Saturday, December 31, 2011

Been away for a while...

Birds Photos
A Steller's Jay waiting for a handful of peanuts











                                         
A Song Sparrow taking a quick bath
A Bushtit getting ready to take off after grabbing
 some suet

Townsend's and Black-Throated Gray Warblers

3 Warblers bathing at one time! Orange-Crowned,
Black-Throated Gray and Townsend's!

Same 3 little guys

3 Black-Throated Gray Warblers at the same time!
This was a yard record for us. Normally, we
 only get one at a time.

This Orange-Crowned Warbler flew in through
 the garage, then through the kitchen and into the living
 room. He landed on a plant near the ceiling.
It took us a while to get him to fly back out.
This was 2 days after a
Steller's Jay did the same thing.

7 Band-Tailed Pigeons in our backyard. They
are frequent visitors to our yard.

This Band-Tailed Pigeon obviously thought he was a
House Finch. He kept trying, though.

A Wilson's Warbler on one of our hikes

A Hermit Warbler on the same hike

White-Crowned Sparrow on top of Saddle Mt

Evening Grosbeaks fighting over some seed. We think
 that is a House Sparrow in front of them

An Orange-Crowned Warbler in the yard
(not in the living room)

Evening Grosbeaks gathered for some dinner

A female Western Tanager grabbing some suet

Here she is again

We don't think the Evening Grosbeaks liked sharing,
 but no body seemed to want to speak up

A Band-Tailed Pigeon in flight

Evening Grosbeaks waiting for the bird bath

Another Evening Grosbeak

Evening Grosbeaks on the right and a solitary
 Black-Headed Grosbeak to the far left

A female Evening Grosbeak

One of our resident Anna's Hummingbirds in our
 front yard

It really likes the maple tree in the front of the house

Another Anna's eating from the Fringecup

A beautiful male Robin

A Yellow-Rumped warbler pretending to be a
 hummingbird

Yellow-Rumped Warbler grabbing some suet

Every spring we get Anna's Hummingbirds grabbing
bits of dryer lint for their nesting material


We were really glad we stopped! This is a Horned Grebe in breeding plumage just off of the dock.

There were actually 5 or 6 Horned Grebes in this area.

Here is a Common Loon in the same area. There were 6 of these birds, as well.

A small flock of Black Turnstones. This is the only photo we got but they are another life list bird for us!

A Red-Necked Phalarope. There were 2 of these little guys feeding just as you entered the spit.

A view of Tillamook Bay.

Another great find for us was this Red-Breasted Merganser. Yet another life lister.

Yellow-Rumped Warblers abound!

You couldn't look left or right without seeing a Yellow-Rumped Warbler.

Another Western Gull posing (read: begging).

A Turkey Vulture caught us off guard flying right over our heads.

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Thursday, November 4, 2010

Arugam Bay - අරගම් බෙ


Pottuvil and Arugam Bay are situated on the Indian Ocean in the dry zone of Sri Lanka's South-East coast.  The area is rich in bird life and wildlife in the widespread jungle areas, wetlands and lagoons nearby. It has it's own specific climate with very little rain compared to the rest of the island. 











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Monday, November 1, 2010

Adam's Peak | Sri Pada - සමනල කන්ද

Adam's Peak (also Adam's Mount; Sinhalese Samanalakanda - සමනළ කන්ද "butterfly mountain", Tamil Sivanolipatha Malai - சிவனொலி பாதமலை)
world says that the footprint mark is the left foot of the Buddha, left behind as he strode away,

Though not the highest mountain of Sri Lanka, the striking pyramid of Adam's Peak (7,360 ft) is certainly the most remarkable. A depression in the rocky summit resembles a huge footprint, which has been venerated as a sacred sigh from remote antiquity. This was identified by Buddhists as the Buddha's footprint, by Hindus as that of Shiva, and by Muslims as Adam's. Later the Portuguese attributed it to St. Thomas the Apostle.

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Warana Cave Temple - වාරන ගල් ගුහා පන්සල


ඓතිහාසික වාරණ රඡමහා විහාරය

History of Varana Temple:

History of Warana Rock temple flows up to king Devanampiyatissa time. According to some written information he constructed this temple between 2nd and 3rd centery BC. Later the King Walagamba did renovation in 1st century AD. King Walagamba is a famous for Rock ( cave) temple building in Sri Lanka, because he used to hide among most of those caves when kings from south India invades Sri Lanka. After he won the battle, He had build temples in most of these locations or renovate the existing ones. King Nissanka Malla and king Parakarmabahu VI also contributed to the development of this temple.
There are some inscriptions find in Warana temple. They says that "This is donated to Tissa Dhatta Thero, the brother of Majjhima Thero". The Tissa Dhatta Thero is considered as the student of Mahinda Thero.

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Thursday, August 19, 2010

Buduruwagala - බුදුරුරවාගල පන්සල



Buduruwagala is located about 5 km from the Wellawaya on the Thanamalwila road. Buduruwagala is a place, not to be missed if you are on your way from Hill country to southern beaches. The name “Buduruwagala” is derived from word “Budu”, “Ruwa” and “Gala”. Budu means “ Budda”, Ruwa means “Image” and “Gala” means stones(Buddha images with stones).


The statues are believed to build 10th century AD. The gigantic Buddha statue still bears traces of its original stuccoes robe and a long streak of orange suggests it was once brightly painted. The central of the three figures to the Buddha's right is thought to be the Buddhist mythological figure-the Bodhisattva Avalokitesvara. To the left of this white painted figure is a female figure in the thrice-bent posture, which is thought to be his consort-Tara.




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Ambuluwawa | Sri lanka - අම්බුලුවාව





Sri Lanka is considered as an Asian country to contain richest bio-diversity in a single area. Hill Country receives its flowing water from South-west monsoon rains. Ambuluwawa peak situated in the center of Gampola Kingdom established by the great Sinhala King Buvanekabahu IV. Bio-diversity of Sri Lanka is amply exampled in Ambulawa.


According to the researchers there are about 200 varieties of plants belong to 80 families. “Iramusu”, “Muva kiriya” and “nawa handi” are some of known medical plants grown in the area. Ambuluwawa rock summit is surrounded by large number of mountain ranges. The scenic beauty of this summit is breathtaking.



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