This was my first time in the Indian sub-continent and so naturally I was keen to see some birds, and there were plenty of opportunities. Unlike Bali last year, birds were everywhere. Part of me wanted to see as many endemics as possible, but I managed to make sure that I was able to enjoy seeing everything I came across. It's rare I have the opportunity to bird abroad much these days and so I didn't wish to get caught up in tick chasing as it often leads to frustration.
It was an absolute pleasure to be in a country where birds abound. I'd made sure most of our hotels had potential for at least some casual birding, and the itinerary provided for a couple of morning's birding. However due to timing these were not overly successful. In the end I managed a pretty good tally, and I enjoyed the photography too.
On our journey from the airport I was keeping an eye on the sky. Inevitably the fist species seem was the ubiquitous House Crow followed by Common Myna, but from the car I was surprised to see multiple Spot-billed Pelicans* sat on lampposts as well as a few Brahminy Kites, White-breasted Kingfisher and Little Cormorants*.
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| White-breasted Kingfisher. Common but always stunning. |
We had arrived early morning on 27th, so spent the day by the pool in our Colombo hotel recovering. Happily there were trees and gardens around the pool, so the bird list soon grew. Black-hooded Oriole, Yellow-billed Babbler(E*), Rose-ringed Parakeet, Black-rumped Flameback (Lesser Goldenback)(E*), Large-billed Crow, Brown-headed Barbet, Red-vented Bulbul, Oriental Magpie Robin, Greater Coucal and Asian Koel made for easy entertainment in between cocktails and splashes in the stunning pool. Little Egrets and Red-wattled Lapwings flew over. This was all very pleasant, and was followed by a lovely evening tour of Colombo, a seemingly very pleasant city in the brief time we spent there.
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| Lesser Goldenback |
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| Purple-rumped Sunbird |
We had an early start to Kithugala on 28th, although it turned out not early enough. the planned birding at Makandawa rainforest was a disappointment as we arrived far too late. This is the most diverse part of the island - forest in the 'wet zone'. I was probably being too ambitious to hope to see much here, but I had at least hoped to see a few localised specialities. Sadly it wasn't to be, so an area to come back for. Our long early drive was tiring on the back of the journey so I napped mostly; a Crested Serpent Eagle was the only bird of note.
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Crested Serpent Eagle
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When I did eventually make it to the Makandawa Forest there were of course birds; Yellow-browed Bulbul*, Sri Lanka Hill Myna(E*), Southern Hill Myna*, Sri Lankan Hanging Parrot (E*), Small Minivet, Scarlet Minivet, White bellied Drongo*, Velvet-fronted Nuthatch, Square-tailed Bulbul*, Lesser Yellownape, Oriental White-eye, Black Eagle, Asian Palm Swift, Oriental Honey Buzzard, Shikra, Purple-rumped Sunbird* and Loten’s Sunbird* were all nice to see. If honest I left the area disappointed and kicking myself for not working-out this part of the itinerary better. Thankfully it was to get much better.
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| Purple-rumped Sunbird |
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| Sri-Lankan Hanging Parrot |
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| Southern Hill Myna |
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| Black Eagle |
We then drove on to the highland town of Nuwara Eliya and had a meander through the impressive Victorian Gardens as dusk fell. White-breasted Waterhen was the only new bird for the trip in this beautiful but somewhat out of place garden. Overnight we stayed at the equally out of place St Andrews Hotel, which was more Alpine than Sri Lankan. The whole town as lovely, even if it is a legacy of the British Empire..
On the morning of 29th July I walked from the hotel for and ventured to the adjacent golf course briefly. New birds for the trip included Indian Swiftlet*, Spotted Dove, Grey-headed Canary Flycatcher, Cinerous Tit and Black-throated Munia*. It was soon time to depart to catch the famous tea train from here to Kandy. In the end, though, the train was so delayed we ended up back in the van, but at least on a roadside stop I saw my only Hill Swallows (*) of the trip. the afternoon and evening was spent in the lovely town of Kandy, visiting a famed temple (and very impressive it was too), before a short drive to Polwaththa Eco Lodge, set in forest and so precisely my kind of place.
