Independent Sri Lanka: 15th December 2018 - 5th January 2019 (1 Viewer)

Philippine Shrike? AKA Long-tailed? Mildly confused on that and also slightly outraged at the Pied Thrush!!

Looks like a nasty break there - not you hopefully McM?

I believe I saw a couple of individuals relating to lucionensis with the extensive grey crown and heavy flank barring as well as the nominate cristatus, though I could easily have mistaken a 1cy nominate which I believe also show paler crowns? I've seen quite a few Brown shrike before, but have to admit I didn't really pay that much attention to them...

Suspected the multiple Pied thrush may cause a stir, Sri Lanka definitely the place to see them!

dwatsonbirder said:

Looks like a nasty break there - not you hopefully McM?

Click to expand...

Afraid so and only 150m from home so no tales of daring-do in pursuit of rares to blame it on!

Mending now and impatient for further grippage

Ouch, I wish you a speedy recovery!

Sinharaja

We arrived mid afternoon at our base for the next 3 days, the Blue magpie hotel in Kudawa. I’d organised for us to stay here as my first choice (Martin’s Place) was shot down with a comment to the effect of “never in a million years” - I’m sure it’s not that bad really. As the rain let up a little later in the afternoon, we decided to walk up to the park entrance to get to grips with entry, but not before I missed the eponymous Blue magpie within the hotel grounds - sadly I didn’t connect with this species and is yet another species my non-birding partner can laud over me! The walk up to the entrance was pretty productive, and despite the rain there were plenty of birds about, including some endemics; Black (Square tailed) bulbul, Ceylon hanging parrot, Ceylon hill myna all logged in addition to other goodies such as Brown throated needletail, Crested treeswift, Crimson backed flameback. On arrival (this info may be useful for independent travellers) it transpired that a guide is mandatory for park entry, and the cost including a guide was 1500SLR each (about £7) - an incredibly low price for such a fantastic place. I organised to meet an as-of-yet unspecified guide at the HQ at 5:45 the next day, and returned to the hotel. A brief walk along one of the lanes before dinner proved rather unproductive save for a large Monitor lizard and my first (of far too many) interactions with the local leech population. On this point I would note that despite having birded overseas a fair amount, I have yet to find a location to rival Sinharaja for leeches - leech socks are an absolute must, as I spent the next 48hrs as a local invertebrate blood-bank.

The next morning I awoke just after 5am and made myself as leech-proof as possible, granted, not your typical start to Christmas Day. Upon arrival at the HQ I was greeted by Wasante, who would be my guide for the day. It started well with a roosting Ceylon Grey hornbill and a few Dark fronted babbler, but we drew a blank on a particular Zoothera around the HQ, so we decided to continue into the forest. It was barely light as we made our way up a slope and eventually onto the road leading up to Martin’s Place, with the first stop of the morning just of the main track by a stream where Sri Lanka Scaly thrush is often seen. We waited in the vicinity and tried a bit of playback, but drew a blank. By way of some compensation, we did have wonderful views of Large billed leaf-warbler, which I had heard but not seen up until now. We continued along the track until we reached the first checkpoint, where more Dark fronted babblers and a very obliging Ceylon junglefowl performed well. A little further along the track and a bird hopped out from the undergrowth and began feeding just a few meters away - my 4th target of the trip and a cracking Spot-winged thrush! We watched the bird tossing leaves for a good 10 minutes and I even managed a few shots in the low light. A little further along Wasante gestured towards some rustling in the undergrowth, and we heard Sri Lanka Scaly thrush. We waited in silence for a few minutes until a bird flicked left out of the bush and I caught sight of the unmistakable striped underwing of a Zoothera, unfortunately another Spot-winged thrush in this case, and even more frustrating was that whilst I watched that bird depart to the left, the Scaly thrush had hopped across from the right hand side of the bush never to reappear… A bit further along the trail we located a group staring intently into the undergrowth, but continued past them, when I asked Wasante what they’d seen and received the reply Sri Lanka frogmouth, we did a quick about-turn - this was not only a new bird, but a new genus for me.
We continued deeper into the forest, and the new birds just kept on rolling in; Green billed coucal, Malabar trogon, Rufous babblers, Legge’s flowerpecker in addition to Black capped, White browed and Yellow browed bulbuls, Brown capped and Ceylon Scimitar babblers. After a while, Wasante asked me to wait on the main trail whilst he “went to check something” - I had my suspicions but daren’t ask what he was looking for. He disappeared off into the undergrowth for a little over an hour, leaving me to watch a few birds along the main trail, with good views of Tickell’s blue and Brown breasted flycatchers, Brown headed barbet and Green imperial pigeon, as well as again assisting with the nutritional input of the local leech population… Wasante re-emerged but it was negative news, whatever it was he was looking for wasn’t present. We continued to try an area near to the research station, where our attempts to connect with Scaly thrush were again foiled; we had at least two birds responding to tape, but managed only untickable flight views as a shape flew away from us in the gloomy. Luckily all was not lost as we jammed in on a flock of confiding Ashy headed laughing-thrushes which showed very well. It was nearing mid-morning, and I had agreed to head back before lunch to spend the afternoon with Kathi (it was Christmas after all), so we slowly began to head back along various trails. Soon enough we encountered activity, with a pair of Red faced malkoha high in the canopy. The birds were calling and I could see their shapes as the moved about in the treetops, but the views were unsatisfactory and became the second species of the trip that I’d sort of seen, but wasn’t happy to count. Another wave of activity found us encountering a mixed group of Babblers, Bulbuls and more Ashy headed laughing-thrushes. As we watched, it became apparent that there were other birds here too, with Tickell’s Blue flycatcher and Large billed leaf-warbler present, but perhaps more exciting was another new endemic - a fine Ceylon Crested drongo flycatching in the mid-canopy.

