Volume 34 - September 2022
Dear Colleague
As part of our efforts to provide an enriched experience to our loyal partners and guests, we are happy to present the humorous and information-packed Volume 34 of the Ceylon Wilderness Digest.
Happy reading!
Eco Team - Sri Lanka
Your Sri Lankan wilderness specialist
A Green Pit Viper is in a chatty mood
“You seem nice, step closer, I won’t hurt you. My venomous bite is usually meant for prey and for those who startle me. That happens a lot to my cousins who live in the tea estates. The tea pluckers turn up at dawn to do their morning work and startle my cousins who’ve just gone to sleep in the bushes. We’re nocturnal by the way, so you can imagine how annoying it is to be woken up with the sun being all bright and hot. I suppose the tea pluckers can’t help it, our camouflage is too good, sso they don’t see us. Look at me, I’m a green snake with black patterns, it's almost impossible to see me. Don’t worry about the tea pluckers, our venom hurts, but it's not fatal… usually.”
Fun Facts
“Trees are the best. Uss Green Pit Vipers just love them. They’re safe zones and they shade us from the sun. That’s why you will find us in all the wet, intermediate and dry zone forests. We only come down from the trees when we’re hungry and we want to grab some food. Lizards, frogs, small mammals, birds… they're all easy prey. We just slide down slowly and grab them, quick as a flash! With our stealth and camouflage, they never see us coming. It’s almost unfair, but I’m not complaining!”
Story of the Photo
The Sinharaja Rain Forest is famed for its birdlife, but it has a fantastic population of reptiles too. Whilst staying at Explorer by Eco Team in Sinharaja, Dilum was out on a walk when he got this great shot of the viper in the trees.
A hypnotic Chestnut-backed Owlet beckons you
“I am a huge fearsome bird, my wings can blot out the sun, I can carry an elephant in each of my claws! Hmmm, the hypnosis is not working is it? You don’t seem convinced. I’m just trying something different to help my species thrive. It’s a bit difficult being a small, stocky endemic species who prefers dense, low and mid country wet zone forests. A bit too particular in our tastes. We need to be open to expansion! What did you say? I look a lot like a Jungle Owlet? Well I never! We have different coloured feathers! Can you not see the chestnut brown feathers with darker barring on my upperparts, scapulars and wing coverts?”
Fun Facts
“We also need to be more sociable. I keep telling my people that. All we do is spend time at the tops of the trees till the evening, and then go hunting. Yes it’s all very good for swooping down undetected to catch insects, mice, small lizards, and smaller birds, but there’s more to life than being a night owl. Haha, that was an unintended pun. Anyway, I’ve almost given up trying to change the habits of my species, which is why I was trying to hypnotise you, in the hopes that I can get you to plant more trees. Speaking of trees, it’s mating season and I need to find a nice tree hole to lay my eggs in! Goodbye… k’raw… k’raw… k’raw!”
Story of the Photo
Sinharaja Rain Forest and Kitulgala are two of the well known habitats of the Chestnut-backed Owlet. Dilum was out on an evening walk, whilst staying at Explorer by Eco Team in Sinharaja, when he spotted this curious bird way up in the trees.
A Common Green Forest Lizard has a request
“No, not the view of the forest, the view the females have of me! You don’t understand? Well it’s mating season, which is why I’m perched up here in the open, basking in the sun and showing off my beautiful red-hued head and throat sac. Oh you thought I looked like this all the time? No, no, at other times I’m just shades of green with white stripes… well except when a predator attacks, but that’s another story. Do I look good? I had a light breakfast of insects so that I wouldn't look bloated. I’m so hungry right now, I can’t wait to go find a nice juicy frog to gulp down.”
Fun Facts
“You wouldn’t see me most of the time. I’m very good at camouflage. My green body blends in so well with the bushes, and I am such a champion at staying still, that you’d never know I was there even if you were inches away from me. Unfortunately that doesn’t work so well with the Bronzeback Tree Snake. They hunt by sensing body heat. Trust me, they’ve eaten so many of my kind. Generally, turning almost black with whites stripes across my body deters everyone else… but not these snakes. I’ve had to scramble super fast to get away from them!”
Story of the Photo
Common Green Forest Lizards are not seen as commonly as they used to be, due to the dwindling foliage in and around cities. However they are quite frequently found around all Eco Team campsites which are situated on the borders of National Parks. Dilum captured this beautiful shot right inside the Explorer by Eco Team campsite, in the Sinharaja forest.
Two butterflies are about to have a showdown
Nefarious: It is I, Nefarious Purpus, now step away from my food Nervus Illnus!
Nervus: Oh my goodness! You startled me… what’s wrong with you Neffy old boy, calm down.
Nefarious: You Glassy Tigers are all the same, copying the look of the Plain Tigers and now, stealing our food too.
Nervus: First of all, you’re Orange, Black and white, whereas I am Black and white with a hint of Blue. Second of all I was just investigating an interesting flower, not stealing food.
Nefarious: Begone foul shade of hell! You’re just jealous because my kind, the Plain Tigers, were the first butterflies depicted in art… 3,500 years ago!
Nervus: Foul shade? Sounds exotic, I’ll take that as a compliment and as for the art, well done for being the first, that’s quite an achievement.
Nefarious: Leave my wide open fields, for they are my domain!
Nervus: You can keep your stinking field. Just for the record, this field actually stinks of buffalo doo-doo. I normally keep 5 feet above ground just because of that. I only came down to look at the flower.
Nefarious: A likely story impostor! You were just trying to escape predators by impersonating me!
Nervus: Neff… your kind really got it right when they made themselves unpalatable to predators by feeding on toxic plants like Milkweed. But is it so wrong that other butterflies escape a dreadful fate by trying to look like you? Is it such a crime?
Nefarious: It is you imbecile.. Oh wait, what’s happening? Oooh my head…. Oh hi Nervus, what am I doing here? The last thing I remember, I was sniffing around a bottle on a garbage dump and then everything went blank.
Nervus: Ah, I knew you were feeling out of sorts, old friend.
Nefarious: I don’t even know how I got here.
Nervus: Come on Neffy, let’s fly over to that puddle and grab a drink, and I’ll tell you all about your shenanigans.
Story of the Photo
Sri Lanka has quite a diverse population of butterflies and they are quite prevalent in and around the Mahoora Camps. Dilum captured this image by a lake, close to the Mahoora Tented Safari Camp in Wilpattu.