We made an early morning drive to Thattakad reserve where we climbed a rocky escarpment for a view overlooking the forest and saw plenty of early morning activity, including a number of raptors circling-up on the thermals, and eventually some Indian White-rumped Spinetails. On returning to our vehicle we met up with one of Jijo's colleagues, Dhanesh, who quickly showed us a Black-backed Dwarf Kingfisher and then a couple of Sri Lanka Frogmouths including a male sat on a nest. Dhanesh then accompanied us back to the town where he showed us a pair of roosting Mottled Wood Owls - superb. Late in the afternoon we again teamed-up with Dhanesh for an Owling session. Having walked a fair way into the forest along a track spotlighting an Indian Pitta as we went, and hoping to hear a Sri Lanka Bay Owl, we'd heard both Oriental Scops Owl and Brown Fish-Owl when we suddenly heard a Spot-bellied Eagle-Owl call... wow!... but rather distantly. A fast walk along a forest trail brought us closer, and then playback of a single call brought the Owl closer to us... Dhanesh made his way into the forest and floodlit a likely large tree and I picked it out sat on a low branch looking at us - stunning - an undoubted highlight of the trip. We returned to the main track seeing a calling Indian Collared Scops Owl. Failing to hear any Sri Lanka Bay Owls we drove to another site, where we soon heard one calling rather quietly, but frustratingly it fell silent before we'd had time to find it.
Little Egret 1
Great Egret 2
Eastern Cattle Egret 20
Indian Pond-Heron 2
Woolly-necked Stork 12
Lesser Whistling-Duck 200
Crested Goshawk 2
Oriental Honey-Buzzard 2
Crested Serpent-Eagle 2
Rufous-bellied Eagle 1
Black Eagle 1
Peregrine 1 of the resident form peregrinator 'Shaheen Falcon'
Bronze-winged Jacana 1
Common Sandpiper 2
River Tern 6
Whiskered Tern 20
Green Imperial Pigeon 15
Plum-headed Parakeet 1
Brown Fish Owl h
SPOT-BELLIED EAGLE-OWL 1
MOTTLED WOOD OWL 2
Indian Collared Scops Owl 1
Oriental Scops Owl h
Sri Lanka Frogmouth 2
Indian Swiftlet 20
INDIAN WHITE-RUMPED SPINETAIL 8
Dollarbird 2
Stork-billed Kingfisher 1
Black-backed Dwarf Kingfisher 1
Malabar Crimson-fronted Barbet 8
Indian Brown-capped Pygmy-Woodpecker 3
White-bellied Woodpecker 2
Indian Pitta 1
Dusky Crag Martin 2
Malabar Large Woodshrike 4
Black-headed Cuckooshrike 2
Orange Minivet 10
Small Minivet 10
Flame-throated Bulbul 4
Yellow-browed Bulbul 1
Asian Fairy Bluebird 2
Oriental Magpie-Robin 1
Verditer Flycatcher 2
Jungle Babbler 6
Green Warbler 1
Nilgiri Plain Flowerpecker 1
Thick-billed Flowerpecker 1
Purple-rumped Sunbird 1
Greater Racket-tailed Drongo 2
Grey-headed Starling 1
Malabar White-headed Starling 10
Lesser Hill-Myna 8
Indian Jungle Crow 6
View from the rocky escarpment at Thattakad
Male Crested Goshawk at Thattakad
Vernal Hanging-Parrots at Thattakad
Indian White-rumped Spinetail at Thattakad
Being the only Zoonavena in Asia (the others being in Africa) it was a species that I was particularly keen to see. Great wingshape!
Malabar Crimson-fronted Barbet at Thattakad
Indian Brown-capped Pygmy-Woodpecker at Thattakad
Green Warbler at Thattakad
Male Asian Fairy Bluebird at Thattakad
Malabar Large Woodshrike at Thattakad
Malabar White-headed Starling at Thattakad
Lesser Hill-Myna at Thattakad
Black-backed Dwarf Kingfisher at Thattakad
Female Sri Lanka Frogmouth at Thattakad
Male Sri Lanka Frogmouth sat on its nest at Thattakad
Lesser Whistling-Ducks at Thattakad
Lesser Whistling-Ducks at Thattakad
Mottled Wood Owl at Thattakad
Spot-bellied Eagle-Owl at Thattakad
Indian Scops Owl at Thattakad
