MACROPODS I HAVE SEEN

I don't know much about mammals, but I have seen many of them since when I started birding. This post is about a certain type of mammal, the macropod. Macropods are a group of marsupials. They include pademelons, kangaroos, wallabies, bettongs and potoroos. All macropods belong to the suborder Macropodiformes, and there are several families in that order. From the primitive musky rat-kangaroo to the largest of the macropods, the red kangaroo, they show lots of diversity. Here are the macropods I have seen.
The agile wallaby Macropus agilis is the commonest wallaby in many parts of northern Australia. There are four subspecies, of which I have seen one. Subspecies agilis is found in the northern territory, subspecies jardinii is found in northern and eastern Queensland, subspecies nigrescens is found in the Kimberly region of Western Australia and finally subspecies papuanus is found in southern and southeastern Papua New Guinea, as well as a few neighbouring islands. I have seen an agile wallaby once before, when I went to Kakadu National Park (before I started this blog) but I do not currently have any photos of it.

WESTERN GREY KANGAROO (subspecies melanops)

The western grey kangaroo Macropus fuliginosus is one of the two species of grey kangaroo. It is very common and found in much of southern Australia, from western Victoria to southwestern Queensland, and then north to Shark Bay, as well as in the Murray-Darling Basin of New South Wales and Queensland. There are two subspecies, subspecies melanops in almost all of its range and subspecies fuliginosus on Kangaroo Island. This species of kangaroo is closely related to the eastern grey kangaroo. This is a rather large species of macropod.

EASTERN GREY KANGAROO

The eastern grey kangaroo Macropus giganteus is found in southern and eastern Australia, as well as Tasmania, and is the second largest living marsupial in Australia. Though the red kangaroo is better known, this is the kangaroo most often encountered in Australia due to its adaptability. In Victoria it is the commonest and most widespread of the three species of kangaroo. This was the first of the two species of grey kangaroo to be discovered, and for a while the western grey kangaroo was considered the same as this species.

WHIPTAIL WALLABY

The whiptail wallaby Macropus parryi, also known as the pretty-faced wallaby, can be found in eastern Australia from Grafton in New South Wales to Cooktown in Queensland (at least, that is where it is commonest). In the right places it is very common. The area around Lamington National Park is one of these places, and if you are there at the right time you will almost certainly see at least one as you are driving along the road. This species of wallaby can be found in grasslands and woodlands, particularly on hills or slopes. It mostly grazes to get its food. It is a sociable animal that can sometimes come together in groups of up to 50 wallabies.

RED-NECKED WALLABY

The red-necked wallaby Macropus rufogriseus is a medium-sized wallaby fairly common in temperate eastern Australia, including Tasmania. There is also a small colony of escaped animals on the island of Inchconnachan in Scotland, and some have been introduced to parts of New Zealand. There are two subspecies. Subspecies rufogriseus is found only in Tasmania, and is called Bennett's wallaby, and subspecies banksianus is found on the mainland. In Tasmania and coastal Queensland their numbers have expanded. They are mainly solitary but will gather together where or when there is an abundance of resources. They are mainly crepuscular, coming out mostly during dawn and dusk and staying in or near vegetation for the middle of the day.
The red kangaroo Macropus rufus is the largest of Australia's native mammals, and the largest marsupial that is not extinct. Males have short, red-brown fur, while females are blue-grey. The red kangaroo is found mostly in inland Australia, and is mostly crepuscular, resting in the shade for most of the day. Adult red kangaroos currently have no real predators, with their powerful kicks and blows that can break human bones, but when thylacines weren't extinct they killed and ate kangaroos. However, dingoes and eagles will kill and eat joeys they can get to. They are excellent swimmers and often flee into waterways if threatened. If pursued they sometimes use their forepaws to drown predators by holding them underwater. They live in groups of two to four members. I have seen the red kangaroo in inland New South Wales, near Mildura, while on a trip with my cousins who live there.
The red-legged pademelon Thylogale stigmatica is a small macropod found in northeastern Australia and New Guinea. It is normally solitary, but sometimes groups together when feeding. There are four subspecies. Subspecies wilcoxi is in southern Queensland and New South Wales, stigmatica in the Cairns region, coxenii in the Cape York Peninsula and orimo in New Guinea. This shy creature feeds mostly on fallen fruit, leaves and grasses. Lamington National Park in southeastern Queensland is probably the best place to see this, and it is where I saw it (though I only got glimpses of animals dashing into the undergrowth).

