Sri Lanka 4 - 15th Jan (1 Viewer)

Report here of a holiday with a little birding each day. Superb time. Plenty more photos on my blog. More to come: this part 1.

Our flight on Emirates to Colombo, via Dubai took off on Saturday 3rd Jan in the evening. All went well and we arrived a little late in Colombo Sunday afternoon. The lateness was due to fog at Dubai meaning we had to circle for 45 minutes and then our connecting flight was held for other planes to land so all passengers could make the connection.
Upon arrival at Colombo we were met by our driver and headed off to Kergalle and the Estate House at Rosyth, some 2 hours drive towards Kandy. See: http://www.rosyth.lk/ for details of this amazing place.
This is a superb retreat, right off the tourist trail, very rural and wonderful for walks and relaxing. I spent most mornings before breakfast wandering about, chatting to locals and photographing an excellent selection of the more common Sri Lankan birds.


Many of the birds here were seen regularly, especially yellow billed babbler, red vented bulbul, brown shrike, greater coucal and purple rumped sunbird along with the ubiquitous large billed crow. I checked along the wires most mornings at sunrise, where white throated kingfisher and spotted doves were frequently to be seen.

By the 3rd morning of 4 nights at Rosyth I was beginning to get a good list together, with plenty of new birds that I hadn't previously seen in Sri Lanka, albeit fairly common ones. I spent some time trying to photograph the Sri Lankan swallow and managed some poor record shots in flight. Other new birds for me were white browed bulbul, green warbler, crested serpent eagle, Sri Lankan hanging parrot, brown headed barbet and common lora. All of these were observed within half a mile of our house, some proving too distant for a worthwhile photo though.

Whilst on site, we visited the local tea factory, having a most interesting tour, whilst also getting a tuk tuk down to Kergalle town for a spot of shopping. On the last day I visited the "bird sanctuary" in the town. There were armed soldiers everywhere due to the Presidential election taking place on the Thursday, along with numerous police but they didn't seem to be too fussed about my wanderings. However, the bird sanctuary was a waste of time. Firstly, I arrived to find the chap that takes your entrance fee had gone off to do some election duty and a mysterious bloke appeared to say that I couldn't go in. A quick offering of several hundred rupees changed his tune and I was soon wandering along an unmarked route through hugely overgrown forest. It was impossible to make any progress so after about 15 minutes I returned to the exit and walked back into town for a tuk tuk. All I heard in this sanctuary were yellow billed babblers and a grey hornbill and I literally saw no birds. Better were noted along the road, where my first kestrel of the trip was seen, along with 100's of cattle egrets, indian pond herons, black hooded orioles and another new bird for me, white rumped munia.
I arrived back at the Estate House in time for an afternoon wander, scoring with Asian palm swift, barn swallow, monkeys, a large billed crow eating a snake that had been run over, whilst also coming across a rat snake in the grounds. Oriental magpie robins could be heard everywhere as could coucals and the serpent eagles. A pale billed flowerpecker called incessantly as I tried to photograph this in the garden, another new for me bird.

On the last evening, I spent a couple of hours just looking over the valley and watching a large open area of mixed grasses and shrubs. Plenty to be seen apart from the regulars. A green warbler alighted nearby, but too fast for a photo, and a shikra landed in a distant tree. Another new bird popped up, a white browed bulbul and then one that had me guessing. At first I though sylvia warbler species, but nothing fitted and eventually thought it must be a grey breasted prinia. I only saw this uncommon bird for 30 seconds or so and my 3 photos, having made mental notes of the plumage, were over exposed and taken through some long grass, so not too helpful for id. However, I am fairly sure grey breasted prinia it is.

So, after 4 nights of superb, authentic Sri Lankan food, individually prepared for us as we were the only 2 staying in the 6 roomed house, it was time to move on. One final wander before breakfast before our driver arrived for the 3 - 4 hour trip to Galle in the South West of the island. Again, a place we were looking forward to revisiting, staying at the excellent Jetwing Lighthouse hotel.

