A Red-vented bulbul chick

I saw this Bulbul chick on the ground close to the nest where it was hatched. The parents were hovering close by. I was wondering whether it was unable to fly. If it stayed on the ground it would become easy prey to the cat roaming around. As I approached it its parents increased their chatter. In the twinkling of an eye it took wing and flew away. I guess fear and the warning from its parents induced it to make its maiden flight.

A view of 'Vedahiti-kande' - 'Kathiramalai' from Katharagama.

'Vedahiti-kanda' or 'Kathiramalai' is the sacred mountain on which Lord Murugan is said to have settled down, after marrying the Veddah cheiftain's daughter, Valliamma. It was a 2 hour difficult climb. Now you can reach the top by jeep available for hire at the bottom of the hill.

Brooding Bulbul

I took this picture in my garden in Avissawella. You can see the mother sitting on the eggs. She did not fly away when I went close. The male was hovering nearby giving warning cries. Prowling cats, the rat-snake and the Greater Coucal, which latter boldly goes to the nest and swallows the live chicks, are an ever present danger. The population of the bulbul is stable at the moment.

Nest of a Red-vented Bulbul.

This nest of a Red-vented Bulbul was on a tree stump in my garden at Avissawella. The female would brood over it while the male went food gathering. If you went too close to it the female would temporarily fly away at its mates signaled warning. She would return once the intruders went away.

The 'moon-stone'

A piece of granite worked in concentric circles is seen used as the first step in various important buildings situated in the area named the 'cultural triangle' of Sri Lanka. These pictures were taken by me from Polonnoruwa, Sri Lanka. The concentric circles are said to represent the various stages in the evolution of a being ending in the central area of liberation. The intriguing question is why a sacred symbol like this is used as a door-step. Therein lies a bit of history according to some. The philosophies which deviated from the Southern Theravada doctrines of Buddhism had used these symbols. When the Southern doctrines got the upper hand it is said, that these acts were done, to denigrate the 'heretical vaithulyavada sects'.