Overview
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10 - 20 Feb 2025. |
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With Mike Danzenbaker, Lee Hung and four others. The arrangement of this private trip had a chequered history, with the original organiser and several participants dropping out well before the original trip date in 2024. This resulted in Lee picking up the loose ends, plus a change of participants. The trip was set up through Endemic Guides in Malaysia, with Lee Kok Chung as the main guide. Logistics in Sri Lanka were handled well by Walk With Jith who provided our local guide, Athula Sampath, who was great. Although having personally visited Sri Lanka twice previously, four endemics had still not been seen, though to be fair, at that time Serendib Scops Owl was unknown and Sri Lanka Thrush had not been split. |
We recorded all 35 Sri Lankan endemics, though Sri Lanka Bush Warbler was but a fleeting glimpse, and a few sightings were of single individuals only, such as Sri Lanka Thrush and Sri Lanka Spurfowl. As such we were lucky on several occasions.
Itinerary
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9 Feb. Took Air Asia flights Chiang Mai - Bangkok - Colombo, arriving 30 minutes late at 22:30. Immigration and customs were a breeze, so by 23:30 already ensconced in one of the airport hotels for the night. 10 Feb. An early morning meet up with the other participants who had all arrived late, after midnight, and thus short on sleep. Heading out of Colombo, our fist stop was one of the hotel grounds for Indian Scops Owl. Thereafter, various stops en route to Kitulgala found us Indian Pond Heron, Sri Lanka Swallow. Brown-headed Barbet, Crimson-fronted Barbet, Southern Hill Myna and Red-backed Flameback. Late afternoon at Kitulgala we visited nearby forest, finding a string of endemics such as Chestnut-backed Owlet, Orange-billed Babbler, Sri Lanka Junglefowl and Sri Lanka Grey Hornbill. 11 Feb. At dawn, we revisited the same forest as yesterday afternoon, which additionally produced Black-backed Dwarf Kingfisher and Brown-capped Babbler, plus further views of Chestnut-backed Owlet. After breakfast at the accommodation, we took a short boat ride across the river, from which a kilometre walk farther brought us to the Makandawa Forest Reserve, where we spent the remainder of the morning. Excellent habitat with a good trail made for great birding, producing Green Imperial Pigeon, Indian Pitta, Malabar Trogon, Spot-winged Thrush and Sri Lanka Drongo to name a few. |
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We also had a long hunt for Serendib Scops Owl - this being one of only two sites for it- but despite a lot of effort by Athula, none was found. Following a late lunch we visited more open, scrubby habitat near town, finding Indian Paradise Flycatcher. Small Minivet, Sri Lanka Green Pigeon and Layard's Parakeet. |
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12 Feb. An early repeat visit to the same area gave a similar selection, plus a single Indian Pitta. After breakfast we drove three hours to the hill country, where we were based two days at Nuwara Eliya. The afternoon was spent birding in Victoria Park in the middle of town. Despite the weekend crowds, this remains a key birding locality for both Pied Thrush and Kashmir Flycatcher, though obtaining good views of the former proved tricky. Other species encountered included Sri Lanka White-eye, Indian Blue Robin, Forest Wagtail and Brown-breasted Flycatcher. |
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13 Feb. A chilly start, with temperatures at only 9°C, and an hour drive up to Horton Plains, with an early stop en route for Sri Lanka Wood Pigeon. For most of the day we birded inside the park, finding most of the endemics we were looking for, other than Sri Lanka Bush Warbler which was heard only.
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In retrospect this is one site we'd recommend spending an additional day, as we were fairly pushed for time given the birds we were looking for. Key birds found here included Sri Lanka Whistling Thrush, Hill Swallow, Indian Blackbird, Dark-fronted Babbler and Sri Lanka White-eye. We also found Jerdon's Baza, Pale-billed Flowerpecker and Yellow-eared Bulbul. Late afternoon we returned to town to try for Sri Lanka Thrush near the local dump, but dipped - this species being one of the more difficult endemics. A troupe of Toque Macaque were hanging out around the dump. |
14 Feb. On Athula's recommendation, we returned to the same locality as yesterday evening, well before dawn, and were rewarded with Sri Lanka Thrush feeding along the forest edge, whilst practically still dark. We watched the bird at close range for more than 15 minutes. Thereafter we checked out and drove an hour to the Surrey Bird Sanctuary. This site has been a stakeout for Brown Wood Owl for longer than the past 20 years, and today was no exception, although the pair we found were well buried inside the foliage.