Species list for Rosyth:
spotted dove, Sri Lankan green pigeon, Sri Lankan hanging parrot, rose ringed parakeet, Greater coucal, white throated kingfisher, brown headed barbet, Sri Lankan grey hornbill, brown shrike, common lora, (10 sp) Jerdon's leafbird, house crow, large billed crow, red vented bulbul, white browed bulbul, common tailorbird, green warbler, asian paradise flycatcher, yellow billed babbler, common mynah, (20 sp) oriental magpie robin, pale billed flowerpecker, purple rumped sunbird, white rumped munia, shikra, crested serpent eagle, lesser goldenback, blue tailed bee eater, Sri Lankan swallow, scaley breasted munia, (30 sp)Asian palm swift, cattle egret, black hooded oriole, indian pond heron, grey breasted prinia, kestrel, Alexadrine parakeet, white bellied drongo, Loten's sunbird, barn swallow. (40 sp)
Photo 1: Torque macaques
2: white rumped munia
3: common lora
4: crested serpent eagle
5: view from Estate House

Few more photos:
1: scaley breated munia
2: grey breasted prinia (I think)
3: brown shrike
4: female purple rumped sunbird
5: rat snake

Great report, looking forward to more as I'm off there in a couple of weeks By the way, that snake sure isn't a Rattlesnake, they're an American group ;-) Probably a Rat Snake.

Thanks for that, Stuart. I did know that as, if you are bitten by one it is not venomous, just unpleasant and require tetanus due to bacteria on teeth from eating rats. My own auto type!!
Cheers,
Jono

Very interesting read, Jono, looking forward to further installments.

Fabulous report Jono. :-O:-O:-O:-O:-O:-O

That is what I call a report of the places that you have described well anyday, and visited as you have done so. :king:

I feel although I am walking through the area with yourself, and to be on holiday to a place like Sri Lanka is a once in a lifetime experience

Love your photos too.....:gh:

Regards
Kathy
x

So, having spent 4 nights at the superb Estate House we were off to Galle in the South West, a drive of 3 hours, travelling through Horana and Avissawella to the Southern Expressway that takes you south. A good journey with Brahminy Kite, yellow bittern, white bellied sea eagle and plenty of egrets and herons noted from the car. We were greeted at the Jetwing Lighthouse hotel http://www.jetwinghotels.com/jetwinglighthouse/ as old friends and offered a super room overlooking the ocean. Excellent stuff. However, it was election day and there was an alcohol ban throughout the country! Room service was still available, so the lad brought drinks to our room and we could have them on our balcony. This ban was until Saturday. Safe to say, first time I have had a meal with only water!!
We had stayed at this excellent hotel last year and there were a few areas that I wanted to revisit as they offered opportunities for good birds. We took a walk along the beach and into a coconut grove. Regulars like babblers, white throated kingfishers, house crows and common sandpipers were all on show and in the grounds, 2 red wattled lapwings and an indian pond heron that spent its entire day by the pool!

After our first night and some arrak in our room, I was up for first light and wandered over the road to an area the locals call the jungle. Here, the tsunami in 2004 washed away many houses and thick vegetation, which was cleared to make a sports ground for the locals to play cricket. However, opposite was still a jungle area and whilst not full of lots of species, was a great area to photo more of the regular birds. It was also a superb butterfly area and one I revisited at some point each of the 5 days we were in Galle.
Black hooded orioles, brown headed barbets, white browed bulbuls, red wattled lapwings, scaley breasted and white rumped munias, Sri Lankan swallows, Asian palm swifts, a solitary crested treeswift and brahminy kites were all easy to find along with Asian koel and greater coucal. Just a wonderful place, some 3 minutes from the hotel room.


After breakfast we took a tuk tuk to nearby Hikkadua where we popped into a turtle hatchery. Here, the chap who ran the whole farm showed us around, explained what he was doing whilst also showing us turtles he had rescued that were injured. There was one with propeller damage whilst 2 others had lost flippers due to being caught in fishing nets. He ran this whole establishment on donations and entrance fees, no grants from the government or wildlife charities. He had rebuilt the hatchery after the tsunami which washed away the farm along with killing 6 members of his family, including his father who had originally set up the place.



