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| Serendip Scops-Owl |
After leaving the dry woodlands of south-east Sri Lanka (see following post) we headed south-west for a couple of days relaxing around the ancient city of Galle. Then it was on to where the serious endemic-searching is undertaken - the wet forests of south-west Sri Lanka.
We booked into the Rock View Hotel, our base for searching the Sinharaja World Heritage Area. A local man hired by our driver-guide, Chandima Jayaweera, had tracked down a Serendip Scops-Owl at its daytime roost. Perched about 1m off the ground and extremely well-camouflaged, the bird allowed our close approach.
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| Ketil in action photographing a Serendip Scops-Owl |
The bird was so close that one of our group, Ketil, could not use his wonderful cameras to capture its image, instead resorting to a mobile phone. The Serendip Scops-Owl is a recently discovered species with a total population of just 200-300 birds.
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| Sri Lanka Myna |
After the owl encounter, we walked a forest trail in search of some endemics. We tracked down a calling Green-billed Coucal, one of the more difficult to see, in dense undergrowth. Small feeding flocks included Black-capped Bulbul, Sri Lanka Drogo and Sri Lanka Myna.
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| Southern Hill Myna |
As well as the endemic myna, Southern Hill Mynas were seen here and elsewhere as we moved around Sri Lanka.
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| Square-tailed Bulbul |
Also about were a few Square-tailed (Black) Bulbuls.
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| Sri Lanka Grey Hornbill |
The next day early in the morning, we met up with the fellow who found the owl and dropped in at the Sinharaja reserve administration centre, where a Sri Lanka Grey Hornill was feeding on fruit left out for the birds and monkeys.
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| Sri Lanka Blue Magpie |
He drove us in his jeep up a steep road to the main Sinharaja birding trail. On the way up we saw White-headed Starling, sometimes a hard bird to find. We stopped at another spot where we enjoyed superb close views of Sri Lanka Spurfowl, another of the trickier endemics. Walking the main trail to a research centre, the specialties came thick and fast. Among the star attractions was Sri Lanka Blue-Magpie.
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| Spot-winged Thrush |
We added the elusive Sri Lanka Thrush, Spot-winged Thrush, Ashy-headed Laughingthrush and the impressive Red-faced Malkoha.
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| Brown-chested Flycatcher |
Nice non-endemics in the forest included Brown-chested Flycatcher.
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| Sri Lanka Frogmouth |
Later in the day, the same fellow who found the roosting owl tracked down a roosting Sri Lanka Frogmouth.
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| Crimson-backed Flameback |
After we returned to our hotel, we found a pair of endemic Crimson-backed Flamebacks across the road from our rooms.
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| Crested Serpent-Eagle |
The next day we transferred to Kithulgula and the nice Plantation Hotel, seeing Crested Serpent-Eagle on the way.
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| Chesnut-headed Bee-eater |
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| Brown-headed Barbet |
In the afternoon, we connected with another endemic, White-throated Flowerpecker. Other birds about included Brown-headed Barbet and Chesnut-headed Bee-eater.
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| Chesnut-backed Owlet |
The next morning, we tracked down a calling pair of Chesnut-backed Owlets, the final remaining endemic on our list.
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| Black-backed Kingfisher |
An unexpected bonus in this area of forest was a Black-backed Kingfisher.
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| Long-billed Sunbird |
We had a few nights at the end of our trip relaxing in a hotel at Negombo. Among the birds here was this Long-billed Sunbird.
¡Nice!
ReplyDeleteGreeting from Spain.