I have been back home  from Sri lanka since early Friday morning after a brilliant 16 days away. I really enjoy my stays in the country which for me is just about perfect.  It is a safe place but somewhere really different in culture and environment than the UK.  There is a  a good combination of adventure and it's a place where I feel secure and safe as well.  I have real friends there now who look after me and make me feel very welcome. The birdlife is always very interesting with a good variety of exotic species always easy to find and easy to photograph.  Around Ravi's house there are 4 species of Kingfisher for example.  There are herons,  bitterns and even the occasional stork.  Small birds are very common and interesting and its not hard to get good photographs.  I love the Bee-eaters, the Coucal and the  Koel that live in the gardens near to Ravis house. I hardly travel far from my base but I know that I have not even scratched  the surface and would and could,  find and photograph many more species with not a lot of  effort.  On this trip I have added a few new species to my life list including Brown Noddy Tern, Great Thicknee, Chestnut-headed Bee-eater, Plain Prinia, Blythes Reed Warbler and Jungle Fowl.