Sinharaja Forest Reserve is a World Heritage Site, and on arriving at the visitor centre the relief map of the area certainly showed us why. It is a huge area, mainly kept as sanctuary but with some key trails into the forest which are accessed by jeeps on very bumpy trails.
Once we were dropped off at the trail head, we were left to explore the area and look for more birds and mammals to add to our ever -growing list. With a packed lunch we looked forward to a full day here.
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| Serendib Scops-Owl |
The only downside to the day was the presence of Leeches - only small ones and by no means as many as I encountered in Vietnam, but it was still hard to ignore the fact that there could be a blood-sucking devil on you!
However we had to concentrate as there was a whole new set of highland birds for us to find, along with more butterflies and several snakes.
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| Sri Lanka Frogmouth |
One of our main interests here was Serendib Scops-Owl, and there was great news when we arrived, as one of the local guides had found an Owl the previous afternoon. As we trekked through muddy overgrown paths, over bamboo bridges and through dense undergrowth, the anticipation was building. Amazingly, this beautiful Owl was roosting not far from where we stood, low to the ground and totally at ease with our presence. We all had great views, got some good photographs (although there were branches across it [aren't there always?!], and spent ages just watching and enjoying the moment.
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| Brown-breasted Flycatcher |
As if this wasn't enough excitement for a morning, our next stop was again through muddy undergrowth to see a pair of Sri Lanka Frogmouth. One was behind the other and not immediately visible, but again, they appeared completely at ease as we watched from a reasonable distance.
After these two highlights it was back to Leech-watch and hunting through the canopies for feeding flocks.
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| Pitcher Plant |
Indian Peafowl - better known as Peacock in the UK - is in this area, and was to be an almost constant on our list after today. They seem on the face of it a rather incongruous bird to have in the middle of a wild place. However, as we saw them in various habitats I gradually realised that they were absolutely in their element and provided a beautiful, elegant addition to the countryside. Roosting high up in the trees, with their tails hanging down they were brilliantly camouflaged - their tails appearing to be part of the tree.
We were back with Pigeons and Doves here, with Grey-capped Emerald-dove, Sri Lanka Green Pigeon and Green Imperial-Pigeon. A male Malabar Trogon gave us a good show, wagging its tail as it called. Bar-winged Flycatcher-shrike was a catch-up for me here,
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| Watching the Frogmouth |
Black-naped Monarch and Asian Paradise-flycatcher gave regular stunning views - the latter in both white and rufous forms. Sri Lanka Crested Drongo eventually showed well, but not before we had worked for it. Sri Lanka Blue Magpie was the final star of the avian show for us today, with four individuals preening in low branches.
The flame of the Sri Lanka junglefowl was on show throughout the day.
After our picnic lunch, we had a second walk, not as productive as the first, but we did see three snakes, several new butterflies and a few more Leeches.
Crested Treeswift appeared in the lodge garden.
However, the main "highlight" of the day was the way that Peter dealt with his blood letting experience, taking one for the team and even keeping his cool when his favourite shirt was wrecked.
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| Peter taking one for the team! |
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