Sri Lanka Part 2: 8th - 10th January. Yala

The big one! Following the long drive we enjoyed an excellent meal in the superb Jetwing Yala. Incredible location. The following morning we were up for our first safari at 5.30a.m. and into the landrover, with our driver, Ari. A great guy to have as driver: knowledgeable, interesting and a patient and good driver, sometimes in very trying circumstances. Ari had picked us up from the airport and been there, on time, each day for our journeys. Our guide, Aloo drove the land rover and was most knowledgeable.
The sun was not up as we headed into the Reserve but we could make out shapes in the early morning mist. A malabar hornbill passed us as we noted good numbers of waders around a waterhole populated by sunken water buffalo. Not many chances to take photos, but we would return this way on our way out.
Basically, the bird life was incredible. Everything I had expected to see was ticked along with all the resident mammals and reptiles apart from the elusive leopard.
Really, all I can do is show the photos and list the stuff as it would be endless recording each sighting. However, a few highlights: the beeaters were spectacular, the elephants with babies were memorable and just the density of birds amazing.


lesser whistling duck, spoonbill, common tern (I think) black winged stilt and marsh sandpiper.

black headed ibis



indian robin

blue tailed beeater

brahminy kite

brahminy kite

brown shrike

another brown shrike

black winged stilt

changeable hawk eagle

chestnut headed beeater

common sandpiper

large croc

even larger croc

green beeater.

Aloo rapidly cottoned on to my interest in trying to see as many birds as possible and also my attempts to get some good snaps. Hence we stopped many times, and surveyed the distant trees for other birds that I couldn't photo. Soon, the sun was up and we enjoyed so many great views, with elephants, mongoose, wild pigs, hares, many lizard/iguana sp, crocodiles, buffalo, spotted deer and silver jackal.

elephant rock, Yala National Reserve

elephant family

 black tailed godwit, spoonbill, black headed ibis

another splendid green beeeater

 



marsh sandpiper

grey langar

hare

house crow

indian hoopoe

indian hoopoes

We left the safari at 11.00 as the heat meant that many of the birds and elephants took cover in the shade. After a few hours back at the hotel pool, we set off again for another visit at 3.30, until dusk (6.15.) More amazing sights as we ventured into the other part of the park that is open to the public. In all there are 5 blocks of which Blocks 1 and 3 are open. We stopped off at the beach where there is a moving memorial to those that lost their lives in the park on 26th Dec 2004, the tsunami. Evidence as to the damage it caused was all over the park, where trees had been snapped  about 5 foot above the ground. Such was the salination damage that little has regrown.
Views of Elephant Rock were had as another highlight occured, 5 indian hoopoes, followed about a minute later by our only view of an indian roller. Excellent stuff.

indian pond heron

indian roller

lesser whistling duck

1st bird in pre dawn mist. Unmistakable malabar hornbill

mongoose

monitor

sri lankan green pigeon

pacific golden plover




Jerdon's bushlark

painted stork

another painted stork

peacock

We eventually returned to the hotel in the dark, very happy with our day. I had taken over 350 photographs,so plenty of editing and some deleting was required that evening. Again, following a wonderful meal we prepared for our final journey, to Galle, Jetwing Lighthouse for our last 6 days.

displaying peacock

purple heron

red wattled lapwing

something large!

scaley breasted munia

silver jackal

solitary bull elephant

great thick knee at sunset



another bull elephant and spotted deer

spot billed pelican

spot the elephant

spotted deer

sri lankan green pigeon

On our drive to Galle, Ari was now pointing out birds as we drove along the coast road. New birds added were black eagle and the rare lesser adjutant stork,
In all, Yala is one of the most fantastic wildlife places I have ever visited and certainly worth the long drive to get there.

malabar hornbill

Sri Lankan junglefowl (The national bird)

Wader competition: name these waders.

water buffalo

wild pigs

yellow billed babbler

yellow wattled lapwing.

