Jeanie
Jeanie with one n.
My husband Rod and I have been bird watching in India for about 11 years. It is the place that we first started bird watching and have travelled extensively for both cultural reasons as well as bird watching.
Five years ago at the bird fair we met Prasanjith Caldera from Walk With Jith. Jith runs a company which organises bird watching trips in Sri Lanka. www.walkwithjith.com.
We made contact and were close to booking with him when the troubles in Sri Lanka made us hold back.
This year we have finally been to Sri Lanka. We did a 20 day bird tour with cultural attractions. We were lucky to have plenty of time so that we did not have to rush around.
We were met at the airport by Jith and the owner/driver Mr Silva. He has the most comfortable mini bus one could wish for. The reclining seats and curtained windows made the longer trips a pleasure. As did his helpful ways.
The first 2 nights we stayed at the Galle Face hotel in Colombo. This is a wonderful glimpse of the past. An old colonial hotel built in 1845 as a house and turned into a hotel in 1865. Food great and it has a swimming pool.
We looked around the area on day one.
On the second day we went birding early in the a.m. to Talangama Wetland. This is similar to Carambolin Lake in Goa with many migrant birds that we had seen previously.
Highlights for us were :
Yellow Bittern
Sri Lankan Barbet E
Day 3: We drove to Sigiriya, part of the cultural triangle but also a very good place for birds. We stayed at the Sigiriya Village Hotel. This hotel is a series of bungalows. Very nice though the shower was rather weak. Excellent food and swimming pool. Had a walk at 4 pm.
We saw:
Chestnut-winged Cuckoo.
Also had our first of many views of the Ceylon Junglefowl. E
White-rumped Shama.
Day 4 started with a rather shady view of an Indian Pitta in the hotel grounds. We then drove to Anuradhapura culture site (3 c BC) This had been the islands capital for 1,500 years. It supported a population of as many as 10,000 monks. It has many monumental stupas and enormous man-made lakes as well as ruins of buildings.
Did some birding on the way.
We saw:
Painted Stork
Indian Roller
Tawny-bellied Babbler
Common Tailorbird
Black-capped Bulbul E
Grey-breasted Prinia.
Day 5: Early morning birding around the hotel , saw our second Pitta, and then we had a short ride to the Sigiriya Rock Fortress 5th century AD. This sits atop a vast outcrop of rock which towers more than 200 m above the surrounding plains. Hard climb to the top but well worth it for the views and also to see some famous frescoes.
In the afternoon we birded in the Sigiriya forest sanctuary.
Highlights were:
Ceylon Grey Hornbill E
Ceylon Woodshrike E
Orange-headed Thrush, without the black/white patch on the face as in India.
Ceylon Green Pigeon E (Endemic Pompador Pigeon)
Shaheen Falcon
Grey-headed Fish Eagle
Jerdons Bushlark
Brown-capped Pygmy Woodpecker
Tickell’s Blue Flycatcher
Day 6: Full day visit to Polonnaruwa archaeological site. This is another of Sri Lanka’s great ruined cities. It flourished from 1056 to 1215.
We did some birding on the way and saw:
Ceylon Swallow E
Dark-fronted Babblers
Woolly-necked stork
Barred Buttonquail.
Grey-bellied Cuckoo
White-browed Fantail
Day 7: On the way to Kandy we visited Dambulla rock temples. These are considered to be the finest group of cave temples in Sri Lanka. In Kandy we stayed at the Suisse Hotel. This was another colonial hotel with interesting features. It is on the lake side so we had easy access to explore Kandy in our free time. Bedroom rather small and tired but rest of the hotel made up for it. Once again the food was good and it had a swimming pool. In the evening we went to cultural show and then to the tooth relic palace.
We saw:
White-bellied Sea Eagles
Crested Serpent Eagle
Emerald Dove
Day 8: 6 am start to Udawatta Kelle Forest reserve. This is a small rain forest in the middle of Kandy town. Had my first leech climbing up my shirt.
We saw:
Brown Fish Owl
Brown-capped Babbler E
Yellow-fronted Barbet E
Crimson-backed Flameback E
Breakfast at the hotel then free time till 2.30 visit to Royal Botanical Gardens.