In a couple of hours here we also encountered Layard's Parakeet, Lesser Yellownape, White-browed Bulbul, Pied Thrush, Tickell's Blue Flycatcher, Brown-capped Babbler, Sri Lanka Scimitar Babbler and Loten's Sunbird. We then continued the three hours to Tissamaharama, making several stops along the way, and around town where we visited local stakeouts for White-naped Woodpecker, Jungle Owlet and Brown Boobook. Time spent at wetlands around town resulted in a fair collection of list padders such as Spot-billed Pelican, numerous waders, Ring-necked Parakeet, Eurasian Spoonbill, Indian Cormorant, Asian Openbill and Black-necked Stork to name a few. |
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15 Feb. A full day inside Yala National Park; undoubtedly Sri Lanka's most well known park. Access is only possible by open jeep, and there are way too many jeeps allowed inside the park, which totally detracts from the experience. We estimated more than 500 jeeps were present, so it's frankly a circus, and not that enjoyable.
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If a Leopard is sighted it becomes an episode of Wacky Races to have any chance of being in one of the first vehicles to arrive. We considered ourselves very fortunate to have seen the single Leopard we did. Inside the park everyone is confined to their vehicle, other than for a couple of hours at the only lunch spot. During our full day here highlights included several Changeable Hawk-Eagle at close range, Yellow-wattled Lapwing, Great Stone-curlew, Orange-breasted Green Pigeon, Blue-faced Malkoha, Grey-bellied Cuckoo, Brown Fish Owl, Jerdon's Bush Lark, Sri Lanka Woodshrike, Marshall's Iora, Indian Robin, Jungle Prinia and Loten's Sunbird. We also had a couple of sightings of Asian Elephant. 16 Feb. Another day in our open jeep, but this time in Lunugamvehera National Park, adjacent to Yala. Being small, much less visited, and with only around 30 vehicles present, this was a much more enjoyable experience. |
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Our main targets here were Blue-faced Malkoha and Crimson-backed Flameback - with the former not found and the latter only a fleeting glimpse. The more notable species found included Grey-headed Fish Eagle, Barred Buttonquail, Brown Fish Owl, Fork-tailed Drongo-Cuckoo, Indian Roller, Yellow-crowned Woodpecker, Sri Lanka Swallow, Marshall's Iora, Tawny-bellied Babbler, Yellow-eyed Babbler, Jungle Prinia and Green Warbler. On our return drive to town at dusk, we encountered a couple of Jerdon's Nightjar.
17 Feb. Early morning birding in the immediate vicinity of the hotel. Fortuitously, a Blue-faced Malkoha was found in the hotel grounds and gave excellent views. We then departed for the longish drive to Sinharaja, with various stops. Late afternoon we birded close to Sinharaja village, with Sri Lanka Blue Magpie and Sri Lanka Hill Myna, though birding was generally rather quiet - maybe on account of the dark clouds and threatening weather which never actually materialised.
18 Feb. Back into an open jeep for a tortuous, 30 minute ride on terrible roads, to a private property with a blind, where we were rewarded with one of the most difficult endemics - the Sri Lanka Spurfowl. Birding in the area during the morning gave Sri Lanka Frogmouth, Red-faced Malkoha, Malabar Trogon, Ashy-headed Laughingthrush and a host of commoner species. After lunch in the field we birded inside the Sinharaja reserve which in addition to excellent birding was also interesting for amphibians and reptiles. |
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Late afternoon we received news that one of the drivers had located a pair of Serendib Scops Owl near the village. This proved to be a steep 200 metres climb and a bit of contortion to see the birds perched low down in bamboo. Hats off to the driver for locating this pair which must have taken considerable effort. 19 Feb. We visited a second site for Sri Lanka Spurfowl, but the bird was not around. We did however have Slaty-legged Crake and Spot-winged Thrush, plus the surrounding area was good for Sri Lanka Hill Myna. The afternoon was spent in search of Crimson-backed Flameback, which we thankfully found at the eleventh hour. |
20 Feb. A short birding session around the hotel added only Banded Bay Cuckoo to the trip list plus Black-throated Munia for a few people. The remainder of the day spent on the return drive to Colombo, followed by a sumptuous seafood dinner on the beach. Late night, or in most cases early morning, departures from Colombo.
Bird images from this, and other, birding trips.