After a bit of shopping it was back to the alcohol free hotel and off for another local wander, this time back to scrub land to the north. Here, lesser goldenback woodpeckers, common mynahs, more blue tailed bee eaters whilst out to sea, gull billed, little and common terns. A large white bellied sea eagle came in off and headed inland.


The next morning found me in a tuk tuk heading to Kottawa rainforest, some 30 minutes out of the city. I visited this excellent and protected habitat with the naturalist, Anoma, from the hotel last year. This time I was met by a local guide and off we went, having paid a couple of quid to enter. As with rain forests, the birds are noisy, the leeches hungry, lizards are fast and very little gets seen. It really is a question of "getting your eyes in." An Asian paradise flycatcher (white male) was noted as rose ringed and Alexandrine parakeets screeched overhead. A couple of the smaller, endemic Layard's parakeets were also seen, but impossible to photograph. A Sri Lankan drongo was the only bird I managed to get a very poor snap of. Kangaroo lizards hopped for cover as I removed more leeches from my feet. They clearly enjoyed the blood laced arrak that ran through my system as the guide, in flip flops had one leech for the whole 2 hours. Just a real privilege to see such an important habitat, to stand and listen to the cacophony of barbets, coucals, koels, hornbills, parakeets and macaques. Back to the hotel and a full leech check upon arrival.

It was now Saturday and a check on the sea from the breakfast table gave views of 2 wedge tailed shearwaters. No camera!! A beer by the pool in 35C seemed like a sensible idea, but not one for such activities for more than half an hour, we were off for another wander to the local Buddhist temple. We chatted with the monk who lent Wendy 4 books to read, 2 of which she could keep, but 2 needed to be returned before we left. We met Nilantha and his brother Raja who invited us to their home. They told of the tsunami coming through their house, washing all away, a wall of water 6 feet high! I then played cricket on the sports ground with the local lads, who called themselves the Bad Boys and all wanted to have their photograph taken. Raja invited us to come along for a boat ride up river the following morning. Good opportunity to get to a place I wouldn't otherwise see.

The next morning, Wendy had plenty of reading to do, so I headed off for the boat trip. Great fun with indian and little cormorants, whiskered terns, water monitors a plenty and a darter. The latter, apparently, not a common bird for the south west. Raja rowed and we chatted about the election result, his children and he told me, how 17 years ago his father drowned in the river and he had to sell his tuk tuk to pay for the funeral. His only source of income gone!

Raja offered this trip for free. Just proud of where he lived

The dinner that evening, as ever, was superb and made even more enjoyable as we could drink wine with it. Sunday dawned and another pre breakfast stroll over the road. More of the same but still brilliant. 3 black hooded orioles, 2 red vented bulbuls and 6 yellow billed babblers all in the same tree. A paddyfield pipit was new for the trip and I managed to get a few reasonable record shots of butterflies that I wasn't sure of their id.


Our last day, Monday, so another wander before popping over to see Raja and family as we had been invited to visit. We were greeted into their house and offered king coconuts to drink. He offered Wendy a present which we said we couldn't accept but both he and his wife were insistent. Wendy continues to wear the wonderful gift. I have a few plans to help this very peaceful and genuine man and his family of 4 children. In 2008 he got a job in Baghdad cleaning industrial ovens. He told of working all night in these and then spending the day in bunkers as bombs etc went off. After 15 months earning small amounts for his family back home, he returned and now gets occasional labouring work on building sites at night when it is cooler. He worked Christmas Day so the family had their Christmas dinner at 4.30 am.
We then walked to the river, via the temple to return the books, for any more birds and insects before returning to the hotel to pack ready for our move north to Negombo at 9 the following morning. It had been a very busy and utterly brilliant 5 days, with new birds noted, some Buddhist thoughts, wonderful locals and an excellent hotel. I suspect we shall be returning soon!
Photo 1: Wendy with turtle
2: kangaroo lizard
3. blue tailed bee eaters
4. red wattled lapwing
5 indian pond heron

Few more photos. Main lot can be viewed on my blog.
1. black headed oriole
2 white browed bulbul
3. darter
4. tailorbird
5 lesser goldenback
Cheers,
Jono

Last set until tomorrow:
1. Kottawa rainforest
2. Pesky leeches
3. Paddyfield pipit
4. common sandpiper (probably my favourite photo)
5. Brahminy kite

Another great continuation of your report....