We saw:
Brown-breasted Flycatcher
Orange Minivet
Great Tit
Velvet-fronted Nuthatch
Lesser Hill Myna
Day 9: Jith had bought us tickets in the new ‘foreigner coach’ on the train up to Nanu-Oya railway station near Nuwara Eliya. However, the coach had not been put on the train. We were fortunate that there were some free seats in the observer coach though the ticket inspector was quite rude and at first tried to say we were on the wrong train. He also said that if the owners of the seat turned up we would have to move. He must have known that the seats were empty till the stop we got out. This was the only time we experienced unhelpfulness from anyone in Sri Lanka. It rather spoilt the journey since every time the train stopped we were expecting to be ousted!!
In the afternoon we birded in Victoria Park, N E. Here we were joined by Lisa. Jith had contacted us and asked if we would mind having a young Scottish girl join us for 6 nights. Lisa turned out to be from the USA but having just completed her PhD at Edinburgh Uni.
She was an asset to our trip with a good knowledge of many of the birds. We stayed at Binota Residency which is a private guest house. The room was in need of a coat of paint but was comfortable and the food was once again excellent.
We saw:
Our third Pitta
Common Sandpiper
Forest and Grey Wagtails
Pied Ground Thrush
Kashmir Flycatcher
Ceylon White Eye E
Indian Blue Robin
Day 10: We were scheduled to go to Hakgala Gardens but Jith said there was some disturbance in the form of road works so we had another early and very cold start for a trip to Horton Plains. We had been warned that it was cold in NE. I had taken a hot water bottle and used it. A few days after we left the night temperature dropped to 4 degrees C.
We saw:
Eurasian Blackbird
Hill Swallow
Indian Swiftlet
Yellow-eared Bulbul E
Indian Blackbird
Sri Lanka Bush Warbler E
Tri-coloured Munia
Zitting Cisticola
In the afternoon we visited Bomuruella forest reserve.
We saw:
Dusky Blue Flycatcher E
Grey-headed Canary Flycatcher
Ceylon Scimitar Babbler E
Day 11: Early morning birding again.
We saw:
Ceylon Wood Pigeon E
Green Imperial Pigeon
We drove to Kitulgala rain forest. Accommodation was at the Rest House which is on the bank of the river. Here the food was a set menu. However, I only wanted to eat Sri Lankan food so Jith arranged for us to have it.
Much has been made of the suspension bridge that you have to cross. I was expecting a coir rope bridge but instead it is wider than a pavement with metal plates to walk on supported by metal hawsers. Much ado about nothing .
On our first walk we crossed the bridge and returned to the hotel by canoe which was rather fun. We did several bridge crossing since Jith was looking for a spot winged thrush.
We saw:
Ceylon Hanging Parrot E
Layard’s Parakeet E
Yellow-browed and Black Bulbul
Day 12: More birding in Kitulgala.
We saw:
Plum-headed Parakeet
Chestnut-headed Bee Eater
Asian Brown Flycatcher
Ceylon Rufous Babbler E
White-faced Starling E
Legges Flowerpecker E
Pale-billed Flowerpecker
Day 13: Went birding early morning
Saw Spot-winged Ground Thrush E
After breakfast we drove to Sinharaja Rain Forest.
Stayed at Martins Lodge. You leave your transport at the bottom and have a long 2km, 20 minute, jeep ride up to the top. There were several bird watchers staying there and we all got along well, sharing the evening meal and chatting. Sinharaja is well known for leeches. We were very lucky with the weather with little rain. Jith gave us leech socks and I used these under sandals on the first afternoon. This was a mistake since there was quite a bit of scrambling to do and we missed out on the Serendip Scops-owl since we would have had to go bare-footed through a stream visibly full of leeches. Lisa had covered herself in deet and persevered. She found the odd leech up her trouser leg later. Jith was covered in them. Apart from the leeches the terrain was also difficult.
We wore proper footwear the next few days and with much scrambling and water walking saw the endemic scaly-breasted thrush and the endemic spurfowl.