RED-NECKED PADEMELON

The red-necked pademelon Thylogale thetis is another small species of macropod that is closely related to the red-legged pademelon, though it is much less shy. In many places it is mainly nocturnal, hiding in the forests by day and grazing on grasslands in the dusk, night and early morning. In the early morning at O'Reilly's Rainforest Retreat in Lamington National Park these pademelons can be seen feeding on the lawns.

SWAMP WALLABY

The swamp wallaby Wallabia bicolor is a small wallaby that can be found in much of eastern Australia, including Victoria. It is also known as the black wallaby. It is one of the three macropods found in the Greater Melbourne area (along with long-nosed potoroos and eastern grey kangaroos). I have seen these wallabies at many places. Phillip Island can be a very reliable place to see these if you are at the right part of the island. Apparently they can also be found at Brimbank Park, though I have not seen one there yet. They are the only species in the genus Wallabia.  The photo above was taken at Serendip Sanctuary.
Those are the macropods I have seen.

STARLINGS OF AUSTRALIA

Australia has exactly 4 species of starling resident in its territories. 2 of these are introduced, 1 of them can only be found regularly in the Torres Strait Islands and 1 is native to mainland Australia. There were once 3 species of starling native to Australia, but one of them is now extinct.
NATIVE SPECIES

METALLIC STARLING (with nests)

METALLIC STARLING 

The metallic starling Aplonis metallica is a species of starling native to northeastern Australia, as well as New Guinea and several nearby islands. The adult has black plumage that is glossed with green, as well as a long tail and bright red eyes with black pupils. Immatures have pale underparts, with dark streaking. These birds are highly social, even when they are not breeding. They build large, globular nests, in dense colonies in large rainforest trees. Many fledged juveniles can be seen with adults in these colonies. In Australia the metallic starling can be found only along the northeast coast of Queensland, from Mackay to the tip of Cape York, however it is common only north of Ingham. It is mostly a summer migrant that arrives in August and September. Most leave by April, though a few stay and overwinter. I have seen these birds in the Daintree Forest.
The singing starling Aplonis cantoroides is a species of starling that can be found in New Guinea, the Bismarck Archipelago, Admiralty Islands and Solomon Islands, as well as several nearby islands. They look very similar to the metallic starling, but have shorter, square tails and thicker bills. They inhabit forest edges, cultivated areas with trees, urban areas, coconut groves and gardens. Their call is a repeated, high-pitched whistle. In Australia the singing starling can be found only on the islands of Boigu and Saibai in the Torres Strait. On Boigu there is a small colony of them. As of now, I have not seen one of these birds.
The tasman starling Aplonis fusca is a species of starling that was once found only on Norfolk Island and Lord Howe Island. There were two subspecies. The Norfolk starling Aplonis fusca fusca was found on Norfolk Island, and the Lord Howe starling Aplonis fusca hulliana was found on Lord Howe Island. It was a mostly greyish-brown bird, with whitish undertail converts. Males had a glossy green head and throat. Their bills were black and their eyes orange-red. Females were similar, but with a duller greenish gloss, a grey throat and pale brownish flanks. Lord Howe starlings were much browner and more greyish. Both subspecies are now extinct. Black rats caused the Lord Howe starling to die off, and probably are also what killed the Norfolk starling.
INTRODUCED SPECIES

COMMON MYNA (subspecies tristis)

COMMON STARLING (subspecies vulgaris?)

