1996 (Tirimanna, V., 1996) Two birds were also observed at south of Arugam bay in October 2005 by Uditha Hettige and Chinthaka de Silva (Sirivardana U. & Warakagoda  D. , 2006.)

References:

Kotagama, S., Ratnavira, G. 2010. An illustrated Guide to the Birds of Sri Lanka. Field Ornithology Group of Sri Lanka, Colombo.

Legge V., 1880. A History of the birds of Ceylon  1983 second edition.
Phillips W.W.A., 1978 Annotated checklist of the Birds of Ceylon (Sri Lanka) 1978 revised edition.

Sirivardana U. & Warakagoda  D. , 2006. Report from the Ceylon Bird Club for 2005 Loris 24(3& 4), 24 - 28

Tirimanna, V., 1996. A Red Turtle Dove (?) At Kithulgala. Loris, 21(2), 48-49.
Wait W.E., 1931. Manual of the Birds of Ceylon. 2nd edition. Colombo Museum.

Bougainvillea (hybrid)

Native plant of South America. Introduced and widely cultivated. Flowering throughout the year. Flowers of varies colors occurs. Most Bougainvilleas are hybrids of Bougainvillea spectabilis and Bougainvillea glabra.

උඩ හඳයා [Uda Handhaya]/Day's Killifish (Aplocheilus dayi)

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Rather common endemic fish occurs in shallow, shaded forest streams with a silt substrate. Also not uncommon in saline parts of mangrove swamps (Pethiyagoda R., 1991). Its diet consists of small insects, insect larvae and fish fry.  As per Pethiyagoda Day's Killifish is more or less confined to the Kelani basin and adjacent coastal areas(Pethiyagoda R., 1991). According to the Sujan Madhuranga it is reported from Aththanagalu and Kelani basins (Maduranga H. G. S. , 2003). Later on Prasanga Wickramatilake reported it from Udugama stream, a tributary of Gin river(Wickramatilake P., 2003) and H.B.Jayaneththi & H.G.S.Maduranga from upper tributaries of Kalu river in Kukulugala proposed forest reserve (Jayaneththi H.B. & Maduranga H.G.S, 2004).  Sampath de Alvis Gunathilake  noted that it is common in both Kelani and Kalu drainage (Gunathilake S. ,2007). So according to all publish data it is common from Aththanagalu basin to Gin river basin in wet zone up to lower hills.

* Male fish photographed above from unnamed stream, an upper tributary of Kalu river has unusual vertical black bar instead of usual few small spots (Usually three spots situated triangularly)

Maduranga H. G. S. (2003) සිරිලක ආවේනික මිරිදිය මසුන් (Sirilaka awenika miridiya masun). National zoological department. 
Pethiyagoda, R., (1991) Freshwater fishes of Sri Lanka. Wildlife Heritage Trust, Colombo. xiv+362 pp.
Jayaneththi H.B. & Maduranga H.G.S. (2004), A preliminary study on the diversity of Ichthyofauna of Kukulugala proposed forest reserve, Rathnapura district. Sri Lanka Naturalist 6 (1&2)
Wickramatilake P., 2003 Freshwater fishes of the Udugama stream, Galle district, Southern Sri Lanka
Gunathilake S. (2007) ශ්‍රි ලංකාවේ මිරිදිය මසුන් (Sri Lankawe miridiya masun) (text in Sinhala), Biodiversity secretariat - Ministry of Environment.

Sida cuneifolia

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Recent addition to the flora of Sri Lanka (de Vlas J & J, 2008) which was not described in Flora of Sri Lanka volumes. An indigenous low shrub found in brackish, grazed places near the south coast. 

Nietner's Shadowdamsel (Drepanosticts nietneri)

Rare endemic insect inhabiting streams in the primary and secondary rain forests.

Evolvulus nummularius

A creeping herb native to tropical America. Introduced in 20th century and now naturalized and widespread along roadsides, grasslands and scrublands.

Tree Flitter (Hyarotis adrastus)

Rather rare butterfly with fast flight. As per Woodhouse and Ormiston it has been recorded from Haldummulla in July, the hills above Rathnapura in April, July, September and most frequently from the 'Kandy district' during these months as well as in February and March. Ormiston collected single specimen from Kottawa forest reserve (Ormiston W., 1924 & Woodhouse L.G.O., 1950). Its larval host plants are හීන් වේවැල්[Heen We-wal](Calamus rotang), Calamus ovoideus, Calamus zeylanicus and Calamus pseudotenuis

Dyschoriste madurensis [Dyschoriste littoralis]

Rather rare indigenous prostrate herb found in sandy open areas near the coast in the northern and northwestern parts of the island. 

