This spotted dove has built her nest amongst the rafters in my Verandahs. They are a close relative of pigeons so it’s no wonder that the spotted doves are not shy of humans.

In dry weather the roofing sheets which are just a few inches above or head become too hot to touch, yet she doesn’t mind. Maybe it’s beause they help keep the eggs warm when the goes away to gather food. But then her husband takes over the egg warming job.

King Fisher’s are usually found close to water but this one was spotted at the Araliya Bungalow in Walahanduwa. A Kingfisher will perch on a wire or a tree branch and wait patiently for hours till a worm, a small fish or a frog emerges from it’s hideout. Then he will dive in an a sudden blur of color and grab the victim before it has a chance to dive back into cover.

This peacock was admiring it’s reflection on the side of the car for quite some time before settling on it’s roof to wait for lunch. Lunch was rice and curry! Though it’s unusual, sometimes wild peacocks do find themselves strongly attached to humans and don’t fly away even when the children play roughly with it. This bird hasn’t yet grown the majestic set of tail feathers that peacocks are famous. It lives with the family of a care taker at a small estate in Seru Kele.

The first thing that strikes most people visiting our house is the vertical garden. A long time will pass before the orchids are able to spread out to cover that wall completely. By that time the wines would have fully obstructed the view and passers by will not be able to see the flowers when they bloom. Vertical gardens are sometimes known as a green wall. There is no wall where the wines grow so let’s just call it a horizontally challenged garden.