The common myna Acridotheres tristis is a species of starling that has been introduced to many parts of the world. In Australia it is hated, despised and considered a major pest, gaining the nickname 'flying cane toad'. It is one of the three birds listed on the world's top 100 worst invasive species, along with the red-vented bulbul and common starling. It won an award for being the 'Worst Pest of Australia' and has been considered 'The Most Important Pest/Problem for Australia'. There are two subspecies. Subspecies tristis is found almost throughout the myna's range, while subspecies melanosternus is endemic to Sri Lanka. Melanosternus birds are darker, with a larger yellow cheek-patch. Its eggs are coloured blue.
The common starling Sturnus vulgaris is a medium-sized bird, with glossy black plumage. In winter this is speckled with white. Immatures are pale brown. There are several subspecies. This rather noisy bird is one of the three birds in the top 100 worst invasive species (see above for the rest). Its song is a wide variety of melodic and mechanical noises, and the male sings more than the female. These highly gregarious birds are even more gregarious in autumn and winter, when they form huge flocks in some parts of the world, in which there can sometimes be more than a million starlings. They eat mainly insects, but will also take grains, seeds, fruits, food scraps, nectar, frogs and lizards, being very omnivorous. The Azores subspecies of the common starling will also eat the eggs of the Roseate tern, which is why many people are considering culling them before the terns return to their breeding colonies.
VAGRANTS
Several other species of starling have popped up as vagrants in Australia. These include chestnut-cheeked starlings, rose-coloured starlings and purple-backed starlings. These are not regular visitors to Australia, they are simply very rare vagrants. As of 2011 there were three species of vagrant starling in Australia, not counting the singing starling which is sometimes regarded as a vagrant.

A TRIP TO THE BLUE MOUNTAINS DAY 3: THE JENOLAN CAVES AND LYREBIRDS

It was our last day in the mountains, so we woke up early. We had heard of a colony of lyrebirds that lived near the hotel and wished to go on a track where you could see them. So at 6:30 we woke up and walked along to the track.
It took us about an hour to finish the track. It lead through eucalypt forest and rainforest where brown thornbills, crimson rosellas, red wattlebirds and Eastern yellow robins were abundant. Less common were lyrebirds, and we couldn't see a single one. Then, as we were walking back along the track, my dad yelled out "Chanith, there's a lyrebird!" The superb lyrebird, a lifer, darted into the bush too quickly to get a photo. It didn't matter, we would soon get another chance.

These eastern yellow robins were everywhere

After eating a buffet breakfast we left the hotel, driving to the Jenolan Caves. These caves were not only beautiful, they were surrounded by trails good for 'spotting shy native wildlife', and they were a home of eastern bentwing and eastern horseshoe bats. A great photo opportunity. It took us a while, but eventually we got to the caves. We passed through a majestic cave with a road in the middle of it. In this trails were all around, heading to the different caves. We drove over to the carpark, around which there were many pied currawongs. We walked past a picnic ground and there, in the bush, was a female superb lyrebird!

My first photo of a superb lyrebird, and my second sighting

After that we went down to the village and bought some maltesers before going on our first cave tour, the Lucas Cave tour. It was beautiful! Calcite stalagtites, columns and stalagmites were everywhere in this amazing limestone cave! We even saw the perfectly blue-green waters of the underground River Styx, named after the river of the underworld in Greek mythology, at one point. These photos really do not capture the wonder.

The broken column, the most photographed feature in the Jenolan Caves

This gooey mass of white is actually a bunch of wet calcite crystals

These strange formations are known as shawls, or cave bacon. That brown material is actually calcite, it is just covered by a lot of mud and dirt

After the hour and a half-long tour we stopped back at the village and ate lunch at the bistro. Outside the bistro I spotted very tame crimson rosellas and pied currawongs which came up to scavenge on scraps left under the tables. Less tame were some superb fairy-wrens hopping about in the bush.

