7th & 8th March - Nuwara Eliya/Horton Plains
7th March
Sadly we had to leave this lovely spot to transfer to the old hill station town of Nuwara Eliya – a long drive. Before leaving we had nice views of Lotens’ Sunbird by the hotel. En route through scenic hill country we spotted Mountain Hawk Eagle and before long we were clearly in tea country with hillsides covered with tea bushes and large hoardings advertising which estate they belonged to. We stopped for a pre-arranged guided tour around a tea factory, and a free sample of delicious freshly made tea. Hill Swallows flew around the buildings. We arrived at Nuwara Eliya, which is centred around a large lake [Lake Gregory], and also Victoria Park, and is located at around 2000m above sea level. We had very nice lunch at a restaurant by the lake. We then checked into our hotel, the Binota Residency, a pleasant little hotel above the town. In the afternoon we birded in Victoria Park. Unfortunately it decided to rain fairly steadily which made photography pretty difficult, which was a shame, as there were some special birds to find. A rather smelly river runs through the park and this is where our efforts were concentrated. We soon had Forest Wagtail on the list, alongside Grey Wagtail, and also a number of Common Sandpipers. After much diligent searching by Nandana we soon had good views of the elusive Pied [Ground] Thrush, both male and female. Not an endemic but this park is about the only place in Sri Lanka where it can be seen with any certainty. Indian Pond Herons were also common along this stretch of water, and we also got our first views of the endemic Yellow-eared Bulbul. Dusk was soon on us so we retired to the hotel for dinner.
8th March
Nuwara Eliya is the main jumping off point for access to the renowned Horton Plains National Park, a location in complete contrast to the damp forests. It was a fairly arduous winding trip up to the Park entrance, which we did in jeeps, starting very early before first light, and taking our breakfast with us. We arrived at the entrance at around 6:30 a.m.! We were clearly in different country now, and it was cool enough for warmer clothing. This was more open country with low scrub and more open woodland, and large open areas of grassland. Birds of prey comprised Oriental Honey Buzzard, Black-winged Kite, Mountain Hawk Eagle, and Common Kestrel. After a lot of diligent and patient searching we soon had pretty good views of the very skulking Sri Lanka Bush Warbler. Orange-breasted Green Pigeon was a new addition, as was an Alpine Swift overhead. Paddyfield Pipits were numerous in the grassy areas, and then we scored with two more endemics – Sri Lanka Whistling Thrush, and Dull Blue Flycatcher. We also saw Indian Blackbird, which although considered by some to be the same species or perhaps a subspecies of our Blackbird, looks totally different, with bright orange bill and legs and a very heavy orange eye-ring. Other small birds included Grey-headed Canary Flycatcher, Indian Robin, Sri Lanka White-eye [endemic], Brown Shrike, Pied Bushchat, Thick-billed/Jungle Crow and the eastern race of Great Tit, which is very greyish in colour. A pair of Giant Squirrels posed nicely in a tree. All this was in a pleasant 2.5 km walk through varied habitat [with a pause for breakfast of course!], out to a viewpoint called Mini World’s End. There is a longer 9 km walk, which takes you to a more spectacular viewpoint called World’s End but we decided against that. We then walked back and boarded our jeeps for the tortuous winding drive back down to Nuwara Eliya where we had lunch in the hotel. Late afternoon Nandana took us to an area behind the town where there was some woodland and a small densely vegetated valley. Patient searching and listening here by Nandana soon has us peering into the dark vegetation for reasonable views of the endemic Sri Lanka Scaly Thrush, and shortly after that, the target species – a Kashmir Flycatcher, a superb bird with its brown-grey back, deep rufous throat, breast and flanks with a neat black border between the breast and upper parts, and a cocked white-sided tail. A good end to a rewarding and productive day.
Sadly we had to leave this lovely spot to transfer to the old hill station town of Nuwara Eliya – a long drive. Before leaving we had nice views of Lotens’ Sunbird by the hotel. En route through scenic hill country we spotted Mountain Hawk Eagle and before long we were clearly in tea country with hillsides covered with tea bushes and large hoardings advertising which estate they belonged to. We stopped for a pre-arranged guided tour around a tea factory, and a free sample of delicious freshly made tea. Hill Swallows flew around the buildings. We arrived at Nuwara Eliya, which is centred around a large lake [Lake Gregory], and also Victoria Park, and is located at around 2000m above sea level. We had very nice lunch at a restaurant by the lake. We then checked into our hotel, the Binota Residency, a pleasant little hotel above the town. In the afternoon we birded in Victoria Park. Unfortunately it decided to rain fairly steadily which made photography pretty difficult, which was a shame, as there were some special birds to find. A rather smelly river runs through the park and this is where our efforts were concentrated. We soon had Forest Wagtail on the list, alongside Grey Wagtail, and also a number of Common Sandpipers. After much diligent searching by Nandana we soon had good views of the elusive Pied [Ground] Thrush, both male and female. Not an endemic but this park is about the only place in Sri Lanka where it can be seen with any certainty. Indian Pond Herons were also common along this stretch of water, and we also got our first views of the endemic Yellow-eared Bulbul. Dusk was soon on us so we retired to the hotel for dinner.
8th March
Nuwara Eliya is the main jumping off point for access to the renowned Horton Plains National Park, a location in complete contrast to the damp forests. It was a fairly arduous winding trip up to the Park entrance, which we did in jeeps, starting very early before first light, and taking our breakfast with us. We arrived at the entrance at around 6:30 a.m.! We were clearly in different country now, and it was cool enough for warmer clothing. This was more open country with low scrub and more open woodland, and large open areas of grassland. Birds of prey comprised Oriental Honey Buzzard, Black-winged Kite, Mountain Hawk Eagle, and Common Kestrel. After a lot of diligent and patient searching we soon had pretty good views of the very skulking Sri Lanka Bush Warbler. Orange-breasted Green Pigeon was a new addition, as was an Alpine Swift overhead. Paddyfield Pipits were numerous in the grassy areas, and then we scored with two more endemics – Sri Lanka Whistling Thrush, and Dull Blue Flycatcher. We also saw Indian Blackbird, which although considered by some to be the same species or perhaps a subspecies of our Blackbird, looks totally different, with bright orange bill and legs and a very heavy orange eye-ring. Other small birds included Grey-headed Canary Flycatcher, Indian Robin, Sri Lanka White-eye [endemic], Brown Shrike, Pied Bushchat, Thick-billed/Jungle Crow and the eastern race of Great Tit, which is very greyish in colour. A pair of Giant Squirrels posed nicely in a tree. All this was in a pleasant 2.5 km walk through varied habitat [with a pause for breakfast of course!], out to a viewpoint called Mini World’s End. There is a longer 9 km walk, which takes you to a more spectacular viewpoint called World’s End but we decided against that. We then walked back and boarded our jeeps for the tortuous winding drive back down to Nuwara Eliya where we had lunch in the hotel. Late afternoon Nandana took us to an area behind the town where there was some woodland and a small densely vegetated valley. Patient searching and listening here by Nandana soon has us peering into the dark vegetation for reasonable views of the endemic Sri Lanka Scaly Thrush, and shortly after that, the target species – a Kashmir Flycatcher, a superb bird with its brown-grey back, deep rufous throat, breast and flanks with a neat black border between the breast and upper parts, and a cocked white-sided tail. A good end to a rewarding and productive day.