Trip report Sri Lanka, 31. December 2012 – 18. January 2013

André Weiss Pryde

Download original PDF from here: André-Weiss-Pryde/PRYDE_Sri_Lanka_1201_20122013.pdf 

After having explored the birds of India on several occasions, the endemic species of Sri Lanka finally called for me. I ended up seeing all of them and many other bird species and some great mammals. I can absolutely recommend this beautiful island: good birds, good food, nice people and very easy to organise.

Itinerary

31.12.2012      Flight from Chennai to Colombo, transfer to Kitulgala, some birding

01.01.2013      Full day birding around Kitulgala

02.01.2013       Morning birding at Kitulgala, drive to Nuwara Eliya, some birding around 

                        Nuwara Eliya

03.01.2013      Morning birding at Horton Plains NP, evening birding at Victoria Park 04.01.2013   Morning birding for the Whistling Thrush, drive to Tissamaharama, birding 

                        around Tissa

05.01.2013      Full day at Yala NP

06.01.2013       Morning birding at Tissa, drive to Sinharaja, birding from Martin’s Lodge

07.01.2013      Full day birding at Sinharaja

08.01.2013      Full day birding at Sinharaja

09.01.2013      Drive from Sinharaja to Mirissa, start of leisure part of holiday

11.01.2013      Whale-watching tour from Mirissa

15.01.2013      Morning birding in Udawattakele Forest Reserve, Kandy

18.01.2013      Flight from Colombo to Zürich

Organisation

There are several local agents doing birdwatching tours. I chose “Walk with Jith” (see: http://www.walkwithjith.com) and was not disappointed. The organisation was really good and everything worked out fine. My guide and driver Upali was very helpful and was able and ready to adapt the itinerary according to my wishes.             

Accomodation

Most of the accommodation was a bit posh, but usually quite pleasant:

• Plantation Hotel Kitulgala: A very nice place, very good birding on the hotel grounds. Unfortunately not much vegetarian choice on the menu.
• Binota Residency Nuwara Eliya: Friendly staff and good food. Unfortunately awful rooms and very noisy. Free Wifi.
• Hibiscus Garden, Tissa: A perfect place. Very nice rooms, good food and good birding just behind my bungalow. Free Wifi.
• Martin’s Lodge: Simple rooms, but an excellent location, very friendly people and good food.
• Paradise Beach Club, Mirissa: A nice place to spend some days at the beach. Good food. Free Wifi.
• Hilltop, Kandy: A rather posh hotel in Kandy, good food and friendly people. Why is there always a live band at diner?
• Tamarind Tree, Negombo: Our last stay on the night before the flight. Nice hotel grounds but that’s about it. Much to expensive for what it offers.

Birding Sites

The mentionend birding sites are also found on this Google Map:

https://maps.google.ch/maps/ms?msid=216430351851743931321.0004e26de8d452 c3c66b1&msa=0&ie=UTF8&ll=7.226249,81.941528&spn=3.999158,5.817261&t=h&z =8&vpsrc=6>

Kitulgala

Here we did some birding on the hotel grounds of the Plantation Hotel, especially down at the river. Sri Lanka Grey Hornbill, Yellow-fronted Barbet, Sri Lanka Green Pigeon, Sri Lanka Swallow, Green-billed Coucal and many other birds were found there. A small tea farm further west holds Chestnut-backed Owlet, Spot-winged Thrush, Indian Pitta and Layard’s Parakeet. Oriental Dwarf Kingfisher can also sometimes be seen, however, we didn’t locate any bird. Ask for permission to bird on the grounds of the farm and give the farmer a tip. He doesn’t make much money! The Makandawa Rainforest Sanctuary is located on the south of the river. There is a small ferry crossing the river just beside the Kitulgala Rest House. However, birding in the forest here is not easy and we failed to locate the Serendib Scops Owl here. More information (written by me) here: http://www.birdforum.net/opus/Kitulgala

Nuwara Eliya and Horton Plains National Park

Victoria Park in the centre of the mountain station Nuwara Eliya is famous for Kashmir Flycatcher and Pied Thrush. The park is open from 6am to 6pm (however, it may open later in the morning). We went in the evening and despite the rain we found Kashmir Flycatcher after some minutes, left from the entrance. The search for Pied Thrush was much more difficult. We eventually located a bird on the right side of the park, near to the toilets. This is also a nice place for Indian Pitta.

Along a road near the Bomburella Reservoir we found Sri Lanka Bush Warbler (see map). 

One morning was spent in Horton Plains National Park. As the computer at the ticket office was not working, we had to wait quite some time to enter the park and were late for the Whistling Thrush. The spot here seems also to be played out. However we found other good birds like Himalayan Buzzard, Sri Lanka Wood Pigeon,

Crimson-backed Goldenback, Yellow-eared Bulbul and Dull-blue Flycatcher.

On the last morning we tried another spot for Sri Lanka Whistling Thrush, south of Nuwara Eliya on the PBC Highway to Hagkala. There is an abandoned fruit stall in a bend. Follow a small path behind it down to a stream. We had nice views of a couple of Whistling-Thrushes on the path on the other side of the stream in early morning. More information: http://www.birdforum.net/opus/Nuwara_Eliya and here:  http://www.birdforum.net/opus/Horton_Plains_National_Park

Tissamaharama

Tissamaharama (or in short Tissa) is the starting point for safaris to Yala National Park. Furthermore it’s surrounded by fine wetlands, which holds many bird species, including Black Bittern. I stayed in the Hibiscus Garden Hotel. Just behind the hotel are a small wetland and some paddyfields, holding various species. Other good spots around the town are marked on the map.

