Little Hadham Birding: Sri Lankan visit. 1st

Overnight flight from Heathrow saw me arriving at Colombo airport midday 12noon after an 11 hour direct flight.

Met friend of many years, Anoma who drove me to my room at the Back Pack and Reggae Bar in Pittiwella Boossa along the south west coast of the island.

I had planned to catch up with friends, do a spot of local bird watching and photography as well as see how a Learning Centre I helped establish was getting on called MindGarden. Towards the end of my stay, I headed back to Colombo airport to collect Rob and Rachel Jones and their 3 daughters to accompany then to their hotel in Bentota. Later in the week we had arranged that I give them a tour of Galle Fort, Mahamodara village, a Buddhist temple and also drop into a turtle hatchery where student volunteers from MindGarden also help out. It was also planned that Anoma and I would take the family on the long trip to the wonderful National Reserve some 3 hours away at Udawalawe.

I also took my trail camera with me so on my first full day I took it to a site where there have been reports of the elusive Sri Lankan Fishing cat. I set the camera up on a palm tree near a path, but over the 3 nights it was present, no video evidence.

Spare time was spent wandering the local lanes bird watching as well as a morning trip to Matara and popped into Koggalla Lake where there are good birds. Another site I dropped into, via a bus trip, was on the outskirts of Galle where many common species can be observed and photographed.

All in all a great 12 day trip, returning yesterday, Mon 13th Feb, departing Colombo at 12.55 and landing 7.20pm. There is a 5.5hour time difference, so again, an 11 hour+ flight time.

Below, a selection of photos taken over the time I was there, concluding with a view of some of the nature seen at Udawalawe.

Typical railway line scene in Pittiwella Boossa

Common Tailorbird

Scaly breasted munia

small monitor lizard, about 4 foot long

Yellow billed babbler, a very common bird

White throated kingfisher, another common species

Water monitor lizard, about 7 foot long

Hibiscus species, possibly Spider hibiscus

Spotted dove, common

7 - 8 foot Water monitor

Amazing sunsets

A very distant White bellied sea eagle, Sri Lanka's largest eagle

Swallows at Mahamodora

Another white throated kingfisher

Red wattled lapwing

Red vented bulbul

Peacock at Mahamodora

Peahen close to the male (above and below)

Dis[laying Peacock

Drongo species can be tricky. Think this is Pale bellied drongo

Green Imperial pigeon

Gull billed tern in Galle harbour

Jungle crow at Galle Harbour

House crow. Possibly the most common bird for Sri Lanka

Looking west at Koggalla beach

Little cormorant along the River Mahamodora

Small monitor lizard

Local fishermen

Common mynah

Ceylon crested drongo (I think!)

Brown shrike at Koggalla

Brahminy kite, common BoP.

Blue-tailed bee-eater under a sports ground

Oriental magpie robin

Black monkey

Black hooded oriole

Another superb Blue-tailed bee-eater

On a couple of occasions I popped into Galle cricket ground where I watched the England Lions take on Sri Lanka A in a 4 day test. I got chatting to a couple who were watching and it turned out that their son, Jack Carson was playing and I offered to take a few shots of him batting. Unfortunately, his innings didn't last too long but I fired off a few shots and emailed them to his mum.

Quick single

Ducking under a bouncer

Oops

text book defensive shot.

Udawalawe Reserve.

A super reserve. Anoma and I set off with Samaan, our minibus driver from Pittiwella to collect Rob and family from their Bentota hotel and then a 3 hour drive to the reserve. First stop was the Elephant Rehabilitation Centre where young elephants are called in at 10 am, and then every 3 hours, for milk feeding. A viewing terrace gives great views of this before we jumped into a 6 seater jeep for a 3 hour safari with a driver Nandu. He stopped on the way to buy fruit which we enjoyed half way around the safari. So many birds and mammals. This is the only Reserve in the world where views of elephants are absolutely guaranteed and we had some superb views. Highlight was an elephant walking along the track towards the Jeep and then strolling right by the vehicle. Amazing. Highlights for me were several new species for the island including Sirkeer malkoha, Yellow eyed babbler and Plum headed parrot.

All these photos taken from the Jeep, sometimes whilst it was bumping along the dusty tracks