Little Hadham Birding: Sri Lanka Part 2: Galle

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 see here 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!

View from the breakfast table

Lighthouse dining room

Looking north from the hotel gardens

cattle egrets

red wattled lapwing

house crow

common sandpiper

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.

Sports ground that used to be jungle. Note house in background

Jungle area: good birds, butterflies and leeches!

Tsunami damage still all around.

brown headed barbet

Sri Lankan swallow

rose ringed parakeet

blue tailed bee eaters

juvenile scaley breasted munias

overhead red wattled lapwing

white browed bulbul

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.

Wendy with a one year old turtle

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.

red vented bulbul

Asian koel

brahminy kite

Indian pond heron

white breasted waterhen

rock pigeon

Hotel pond heron and palm squirrel

noisy white throated kingfisher

lesser goldenback, male

lesser goldenback, female

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.

Sri Lankan drongo through dense vegetation!

kangaroo lizard

close up

Kottawa rainforest

my guide, which you have to be with

Pesky leeches.

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.

My attempt to bowl a doosra.................

...................was disptached to the boundary

Wendy and Raja, check out the damage to the house behind!

Common mynah

Loten's sunbird, male

Buddhist temple

white throated kingfisher

Tailorbird

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

darter

Little cormorant

Large (7 feet) water monitor

Another from the boat

Pleasing shot of a common sandpiper

Indian jezebel butterfly

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.

paddyfield pipit

scaley breasted munia

Medus brown

White four ring

Pied parasol dragonfly

yellow billed babbler

Common sight

orange breasted green pigeon, female

black hooded oriole

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!