A crimson rosella having lunch under a chair

After this my sister and I went on the kids tour, while my parents went on a tour of the Imperial Cave. The kids tour first passed through Chiffley Cave, where we were trying to see eastern bentwing bats. However, we did not manage to see them. Instead, we saw some more calcite formations, some springtails on a fallen stalagtite and the skeleton of a dead bat which had been covered by crystal.

This poor little bentwing bat was flying through the cave when it hit calcite. Over the years crystal grew over its skeleton and it can now be seen stuck to the wall of the cave

Some dry calcite formations. Formations like this are very common in the Jenolan Caves

After that we went further on into Imperial Cave and saw the beauty of the River Styx. Apparently no cave fish live in this river, though the occasional short-finned eel visits (the river is connected to a blue lake on the surface). 

The perfectly blue-green waters of the River Styx

The reason this light looks so old fashioned is because it was placed in the early 1900s. 

After exploring part of the Imperial Cave and seeing a few fossils we then headed up to the surface to the perfectly blue lake the River Styx flows into, and where a lot of Sydney's drinking water comes from. This can often be a great place to see platypus, but someone was throwing rocks into the water and so we didn't see anything. I did, however, hear brown thornbills near the lake. There were no waterbirds on the lake. After that we drove back to Sydney and the airport, stopping to see a pair of red-necked wallabies that were next to the road.

A red-necked wallaby, one of the three commonest/most noticeable macropods in the Blue Mountains (red-necked wallaby, swamp wallaby, eastern grey kangaroo). Brush-tailed rock wallabies used to be on that list but now there are only about 15 left in the mountains. 

A TRIP TO THE BLUE MOUNTAINS DAY 2: THE HOTEL AND SCENIC WORLD

After a long night drive, I woke up with my father at 6:30 am to bird the area around the front of the hotel. It was rather disappointing, and I only spotted pied currawongs, crimson rosellas, Australian magpies, Pacific black ducks and Australian wood ducks. We only explored the front though, and we hadn't checked out the more birdy-looking back area of the hotel. We decided to do this later, because we had to get to one of the birding sites suggested on the internet for superb lyrebirds: Scenic World.

Crimson rosellas. The bird on the left is an adult, the bird on the right is going from juvenile to adult plumage (juveniles are mostly green)

This popular tourist attraction had a boardwalk where, according to a website, 'in the morning you are guaranteed to see lyrebirds, but do not come too late because there will be too many people.' Perhaps we came too late, but either way I accidentally went along the wrong track and we did not see any lyrebirds. However, we did see lots of sulphur-crested cockatoos, two grey shrike-thrushes and some unidentified small birds in the top of a eucalyptus tree. Though there were probably rose robins, yellow-faced honeyeaters and white-naped honeyeaters up there somewhere, I was too tired to look and the birds were too fast. We turned back and, now too tired to continue, decided to just enjoy the rides.

The less steep part of the Scenic Railway track

First we tried the Scenic Railway, the world's steepest passenger railway with a 52 degree incline. In the railway, which passes through a natural tunnel, you can adjust your seats to make it less or more scary. Unknowingly I adjusted the seat to 'Cliffhanger', with a 64 degree incline so you were looking straight down. With a woosh I almost fell out of my seat as gravity pulled at me. Note to self: if returning, be more careful with seat. Then we rode on the cableway and skyway to look at the Three Sisters and other parts of the surrounding area. We saw a few more sulphur-crested cockatoos, which looked like white blobs with wings from above. One perched and I could just make out the yellow blur of its crest. Soon we had to go home, and after having lunch we headed for the hotel and had a swim in the pool. At 5 o'clock we watched TV before having dinner and going to sleep.

