Nothing unusual about paper boats. Most people don’t even bother to take photos of them. But these boats are different, they are on my green roof. Earth and leaves clogging up the water flow resulted in this roof garden getting flooded and the kids wanted to float their boats on it. The next day there was a heavier shower and the water made it’s way into the house and went all the way to the ground floor through the staircase.

Adams peak, the most prominent of Sri Lankas mountain can be seen from the top of my water tank which is more than 200 Kilometers away by road. It is said that in the past Adam’s Peak could be seen on most days at many different places in Colombo. If you look at the 19th century paintings of Colombo, you will often find that Adam’s peak is shown in the background.

Things have changed. Dust, Smoke and buildings obscure the view.

By the way, those smugdes on the foreground were caused by a flock of egrets who flew past at that very moment.

Parrots love wing beans (popularly known as Dambala in Sri Lanka). I had several wing bean wines on my ‘horizontally challenged garden‘ but they all died due to the combined effects of a papaya mealy bugs infestation and the dry spell we had about two months ago. Since then the Parrots stopped visiting but two surviving Nil Katarolu (Conchflower ? ) plants attract sunbirds

BTW: what kind of Parrot is this? I think it’s a Rose Ringed Parakeet.

With the number of trees that have been cut down in the neighbourhood in recent weeks, it’s a miracle that this dead tree was left standing. It made a perfect perch for this Brahmini Kite. If you happen to pass the Kelanitissa Thermal power station, don’t forget to look towards the sky, you will see at least a dozen of them soaring a long way up. The thermal currents produced by the steam turbines coupled with the proximity of the garbage mountain makes it one of their favorite areas.

This one though was seen in Battaramulla, I don’t know if they range that far but then again Kelanitissa is not so far off as the crow (or the kite) flies.

I would have a magnificient view, if my neighbour’s Calicut clay tiled roof didn’t get in the way….