On walking for an hour at the Udawalawa dam we added White-browed Bulbul although I preferred watching the two species of Thick-knees and a few Sri Lanka Swallows that were present. We'd noticed a tusker that didn't seem to be moving far and, on closer inspection, it was clear it had been shot overnight - very depressing. On leaving the Athina tented camp we saw a pair of Jerdon's Leafbirds and we then drove to Sinharaja Forest Reserve arriving at around lunchtime. We were greeted at the headquarters by a Sri Lanka Blue Magpie noisily moving around in the trees adjacent to the car park - a promising start. Whilst Dilu purchased the necessary tickets a few of the compulsory local guides asked if I wanted to see Sri Lanka Blue Magpie in the afternoon - that didn't seem too difficult having just seen one! I was then approached by a young lady guide, Nadi, who told me that she was good at finding Sri Lanka Scaly Thrush. That seemed qualification enough to me. We transferred into a jeep and with our luggage aboard, departed, confusingly without Nadi or another local guide. It transpired that the driver had told Dilu that there was a Serendib Scops Owl roosting opposite his house and he'd offered to show it to us. On arriving at his house the driver mentioned that he hadn't looked for it for a few days and set off up a steep climb. Dilu suggested that we wait by the vehicle, and after quite a while, it was no real surprise when the driver reappeared to say that he couldn't find it explaining that the species usually changes its roost site on a daily basis - not encouraging news. We then drove to our accommodation, Martin's Lodge, that was set inside the forest a journey that seemed to take forever bumping along the entrance track. We were pleased to meet Paul Bishop again there, who was still on course to see all of the endemics, and he kindly told us where he'd seen some of our remaining target species in the day that he'd already spent at Sinharaja. We were keen to get birding so set off with Dilu along a trail where we soon reached a guard at a barrier. Much to our surprise Nadi was there to meet us, having walked up from the headquarters. We set off down a track and had probably only walked c.100m when Nadi, trailing the three of us, picked out a Spot-winged Ground-Thrush that we'd all walked past. A short while later she asked if we wanted to see a Sri Lanka Frogmouth, and on leaving the track at her second attempt, found a female. It wasn't in the best position to photograph, so Nadi set off again and promptly found another female sat more in the open! She then explained that if we wanted to see Sri Lanka Scaly Thrush we ought to walk a bit more quickly to give ourselves enough time to find one. We explained that we'd already seen one so she asked what we hadn't yet seen. Shortly thereafter she picked out a Green-billed Coucal calling but she was the only one to briefly see it. Not much further and she picked out a Malabar Trogon, that she'd just pointed out to Dilu, when it flew off out of view. It was beginning to be frustrating for us, but by now we were in complete awe of Nadi, who was in a class of her own picking out birds in the forest despite not using binoculars! On arriving at the Sri Lanka Scaly Thrush area four of a Rockjumpers tour group were present with their two local guides but they hadn't seen the Thrush. Their guides were using playback, and walking off trail, but to no avail. They set off along another trail and very soon Nadi seemed to sense the presence of a Thrush! None of us saw it but she remained alert and then picked out a pair. We saw one sat in the open that then moved onto an open branch. My camera wouldn't fire, so I watched the bird for a while before moving position but it made no difference - frustrating! Luckily Paul had more success and explained that there is an override for the problem I'd encountered - not enough light for the autofocus to lock-on a subject. The pair of Thrushes moved-off just before Rockjumpers arrived so we left them to it (they were successful after a few minutes). We then hurriedly walked back to the guardpost as it's compulsory to leave before 6pm. We were actually a little late but it wasn't a problem. We asked if Nadi could be our compulsory guide for the next day but both she and Dilu explained that she couldn't guarantee it as guides are allocated on a strict rota. We decided that by tipping her the equivalent of £5 it might help her decide it was worthwhile to try to accompany us again and she seemed delighted. As we walked back to Martin's Lodge there was a Chestnut-backed Owlet calling at dusk, but despite it being very close, we couldn't find it. We were beginning to think that we wouldn't have enough time at Sinharaja to see everything that we would like to...