We were also guided by a local guide called Tandu. He was excellent. Very hard working and keen. Due to his persistence, a very hot and bothered Rod eventually saw the Green billed Coucal.
We also saw:
Red-faced Malkaho E
Malabar Trogon
Lesser Yellow-naped Woodpecker
Ceylon Hill Myna E
Ceylon Crested Drongo E
Day 14: Morning/afternoon birding in Sinharaja.
We saw:
Ceylon Blue Magpie E, munching on moths for breakfast.
Ashy-headed Laughingthrush E
Scaly-breasted Ground Thrush E
Ceylon Spurfowl E
Green-billed Coucal E
Day 15: On the way down the hill we had a very scrambling view of the Sri Lankan Frogmouth. Rod had some leeches dangling from his inner thigh. Here we said goodbye to Lisa.
We then drove to Tissamaharama which is the hub for Yala and Bundala. We stayed at the Chandrika Hotel. Another great hotel with swimming pool and lovely Sri Lankan food.
In the late afternoon we bird watched in the area.
We saw:
Collared Scops Owl
Pied Kingfisher
Black-winged Stilts
Brown Fish Owl
Malabar Pied Hornbill
Black Bittern
Day 16: Early morning to Yala. Very bumpy road, even outside the reserve and much worse inside. It was quite poignant to stand in the ruins of a house that had been destroyed by the tsunami.
We saw:
Greater Thick-knee
Eurasian Spoonbill
Yellow-wattled lapwing
Various Plovers
Pintail Snipe
Black-tailed Godwit
Sirkeer Malkoha
Bluefaced Malkoha
Crested Tree Swift
Indian Silverbill
Baya Weavers.
We also had wonderful views of a Leopard crossing the road. We also saw him at the side of the road. Unfortunately, on the way back to the hotel in the afternoon, our driver became distracted and swerved across the road. He hit a mound of cement on the edge of the road causing the jeep to be thrown in the air twice. Jith cut his toe and Rod hurt his back and had severe bruising on his arms.
Day 17: We were meant to go to Bundala the next day but Rod’s back was extremely painful. We spent the morning by the pool and in the late afternoon went to the outskirts of Bundala in our own transport. We had been advised by Jith that the roads inside Bundala were worse than Yala. So we potentially missed out on quite a few birds.
We saw:
Pied Cuckoo
Western Reef Heron
Glossy Ibis
Garganey
Golden and Grey Plover
Greenshank
Terek Sandpiper
Curlew Sandpiper
Marsh and Wood Sandpiper
Little Stint
Ruddy Turnstone
Little, Caspian and Lesser Crested Turns
Brown-headed Gull
Ashy-crowned Sparrow Lark
Yellow Wagtail
Day 18: Drove to Galle and on the way saw a Black-shouldered Kite.
We stayed at the Lady Hill Hotel. Once again this has a fixed menu but when asked, supplied one of the best Sri Lankan vegetarian meals of the trip.
This was the end of our bird watching trip with Jith. We explored Galle with the help of the lovely Mr Silva.
Day 19: We drove to Ranweli where we spent one night at the Ranweli Holiday village. Jith had recommended the names of a couple of boatmen who were good at birding. We booked one for a 2 hour boat trip the following morning. The guide was very good.
Day 20: We found some new for the trip birds.
Striated Heron
Eurasian Thick-knee
Black-capped Kingfisher
We also saw several Yellow Bittern.
In the afternoon we caught a flight to Bangalore and after an overnight stay we flew on to Goa.
Altogether we had good views of 203 birds. We saw glimpses of some birds that we did not record. We saw 30 of the 33 endemics. We heard the Whistling Thrush and if we had been brave enough to wade through a leech infested stream and climb a very steep bank then we would have seen the Serendip Scops Owl.
I highly recommend Jith as both a bird guide and trip organiser. The hotels were better than expected and the mini bus very comfortable. Jith took care to explain the system. For example all the hotels but one supplied free bottles of drinking water. All the hotels supplied me with Vegetarian Sri Lankan food. We met other bird watchers who after a week had not yet had any Sri Lankan food and whose guide had not explained about the free water. Small things which make a big difference.
