2007 May 15 Common Palm-civets (Colombo)

Tuesday 15 May 2007 155 MFR
Around 6.30 am the Common Palm-civets began to vocalise loudly. I sound recorded them from behind the wall and using a ladder climbed up. As my head emerged from above the wall I was surprised to find the mother only a few feet away from me, on another wall which was leading away. The mother gave a series of soft threat barks and slightly moved towards me. I moved away along a partitioning wall and gave her space. She hid behind a pipe and stuck her head out to watch me.

I went away to give her some space and returned hoping to video the pups. I had seen not the three pups I had seen yesterday. Instead I found four pups! All four were huddled together. When I returned ten minutes later the mother had removed three of the pups. The remaining pup was calling and spent some time trying un-successfully to leap up and scramble up a small wall. I left it and it subsequently curled up to sleep in the shade.

I noticed that the Palm-civets can shuffle backwards. I captured this movement on video as the pup did this on an open roof. This must be an adaptation to enable them to back out from tree holes and other narrow tunnels etc into which they squeeze into whilst foraging.


Monday 14 May 2007 155 MFR
Around 6.45 am I heard crows mobbing something and heard high pitched bird like calls. These came from a litter of three Common Pam-civets. They were actively vocalising till at least 8.00 am. Thanks to Mala, I finally located them on a lower section of roof of Mrs Pethiyagoda's house which was only visible from the sitting room. 3 pups were present. I had observed the mother going to and fro from my bedroom window.

I climbed up to the Murunga tree using a ladder and began to photograph them. The mother came on one of her visits and attempted to move a cub by grabbing her from the middle of the back. I took some blurred images of this. The images were blurred as it was overcast. Realising that I was stressing the mother I moved away. Soon the pups settled down and I began to photograph them. One of the pups got on to the ground. The others were attempting to scramble up the sheer face of smooth wall with no success. The mother came and helped the pup on the ground to get back on the roof. At one stage she had to pull the pup up from a pipe they had acsended onto the roof. The mother was trying to bring the cubs back on to the same section of roof. Concerned that I may stress the mother, I left them completely.

The mother exchanged stares with me from a few feet away and did not look panicked or hostile. But I felt it was best not to stress a mother who was feeding three pups.

6.45 pm Heard the Common Palm-civets vocalising from around 6.45 pm. The mother was taking the pups across the roof by carrying them one by one. I saw her jump a gap of 1.5 to 2 feet whilst carrying a pup. At least one of the pups managed the jump on their own. When I first saw them in the evening, there was enough light to see them but not to photograph.

Whiskered Terns, Beira Lake

Thursday 08 March 2007 Beira Lake from Navam Mawatha

I was on my way into office around 7.10 am when I noticed a large flock of terns. There were around 50 plus Whiskered Terns. I pulled over and examined them without the aid of optics. I could not see any Little Terns or White-winged Black Terns. About 20 plus Spot-billed Pelicans were also in the water. An Intermediate Egret had the filamentous feathers on the back it acquires during breeding plumage. Little Egrets and Pond Herons were also present.

Large Oakblue at Talangama

Tuesday 06 March 2007 Talangama

Arrived at One Acre reserve around 7.00 am with Dr Janaki Galapathi. 2 or 3 adult Purple-faced Leaf Monkeys bounded away in alarm.

We got down from the vehicle and looked up at the troop. One large adult, possibly a male, came bounding towards us and gnashed its teeth from a distance of 10 feet or less, whilst uttering a low frequency vocalisation. This is the first time I have seen a leaf monkey come at people and engage in threatening behaviour. One female was nursing a very young baby. This must be the reason. I have seen the mother and baby on the One Acre before.

Later on we came across a Large Oakblue, the first time I have recorded one of these In Talangama. I have seen it at Kotte Marshes. The butterfly could not be dislodged from the leaf litter it was on. I wondered whether it was trying to lay eggs. It also tilted its wings to be parallel to the ground. Was it hoping to conceal itself more easily against the leaf litter? I wonder whether this butterfly should be looked for amongst leaf litter?

Walking parallel to Budusarana Mawatha, we came across a Common Bronze Back Tree Snake. Another first in Talangama for me.

Forest Wagtails still present.

A Foggy-winged Twister (Tholymis tillarga) flew away. On the paddy fields, several Bluer Perchers (Diplacodes trivialis). Paddy fields had Wood Sandpiper.