My third cover from Sri Lanka!

Many thanks to Clarence George for this awesome cover posted from Sri Lanka!

Sri Lanka is blessed to have one of the world’s best hotspots of biodiversity. It harbors 233 resident bird species including 26 definitive endemic birds. In addition to the many resident birds, a considerable number of migratory species winter in the country to escape their northern breeding grounds.
On 27th Sept 2003, Sri Lanka Postal Services issued a gorgeous stamp series, entitled, "Resident birds of Sri Lanka" to showcase this biodiversity.

The species shown are:
Black-necked Stork, Purple Swamphen, Grey Heron, White-throated Kingfisher, Black-crowned Night-Heron (first row)
Scarlet Minivet, White-rumped Shama, Malabar Trogon, Asian Paradise-Flycatcher, Green Bee-eater (second row)
Brown Wood-Owl, Crested Serpent-Eagle, Crested Goshawk, Jungle Owlet, Rufous-bellied Eagle (third row)
Black-headed Munia, Pompadour Green-Pigeon, Plum-headed Parakeet, Coppersmith Barbet, Emerald Dove (fourth row)
Blue-faced Malkoha, Indian Scimitar-Babbler, Painted Francolin, Black-rumped Flameback, Malabar Pied-Hornbill (fifth row)

The other stamps (franked on the left of cover) belong to the "Proto Historic Era and Early Anuradhapura Era" series, issued on 30th April 2008.

Anuradhapura is one of the ancient capitals of Sri Lanka, famous for its well-preserved ruins of ancient Lankan civilization. The city, now a UNESCO World Heritage Site, lies 205 km north of the current capital Colombo in Sri Lanka's North Central Province, on the banks of the historic Malvathu Oya.
From the 4th century BC, it was the capital of Sri Lanka until the beginning of the 11th century AD. During this period it remained one of the most stable and durable centers of political power and urban life in South Asia. Consequently this era is termed “Anuradhapura” period.

The stamps depict some of the artifacts found in the Anuradhapura period.

This cover took 10 days to reach me.