It had been an excellent morning, with my final primary target in the bag, though perhaps it was somewhat frustrating to have been so close with the Scaly thrush and malkoha, but that is the nature of birding. I arranged with Wasante to cover a different area the following morning, and also half-jokingly said that if he saw the infamous Scops owl to let me know…

Upon returning to the hotel I spend much of the afternoon relaxing and enjoying some of the more common residents around the hotel. At around 2pm, a familiar figure was walking up to our balcony through the pouring rain - it was Wasante!
He told me he wanted to show me something, and I hopped onto the back of his motorbike and we sped off towards the village. A few minutes later and we had stopped by a stream where I met his family, with his youngest son proudly pointing to something on the overhanging branches - a cracking Black naped monarch sat on the nest. It was great to see this species again, but I was somewhat surprised that this was what he wanted to show me… he laughed and we climbed back onto the motorbike and continued for a few kilometres.
We came to a stop next to a very steep bamboo and pine covered slope, and began to climb. It was hard going (particularly in plimsolls with no rain coat!) and I had a pretty bad fall cutting my elbow deeply and pulling off my thumbnail in the process, and in the heavy rain the leeches were out in full force - whatever was on this slope had better be worth it! The climb was knackering and I was bleeding fairly profusely when we suddenly stopped. Wasante parted a thin curtain of bamboo and gestured at a gingery blob about 5m away. Lifting my bins, all the pain and mud instantly faded away, as the mythical shape of a male Serendib Scops owl came into focus. This was a truly fantastic bird to see, and with this being an unorganised trip, not one I had dared to imagine I would see. We spent a good 5 minutes watching the bird, with it once opening its eyes, before falling asleep again. I gestured a thumbs up with a massive smile on my face, and we began to descend down the slope.

Back at our accommodation the rain persisted, leading to a rather birdless afternoon, with Brown shrike, White breasted kingfisher, Asian paradise flycatcher and Black bulbul being the main entertainment until I picked out the first Ceylon Green pigeon of the trip. With the rain looking set in, we enjoyed a few beers and dhal curry for the remainder of the day.

Unfortunately my plans for an early morning rendezvous with Wasante were scuppered by a terrible nights sleep combined with a bad stomach, and I completely missed my 5:30am alarm. I consoled myself to a wander around the village, seeing much the same range of species as had been present throughout, with the main highlight a pair of Plum headed parakeet. Once again our time at another destination was drawing to a close, and it had been one of the highlights of the trip with a fantastic range of species, with over 50 species recording including several very special birds.
It was a shame to be leaving given that I’d missed out on a morning birding, but our next destination promised a completely different suite of species, and we were looking forward to seeing what Udawalawe had to offer.

Sinharaja photos

Some of these aren't the sharpest, but hopefully give a "feel" for the experience... Don't recommend the fall (or leeches) though...

Great stuff Daniel - congratulations on the Scops owl, but at a rather grisly cost!