The story about the Turtle Farm brought it to home for me. What generious people you met and their kind hearted approach to looking after their wildlife (despite of their own misfortunes) if things go a bit wrong for the animals involved.

The water only approach to life - oh dear a nice drink or two is a must have for any holiday. B

Love the idea of travelling in a tuk tuk, but not along with a leech yuk!!!

Nice to met Wendy in your photos - a hello from me.

Lots of great birds, and other wildlife to see and photograph as you have done so. o

Regards
Kathy
x

So, after 5 nights at Galle we were on our way north to Negombo. A 3 hour drive with plenty of brahminy kites seen once again along the southern expressway as well as the regular birds associated with paddy fields. We were only going to be at the Jetwing Beach hotel for 2 nights and the reason for staying here was that it is handy for the airport, just half an hour away. Upon arrival I found the resident hotel naturalist who organised a morning tour of Muthurajawela Marsh, some 20 minutes away, for the final morning of our holiday. Good way to finish the trip.
A wander around the hotel and beach area gave views of usual suspects. A pond opposite the hotel looked interesting. Out to see, terns and cormorants headed north and south and a white bellied sea eagle went directly over our balcony, too fast for me to grab the camera.
The following morning I was out by 7 and heading to the marshes. Upon arrival it was clear it was a good area, with herons, barbets, kites and cormorants all around. This area is good for stork billed kingfisher and pied kingfisher, both of which would be new birds for me.
Within 5 minutes of setting off in the motor boat we stopped and Hemantha, the hotel naturalist, pointed out a stork billed kingfisher. A shy bird, but nevertherless, excellent views. It flew over the canal and was lost to view. As we headed towards the lagoon a white bellied sea eagle came into view and numerous brahminy kites. Both indian and little cormorants were perched on every available stick whilst on the side of the canal, a purple heron. This was the first of about 10 that we encountered. We entered the lagoon and made our way around the mangroves, disturbing whiskered, common and little terns as well as a purple swamphen. The latter was very camera shy!

Other birds around the marsh were hard to see apart from the ubiquitous blue tailed bee eaters. Lesser whistling teal took off before I could get a photo as 2 more swamphens darted for cover and were lost from view. We stopped in the shade of the mangroves so that I could have my packed breakfast before another trip around the lagoon edges and back to the canal. Soon after we entered the canal a black and white bird rose in front of us. A pied kingfisher. Superb bird that alighted upon wires so we could get good views. Excellent. Also in the trees Asian koels, rose ringed parakeets and cattle egrets.

A second stork billed kingfisher was noted in the shade of the trees, so not easy to photo from a moving boat and also along the footpath, a red wattled lapwing. A superb purple heron posed above us in a palm tree before we arrived back at the Visitor's Centre. A most worthwhile trip. As we headed along the coast road into Negombo I noted a solitary whimbrel on the beach.
Wendy was happy on the beach, so I headed off to check out the pond opposite. Cormorants, bee eaters, red vented bulbuls were all present, before my attention was drawn to a small bird flitting in the bushes near the vegetable garden that supplies the veg for the hotel. A plain prinia, my final new bird for the trip.

After an excellent buffet and a few gin and tonics, a final beach walk, it was time to retire as we had an early 7.30 start for the airport. Another packed breakfast and we were on our way with just enough time to get to the airport, without having to hang around too long. Well, that was the plan, but we hadn't factored in The Pope! He was travelling to visit Negombo in the morning and as we approached the main dual carriageway that links Negombo to the airport we joined a very long traffic jam, where engines were off and the occupants had left the car. Our driver managed to negotiate the randomly parked vehicles and we got to the front of the jam, with just a couple of 100 mopeds and motorbikes in front of us. There was no other route to take and time rapidly slipped by.Our flight was at 9.50 and it was now approaching 8.30, still no Pope!
I began to plan my letter to The Vatican, requesting reimbursement for the extra plane tickets we looked like having to purchase when a convoy of cars sped past, accompanied by endless police cars. We were first on to the dual carriageway, travelling past police who were stationed at every 100 along the road at speeds in excess of 100km/h. Time drifted on as we finally pulled up outside the airport and, with a porter leading the way, we joined the queue to check our bags in. Just time to get to the departure gate only to discover all was 15 - 20 minutes behind schedule.

