SINHARAJA FOREST RESERVE AND SURROUNDING AREA ALL DAY
WEATHER: typical rain forest weather today, hot and humid with full on sunshine until about 1pm. Then cloud and rain cloud formation, it rained lightly around 6pm. Temp 20C – 28C
It was a very early start today; the alarm went off at 4:20am!!! We had coffee and tea at 4:45am before driving off at 5am. The purpose for this early start was the endemic Sri Lanka Spurfowl. We were taken to a private house high up on the mountainside where there was a feeding station and a blind we could stand behind. First, we sat in the yard to watch the dawn break and the first few birds emerging from their slumber.
We saw our very first Black-capped Bulbul feeding in the garden trees with Yellow-browed Bulbuls and Square-tailed Bulbul. We saw Brown-headed, Yellow-fronted and Coppersmith Barbets, White-bellies Drongo and both Green Imperial Pigeon and the endemic Sri Lanka Wood Pigeon.
Black-capped Bulbul
Sri Lanka Wood Pigeon
Then a star bird arrived at the garden feeder, the endemic Sri Lanka Blue Magpie, in fact two came down to feed and a Jungle Nightjar circled behind us. The shout went up from the local guys that the Spurfowl had appeared at the feeding station so we marched up there in silence and soon we were all watching this endemic wildfowl. A group of the endemic Sri Lanka Junglefowl turned up after a few minutes and frightened the Spurfowl off.
Sri Lanka Blue Magpie
Sri Lanka Wood Pigeon knee deep in rice!
From the garden we jumped back onto the jeeps for the most bumpy ride you could ever experience!1 We were lucky in the fact that most of this track had been concreted but there was still a good way to go with the largest potholes and rocky scree that you could imagine.
We stopped a couple of time to look for birds and one particular stop produced two more endemic species and another very good sighting. The first was the endemic Green-billed Coucal, it gave us the run around for a while but all eventually got good, short views of it. Whilst tracking the Coucal we heard a White-faced Starling calling and Dammi found it for us. The Starling did not show very well and not all of the group got to see it before it flew off.
Spurfowl - it was very dark in the forest and the bird was too close for a decent picture
In the meantime one of our drivers slipped into the woods and found a pair of Sri Lanka Frogmouths, that was an exciting find for all of the group and a most wanted species.
Ceylon Frogmouth
We spent some time at the top of the mountainside near Martin’s Lodge looking for various species but not with much luck. So a walk on a track near the entrance to the forest reserve was made and proved very productive. We bumped into a feeding flock and listed a few wanted species. The endemic Ashy-headed Laughing Thrush was moving the forest in good numbers and we found our first Sri Lanka Drongo. Sri Lanka Rufous Babbler was also in the flock and we saw Crimson-backed Flameback Woodpecker.
The same driver that found the Frogmouths suddenly called us further up the track, he had found number target bird the RED-FACED MALKOHA! Well, this bird was very so elusive we only got to see bits of it, but at times it took short flights in the open and we filled our boots.
After that excitement we walked back to Martin’s Lodge for lunch, during our lunch we stopped to watch another pair of Sri Lanka Blue Magpies, in fact it was Little Phil who found a nesting site which had a couple of chicks in it.
a male Kangeroo Lizard
We all took a nap during our relaxation time and we were awoken by a call of Spot-winged Thrush! This endemic species was our eight of the day and now only one remained, the Sri Lanka Scaly Thrush. So, our next walk was into the Forest Reserve, we had picked a bad day for this because there were over 400 students having a day trip with escorts, it was bedlam on the main track.
Nevertheless we found quite a few species, everyone had much better views of the Ashy-headed Laughingthrush.
Butterflies and reptiles dominated our sightings and general interest. Many Tree Nymph butterflies glided gracefully in and out of the forest, we saw many Kangaroo Lizards, also the weird looking Hump-nosed Lizard and a colourful Common Garden Lizard. Our local guide found a Green Vine Snake and point out Combe-tail Fish in the ponds. We also saw Purple-faced Leaf Monkeys and the Dusky Plam Squirrel.
The local guide was an excellent spotter, even without binoculars!! He found us a pair of Malabar Trogons, two more Spot-winged Thrushes and relocated many other species. At one stage he found a nest of the Black-naped Blue Monarch.
Our back began at 4pm and now that it was quiet, with all the students departed, we saw a lot more birds. None of them were new for the list and after making many stops and searches fr the Scaly Thrush we never found one.
We left the park at five and drove down the bumpy track to our bus waiting at the bottom. We were well pleased with the number of species seen today and now we only need one more endemic species and few other species to complete our list.
We got back to the hotel at 6pm and ate dinner at 7pm. It had been a long and rewarding day.