Sri Lanka Day 11 - A (very) full day in Yala

Up early and with the prospect of a whole day in Yala to whet our appetites.   As public access is restricted to Section 1, with several other sections abutting, we needed the extra time to get to the extremities of the public areas.

Early morning at Yala

So, with our packed breakfast and lunches safely stowed, we set off.   Bouncing along in a bumpy jeep helped to wake us up and we were soon back in the Park with birds and animals around us.

Black-headed Ibis and Painted Stork were feeding in nearby pools and the Spotted Deer herds were starting to move towards the cover of the trees.

Ashy-crowned Sparrow-lark fed nearby, the males looking stunning.   Chestnut-headed Bee-eater sat close to the jeep at one stage, until a rather loud group of locals came along!



However, it was great to see so many Sri Lankans enjoying their own wildlife - not something you come across often on these trips.

Golden Jackal was seen again, with one individual seeming to come towards us in curiosity rather than avoiding us.

Golden Jackal

Breakfast was taken by the memorial to the Tsunami of 2004, in the company of large groups of locals who had all brought their breakfasts of rice and curry - the three members of curry corner looked on, wishing we could swap our sandwiches.   Several of us took the opportunity to wander on the beach, enjoying the scene and getting photographs of several species of butterflies feeding on the plants at the edge of the sand.

Tsunami Memorial

More driving around the Park was to give us close views of Land Monitor, Toque Macaque, Ruddy Mongoose and many other birds and insects, with butterflies gathering in large numbers around wet pools where they could drink the salts and minerals.

White-rumped and Scaly-breasted Munia fed on seeding plants.

Lunch was taken in a shady spot often used for camping by the side of a river.   Unfortunately there were a lot of Toque Macaques - we were warned to keep a close eye on our food as the monkeys are not scared of humans and know where the best food options are.   One group managed to get hold of a lunch bag, with a cocky male sitting in a tree peeling a hard-boiled egg and then stuffing it into his mouth whole.  

The excitement of the afternoon was a message that a Leopard kill had been made some way off, so we drove back to the area to see if there was any evidence of the cat.   Sadly, a young water buffalo had been killed and its mother was standing by the body, trying to stop two Golden Jackals from tearing the body apart.  We watched from a distance as the mother was obviously distressed and would not leave.   The Jackals were chased off several times, but kept coming back.   Then more Water Buffalo came over to add support to the grieving mother - finally a large male appeared, this seemed to keep the Jackals at bay.

Jordan's Nightjar

The consensus of opinion was that the Leopard would not return until all the Buffalo (especially the male) had gone, so given that our time was precious, we decided to move off.

The rest of the afternoon was spent driving along the tracks seeing what was about until it was time to go back to the hotel for a welcome shower and dinner.

The option of a night drive was taken up by three of the five, and although tired, the chance of seeing some more creatures proved too much of a draw for me.

Indian Gerbil

We were not disappointed with Jerdon's Nightjar, Jungle Cat, Indian Gerbil to name but three.