Well here we are in lovely Sri Lanka after a mamouth 22 hour journey…… by 7 this morning and after just an hour with the camera it had proved worth it 100 times over!  My accomodation is basically a villa…….. except there is nothing basic about it.  It is larger than my own house in the UK with marbled floors, hardwood fittings and 3 bedrooms.   The main bedroom is airconditioned and there is an en-suite wet room.  There is a massive kitchen… like I am going to cook?  Ravi the owner is a delightful happy man with two adorable little girls and a smiling helpful wife.  They have treated me as though I am a very important person and have constantly fussed after me.  In fact I am hoping that my novelty may wear off by tomorrow as its a bit hard to creap up on to a wild Kingfisher with a pointing and gesticulating happy family pointing out the Bee-eaters as you take aim with the camera……. very funny really and anyone who really knows me and knows what a cantancerous misserable "git" I would normally be in situations like this, will laugh along with me.  The youngest daughter called Natasha is particularly sweet with a broad smile constantly and then a giggle to replace it, she laughs at me as though she understands my every word when in fact she understands very little!  When I got up this morning just before 6, Ravi was waiting for me in the garden to give me breakfast which I declined but he had a pot of coffee waiting.  He had got up at 5 or so to wait until I emerged from my deep and much needed sleep to make sure I had a coffee as I told him last night how important that is to me.  Then as I tried to wander off on my own they all followed me as though they were responsible for my wellbeing and photographic success.  Eventually they had to give up because school starts at 7.30 and they needed to get ready, leaving me at last  to myself, sitting on a block next to the river as I watched for Kingfishers.  A bit later they appeared, all the family that is, on a moped…. no crash helmets of course and the 8 year old sat on the petrol tank, waving merrily as they sped by…. of course scaring every bird for a mile around.  Very funny.

Breakfast when I eventually accepted it, I think they thought it was weird that I wanted to bird watch before the food, was a sloppy greasy fried egg caked in salt accomponied by some nice fresh home baked bred.  I asked Indira (Mrs Ravi), to cook the egg a bit more but she didn't understand and not wanting to hurt her feelings as she was so pleased with her success,  I ate it quickly before it made me sick.  My companions now were Ravi, his wife and one daughter and the neighbours big fat pig whose belly was as big as her appetite in this case .  I waited for the moment to add an egg to her breakfast (and not mine)  but as Ravi was watching intently I had to slide the uncooked egg down my own gullet…… yum!  The pig was upset but honour was maintained and Ravi remained a friend!  Mrs Ravi disappeared to sell phone cards to  the customers in "Ravi's Shop and Communications".  Not in this case like South West Telecoms but a vegie-cum sweetie shop that sells phone cards, well even Tony Rowe had to start somewhere.

So here are a few birds from the first day.

This is a female Asian Koel (Eudynamys scolopaceus), possibly a juvenile, males are all black with red eyes.

White-bellied Drongo (Dicrurus caerulescens)  At first I wasn't sure of the species but a bit of research confirms it as White-bellied Drongo, apparently they can be confused with the Black Drongo (Dicrurus macrocercus)  because juveniles are all black and as it happens you can see this in the image here (below) where the juvenile is on the left.

This fabulous bird is an Indian Roller.  It has a territory in the garden/waste land right next to my house and I am confident that I will be able to get even better photos in the next 10 day.  I have already worked out which are its favourite perches and watched the way it behaves.  I can get really close but I need to be even closer to get that once in a lifetime shot.  I have already take 200 or so photos of it and am working through them but need to stop because while I am doing that I am not out looking at the other birds…… in the bar tonight will give the chance and I will be posting more then.