A TRIP TO THE BLUE MOUNTAINS 1. INTRODUCTION

Hello, I have just come back from a trip to the Blue Mountains of Sydney. Despite many birds not showing, and not many birding opportunities, I managed to see one of my three target species (pilotbird, superb lyrebird and rock warbler). This is an introduction to the trip.
ACCOMODATION
We stayed at the Fairmont Hotel. This hotel is fairly accomodating to kids, with special activities available for the school holidays like screenings of kids movies. It has three restaurants, which are Embers, Eucalypt and Jamison's. All of these sell fairly good to excellent food for expensive prices. The hotel is very close to the Blue Mountains National Park and is right next to the Leura Golf Club. There are several walking trails around the hotel which provided a few birds, including one lifer. Three colonies of superb lyrebirds inhabit the forest around the hotel. See 'food' for what I thought of the restaurants and cafes here. The rooms are good.
GETTING THERE
Though the hotel was about an hour and a half drive away from Sydney, we did not get lost while driving there. The roads to some of the tourist attractions are very windy or bumpy, and my sister got motion sickness quite a bit while in the car.
FOOD
We got breakfast in the buffet from Jamison's every morning, which is rather like most good hotel breakfast buffets. On our first night we had some dinner from the Yulefest (Christmas in July) buffet which had an appearance from 'Santa'. This was very expensive. On our second night we had dinner from 'Embers'. The service was very bad and it took ages for our main courses to arrive, again some of the food was rather expensive. However, it did taste very good. On our third night we had a delicious dinner from some friends of ours. We ate all of our lunches at cafes outside the hotel, namely the Cafe 88 at the Blue Hotel on day two and the Bistro at the Jenolan Caves on day three.
SITES VISITED
We visited several different sites. On the second day, or the next post, we explored the FAIRMONT HOTEL CARPARK, as well as part of the KATOOMBA SCENIC BOARDWALK. On the third day we walked around the FAIRMONT HOTEL GROUNDS, and the JENOLAN CAVES VILLAGE. Those were the only sites visited, which may explain why I only saw 20 different species, less birds than what I normally see on my Western Treatment Plant birding trips (normally about 30).
LIFERS SEEN
I saw one lifer, the superb lyrebird. 
BIRD LIST
1. Australian Wood Duck
2. Pacific Black Duck
3. Australian White Ibis
4. Spotted Dove
5. Feral Pigeon
6. Unknown Raptor (may have been a Wedge-Tailed Eagle (got quick view of large raptor flying overhead that 'had markings on it' with a wedge-shaped tail)
7. Rainbow Lorikeet
8. Crimson Rosella
9. Superb Lyrebird
10. Superb Fairy-Wren
11. White-Browed Scrubwren
12. Brown Thornbill
13. Eastern Yellow Robin
14. Grey Shrike-Thrush
15. Australian (Black-Backed) Magpie
16. Pied Currawong
17. Australian Raven
18. Sulphur-Crested Cockatoo
19. Skylark
20. Noisy Miner
SPECIES: 20

CORVIDS OF SRI LANKA

Three species of corvid can be found in Sri Lanka. One is endemic to Sri Lanka and the other two are not.

SRI LANKAN BLUE MAGPIE Urocissa ornata

The Sri Lankan blue magpie Urocissa ornata is a rather colourful bird endemic to Sri Lanka. It inhabits dense temperate rain forest and hill forest, and is declining due to loss of this, its habitat. It is normally a very shy bird but is rather tame in some places, like Martin's Lodge and other parts of Sinharaja forest where it will beg for food from people. It mostly eats small frogs, lizards, insects and other invertebrates, though it will take fruit. It is about the same size as the common and well-known European Magpie, in other words about 42 to 47 centimetres. Adults are blue, with a chestnut head, chestnut wings and a long, white-tipped tail. Their legs and bills are red. Young birds look duller. This bird has a variety of calls. These include a loud chink-chink and a rasping krak-krak-krak-krak, and it will also mimic the calls of other birds. It builds a cup-shaped stick nest in a tree or shrub, laying three to five eggs in most cases. These eggs are white, heavily spotted with brown. Both parents build the nests and feed the young, but only the female incubates the eggs in the nest. In Sinhalese, this bird is known as the kahibella or kehibella. The loss of its habitat and its rarity outside of good habitat is why this bird is considered internationally Vulnerable. 