So the morning of 30th felt like my first proper birding of the trip. The lodge guide was pleasantly useless, but we did find some good birds with some effort: Tickell’s Blue Flycatcher*, Sri Lanka Grey Hornbill (E*), Sri Lanka Wood Pigeon (E*), Sri Lanka Scimitar Babbler (E*), Crimson backed Flameback (E*), Brown-capped Babbler (E*), Yellow-fronted Barbet (E*), White-rumped Shama and Dark-fronted Babbler* were all added in the morning, before we all set-off for a walk through the forest with a guide, eventually ending with a swim at a fabulous waterfall.
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| Sri Lanka Grey Hornbill |
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| Tickell's Blue Flycatcher |
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| Sri Lankan Wood Pigeon |
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| Yellow-fronted Barbet |
That evening I was back out in the forest alone, and decided to give what I thought was a long shot a try. We were in the range of an endemic owlet, so I asked the camp if they knew areas and they told me roughly where birds were sometimes seen. I headed down, adding Layard’s Parakeet (E*) to the list, and played an owlet call. I got an immediate response, and after a bit of time a very smart and evidently disgruntled Chestnut-backed Owlet (E*) flew in and landed above me. I was made up to see this bird and spent a fair bit of time watching it, definitely bird of the trip. It's presence drew a whole cacophony of other birds and so I also added Golden-fronted Leafbird, Common Iora and Black-naped Monarch to the list, along with a whole load of parrots, drongos, minivets, myna's nuthatches and barbets.
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| Chestnut-backed Owlet |
In the morning of 31/07 I had a little time pre-breakfast, so headed back to the same area. The owlet was still vocal and showed again, such a marvellous bird. I got much better views of Sri Lanka Grey Hornbill and Yellow-fronted Barbet, before adding three new trip birds: Crimson-fronted Barbet E*), Common Tailorbird and Thick-billed Flowerpecker. I could have stayed longer here, but we had a great destination coming next; the famous rock fortress Sigiriya.
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| Red-ventted Bulbul |
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| Pale-billed Flowerpecker |
We encountered our first elephant on the road near to our hotel in Habarana. It's hard to fathom living alongside these giants, with cars swerving around like we do with squirrels and foxes at home. Out hotel ('The Other Corner') was my favourite of the trip. It not only had fabulous bird-filled grounds, but great cabins and a wonderful pool. Immediately behind the hotel grounds a track lead to the embankment of a huge reservoir (Habarana Lake) where Karen and I went for a short stroll in the evening. What a place; beautiful views across the water and browsing elephants in the grasslands. Naturally birds were everywhere and a host of new species were added to the trip list: White-browed Fantail, Indian Peafowl*, Grey-breasted Prinia, Black headed Ibis, Black-winged Stilt, Oriental Darter, Asian Green Bee-eater, Indian Cormorant*, Little Grebe, Purple heron, White-rumped Munia, Indian Robin*, Whiskered Treeswift, Sri Lanka Swallow(E*) and Pheasant tailed Jacana crowded the reservoir, along with common egret species and Grey Herons.
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| Malabar Pied Hornbill |
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| Ashy Prini |
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| Purple Heron |
After dinner we were invited to take a short walk looking for night wildlife, in particular fishing cat. No luck with the cats, but we did see Indian Nightjar*, a very showy Brown Fish-owl and two Slow Loris.
It was an early(ish) start on 01/08, but I checked out an Indian Paradise Flycatcher* nest behind our cabin before setting off. We were soon mobile on the slightly-too-small bikes, heading 12km along country dirt tracks towards the famous Sigiriya Rock Fortress. As we cycled I saw my first Woolly-necked Storks of the trip, and had a single flyover Alexandrine Parakeet*. The bike ride soon became hard work, but me and Cal toughed it out to the very end I'm glad to say. Then three of us (Cal, Tom and I) climbed the UNESO fortress in the heat of the day, but it was a worthwhile trek up the 1,000 or so steps. The views were breath-taking, but more impressive was the architecture and the history. Bird-wise it was largely more of the same, but House Swift was new for the trip. The action packed day continued in the afternoon as we headed off on safari in Minneriya National Park for a successful search of elephants. New birds included Jerdon’s Bushlark*, Paddyfield Pipit, Indian Roller*, Asian Openbill, White-bellied Sea-Eagle, Lesser Adjutant, Great Cormorant and Pied Kingfisher. That evening we again headed out in the dark, but again had no luck with the fishing cats; however a splendid flying squirrel was superb to watch in full glide.