Jith was good both as a cultural guide as well as a bird guide. He has a love of nature in general. Apart from the birds we saw 21 other species such as water monitors, crocodiles, squirrels, bats, deer etc.
A comparison with India:
Sri Lanka is much cleaner than most of India. Because the bird watching season is during the monsoon it is also much greener. We did not go to the north where we may have found more depravation. There were few beggars. On a negative note there were a large numbers of dogs suffering from mange.
The main roads were fast and the side roads tolerable. The worst roads were around Yala. We were very luck with the weather and had little rain. In the past some people have had days of rain.
We have been to India most winters for 15 years and have bird watched in Goa for most of those visits. We have also had 5 arranged bird trips. One to Ranthambore and Bharatpur, two to Kerala, one to Assam and the last which we did last year to Uttaranchal, Delhi and Bharatpur.
If I was giving advice to a bird watching friend as to which order to visit Sri Lanka, I would recommend going to Goa first to get some core subcontinent birds on your list. Goa is a gentle way of experiencing India.
I would then have a trip to Kerala, http://www.birdtours.co.uk/tripreports/india/india-40-south/Kerala-march-06.htm. Here you can find the Western Ghat endemics and experience the hill country. If you go to Sri Lanka before Kerala then Kerala will not seem so special.
I would then go to Sri Lanka. Sri Lanka is a beautiful green and clean country with lush forests. This is particularly apparent if you have already been to India which, however much I love it, cannot be described as clean and green. After visiting India you will appreciate Sri Lanka even more.
The icing on the cake for bird watching in the sub-continent must be a trip to the Himalayas.
There are various companies who will arrange the trip to Uttaranchal which takes in Pangot, Sattal and Binsar. They quote very high prices and must be bargained down. This is a most beautiful area with stunning views of the Himalayas and a wide variety of birds. However, the locals are much more likely to try and fleece you. Most people who serve you seem to have their hand out. Definitely a place to go to once you have an understanding of the culture.
Of course, this is only my opinion. If you decide to visit Sri Lanka before going to India I am sure that you will have a great experience.
Especially if you book via Walk with Jith.
Five years ago at the bird fair we met Prasanjith Caldera from Walk With Jith. Jith runs a company which organises bird watching trips in Sri Lanka. www.walkwithjith.com.
We made contact and were close to booking with him when the troubles in Sri Lanka made us hold back.
This year we have finally been to Sri Lanka. We did a 20 day bird tour with cultural attractions. We were lucky to have plenty of time so that we did not have to rush around.
We were met at the airport by Jith and the owner/driver Mr Silva. He has the most comfortable mini bus one could wish for. The reclining seats and curtained windows made the longer trips a pleasure. As did his helpful ways.
The first 2 nights we stayed at the Galle Face hotel in Colombo. This is a wonderful glimpse of the past. An old colonial hotel built in 1845 as a house and turned into a hotel in 1865. Food great and it has a swimming pool.
We looked around the area on day one.
On the second day we went birding early in the a.m. to Talangama Wetland. This is similar to Carambolin Lake in Goa with many migrant birds that we had seen previously.
Highlights for us were :
Yellow Bittern
Sri Lankan Barbet E
Day 3: We drove to Sigiriya, part of the cultural triangle but also a very good place for birds. We stayed at the Sigiriya Village Hotel. This hotel is a series of bungalows. Very nice though the shower was rather weak. Excellent food and swimming pool. Had a walk at 4 pm.
We saw:
Chestnut-winged Cuckoo.
Also had our first of many views of the Ceylon Junglefowl. E
White-rumped Shama.
Day 4 started with a rather shady view of an Indian Pitta in the hotel grounds. We then drove to Anuradhapura culture site (3 c BC) This had been the islands capital for 1,500 years. It supported a population of as many as 10,000 monks. It has many monumental stupas and enormous man-made lakes as well as ruins of buildings.
Did some birding on the way.
We saw:
Painted Stork
Indian Roller
Tawny-bellied Babbler
Common Tailorbird
Black-capped Bulbul E
Grey-breasted Prinia.
