TRANSFER FROM NEWARA ELIYA TO TISSAMAHARAMA WITH STOPS AT HAKRALLA HINDU TEMPLE – SURREY BIRD SANCTUARY – ELLA FALLS – DEBARAWAWA TANK
WEATHER; a cool start with a cloudy sky, afternoon bright sunshine hot and humid.
Our transfer day started at 8am as we left the hotel in Nuwara Eliya and headed southward, we only travelled a few kilometers before we made our first stop. The Hindu temple just outside of the town was our first destination, several of the group wanted to visit, some of us stayed outside and watched a few birdies with a small troupe of Toque Macaques. Birds seen during our brief stop included: Tailorbird, Yellow-eared Bulbul, Grey Wagtail and an unexpected pair of Kashmir Flycatchers. One piece of good luck was the sighting of a Brown Mongoose.
Brown Mongoose taken by Phil Naylor
Toque Macaque outside the Hindu Temple
We travelled for another 90 minutes before we pulled into the Surrey Bird Sanctuary, we had one main target bird on our list and that was the Brown Wood Owl. This owl had been a regular sighting during our past trips and this is a reliable roost site.
The Purple-rumped Sunbird another shot by Phil Naylor
Hanging Parrot by Phil Naylor
Dammi our guide, went ahead and checked where the owl was situated, in the meantime we scanned the trees and the bushes from the car park. We enjoyed watching many birds which included our first Thick-billed Flowerpecker, also all three Sunbird species, Hanging Parrot, Brown Headed Barbet, Ring-necked pPrakeets and many more.
Our walk through the woods to see the owl was arduous, but well worth the effort. We had excellent views of the Brown Wood Owl and whilst watching we found our first Sri Lanka Scimitar-bill (endemic).
Brown Wood Owl at Surrey Bird Sanctuary
Our Coconuts being prepared for us
We made a short stop to buy and drink coconut milk from freshly cut coconuts which was lovely we also saw Brahminy Kite and Yellow-billed Babblers during the stop. Apart from short quick stops to look at raptors we never stopped again for about an hour, raptors seen were Oriental Honey Buzzard, Crested hawk Eagle and a Shikra.
Another stop was made to look at our first Pied Hornbill, it was distant, sitting in the top of a dead tree, a Green Imperial Pigeon was seen in the adjacent tree.
Pied Hornbill
Our next stop was the waterfall just south of the town of Ella, a very busy tourist spot, we noted a couple of the beautiful Blue Mormon Butterflies and nothing much else except for dozens of people.
The Waterfall near Ella
Our lunch stop at a roadside restaurant was also enjoyable, we added a few birds to the day list and one to the trip list. Sri Lanka Swallows, Palm Swifts and Little Swifts were dashing about above us and only half of the group saw them as they were not finished eating.
Before we drove to the hotel we made one birding stop at the reservoirs at Debarawawa, these ‘tanks’ were built in the 19th century for water storage and are now a haven for waterbirds and many more. We had a fabulous time there, the weather was hot and humid with a lovely cooling wind and the light was just perfect. We listed dozens of species many of which were new to the group.
the very common White-throated Kingfisher
Purple Swamphen
We stared with Spot-billed Pelican, Purple Swamphen, Yellow Bittern, Whiskered Tern, Common Darter, Indian Cormorant, White-bellied Sea-Eagle, Little Green and Blue-tailed Bee-eaters, White-throated Kingfisher and bird list just kept on growing. More birds followed: Little Grebe, Common Greenshank, Black-winged Stilt, Pheasant-tailed Jacana, Purple Heron and four species of white egrets.
The track that circumnaviagtes the 'Tank'
Yellow Bittern, one of the first birds we came across at the 'Tanks' - taken by Phil Naylor
Both Baya and Streaked Weavers were seen, the latter were making new, freshly woven nests. We watched the most beautiful Pigeon you are ever going to see, the Orange-breasted Green Pigeon, what a stunning bird. We saw three species of Munias, Ther Black-rumped Woodpecker, Black-hooded Oriole, Black-headed Ibis, Asian Openbill and Grey herons.
Black-rumped Woodpecker, probing a hole with its tongue in this dead stump.
Orange-breasted Green Pigeon
Phew! It was exhausting just writing the list of species. We called it a day at 5:30pm and drove the last 10 minutes to our hotel, which was set in wonderful gardens and our chalets surrounded a beautiful swimming pool.
As we went to dinner in the dark at 7pm a Brown Fish Owl was spotted sitting on top of one of the sunshades in the garden, wowza! What a great surprise and an excellent sighting to finish the day with.