More information: http://www.birdforum.net/opus/Tissamaharama

Yala (Ruhuna) National Park

This park can only be visited with a safari jeep. Unfortunately it’s rather crowded with tourists, usually driving around like crazy until they find a Leopard. We had our own car for a full day and saw many birds (102 species) and mammals. We also had a very cooperative Leopard, self found by us.

More information: http://www.birdforum.net/opus/Yala_National_Park

Sinharaja Forest Reserve

I stayed at Martin’s Lodge, which is located in the forest. Sri Lanka Blue Magpie and

Spot-winged Thrush were breakfast birds and White-faced Starling, Legge’s Flowerpecker and Legge’s Hawk-Eagle were all seen from the lodge. The forest is incredibly beautiful and most endemics of the island can be seen here. Serendib Scops Owl was hard to detect and all known roosting sites were abandoned. Finally a local guide found one down in the valley and we could see it at the roosting site. A guide is compulsory after the park entrance. Ask for a guide who knows the birds. More information: http://www.birdforum.net/opus/Sinharaja

Udawatta Kele

This small reserve is located very close to the centre of Kandy. I visited it at one morning. However, advised by a local tuk-tuk driver, I went there the day before and asked to be left in in early morning, which was possible. Otherwise the gate would have been closed. I found Brown Fish Owl at the Royal Pond and many other good species, walking the paths.

More information: http://www.birdforum.net/opus/Udawatta_Kele

Used books in the field:

• Richard Grimmett, Carol Inskipp & Tim Inskipp (2011): Birds of the Indian Subcontinent. Helm Field Guides.
• Gehan de Silva Wijeyeratne (2008): A photographic guide to Mammals of Sri Lanka. New Holland.

Contact

For any questions, suggestions and comments please contact:

André Weiss Pryde, Breitestrasse 127, CH 8400 Winterthur, andre_weiss (at) yahoo.com           

Systematic list

Names and taxonomy follow IOC 3.2 (www.worldbirdnames.org). 194 species recorded. Endemic species in bold.

Sri Lanka Spurfowl	Galloperdix bicalcarata	Sinharaja, one female seen, often heard
Sri Lanka Junglefowl	Gallus lafayetii	common
Indian Peafowl	Pavo cristatus	common Yala and around Tissa
Lesser Whistling Duck	Dendrocygna javanica	lowlands around Tissa and Yala
Cotton Pygmy Goose	Nettapus coromandelianus	lowlands around Tissa and Yala
Garganey	Anas querquedula	one female Yala
Little Grebe	Tachybaptus ruficollis	some around Tissa
Painted Stork	Mycteria leucocephala	common Yala and around Tissa
Asian Openbill	Anastomus oscitans	Kitulgala, Yala and Tissa
Woolly-necked Stork	Ciconia episcopus	2 Udawalawe
Black-headed Ibis	Threskiornis melanocephalus	common Yala and around Tissa
Eurasian Spoonbill	Platalea leucorodia	some Yala
Yellow Bittern	Ixobrychus sinensis	some around Tissa
Black Bittern	Dupetor flavicollis	several around Tissa
Black-crowned Night Heron	Nycticorax nycticorax	some around Tissa
Striated Heron	Butorides striata	1 Mirissa
Indian Pond Heron	Ardeola grayii	common
Eastern Cattle Egret	Bubulcus coromandus	very common
Grey Heron	Ardea cinerea	some lowlands
Purple Heron	Ardea purpurea	some lowlands
Great Egret	Ardea alba	several Tissa, Yala
Intermediate Egret	Egretta intermedia	several Tissa, Yala
Little Egret	Egretta garzetta	common
Spot-billed Pelican	Pelecanus philippensis	some around Tissa and Yala
Little Cormorant	Microcarbo niger	common
Oriental Darter	Anhinga melanogaster	common around Tissa and Yala
Western Osprey	Pandion haliaetus	1 Uduwalawe
Brahminy Kite	Haliastur indus	widespread
White-bellied Sea Eagle	Haliaeetus leucogaster	Kitulgala, Yala, Kandy
Crested Serpent Eagle	Spilornis cheela	widespread
Shikra	Accipiter badius	some
Himalayan Buzzard	Buteo burmanicus	1 Horton Plains
Black Eagle	Ictinaetus malayensis	2 Kitulgala
Changeable Hawk-Eagle	Nisaetus cirrhatus	some Yala and Uduwalawe
Legge’s Hawk-Eagle	Nisaetus kelaarti	1 Sinharaja
Slaty-breasted Rail	Gallirallus striatus	1 Tissa
White-breasted Waterhen	Amaurornis phoenicurus	common
Watercock	Gallicrex cinerea	some Tissa
Purple Swamphen	Porphyrio porphyrio	several around Tissa and Yala
Common Moorhen	Gallinula chloropus	1 Tissa
Eurasian Coot	Fulica atra	some around Tissa
Great Stone-curlew	Esacus recurvirostris	some Yala
Black-winged Stilt	Himantopus himantopus	common lowlands
Yellow-wattled Lapwing	Vanellus malabaricus	common Yala
Red-wattled Lapwing	Vanellus indicus	common lowlands
Pacific Golden Plover	Pluvialis fulva	some Yala
Grey Plover	Pluvialis squatarola	some Yala
Little Ringed Plover	Charadrius dubius	some Uduwalawe
Kentish Plover	Charadrius alexandrinus	common Yala
Lesser Sand Plover	Charadrius mongolus	common Yala
Pheasant-tailed Jacana	Hydrophasianus chirurgus	common lowlands
Pin-tailed Snipe	Gallinago stenura	3 Tissa
Black-tailed Godwit	Limosa limosa	common Yala
Common Redshank	Tringa totanus	some Yala
Marsh Sandpiper	Tringa stagnatilis	several Yala
Common Greenshank	Tringa nebularia	some Yala
Wood Sandpiper	Tringa glareola	some Uduwalawe