paddyfield pipit

Updated list:
barred buttonquail, sri lankan junglefowl, peacock, lesser whistling duck, painted stork, asian openbill, black necked stork, black headed ibis, lesser adjutant, eurasian spoonbill, (10 sp) indian pond heron, grey heron, purple heron, cattle egret, great egret, intermediate egret, little egret, spot billed pelican, little cormorant, indian cormorant,  (20 sp)brahminy kite, black eagle, changeable hawk eagle, white breasted waterhen, pheasant tailed jacana, great thick knee, yellow wattled lapwing, red wattled lapwing, pacific golden plover, kentish plover, (30 sp) lesser sandplover, black tailed godwit, common redshank, common greenshank, marsh sandpiper, common sandpiper, curlew sandpiper, gull billed tern, whiskered tern, little tern,(40 sp) common tern, spotted dove, orange breasted green pigeon, sri lankan green pigeon, green imperial pigeon, rose ringed parakeet, chestnut winged cuckoo, asian palm swift, crested treeswift, house swift, (50 sp) indian roller,blue tailed bee eater, green bee eater, chestnut headed bee eater, white throated kingfisher, indian hoopoe, crimson fronted barbet, sri lankan grey hornbill, malabar hornbill, brown shrike, (60 sp) black headed oriole,house crow, large billed crow, barn swallow, white bellied drongo, richards pipit, paddyfield pipit, Blyth's pipit, red vented bulbul, white browed bulbul ,(70 sp) common tailorbird, white browed fantail, yellow billed babbler, common myna, brahminy starling, oriental magpie robin, indian robin, brown breasted flycatcher, purple rumped sunbird, lotens sunbird,(80 sp)  house sparrow, scaley breasted munia, Jerdon's bushlark, little stint

Sri Lanka: part 1: 4th - 8th January, Kegalle.

A 12 day visit to Sri Lanka to start the New Year seemed like a good idea, so off to Heathrow for the direct overnight flight with Sri Lankan air to Colombo. A 9 hour flight, plus time difference meant we were met by our driver, Ari at Colombo at 1pm Saturday morning. Then, a 2 hour drive east to our first residence. This was a fantastic place, way off the beaten track in thick hillside forests at a place called The Estate House, Rosyth.

Estate House setting

dining pavilion

estate house

ground squirrel

red vented bulbul and juvenile

We spent the first afternoon just recovering from the long journey and me sitting on the lawn with a beer and binoculars. purple rumped sunbirds visited the garden flowers as common mynas, rose ringed parakeets, large billed crows and red vented bulbuls were both heard and seen. Getting used to all the calls was tricky so I concentrated on the birds that seemed to be most prevalent, so that later on I could eliminate these when I heard other calls.

black headed oriole

common myna

purple rumped sunbird

large billed crow

the forest, with flying cattle egret

2 cattle egrets giving perspective.

The forest here held loads of birds as well as plenty of macaque monkeys, mongooses, local cattle and more ground squirrels. Latter were the most common mammals around.
The following morning, I took a walk along the lanes, chatting with locals who were all keen to share my cigarettes. Birds were to be found all along the telegraph wires, including yellow billed babblers, more red vented bulbuls, oriental magpie robins, black headed orioles and the occasional parakeet. Another bird, seen on several occasions was the brown shrike.

brown shrike

large billed crow

macaque

 

red vented bulbul and oriental magpie robin



mongoose

After a superb breakfast we set off for the local elephant orphanage. I had visited this in 1993 but was rather disappointed to discover that it had become very tourist based. Before it had clearly been there for the elephants. Now, young elephants were chained up to be bottle fed with 100's of tourists watching. The lane they were taken down to the river had become full of touristy shops and bars, so not quite what I was expecting. However, down at the river were great white egrets, little and indian cormorants and the ubiquitous white throated kingfisher. The afternoon was spent back at the estate house enjoying their hospitality and wandering around.