Spot-billed Pelican 2
Indian Cormorant 15
Little Egret 5
Great Egret 5
Eastern Cattle Egret 100
Grey Heron 5
Purple Heron 1
Indian Pond-Heron 5
Painted Stork 20
Black-headed Ibis 2
Lesser Whistling-Duck 2
Brahminy Kite 1
Oriental Honey-Buzzard 1
Crested Serpent-Eagle 2
Grey-headed Fish-Eagle 1
Barred Buttonquail h
Sri Lanka Junglefowl 1
Indian Peafowl 6
Black-winged Stilt 2
Great Thick-knee 8
Indian Stone Curlew 5
Red-wattled Lapwing 6
Yellow-wattled Lapwing 2
Common Greenshank 1
White-winged Black Tern 6
Rock Dove 4
Green Imperial Pigeon 8
Spotted Dove 20
Orange-breasted Green-Pigeon 1
Rose-ringed Parakeet 20
Asian Koel 4
Greater Coucal 1
GREEN-BILLED COUCAL h
CHESTNUT-BACKED OWLET h
SRI LANKA FROGMOUTH 2 females
Stork-billed Kingfisher h
White-throated Kingfisher 2
Common Kingfisher 1
Blue-tailed Bee-eater 10
Coppersmith Barbet 2
Red-backed Flameback 1
Crimson-backed Flameback 1
Jerdon's Bushlark 2
Barn Swallow 200
Sri Lanka Swallow 5
Western Yellow Wagtail 3
Small Minivet 1
Red-vented Bulbul 10
Square-tailed Black Bulbul 1
Black-capped Bulbul 2
WHITE-BROWED BULBUL 2
Yellow-browed Bulbul 10
Common Iora 2
JERDON'S BLUE-WINGED LEAFBIRD 2
Brown Shrike 1
Indian Paradise Flycatcher 1 female
White-browed Fantail 1
Spot-winged Ground-Thrush 3
Sri Lanka Scaly Thrush 1
Oriental Magpie-Robin 1
Brown-breasted Flycatcher 2
Yellow-billed Babbler 6
Grey-breasted Prinia 2
Jungle Prinia 1
Blyth's Reed Warbler 1
Common Tailorbird 1
Purple-rumped Sunbird 2
Scaly-breasted Munia 10
Baya Weaver 1
Black-hooded Oriole 2
SRI LANKA BLUE MAGPIE 1
Great Thick-knees at Udawalawa dam
Indian Stone Curlews at Udawalawa dam
Male Grey-breasted Prinia at Udawalawa dam
Male Grey-breasted Prinia at Udawalawa dam
White-browed Bulbul at Udawalawa dam
Asian Koel at Udawalawa dam
Little Swift at Udawalawa dam
Swallows at Udawalawa dam
Sri Lanka Swallows at Udawalawa dam
Illustration of Sri Lanka Swallow from Richard Bowdler Sharpe's A monograph of the Hirundinidae (1894)
Illustration of Sri Lanka Swallow from Richard Bowdler Sharpe's A monograph of the Hirundinidae (1894)
stricken Asian Elephant at Udawalawa dam
The national TV news featured this incredibly sad event reporting that the bull Elephant had been aggressive leading to it being shot. With so many tourists visiting Udawalawa one would have hoped a more enlightened attitude would exist towards the very wildlife that most tourists are hoping to enjoy watching!
Female Indian Paradise Flycatcher at the Athina tented camp
Male Jerdon's Blue-winged Leafbird at the Athina tented camp
Female Jerdon's Blue-winged Leafbird at the Athina tented camp
street scene on the journey to Sinharaja
Sinharaja Forest Reserve HQ
Nadi
Sinharaja Forest Reserve HQ
Sri Lanka Blue Magpie at Sinharaja Forest Reserve
Birdlife consider this species Vulnerable as it has a small and declining range, which is also severely fragmented as a result of the degradation and clearance of humid forest, with a population that is also inferred to be in decline.
Pitcher Plant at Sinharaja Forest Reserve
Male Sri Lanka Junglefowl at Sinharaja Forest Reserve
Female Sri Lanka Frogmouth at Sinharaja Forest Reserve
Crimson-backed Flameback at Sinharaja Forest Reserve
Owling failed to produce any Owls!