After a 4 hour flight to Dubai and then 7 hours to Heathrow, we arrived home at 8.30pm having had a superb 12 day break, seeing some great birds, eating fantastic food, meeting some very wonderful people and seeing some great sights. Excellent time.

Species for the "non birding" trip
Indian peafowl, lesser whistling duck, wedge tailed shearwater, asian openbill, yellow bittern, indian pond heron, grey heron, purple heron, cattle egret, great egret, (10 sp) intermediate egret, little egret, little cormorant, indian cormorant, common kestrel, brahminy kite, white bellied sea eagle, shikra, crested serpent eagle, changeable hawk eagle,(20sp) white breasted waterhen, purple swamphen, red wattled lapwing, whimbrel, heuglins gull, gull billed tern, common tern, little tern, whiskered tern, rock pigeon (30sp) spotted dove, orange breasted green pigeon, Sri Lankan green pigeon, rose ringed parakeet, alexandrine parakeet, Layard's parakeet, Asian koel, greater coucal, Asian palm swift, crested treeswift (40 sp) blue tailed bee eater, stork billed kingfisher, white throated kingfisher, pied kingfisher, brown headed barbet, Sri Lankan grey hornbill, lesser goldenback, brown shrike, common lora, Jerdon's leafbird, (50 sp) black hooded oriole, house crow, large billed crow, barn swallow, Sri Lankan swallow, White bellied drongo, Sri Lankan drongo , paddyfield pipit, red vented bulbul, white browed bulbul, ( 60 sp) grey breasted prinia, plain prinia, common tailorbird, green warbler, asian paradise flycatcher, yellow billed babbler, common mynah, oriental magpie robin, asian brown flycatcher, pale billed flowerpecker, (70 sp) purple rumped sunbird, Loten's sunbird, white rumped munia, scaley breasted munia, Sri Lankan hanging parrot

For a non birding holiday, 75 species is a most pleasing total.
Photo 1 stork billed kingfisher
2: brahminy kite
3: stork billed kingfisher
4: white bellied sea eagle
5: pied kingfisher

Final set of photos, from over 650 that I kept on the camera. That doesn't include the 1000+ that I deleted before loading on to the laptop!!
Photo 1: blue tailed bee eater (just so photogenic)
2. little cormorant
3. purple heron
4. canal leading to the lagoon
5. plain prinia

Great report and some fantastic photos - I hope I see as many on my "non-birding" trip ;-)

Once more another great story of your trip.

Great selection of bird species, and wild life enthusiastics a plenty

A trip of a lifetime you will never forget :t:

Regards
Kathy
x

Thanks for the kind comments, Stuart and Kathy. I hope to return in the not too distant future. When is it that you are travelling there, Stuart?
Cheers,
Jono

I'm off on the 15th of Feb - a KE Travel trip called the Tracks and Trails of Sri Lanka. Although it's a hiking holiday there should be time for quite a bit of birding

Nice one, Jono, excellent report and pics.

Great report Jono. We did a "non-birding" trip in 2011, staying in Marawila, just north of Negombo and discovered the excellent bird sanctuary at Chillaw, worth a visit if you return.
a few pics here if anyone is interested.
www.iananddot.org/Sri Lanka/srilanka.htm

sri lanka trip

is the brown shrike a common bird in sri lanka

kasfig said:

is the brown shrike a common bird in sri lanka

Click to expand...

Certainly seems to be. Around Kergalle saw several everyday, whilst in Galle saw them on 3 separate occasions. Also, plenty seen last year, too.
Lanius cristatus is the common one, with Lanius lucionensis (Philippine shrike) being much rarer.
Cheers,
Jono