There are times when a point-and-shoot camera totally sucks, like when the object you want to focus on is small enough that the autofocus part of the camera instead decides to focus on the background and you don’t have manual focus, so you’re out of luck with a sucky fuzzy out-of-focus picture.. This is one of those times.
I have no idea what this bird is called. Hopefully, someone will chime in and let us all know. The bird is the Brown-Headed Barbet (Megalaima zeylanica), also known as Polos Kottoruwa in Sinhala. 🙂
I’m also hoping that I get a better photo soon.
And then there’s this squirrel. It’s common enough for the local wildlife (birds, squirrels, grey purple-faced langur monkeys) to use the telephone and electrical lines for their transportation highway or front stoop. That, I’m used to. A squirrel spread-eagled over the power lines as it tries to go from one side to another? Not so much. 😀
Edited to add:
I found a free downloadable field guide to Sri Lankan birds – hallelujah! – from Field Ornothology Group of Sri Lanka. With the field guide’s helpful pictures, I’ve identified the above bird as the Brown-Headed Barbet (Megalaima zeylanica), also known as Polos Kottoruwa in Sinhala.
CORRECTION:
The Gray Langur monkeys mentioned above are actually Purple-Faced Leaf Monkey, aka Purple-Faced Langur Monkey (Trachypithecus vetulus).
That bird looks like it might still be a fledgling. Is that how that sort looks when it’s full grown? I’m going by the texture of the feathers.
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I don’t actually know. I’m not sure if I’ve seen this one before, although I suspect I have. Not sure if I have photos – that’s a huge mess I need to go through. But your guess of it being a fledgling seems valid to me.
I’m hoping to hear from some Sri Lankans on this. Fahim didn’t know what it was called.