HOUSE CROW Corvus splendens

Much drabber and commoner is the house crow Corvus splendens. Also known as the Colombo crow (it is in fact abundant in Colombo), it grows roughly 40 centimetres long. Most of its body is black to blackish-grey, but its neck and breast are a much lighter grey-brown. This crow replaces the large-billed crow along the coast of Sri Lanka and its range is expanding. There are several subspecies, with the Sri Lankan subspecies protegatus also found in the Maldives and southern India, though Maldive birds are sometimes considered a different subspecies, maledivicus. The house crow can be found in a lot of southern and south-eastern Asia. It has been introduced to parts of east Africa, and once arrived in Australia by ship but was then exterminated. There is also now a breeding population in the Hook of Holland, and a small population around St. Petersburg in Florida. In all its range it is associated with large human settlements. In Colombo if you stay for a day and cannot see any of these, you are either shut up inside or have your eyes tightly shut. Their nests are frequently parasitised by the Asian koel, a species of cuckoo.

LARGE-BILLED CROW Corvus (macrorhynchos) culminatus

The large-billed crow Corvus macrorhynchos, also known as the jungle crow, is a species of crow widespread in Asia. It is very adaptable and eats a variety of different foods. It is also known as the thick-billed crow or jungle crow. There are eleven different subspecies, some of which are distinctive enough to sometimes be considered different species (the eastern jungle crow Corvus levaillantii, the Indian jungle crow Corvus culminatus and the large-billed crow Corvus macrorhynchos.) Of these the Indian jungle crow can be found in Sri Lanka. It is the commonest crow in inland Sri Lanka, sometimes considered the 'crow of the wilderness' though it is still attached to human settlements (however I have sometimes seen them in national parks like Wilpattu and Horton Plains). Asian koels also parasitise the nests of these birds, but much less than the house crow. 

Those are the corvids of Sri Lanka. 

REPTILES I SAW ON MY TRIP

Having posted about the mammals, it is only fair to post about the reptiles I saw on my trip as well. So, in no taxonomic order, here they are.
LIZARDS
AGAMIDS
These lizards can be found in Asia, Australia and Africa, with a few species in southern Europe as well. Many species are also known as dragons or dragon lizards, and there are more than three hundred species in the world. Some are very colourful, and some are very dull.

SRI LANKAN KANGAROO LIZARD (reddish-brown form)

The Sri Lankan kangaroo lizard Otocryptis wiegmanni is very common in Sinharaja and can be seen in the leaf litter, swiftly darting away when it percieves danger. It grows to about seven centimetres body size, with a fifteen-centimetre tail. Its colour can range from dull brown to reddish brown, and males are darker than females. It is closely related to the Indian kangaroo lizard of South India, which lives in similar habitat.

GREEN FOREST LIZARD

The green forest lizard Calotes calotes is rather similar to the common garden lizard, but is coloured very differently, a bright green. Usually it also has five to six white stripes on its back. In the breeding season the male also develops a bright red head and throat. It rests on trees with green foilage and is less common than the garden lizard, though it can be seen in places like Bellihulloya (no idea if I spelled that right) Resthouse.
GECKOES
I saw four different species of gecko. Be warned that I am no gecko ID expert, and a lot of the IDs for these geckoes are probably wrong. Please correct me if you know I have gotten something wrong. You should probably do the same for this whole article. As I said, I am no reptile expert.