It is absolutely amazing to me how these local guides find these incredibly shy species like the owl.

Cheers
Mike

Good to hear you met Oscar, Daniel.

Cheers Mike, worth the blood and sweat! Andy, yes a pleasure to meet them both, hopefully we will "pop in" on them next time we undertake a long-haul trip. I guess you must know him quite well?

Anyways, for those interested, here is the final instalment.



Udawalawe

Having left Sinharaja by mid-morning, we arrived at our accommodation near to Udawalawe just after lunchtime. It was very warm at this time, so we opted for a relaxed lunch before heading to the nearby elephant orphanage later in the afternoon. We spent a bit of time at the orphanage (where I noted Rose-ringed parakeet, Brown headed barbet, Green warbler and Red wattled lapwing) before heading back to our accommodation. Our pre-dinner drinks were somewhat interrupted when I heard a calling Indian pitta, but unfortunately I wasn’t able to pin it down before a massive thunderstorm moved in for the evening.

The next day saw us up for a 6am start in Udawalawe NP, or rather to join a queue of about 50 jeeps at 6am by the park entrance… our driver told us he had a tracker showing numbers of vehicles in the national parks by 7am; 201 in Yala, 43 in Udawalawe and 2 in Wilpatu - perhaps a useful indicator of where to avoid!

We finally made it into the park an hour and a half later, and saw a few interesting species relatively quickly, with good views of Crested hawk-eagle, Orange breasted green pigeon, Little green bee-eater, Malabar pied hornbill, Hoopoe, Indian roller, Grey bellied cuckoo, Black winged kite and Shikra. We continued onto an area where a family party of Indian elephant were feeding, enjoying some good views between jostling with other vehicles for space. Our next port of call was near to a lake, and the only opportunity to leave the vehicle (worth know before you go, as this severely restricts the potential for birding). There were plenty of waterbirds around as well as a rather showy Grey headed fish-eagle, but the real bonus was frustratingly distant. In amongst a group of egrets and Painted stork was a smaller darker bird - an adult Woolly necked stork! This was one of the birds I was keen to try and catch up with in the area as I had previously missed the species elsewhere in Asia.
The rest of the morning was spent driving around the park in an attempt to increase the number of mammals, though somewhat disappointingly we saw only a few Buffalo, a single Golden jackal, Spotted deer and Indian Grey mongoose. Luckily things were better on the birding front, with excellent views of a Sikheer malkoha feeding in the road, as well as good views of Yellow fronted pied woodpecker. Despite the best efforts of our driver (who admittedly wasn’t a birder) we didn’t connect with Sri Lanka Woodshrike.
After a few more encounters with Indian elephant, we headed back to the hotel for a few hours before returning to the park for an afternoon drive. Ironically this proved to be arguably the best birding during our time in Udawalawe, as there was a forest with a few streams at the rear of our property. Both Ceylon Small barbet and Emerald dove showed well, when I once again hear the Indian pitta calling. Using a small amount of playback, and a lot of patience, I was able to coax two territorial birds out from the undergrowth, and enjoyed fantastic views as the birds called from low branches. One of the birds hopped onto the floor to feed, and as I refocused, I noticed a Forest wagtail foraging in the leaf litter. Some excited and raucous calling betrayed the presence of a pair of Rufous woodpecker which had located a Crested Serpent eagle. As the calls grew louder, more birds joined in; Black naped oriole, Blyth’s reed warbler, Brown breasted and Asian paradise flycatchers, White bellied drongo, Red vented bulbul and even an Asian koel joining in, before the raptor decided it’d had enough and flew off into the trees.

Later in the afternoon we headed to a different area of the park, where we enjoyed more views of the same mammals, including great views of 3 Golden jackal cooling off in a puddle. A little further on we located a cracking Woolly necked stork, which posed beautifully for photographs. We were somewhat spoilt for this species, as 4 birds flew overhead whilst we were watching some Buffalo. Continuing towards the edge of the reservoir, there were good numbers of waterbirds; Red and Yellow wattled lapwings, Black winged stilts, Wood, Common, Green and Marsh sandpipers were joined by several subspecies of Western Yellow wagtail, as well as Asian openbill, Painted storks and various herons and egrets. Spot billed pelican fed in the water, joined by Indian and Little cormorants. In the bushes next to the river were a couple of new birds for the trip in the form of small groups of Rosy starling and Jacobin cuckoo. We spent quite a long time looking firstly at a Crocodile, then in moderate disbelief as a jeep drove into the lake and towards the croc - the reason? Those on-board were armed only with smartphones… technology eh?! The spectacle became more amusing once the 4x4 had gotten stuck in the mud, and quite a crowd had gathered to watch before they eventually freed the vehicle and returned to terra firma.
After viewing even more elephants, and with the sun beginning to drop we made our way out of the park via an area where Spot bellied eagle owl is occasionally seen, but we were again to draw a blank with another species. After a slightly underwhelming day in terms of birding, we returned to our accommodation for drinks and dinner. The following morning would see us continuing further south towards the coast.