Day 5: Early morning birding around the hotel , saw our second Pitta, and then we had a short ride to the Sigiriya Rock Fortress 5th century AD. This sits atop a vast outcrop of rock which towers more than 200 m above the surrounding plains. Hard climb to the top but well worth it for the views and also to see some famous frescoes.
In the afternoon we birded in the Sigiriya forest sanctuary.
Highlights were:
Ceylon Grey Hornbill E
Ceylon Woodshrike E
Orange-headed Thrush, without the black/white patch on the face as in India.
Ceylon Green Pigeon E (Endemic Pompador Pigeon)
Shaheen Falcon
Grey-headed Fish Eagle
Jerdons Bushlark
Brown-capped Pygmy Woodpecker
Tickell’s Blue Flycatcher
Day 6: Full day visit to Polonnaruwa archaeological site. This is another of Sri Lanka’s great ruined cities. It flourished from 1056 to 1215.
We did some birding on the way and saw:
Ceylon Swallow E
Dark-fronted Babblers
Woolly-necked stork
Barred Buttonquail.
Grey-bellied Cuckoo
White-browed Fantail
Day 7: On the way to Kandy we visited Dambulla rock temples. These are considered to be the finest group of cave temples in Sri Lanka. In Kandy we stayed at the Suisse Hotel. This was another colonial hotel with interesting features. It is on the lake side so we had easy access to explore Kandy in our free time. Bedroom rather small and tired but rest of the hotel made up for it. Once again the food was good and it had a swimming pool. In the evening we went to cultural show and then to the tooth relic palace.
We saw:
White-bellied Sea Eagles
Crested Serpent Eagle
Emerald Dove
Day 8: 6 am start to Udawatta Kelle Forest reserve. This is a small rain forest in the middle of Kandy town. Had my first leech climbing up my shirt.
We saw:
Brown Fish Owl
Brown-capped Babbler E
Yellow-fronted Barbet E
Crimson-backed Flameback E
Breakfast at the hotel then free time till 2.30 visit to Royal Botanical Gardens.
We saw:
Brown-breasted Flycatcher
Orange Minivet
Great Tit
Velvet-fronted Nuthatch
Lesser Hill Myna
Day 9: Jith had bought us tickets in the new ‘foreigner coach’ on the train up to Nanu-Oya railway station near Nuwara Eliya. However, the coach had not been put on the train. We were fortunate that there were some free seats in the observer coach though the ticket inspector was quite rude and at first tried to say we were on the wrong train. He also said that if the owners of the seat turned up we would have to move. He must have known that the seats were empty till the stop we got out. This was the only time we experienced unhelpfulness from anyone in Sri Lanka. It rather spoilt the journey since every time the train stopped we were expecting to be ousted!!
In the afternoon we birded in Victoria Park, N E. Here we were joined by Lisa. Jith had contacted us and asked if we would mind having a young Scottish girl join us for 6 nights. Lisa turned out to be from the USA but having just completed her PhD at Edinburgh Uni.
She was an asset to our trip with a good knowledge of many of the birds. We stayed at Binota Residency which is a private guest house. The room was in need of a coat of paint but was comfortable and the food was once again excellent.
We saw:
Our third Pitta
Common Sandpiper
Forest and Grey Wagtails
Pied Ground Thrush
Kashmir Flycatcher
Ceylon White Eye E
Indian Blue Robin
Day 10: We were scheduled to go to Hakgala Gardens but Jith said there was some disturbance in the form of road works so we had another early and very cold start for a trip to Horton Plains. We had been warned that it was cold in NE. I had taken a hot water bottle and used it. A few days after we left the night temperature dropped to 4 degrees C.
We saw:
Eurasian Blackbird
Hill Swallow
Indian Swiftlet
Yellow-eared Bulbul E
Indian Blackbird
Sri Lanka Bush Warbler E
Tri-coloured Munia
Zitting Cisticola
In the afternoon we visited Bomuruella forest reserve.
We saw:
Dusky Blue Flycatcher E
Grey-headed Canary Flycatcher
Ceylon Scimitar Babbler E
Day 11: Early morning birding again.