ASIAN HOUSE GECKO

The Asian house gecko Hemidactylus frenatus, is a species of gecko native to Asia that is also known as the common house gecko or Pacific house gecko. It is by far the most easily seen and commonest of Sri Lanka's geckoes and I regularly see them at Nugegoda and Bandarawela in my grandmother and aunt's houses. They have been introduced to many countries around the world such as Mexico, parts of the U.S.A, Brazil and parts of Australia. They are considered pests where they have been introduced and there is lots of superstition about them. For example, if a gecko falls on your right shoulder it is considered a good omen in some places.

BARK GECKO (dark form)

The bark gecko Hemidactylus leschenaultii is a fairly large gecko that is common in the dry zone, and another of Sri Lanka's commoner geckoes. It inhabits large trees, rock outcrops and houses, and I saw one at Ulagalla Resort inside the hotel building. Though diurnal it is mostly active at dawn and dusk. Like most geckoes it eats mainly insects, but there are records of it feeding on larger animals like other geckoes, snakes and skinks, with one incident of one trying to eat a wolf snake Lycodon striatus. There is a common dark form and a less common pale form.

FOUR-CLAWED GECKO (?)

This rather pink gecko could be a four-clawed gecko Gehyra mutilata. This soft-bodied, pale-coloured gecko can be found in houses throughout Sri Lanka and can be identified by its carrot-shaped flat tail. It can mutilate itself by loosening its skin when caught, making it look like it is dead. It is also known as the sugar lizard, Pacific gecko, stump-toed gecko, tender-skinned house gecko and butiki. However, I looked up photos of this species and have found only a single one that looks rather pink, but not as bright a pink as this. Perhaps the flash made it look like this, or perhaps it is another species.

KANDYAN GECKO (?)

After some work I still could not definitely identify this gecko, which I spotted at the Bellihulloya Resthouse while eating some food. Any help with this one? I think it could be a Kandyan Gecko, Hemidactylus depressus. It is endemic to Sri Lanka and is in the same genus as the house and bark geckoes. In the right places it can be fairly abundant. This could also be just another Asian house gecko (see above), or it could be a Brooke's house gecko Hemidactylus brooki. I am not that sure on this one. If you know for sure, could you please correct me?
SKINKS
At Sinharaja I managed to spot 1 species of skink. Again, I could have the ID wrong.

COMMON SKINK (subspecies lankae)

The common skink Eutropis carinata lankae is a very common lizard that can be found in some Sri Lankan gardens. It is a diurnal and terrestrial lizard, eating grasshoppers, beetles and earthworms. It can usually be seen basking on rocks or walls. The subspecies lankae is endemic to Sri Lanka.
MONITOR LIZARDS
Two species of monitor lizard can be found in Sri Lanka, and I saw both on my trip.

LAND MONITOR (subspecies bengalensis)

The land monitor Varanus bengalensis, also known as the bengal monitor or common Indian monitor, is a lizard widely distributed in South and Southeast Asia. It eats arthropods, ground birds, eggs, fish and small terrestrial vertebrates (e.g. mice). Unlike the water monitor it is not very dependent on water and is commonest in the dry zone. There are two subspecies which were once considered different species but are now considered subspecies. The Bengal monitor, subspecies bengalensis, is found west of Myanmar, while the clouded monitor, subspecies nebulosus, is found east of Myanmar. Though the adults are dull-coloured, young monitor lizards are more colourful with stripes on their backs. I saw one at Ulagalla. These lizards were once considered a delicacy.

WATER MONITOR (subspecies salvator)

The water monitor Varanus salvator is the easiest to see of the two monitor lizards and can be found close to water. It is a rather large monitor lizard. In Sinhala it is known as the kabara goya. There are several different subspecies, two of which have been split as different species. The nominate subspecies, salvator, is now found only in Sri Lanka. Unlike the land monitor, the water monitor is considered poisonous in Sri Lanka and usually not eaten. Despite their size, these lizards are NOT aggressive to people unless cornered or provoked. They are very good swimmers.