දිය නයා/දියබරියා[Diya Naya/Diyabariya]/Checkered Keelback (Xenochrophis piscator)

A non-venomous, semi-aquatic snake inhabiting streams, rivers, paddy fields, tanks, marshes etc. from lowlands up to about 1200m elevations in the hills. Mainly a diurnal snake though sometime active even during the night. It feeds mainly on frogs and fish. 

Lucky-nut/Yellow oleander (Cascabela thevetia [Syn: Thevetia peruviana])

An introduced tree cultivated in gardens and roadsides. Flowering throughout the year. Native to Central and South America.

Annotated checklist of Vagrant Old World Warblers (Family: Sylviidae) recorded in Sri Lanka

    Birds that appear outside their normal range are known as vagrants. This post summarizes up to date published sight records of vagrants of the family Sylviidae (Old World Warblers) in Sri Lanka.
   
  Confirmed vagrants

     1) Broad-tailed grassbird (Schoenicola platyurus)

Legge found a single specimen of this bird in British museum which was procured by Hugh Cuming [A well known collector of shells and other natural history specimens] from Ceylon. He doubted it as a straggler in Sri Lanka and gave a most probable place where this bird can be occurred since once he met with a bird with similar disposition, which has never before seen in Ceylon from that place. The place he mentioned is Muthurajawela marsh which he described as “great swamp lying between the Negombo canal and the highroad to that place from Colombo”(Legge V. 1880:694-95). Wait while assuming it as a rare resident species writes: “Messrs. Cave [Walter A. Cave] and Symons [C.S. Symons] believe they once saw two specimens in lantana scrub near the government bunglows in Colombo”(Wait W.E., 1931). Phillips mentioned about two more rather doubtful sight records in 1939. Single bird at Gammaduwa in the East Mathale hills and another two birds on a hillside at Waitalawa, Nugatenna,( 2500ft), in the Rangala hills to the North of Kandy. Both of above instances birds were observed in tall ‘Mana’ grass.(Phillips W.W.A., 1978:79). Wijesinghe discussed the evidence related to the specimen mentioned by Legge and concluded that there would seems to be little or no ground for including it in the Sri Lankan list (Wijesinghe, D. P., 1983). However base on Phillips sight records (Those were reassured to Wijesinghe by Phillips himself by a letter stating that he is almost certain of identification) and several other circumstantial evidence he discussed in his paper suggested that this species could be an occasional visitor to Sri Lanka (Wijesinghe, D. P., 1983) Ranasinghe (Ranasinghe, D. B., 1997) believes it as a probable vagrant to low lands and lower hills.

Unconfirmed vagrants:

Species for which there are only one or two sight records exist categorized here as unconfirmed vagrants. Problematic records without sufficient details are also included.

     2) Pale-footed bush-warbler ( Cettia pallidipes )

Single sight record at Kandy in March 1993 by A.J. Vincent is the only record (Kotagama S. & Ratnavira G., 2010:287)

     3) Lanceolated Warbler (Locustella lanceolata)

A sight record by Deepal Warakagoda of a single bird at Bellanwila-Attidiya marsh in 12^th October 1991 is the only record of the occurrence of Lanceolated Warbler in Sri Lanka (Warakagoda, D., 1992). It remained there till the end of April/early May of 1992 (Hoffmann, T. W., 1993)

     4) Dusky Warbler (Phylloscopus fuscatus)

Deepal warakagoda, U.Sirivardena and Kithsiri Gunewardena recorded it first time in Sri Lanka in March 1999 near Pugoda (Warakagoda, D., 2000). Second sight record is also by Deepal Warakagoda in January 2000 at Bellanwila-Attidiya marsh (Senanayake, N., 2001).

5) Western Crowned Warbler (Phylloscopus typicalis)

First time recorded by Deepal Warakagoda and Paul Holt on February 2010 at Sigiriya (Warakagoda D. & Sirivardana U., 2011)

      6) Green-crowned Warbler [Golden-spectacled Warbler] (Seicercus burkii)

Sight record from Sigiriya in March 1993 by A.J. Vincent is the only record of occurrence of Green-crowned Warbler in Sri Lanka (Kotagama S. & Ratnavira G. 2010: 291)

     7) Grasshopper Warbler [Common Grasshopper Warbler] (Locustella naevia)

