5th & 6th March - Udawatta Kelle forest and transfer to Kitulgala
5th - After breakfast we checked out, and then headed for the nearby Udawatta Kelle Forest reserve area. We did some of our first forest birding here and started logging some interesting species, due in no small part to Nandana’s intimate knowledge of calls and habits. Highlights included Crimson-backed [Great] Flameback [an endemic woodpecker], Yellow-fronted Barbet [endemic], Oriental [Black-backed] Dwarf Kingfisher, Sri Lanka Small Barbet [endemic], Layard’s Parakeet [endemic], Brown Fish Owl, and Lesser Hill Mynah.
We then headed for our next location, by a village called Kitulgala. En route a raptor was spotted from the bus and we stopped to check – it was a dark phase Booted Eagle, a species familiar to some of us from trips in Europe. After a 3 hour drive to this, the wet zone of Kitulgala, we checked into our lovely little hotel, the Kitulgala Rest House, which has terraced rooms overlooking the confluence of two rivers with rain forest as a background - a lovely spot, and close to where some of the film “Bridge over the River Kwai” was filmed. Some of the walls in the hotel reception area were adorned with pictures of Sir Alec Guinness et al.
Birding around Kitulgala the list continued to build with Yellow-browed Bulbul, Brown-headed Barbet, Black-rumped Flameback, Lesser Yellownape [another woodpecker], Asian Koel, Alexandrine Parakeet, White-bellied Drongo, Shikra, and Legge’s Flowerpecker [endemic], to name but a few. By now we were gradually becoming acclimatized to the high temperatures and humidity.
We then headed for our next location, by a village called Kitulgala. En route a raptor was spotted from the bus and we stopped to check – it was a dark phase Booted Eagle, a species familiar to some of us from trips in Europe. After a 3 hour drive to this, the wet zone of Kitulgala, we checked into our lovely little hotel, the Kitulgala Rest House, which has terraced rooms overlooking the confluence of two rivers with rain forest as a background - a lovely spot, and close to where some of the film “Bridge over the River Kwai” was filmed. Some of the walls in the hotel reception area were adorned with pictures of Sir Alec Guinness et al.
Birding around Kitulgala the list continued to build with Yellow-browed Bulbul, Brown-headed Barbet, Black-rumped Flameback, Lesser Yellownape [another woodpecker], Asian Koel, Alexandrine Parakeet, White-bellied Drongo, Shikra, and Legge’s Flowerpecker [endemic], to name but a few. By now we were gradually becoming acclimatized to the high temperatures and humidity.
6th - This was a long, arduous but rewarding day.
We did some pre-breakfast birding on the hotel side of the river and then after
breakfast, we were ferried across the river in two groups of 4, standing in a
narrow dug-out canoe [which did have a bamboo outrigger for stability]. I was
in the first crossing and as we landed we saw a Crested Serpent Eagle standing on a large outcrop mid-stream. I
took a few photos and then as our second group crossed it took flight, allowing
some excellent flight shots. The crossing was quite an experience and required
a good degree of concentration and balance in the very narrow craft [at most
about ¾ of a metre wide!]. This ‘ferry’ was a lifeline for the locals who lived
on the opposite side of the river to the main village. From here we trekked
along a track past small dwellings and into the forest. We didn’t return until
3 p.m.! Plenty of water was taken of course, and we saw many good birds.
Additions to the list included Sri Lanka
Scimitar Babbler [endemic], Black-hooded
and Black-naped Orioles, Sri Lanka Hill Mynah [endemic], Sri Lanka Crested Drongo [endemic], Spot-winged Thrush [endemic], Sri Lanka Hanging Parrott [endemic],
and Chestnut-backed Owlet [endemic].
Shortly after seeing the latter we had our first of only two occasions of heavy
rain during the trip. The Owl was in a tree near a villager’s dwelling and we
were able to shelter under the overhang of their roof and sample some Durian
fruit they offered us [tastes rather like Lychee and is a good laxative so only
a small sample was tried!]. Whilst sheltering we had close views of a cock Sri Lanka Jungle Fowl [endemic]. After
the rain had ceased we set off again and Nandana’s sharp hearing soon had us
clinching the endemic Green-billed
Coucal. We ‘staked out’ a paddyfield in a clearing where Blue-faced Malkoha were apparently
sometimes seen but had no luck, although a Besra
flew through, and we had one of only two sightings of Slaty-legged Crake. Nandana left us to watch the area whilst he
went off in search the endemic Serendip
Scops Owl, but he wasn’t successful. We were getting pretty tired [and
hungry!] by this stage and we had logged 59 species during the walk, so we set
off back to the ferry.
That afternoon we chilled at the hotel
spotting what we could from the terrace overlooking the river.