30th January, Sri Lanka Day 8 - Surrey Bird Estate and Nuwara Eliya
A nice relaxed day as I transited from the dry lowlands of Tissamaharama up to the cooler wet highlands of Nuwara Eliya.
The morning started off with another fantastic breakfast on the terrace at Lake View Cottage where the White-bellied Sea Eagle put in another close flyby, I was certainly sad to be leaving this spot and highly recommend it to as an accommodation option to any birders visiting the area. Then it was time to begin the gentle four hour drive northwards, featuring the usual mix of roadside birding which was highlighted by close a Malabar Pied Hornbill in Wellawaya, plus a short stop at the stunning Ravana Waterfalls during the steep climb up into the hills near the town of Ella. As the morning warmed up large raptors began to appear on the wing above the valley roads, mostly comprising the now standard trio of Crested Serpent Eagle, Chanagebale Hawk-Eagle and Oriental Honey Buzzard, before my first Black Eagle joined them near Mirahawatta.
By late morning I had made it to the town of Welimada and my main stop of the day at the Surrey Bird Estate, seemingly an almost obligatory stop for birders on this itinerary, primarily to search for one species - Brown Wood Owl. This small site comprises healthy secondary forest growing on the sides of a steep valley, with the owls being resident around a large stand of bamboo at the bottom of the valley. After paying my entrance free (1000 SLR, £2.60) and armed with some very rudimentary directions to the owls from the owner, I set off down the steep steps at the side of the estate house and into the forest. This was probably the most bird-rich forest (in terms of sheer numbers) that I visited during the trip; almost immediately upon entering the forest I was surrounded by a large mixed feeding flock containing a whole host of species, both familiar and new for the trip. Indian White-eye, Velvet-fronted Nuthatch and Orange Minivet made up the bulk of the numbers alongside my first Grey-headed Canary Flycatcher (3), Cinereous Tit (2) and Green Warbler. A gorgeous male Tickell's Blue Flycatcher popped up at eye level and showed fantastically as it sang away, much more so than my first Dull Blue Flycatcher which remained stubbornly high in the canopy, endemic number 26 for the trip (not including the previously heard-only Owlet). A pair of Black-hooded Oriole, Sri Lanka Scimitar-babbler and an unusually showy Common Emerald Dove added further splashes of colour as I continued along the valley edge following a trail which seemed to be disappearing the further I went, until I reached a point where I lost the trail altogether and had to go somewhat off-piste through the undergrowth to reach the spot I believed the owls were to be found. This however proved to be somewhat of a needle in a haystack situation given the dense forest and bamboo on all sides, and after a while of searching I was about to give up when a large bird flushed from a tree above me but thankfully alighted again a short distance away - a cracking Brown Wood Owl, the large size and tawny face pattern being particularly impressive.
After leaving the owl to roost I made my way back up the valley, encountering more new birds along the way, first a pair of leafbirds feeding at eye level which eventually showed well enough to confirm they were the hoped for Jerdon's Leafbird, followed by a noisy party of three mynas high in the canopy which, given the habitat, I had a suspicion would not be the default Common Myna, and so proved to be the case when they moved into view revealing the characteristic face wattles of Southern Hill Myna. A pair of displaying Red-backed Flameback and one each of Brown-headed and Yellow-fronted Barbet were further additions to the site list before the final new bird of the visit as I reached the stream at the base of the steps, where a flash of black and white caught my eye amongst the dark undergrowth which slowly morphed into the recognisable shape of my first Forest Wagtail of the trip, surely a species high on everybody's wish list when visiting Sri Lanka. A really charismatic bird and an impressive eighth lifer in my two hours on site.
Following another easy hour's drive I made it to the town of Nuwara Eliya located high up in the hills at nearly 1900m asl, a fact which was particularly apparent in the ambient temperature which was over ten degrees lower than at my previous base in Tissamaharama, I even had to crack out the jumper from my luggage for the first time! I would be staying at the Suriya Guest Hotel for the next two nights, a large colonial-era building which was definitely the most 'western' of the places I stayed this trip. With some late afternoon rain setting in I opted for a short birding stint from my balcony which overlooked the hotel garden and down towards the town's race course. A few Barn Swallow were feeding low over the nearby buildings, amongst which was an obviously more compact hirundine with the same red face and upper chest but a much shorter tail - a Hill Swallow. Down in the garden itself a couple of White-eyes initially caused some confusion as they fed on nectar from a flowering tree, as the default species at this altitude should have been Sri Lanka White-eye however these were clearly much a brighter yellow in colouration than I was expecting, when compared to the description in the book of that species' dull colouration compared to Indian White-eye which these two resembled. Thankfully my confusion was quickly rectified when a second pair of birds appeared to feed in the same tree, these being much duller and more olive coloured than the original two birds, allowing for excellent comparison of my first Sri Lanka White-eye, endemic number 27 of 35. A pair of Yellow-fronted Barbet and a brief Ashy Prinia in the garden rounded off the birding for the day.
11 additions (all lifers) for the second day in a row took my Sri Lanka trip list up to 188 species.