We saw:
Ceylon Wood Pigeon E
Green Imperial Pigeon
We drove to Kitulgala rain forest. Accommodation was at the Rest House which is on the bank of the river. Here the food was a set menu. However, I only wanted to eat Sri Lankan food so Jith arranged for us to have it.
Much has been made of the suspension bridge that you have to cross. I was expecting a coir rope bridge but instead it is wider than a pavement with metal plates to walk on supported by metal hawsers. Much ado about nothing .
On our first walk we crossed the bridge and returned to the hotel by canoe which was rather fun. We did several bridge crossing since Jith was looking for a spot winged thrush.
We saw:
Ceylon Hanging Parrot E
Layard’s Parakeet E
Yellow-browed and Black Bulbul
Day 12: More birding in Kitulgala.
We saw:
Plum-headed Parakeet
Chestnut-headed Bee Eater
Asian Brown Flycatcher
Ceylon Rufous Babbler E
White-faced Starling E
Legges Flowerpecker E
Pale-billed Flowerpecker
Day 13: Went birding early morning
Saw Spot-winged Ground Thrush E
After breakfast we drove to Sinharaja Rain Forest.
Stayed at Martins Lodge. You leave your transport at the bottom and have a long 2km, 20 minute, jeep ride up to the top. There were several bird watchers staying there and we all got along well, sharing the evening meal and chatting. Sinharaja is well known for leeches. We were very lucky with the weather with little rain. Jith gave us leech socks and I used these under sandals on the first afternoon. This was a mistake since there was quite a bit of scrambling to do and we missed out on the Serendip Scops-owl since we would have had to go bare-footed through a stream visibly full of leeches. Lisa had covered herself in deet and persevered. She found the odd leech up her trouser leg later. Jith was covered in them. Apart from the leeches the terrain was also difficult.
We wore proper footwear the next few days and with much scrambling and water walking saw the endemic scaly-breasted thrush and the endemic spurfowl.
We were also guided by a local guide called Tandu. He was excellent. Very hard working and keen. Due to his persistence, a very hot and bothered Rod eventually saw the Green billed Coucal.
We also saw:
Red-faced Malkaho E
Malabar Trogon
Lesser Yellow-naped Woodpecker
Ceylon Hill Myna E
Ceylon Crested Drongo E
Day 14: Morning/afternoon birding in Sinharaja.
We saw:
Ceylon Blue Magpie E, munching on moths for breakfast.
Ashy-headed Laughingthrush E
Scaly-breasted Ground Thrush E
Ceylon Spurfowl E
Green-billed Coucal E
Day 15: On the way down the hill we had a very scrambling view of the Sri Lankan Frogmouth. Rod had some leeches dangling from his inner thigh. Here we said goodbye to Lisa.
We then drove to Tissamaharama which is the hub for Yala and Bundala. We stayed at the Chandrika Hotel. Another great hotel with swimming pool and lovely Sri Lankan food.
In the late afternoon we bird watched in the area.
We saw:
Collared Scops Owl
Pied Kingfisher
Black-winged Stilts
Brown Fish Owl
Malabar Pied Hornbill
Black Bittern
Day 16: Early morning to Yala. Very bumpy road, even outside the reserve and much worse inside. It was quite poignant to stand in the ruins of a house that had been destroyed by the tsunami.
We saw:
Greater Thick-knee
Eurasian Spoonbill
Yellow-wattled lapwing
Various Plovers
Pintail Snipe
Black-tailed Godwit
Sirkeer Malkoha
Bluefaced Malkoha
Crested Tree Swift
Indian Silverbill
Baya Weavers.
We also had wonderful views of a Leopard crossing the road. We also saw him at the side of the road. Unfortunately, on the way back to the hotel in the afternoon, our driver became distracted and swerved across the road. He hit a mound of cement on the edge of the road causing the jeep to be thrown in the air twice. Jith cut his toe and Rod hurt his back and had severe bruising on his arms.
Day 17: We were meant to go to Bundala the next day but Rod’s back was extremely painful. We spent the morning by the pool and in the late afternoon went to the outskirts of Bundala in our own transport. We had been advised by Jith that the roads inside Bundala were worse than Yala. So we potentially missed out on quite a few birds.
