TRANSFER FROM TISSIMAHARAMA TO UDAWALAWE - WITH BIRDING ALONG THE WAY AT WIRAWILA TANK AND PANNAGAMUWA WEWA - BIRDING THE CAUSEWAY AT UDA WALAWE RESERVOIR AND NIGHTJAR WATCHING AT A LOCAL SITE.
WEATHER: another perfect day. It was cool at the start and the end and hot in the middle. Humid all day with a moderate breeze. Temp. 20C+ all day.
We were on the move again today, we said goodbye to the excellent staff at the Hotel and birded in the car park until everyone was ready, the bus was loaded up. It was amazing that so many different species showed up to bid us farewell. Indian Black Robin, Asian Brown Flycatcher, Jorden's Leafbird, Blue-tailed Bee-eater, Purple-rumped Sunbird, Black-hooed Oriole, Imperial Green Pigeon, Asian Koel and a few others were all seen in the small car parking area.
We were on the road for 30 minutes or so when we stopped at the large reservoir called Wirawila, there we searched for the Cotton Pygmy Goose which is now called the Cotton Teal. We never found one there but we did see lots of other water species. Little Grebes, Waterhens, Jacanas, Swamphens, Cormorants, Egrets, Herons, Kingfishers and Terns, none of them were new for the list but they were nice to see in woinderful morning light.
Marshland habitat where we searched for Cotton Teal and Black Bittern
A few kilometers further along the road we stopped once again to view a smaller reservoir with very similar habitat, this time we struck lucky and found a few Cotton Teals. At first we found just two birds but then anther bunch of six appeared, all were very distant but with the lovely light the scope was able to pick out the colours etc.
another typical 'tank' where Cotton Teal roam.
One last stop was made to view a small reservoir, we searched for Black Bittern without luck but we did a few more species for the list. I photographed a Little Cormorant which had caught a large frog and after many attempts it finally swallowed it. As we drove on we stopped the bus to watch two Wolley-necked Storks circle the road and another stop was to watch an Oriental Honey Buzzard.
Little Cormorant trying to eat a large frog!
almost there!!
going, going.......
gone!! Just look at its neck!
Our arrival at our one-night hotel was timed to coincide with lunch and after checking in we all went down for a bite to eat. After that we had two hour to kill, some walked the grounds and other went to the pool to relax. Birds seen in the grounds included: Common Kingfisher, Grey Wagtail, Brown-headed Barbet, Indian Black Robin and several common species.
The afternoon birding session began at 3:30pm, we drove down to the dam and crossed the causeway, the huge Udawalawe Reservoir stretched out to our right. A couple of kilometers down the road we came to a large open area of marsh on one side and open woodland on the other. We stopped for birding and spent an hour or two just watching the tremendous wildlife all around us.
Spotted Deer, Intermediate Egret and Black-winged Stilt
The marshland had a back drop of the reservoir and woodland at each end, birds and mammals lived side by side and in good numbers. Water Buffalo, Spotted Deer, Grey Mongoose and Land Monitors were seen with about 50 species of birds. We had seen 95% of the birds already but a couple of nice additions to the list were found. Citrine Wagtail was a nice find, Phil went on to find a second bird.
Citrine Wagtail, a female
Then Dammi found the bird of the day, a Painted Snipe, it was distant and unfortunately it did not stay in view for long, also it was the dull male. A few minutes later Rick, our American friend and EAGLES fan (they had won the Super Bowl just a few hours earlier) found a second Painted Snipe, this time it was a beautiful female.
Painted Snipe, this is the second bird, found by Rick. A colourful female.
another shot of the snipe
Of course Phil, just had go one better and found a third Painted Snipe and one much closer than the others, also a female. Wow! That was fun and unexpected.
Pin-tailed Snipe, wouldn't win a beauty contest I'm afraid!
We walked across the road and viewed the open forest where lots of other soecies could be found. We added several new species to the day list but nothing new for the trip. Common Iora, Brown Shrike, Asian Paradise Flycatcher, Sri Lanka Swallow, Oriental White-eye, Scaly-breasted Munia, Black-hooded Oriole, Orange-breasted Green Pigeon were seen to name but a few.
Common Iora
As we lost the bright daylight birds started moving off to their respective roost, we saw a string of 30+ Glossy Ibis go over all the Yellow Wagtails took off and headed towards their roost with larks, finches and pipits. We decided to drive a few kilometers to a site where Nightjars are regularly seen, the Indian Little Nightjar in particular.
Jerdan's Bushlark, a very common forest species
We arrived just in time to see thousands of wagtails dropping down into the fields of sugar-beat and bats began to take to the air. A short walk into the fields along a wide track took us a few minutes. Within 10 mminutes Nightjars started calling and we found one sitting on the track. We all photgraphed the bird before it flew off. We saw it again a few times before we moved off, job done, Indian Nightjar in the bag. Time to back for dinner.
The Indian Little Nightjar taken by Phil Naylor
