We'd hoped that we might be able to revisit Victoria Park but apparently they don't open the gates early in the morning! We therefore headed back to the Boy Scouts camp ravine but only stayed an hour as the area was shrouded in thick fog. So we commenced the drive to Udawalawa but hadn't gone far when the road was closed for a while due to a colourful procession celebrating a monk being elevated to a higher level. As we moved on the scenery and vegetation changed considerably as we entered what is regarded as the dry zone of Sri Lanka. We arrived at the Athina Tented camp where the staff were quick to tell us there were some roosting Owls in the grounds although they were unsure of their identity. We were soon taken to a pair of Brown Wood Owls where a male Indian Paradise Flycatcher was a treat too. We then visited the wetlands created by the large dam quickly seeing an array of wetland species before continuing to the Udawalawa National Park and boarded an open-top jeep for a very enjoyable afternoon's birding. The acacia scrub habitat was full of birds and seeing a pair of Sri Lanka Woodshrikes soon after arrival quickly took the pressure off the afternoon. In fact an array of new birds were to follow with us seeing a hepatic morph Grey-bellied Cuckoo, 2 Blue-faced Malkohas, 5 Malabar Pied Hornbills, 8 Jerdon's Bushlarks and 2 Tricoloured Munias. As dusk fell it was time to leave the National Park and head for the nearby dam where we spent an hour or so spotlighting and succeeded in obtaining a brief flight view of a Jerdon's Nightjar that was calling on and off the whole time.
Spot-billed Pelican 2
Little Egret 5
Great Egret 10
Eastern Cattle Egret 100
Grey Heron 5
Indian Pond-Heron 5
Black-crowned Night-Heron 30
Asian Openbill 20
Woolly-necked Stork 4
Painted Stork 20
Black-headed Ibis 8
Eurasian Spoonbill 2
Lesser Whistling-Duck 1
Brahminy Kite 4
Oriental Honey-Buzzard 1
Crested Serpent-Eagle 1
Crested Hawk-Eagle 4
Grey-headed Fish-Eagle 1
Common Kestrel 1
Barred Buttonquail 1
Indian Peafowl 20
Black-winged Stilt 2
Pheasant-tailed Jacana 1
Red-wattled Lapwing 6
Yellow-wattled Lapwing 2
Common Sandpiper 1
Whiskered Tern 1
Green Imperial Pigeon 4
Spotted Dove 40
Orange-breasted Green-Pigeon 4
Rose-ringed Parakeet 8
GREY-BELLIED CUCKOO 1
Jacobin Cuckoo 1
Asian Koel 2
BLUE-FACED MALKOHA 2
Sirkeer Malkoha 1
Brown Wood Owl 2
Indian Jungle (Grey) Nightjar h
JERDON'S NIGHTJAR 1
Indian Swiftlet 40
Little Swift 2
Indian Roller 6
Common Hoopoe 1
Stork-billed Kingfisher 1
White-throated Kingfisher 2
Common Kingfisher 1
Blue-tailed Bee-eater 18
Little Green Bee-eater 30
MALABAR PIED HORNBILL 5
Coppersmith Barbet 2
Yellow-fronted Pied Woodpecker 4
Indian Pitta h
JERDON'S BUSHLARK 8
Barn Swallow 100
Western Yellow Wagtail 1
Forest Wagtail 1
Paddyfield Pipit 5
Blyth's Pipit 1
SRI LANKA WOODSHRIKE 2
Red-vented Bulbul 10
Marshall's Iora 2
Brown Shrike 6
INDIAN PARADISE FLYCATCHER 1 male
Indian Black Robin 6
Brown-breasted Flycatcher 1
Yellow-eyed Babbler 2
Tawny-bellied Babbler 2
Yellow-billed Babbler 8
Ashy Prinia 4
Plain Prinia 6
Blyth's Reed Warbler 1
Loten's Sunbird 2
TRICOLOURED MUNIA 3
Scaly-breasted Munia 4
House Sparrow 20
Baya Weaver 10
Black-hooded Oriole 1
Rosy Starling 30
Common Myna 10
House Crow 2
Indian Jungle Crow 6
time to leave the highland forests
a colourful roadblock!
he seemed to approve
lunch stop
waterfalls as we continued to descend into the lowlands
Tufted Grey Langur
Athina Tented Camp, Udawalawa
Asian Elephants at Udawalawa
Rosy Starlings at Udawalawa
Sirkeer Malkoha at Udawalawa
Sri Lanka Woodshrikes at Udawalawa
Jerdon's Bushlark at Udawalawa
Paddyfield Pipit at Udawalawa
Spotted Dove at Udawalawa
Tawny-bellied Babbler at Udawalawa
An illustration of Blue-faced Malkoha long before it was described to science by Lady Elizabeth Gwillim