First sight record of Grasshopper warbler in Sri Lanka is from the Bellawila-Attidiya marsh in 4^th December 1993 by Jagath Gunawardana (Hoffmann, T. W., 1994).  It was recorded again on 15^th Oct 1994 at the same location by Deepal Warakagoda (Hoffmann, T. W., 1995)

     8) Small Whitethroat [Desert Whitethroat] (Sylvia  minula)

Probable sight of the Desert lesser Whitethroat (Sylvia curruca minula) in the year 1996 is noted in the reviews of Ceylon bird club notes for 1996 (Hoffmann, T. W., 1997).  It was reported from Embilikala in November 1996 by Deepal Warakagoda (Kaluthota C.D. & Kotagama S.W. 2009 Quoting Warakagoda D., 2000a)

References:

Hoffmann, T. W., 1997. Ceylon Bird Club Notes 1996. Loris, 21(3), 112-113.

Hoffmann, T. W., 1995. Ceylon Bird Club Notes 1994. Loris, 20(5), 226-227.

Hoffmann, T. W., 1994. Ceylon Bird Club Notes, 1993. Loris, 20(3), 107-109.

Hoffmann, T. W., 1993. Notes from the Ceylon Bird Club, 1992. Loris, 20(1), 12-14.
Kaluthota C.D. & Kotagama S.W. 2009. Revised Avifaunal List of Sri Lanka, Occasional Paper No.02, October 2009, Field Ornithology Group of Sri Lanka (Downloaded from http://www.fogsl.net/Prod/wp-content/uploads/2009/11/Checklist-ver-7.pdf)
Kotagama, S., Ratnavira, G. 2010. An illustrated Guide to the Birds of Sri Lanka. Field Ornithology Group of Sri Lanka, Colombo.
Legge V., 1880. A History of the birds of Ceylon  1983 second edition.
Phillips W.W.A., 1978. Annotated checklist of the Birds of Ceylon (Sri Lanka) 1978 revised edition.
Ranasinghe, D. B., 1997. Gaps on Field data for Sri Lankan Birds. Loris, 21(4), 170-172.
Senanayake, N.. 2001. Report from the Ceylon Bird Club for 2000. Loris, 22(5), 43-44
Wait W.E., 1931. Manual of the Birds of Ceylon. 2nd edition. Colombo Museum.

Warakagoda D., 2000. Report from the Ceylon Bird Club for 1999. Loris, 22(4), 23-25.

Warakagoda D., 2000a First record of Desert Whitethroat Sylvia (curruca) minula in Sri Lanka, CBCN Aug:134-137

Warakagoda, D., 1992. The Lanceolated Warbler (Locustella lanceolata): A new Species for Sri Lanka With two other rare warblers. Loris, 19(5), 166-168.

Warakagoda D. & Sirivardana U., 2011. Report from the Ceylon Bird Club for 2008-2011, Loris 26 (1&2)
Wijesinghe, D. P., 1983. Notes on some Rare Sri Lanka Birds -1. Loris, 16(4), 205-208.

පෙනෙල-වැල්[Penela-Wel]/Baloon vine (Cardiospermum halicacabum)

Common climbing herb found in lowland forests and waste lands in both dry and wet zone. Flowers and fruits occurs throughout the year.

ලේ තිත්තයා/දොල තිත්තයා/වයිරන් තිත්තයා/කොන්ඩයා[/Le Tiththaya/Dhola Tiththaya/Vayiran Tiththaya/Kondaya]Cherry Barb (Puntius titteya)

Cherry barb is an endemic fish inhabiting shaded shallow, slow flowing streams with silt substrate and leaf debris in the wet lowlands from Kelani to Nilwala basins up to about 300m a.s.l.  It is not uncommon but becoming rare in most former habitats due to deforestation, pollution of streams and over fishing to export by the ornamental fish traders. It is an omnivorous fish and feeds on detritus, green algae, diatoms, diptera and animal matter (Pethiyagoda, R., 1991). Various color forms are reported depending on the locality.

නාවා [Nawa] (Sterculia balanghas)

Small to medium tree occurs in monsoon forests, along roadsides, rocky outcrops etc. from sea level to about 900m elevation. Also cultivated as an ornamental and as a fence tree.

Sri Lanka Forktail (Macrogomphus lankanensis)

Rather uncommon dragonfly occurs in rivers and stream habitats from lowlands to mid hills. 

මූණ-මල්[muna-mal] (Manilkara kauki [Syn: Mimusops elengi])

A large tree occurs in wet lowland to submontane and montane primary and secondary forests (Introduced ? >>). Often cultivated due to medicinal value of all of its parts. Fruit edible and wood use in constructions.