white throated kingfisher

The next morning we were again off for a visit to the amazing Botanical gardens at Kandy followed by a trip to the Temple of the Tooth. The gardens were superb, with more monkeys, huge numbers of fruit bats, yellow billed babblers and, at the drained lake, asian openbill, white breasted waterhen, cattle and little egret, more sunbirds and common tailor bird whilst overhead brahminy kites. The temple of the tooth was fascinating and a very peaceful place set amongst the hubhub that is Kandy. We then headed back to the Estate House for our last night and more wanderings. On this, I met several locals sitting enjoying some beer. Chatting, they pointed out that 2 of them had lost legs in the recent fighting. they showed me several of the local birds, giving me the local names for them.

 

asian openbill

cattle egrets

fruit bat

great white egret

local ex army lads on their day off

Sri Lankan grey hornbill

white breasted waterhen

yellow billed babbler

Back in the garden I watched more rose ringed parakeets coming into roost as well as my first endemic, a Sri Lankan grey hornbill.
The following morning we set off for a long drive south. It took 8 hours, with stops, to drive to the south east of the island to Yala. This is a National Nature Reserve I have wanted to visit since I first read about it sometime back in the early 70's. Our long drive gave views of plenty of birds en route, especially the last 10 miles as we approached the Jetwing Yala hotel, including beeaters, peacocks, waders and much more. We headed south through Kandy, Nuwara Eliya and then down the endless A2 trunk road through incredible scenery, tea plantations and plenty of poverty.

Bird list so far:
asian openbill, indian pond heron, grey heron, cattle egret, little egret, little cormorant, indian cormorant, brahminy kite, white breasted waterhen, spotted dove, rose ringed parakeet, chestnut winged cuckoo, asian palm swift, house swift, white throated kingfisher, crimson fronted barbet, sri lankan grey hornbill, brown shrike, black headed oriole, large billed crow, barn swallow, white bellied drongo, red vented bulbul, white browed bulbul, common tailorbird, white browed fantail, yellow billed babbler, common myna, oriental magpie robin, purple rumped sunbird, house sparrow.
Many of these birds were not photographable due to the sheer density of the vegetation, but not a bad start for a "non birding" holiday.

from the Estate House garden

cattle egret

as yet, not id'd

little cormorant

spotted dove

 

local lane side vegetation

Local wander

In amazingly mild conditions, I took a wabder through the west and south of the parish this morning. Ground is absolutely saturated and, in places, the footpaths were more like streams. New birds for the year were long tailed tit, linnet, mistle thrush, song thrush, black headed gull, herring gull and common gulls. There was a large (200+) flock of fieldfare on the closed golf course, which is where I also registered the gulls. A party of 10 linnets flew overhead near the club house. A search around local woods for marsh tit was unsuccessful, but I did get the long tailed variety.
In all, 5 hares were spotted, 2 shown below with an inquisitive jackdaw. in another photo, a black headed gull in the foregrpound with 2 common gulls behind.

Year listers

 

27. long tailed tit

28. song thrush

29. mistle thrush

30. linnet

31. black headed gull

32. common gull

33. herring gull



New Year; New Year List

After the constant rain of yesterday, I managed a few hours out around the village this afternoon, checking a few roosts and a variety of habitats. The common buzzard at Hadham Hall was in its usual site, atop the dead tree. However, a wander to the irrigation lagoon produced nothing apart from moorhen, fieldfare, redwing, skylark and blackbird. A wander along hedged lanes gave a few regulars whilst a check on the garden gave up a few more species, but all in all, a very slow start.

Year list
1. mallard
2. common buzzard
3. moorhen
4. stock dove
5. wood pigeon
6. collared dove
7. tawny owl
8. great spotted woodpecker.
9. skylark
10. pied wagtail
11. dunnock
12. robin
13. fieldfare
14. redwing
15. blackbird
16. great tit
17. blue tit
18. magpie
19. jackdaw
20. rook
21. carrion crow
22. starling
23. house sparrow
24. chaffinch
25. goldfinch
26. bullfinch