We saw:
Pied Cuckoo
Western Reef Heron
Glossy Ibis
Garganey
Golden and Grey Plover
Greenshank
Terek Sandpiper
Curlew Sandpiper
Marsh and Wood Sandpiper
Little Stint
Ruddy Turnstone
Little, Caspian and Lesser Crested Turns
Brown-headed Gull
Ashy-crowned Sparrow Lark
Yellow Wagtail
Day 18: Drove to Galle and on the way saw a Black-shouldered Kite.
We stayed at the Lady Hill Hotel. Once again this has a fixed menu but when asked, supplied one of the best Sri Lankan vegetarian meals of the trip.
This was the end of our bird watching trip with Jith. We explored Galle with the help of the lovely Mr Silva.
Day 19: We drove to Ranweli where we spent one night at the Ranweli Holiday village. Jith had recommended the names of a couple of boatmen who were good at birding. We booked one for a 2 hour boat trip the following morning. The guide was very good.
Day 20: We found some new for the trip birds.
Striated Heron
Eurasian Thick-knee
Black-capped Kingfisher
We also saw several Yellow Bittern.
In the afternoon we caught a flight to Bangalore and after an overnight stay we flew on to Goa.
Altogether we had good views of 203 birds. We saw glimpses of some birds that we did not record. We saw 30 of the 33 endemics. We heard the Whistling Thrush and if we had been brave enough to wade through a leech infested stream and climb a very steep bank then we would have seen the Serendip Scops Owl.
I highly recommend Jith as both a bird guide and trip organiser. The hotels were better than expected and the mini bus very comfortable. Jith took care to explain the system. For example all the hotels but one supplied free bottles of drinking water. All the hotels supplied me with Vegetarian Sri Lankan food. We met other bird watchers who after a week had not yet had any Sri Lankan food and whose guide had not explained about the free water. Small things which make a big difference.
Jith was good both as a cultural guide as well as a bird guide. He has a love of nature in general. Apart from the birds we saw 21 other species such as water monitors, crocodiles, squirrels, bats, deer etc.
A comparison with India:
Sri Lanka is much cleaner than most of India. Because the bird watching season is during the monsoon it is also much greener. We did not go to the north where we may have found more depravation. There were few beggars. On a negative note there were a large numbers of dogs suffering from mange.
The main roads were fast and the side roads tolerable. The worst roads were around Yala. We were very luck with the weather and had little rain. In the past some people have had days of rain.
We have been to India most winters for 15 years and have bird watched in Goa for most of those visits. We have also had 5 arranged bird trips. One to Ranthambore and Bharatpur, two to Kerala, one to Assam and the last which we did last year to Uttaranchal, Delhi and Bharatpur.
If I was giving advice to a bird watching friend as to which order to visit Sri Lanka, I would recommend going to Goa first to get some core subcontinent birds on your list. Goa is a gentle way of experiencing India.
I would then have a trip to Kerala, http://www.birdtours.co.uk/tripreports/india/india-40-south/Kerala-march-06.htm. Here you can find the Western Ghat endemics and experience the hill country. If you go to Sri Lanka before Kerala then Kerala will not seem so special.
I would then go to Sri Lanka. Sri Lanka is a beautiful green and clean country with lush forests. This is particularly apparent if you have already been to India which, however much I love it, cannot be described as clean and green. After visiting India you will appreciate Sri Lanka even more.
The icing on the cake for bird watching in the sub-continent must be a trip to the Himalayas.
There are various companies who will arrange the trip to Uttaranchal which takes in Pangot, Sattal and Binsar. They quote very high prices and must be bargained down. This is a most beautiful area with stunning views of the Himalayas and a wide variety of birds. However, the locals are much more likely to try and fleece you. Most people who serve you seem to have their hand out. Definitely a place to go to once you have an understanding of the culture.
Of course, this is only my opinion. If you decide to visit Sri Lanka before going to India I am sure that you will have a great experience.
Especially if you book via Walk with Jith.
