KITHULAGA GUEST HOUSE GARDENS - ACROSS THE RIVER TO OLD KITHULAGA - ALSO ACROSS THE WOBBLY BRIDGE TO PARAWALABAMMA - LATE AFTERNOON VISIT TO TEA PLANTATIONS AT BELIENA
WEATHER: cool to start, then hot and humid. Top temp 27C
It was great to be out at b6am as the sun was rising, the temperature was perfect and light pretty good too! We boarded the bus after tea/coffee & biscuits and drove for a couple clicks through the town.
We crossed the river on the ‘wobbly’ bridge, keeping a set distance apart and only 5 at a time, we all made it safely across. In the good old days this bridge had wooden slats to walk on and many were missing so you had to watch your step.
We walked the tracks and trails on the other side of the river and had some wonderful encounters with a number of species. A Slaty-legged Crake was calling from the undergrowth near a stream, we tried to call it out, but it would show, we did find a White-breasted Waterhen.
Both of Sri Lanka Green Pigeon and Imperial Pigeon sat in the same tree whilst Orange Minivets, Scaley-breasted Munia, Bee-eaters and Orioles joined them.
The endemic Sri Lanka Green Pigeon
Saman found a Yellow-naped Woodpecker and we then had Spartan views of a Dark-fronted Babbler, this latter bird was very close but would not behave itself and failed to show to all of the group.
Yellow-naped Woodpecker
No long afterwards we had the best views of a Green-billed Coucal that you could possibly want. I remember all those times in the past we spent chasing shadows of this sometimes-mythical bird. Today, two of them showed extremely well and not far away too.
Green-billed Coucal
In the meantime lots of other species came out to play. A nice male Golden-fronted Leafbird was very nice to see and then one of the star birds of the morning appeared. A Banded Bay Cuckoo put on quite a show, it perched at the top of a tree and called incessantly.
Bay Banded Cuckoo
A Black-capped Bulbul was found sitting on a nest at the roadside, we watched Chestnut-headed Bee-eaters, Black-hooded Orioles, Sunbirds, Babblers and more Bulbuls. A Shikra sat out nicely whilst both Imperial Pigeon and Sri Lanka Green Pigeon sat out nicely with Minivets and Barbets.
Chestnut-headed Bee-eater
It was 9am by the time we got back to breakfast, that went down very well. Afterwards we spent sometime birding in the garden watching Hanging Parrots, Sunbirds, a pair of Asian Flycatchers and a Crested Serpent Eagle dropped into one of the trees above the guest house.
Crested Serpent-Eagle
Saman led us down to the river where we caught the ferry across to the Mandalawa reserve area. We spent an hour or more waiting for a Slaty-legged Crake to appear, we could hear that it was quite close, but it never showed at all.
on the ferry with the hotel in the background. This guy, our captain, rows the rows the ferry across the river about 200 times per day! Wowza!!
The highlight of our second morning walk was the sighting of two Stork-billed Kingfishers, magnificent beasts they are. We also logged our first Grey Wagtails and Scaley-breasted Munias, we watched White-bellied Sea-Eagles again and both Loten’s Sunbirds and Chestnut-headed Bee-eaters sat on the power cables that spanned the river.
Tickell's Flycatcher
For the afternoon birding session we reconvened at 3pm and took the bus to some nearby tea-plantations. A long walk (uphill) produced a multitude of sightings, too many to list.
Indian Robin
The highlights were: Black-headed Cuckoo-shrike, Crested Treeswift, Sri Lanka swallow, Blue-tailed and Chestnut-headed Bee-eaters, Indian Robin, White-rumped and Black-throated Munias.
Oriental White-eye
Birds kept on popping up into the trees above the tea plantations and in hedgerows. We found a Velvet-fronted Nuthatch towards the end of the walk which was a nice bird to finish with.
up into the hill above Kithulaga