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| Indian Paradise Flycatcher |
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| Indian Roller |
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| Shikra |
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| White-bellied Eagle |
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| Red-wattled Lapwing |
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| Asian Openbill |
I spent the morning of the 02/08 birding the dam area again It was low key but enjoyable and I picked up plenty of new birds for the trip: Black-capped Bulbul (E*), Coppersmith barbet, Changeable Hawk-Eagle, Jerdon’s leafbird*, Wood sandpiper, Ashy Prinia*, Orange-breasted Green Pigeon, Emerald Dove, Chestnut- headed Bee-eater, White-rumped Munia, White-browed Bulbul* and Pale-billed Flowerpecker*. From here we headed east towards the beach town of Trincomalee on the east coast; our home for a few days in the impressive Uga Jungle Escape Resort. Naturally I'd chosen this hotel as it was set in woodland with it's own lakes, whilst having sole access to a vast and stunning beach. As we arrived in the hotel there were new birds on the lakes by reception: Indian Pond Heron and Stork-billed Kingfisher. At dusk a crocodile lurked in the water.
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| Sri Lankan Green Pigeon |
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| Stork-billed Kingfisher |
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| Common Kingfisher |
The next few days were dominated by chilling and beach time, although we also went on a whale watching boat and snorkelled at Pigeon Island, where turtles and sharks dominated the day. From boats I managed a few Crested Terns, a Caspian Tern and a couple of Bridled Terns. The biggest surprise though was a single Wilson's Storm Petrel dancing through some fishing boats as we searched (unsuccessfully) for whales.
A short stroll from the hotel gates along the road in the evening of 04/08 was rewarded with a Blue-faced Malkoha* and a pair of Indian Thick-knees* under the only black skies of the trip.
On 06/08 I finally got to grips with several Sri Lankan Green Pigeons (E*) around the hotel, and on 07/07 added I Golden-fronted leafbird, Purple Sunbird, Striated Heron and Scaly-breasted Munia to the list before we headed off again, arriving at Wilpattu National Park mid afternoon and settling in to our wonderful safari camp. We had enough time for a first game drive in the late afternoon, when the focus was on mammals and in particular leopard. I was of course also birding and our excellent host Darrell found a nice balance of showing me birds when he could. We drew a blank on the big mammal highlights in the first couple of drives, but it was to all come together nicely at the end.
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| Little Bee-eaters |
New birds for the trip that day included Black Drongo, Sri Lankan Jungle-Fowl (E*), Grey-headed Swamphen, Green imperial pigeon and Baya Weaver, then back at the camp a Jerdon’s Nightjar* called and showed in silhouette form. Over the next couple of days I also added Large Cuckooshrike, Jungle Prinia, Greenshank, Lesser Whistling-duck, Great Thick-knee* and Lesser Sandplover, but the real story was the a combination of the mammals and the fantastic views of many birds I'd already seen; Sri Lanka Grey hornbill, Oriental Honey Buzzard, Changeable Hawk-eagle, Bee-eaters, Storks, Kingfishers, a roosting Brown Fish-owl were all brilliant to see so well right next to the jeep. Back at the camp I added Tawny-bellied Babbler* and savoured the commoner birds. We also took a walk with Darrell to a nearby reservoir where new birds included Ashy Woodswallow, Grey-headed Fish-eagle and several Black-shouldered Kites (nice to see after the Essex bird before I came here).
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| Sri Lankan Junglefowl |
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| Milky Storks |
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| Changeable Hawk Eagle |
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| White-browed Bulbul |
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| Black-winged Kite. Just a couple of week's after seeing the UK bird. |
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| Black-crowned Night Heron |
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| Brown Fish Owl |
The trip list in the end was 142 birds. I'd managed half of the endemics, but of course none of the more difficult species. Hopefully I will return and concentrate on the birds, but this had been a wonderful trip.
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| Coppersmith Barbet |
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| Lesser Adjutant |
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