Dickwella, Mirissa, Unawatuna

The following 9 days of the trip were spent along the countries southern coast, enjoying some much needed downtime after a hectic year for us both. The main site of interest for birders who are “marooned” in this are would be Bundala NP and the nearby saltpans, but sadly we didn’t make it to this area. The birds were rather few and far between for this stretch, with the main highlights in Dickwella being Gull billed and Swift terns feeding along the shoreline, as well a brief Striated heron in a patch of mangroves, though an unexpected encounter with a Green turtle whilst snorkeling was a fantastic moment. Around Mirissa I noted White breasted waterhen, Small barbet, Shikra, White browed bulbul and Black naped oriole when exploring an inland track one morning, whilst a group of Blue-tailed bee-eater fed over the heads of many an oblivious tourist on the main beach. We did arrange for a whale watching trip from Mirissa with Raja and the whales, but sadly our luck had ran out as the only cetacean noted was Spinner dolphin. There were a few terns noted on the way out, but unfortunately I succumbed to an awful bought of sea-sickness and spent much of the trip unable to look out to sea… Unawatuna was seemingly devoid of birds (or I had stopped looking) and rather touristy.

Hikkaduwa and Negombo

After a stint on the coast, our penultimate night was spent at Mangrovia hotel which borders the Ratgama lake. It is an idyllic setting, and I spent a few hours enjoying views of Cormorants, egrets and Brahminy kites around the shoreline. We organised a kayaking trip for a few hours in the afternoon, and though not very birdy, there were a few interesting species noted, with Sri Lanka swallow, Stork billed kingfisher, Red backed woodpecker, Brown headed and Small barbets and flight views of another Indian pitta. Of note were a group of Brahminy kite which were taking advantage of the local fishermen, swooping in to pick of fish fleeing from their nets - an interesting behaviour I’d not heard about previously.
Our final full day was spent in Negombo (where I managed to reunite with my suitcase) and we again opted for a boat trip, this time to the mangroves of Negombo lagoon. Unfortunately our taxi ignored to our request to go to Muthurajawela at the southern end of the lagoon, and we were deposited at the northern end, where we did a few laps of some polluted and heavily degraded mangroves. There were a few birds here, with plenty of Gull billed, White winged and Swift terns, Asian openbill, Striated heron, Great, Intermediate, Cattle and Little egrets, as well as the only Redshank and Whimbrel of the trip, but on the whole it was a disappointing and frustrating experience.
At last our final day had arrived, and I opted for one very last look around the area of our hotel, clocking the following species; Red vented bulbul, Asian koel, Rosy starling, Common myna, Brown headed barbet, Indian silverbill, White rumped munia, Red backed woodpecker, Asian paradise flycatcher, Rose ringed parakeet, Spotted dove and best of all, the second Shaheen falcon of the trip which cruised overhead.

It had been a fantastic trip, although the birding had tailed off towards the end, mainly due to the nature of the locations we visited. I was impressed by the diversity of the country, the friendliness of its people, the fantastic food and of course by the rich avifauna present. We initially had reservations about the viability of travelling the country independently and being able to visit some of the better areas for birding, but these proved to be unfounded - hopefully this report will inspire a few more people to go it alone and enjoy a fantastic country.

I really enjoyed reading this, and it made me wish I had been into birding when my family visited Sri Lanka 8 years ago when I was 9. But since I still live in the subcontinent maybe I'll have another chance at it.

Cheers Seth, very highly recommended! If it was a bit more of a dedicated birding trip I'm sure I could've cleaned up on the endemics (Steve Keen has done so and in a shorter time frame) but always nice to have a reason to go back... go for it!

How much would the full day out in the jeep birding Wilpattu cost please? (If travelling alone)