We had an excellent day around Sinharaja today. We managed to knock a serious chunk out of the targeted list of endemics by clocking up the following new species - Sri Lanka Spurfowl, Ashy-headed Laughingthrush, Green-billed Coucal, Sri Lanka Blue Magpie, Sri Lanka Scimitar-Babbler, White-faced Starling, Red-faced Malkoha, Sri Lanka Thrush and Sri Lanka Woodpigeon. In total we recorded nineteen of the possible thirty-four Sri Lanka endemics over the day alone.
The two highlights of the day were the sunrise visit to a private house that had several sought out species which came into the back yard to feed on food put out by the family. Top of these species was a pair of Sir Lanka Spurfowl which are extremely elusive normally. These were the only ones that were seen on the entire trip. They came in for just above five minutes and feed at a point blank range as we watched from inside the house. The light was understandably dire given that the sun hadn't yet risen. We also had our only Ashy-headed Laughing-thrushes of the trip here which was a little odd as I don't think they are that rare? Two other good birds here were an adult and a recently fledged Green-billed Coucal. We had tried looking for this species a few times previously and had been unsuccessful. Also here were a few Sri Lanka Blue Magpies. These also proved to be the only sighting of this species during the trip. Similar to the Laughing-thrush I wasn't expecting them to be so scarce either. My photos the species are unfortunately rather poor.
The other memorable bird of the day was Sri Lanka Thrush which we picked up in the afternoon. We had spend a good two hours on one calling bird but just get onto it. While we eating a packed lunch one of our guides managed to find another rather showy bird which really gave itself up. This species is notoriously skulky and we were very lucky to have seen the species so well after all effort. Red-faced Malkoha was also a bit of a stonker I might add, quite a large bird.
The two highlights of the day were the sunrise visit to a private house that had several sought out species which came into the back yard to feed on food put out by the family. Top of these species was a pair of Sir Lanka Spurfowl which are extremely elusive normally. These were the only ones that were seen on the entire trip. They came in for just above five minutes and feed at a point blank range as we watched from inside the house. The light was understandably dire given that the sun hadn't yet risen. We also had our only Ashy-headed Laughing-thrushes of the trip here which was a little odd as I don't think they are that rare? Two other good birds here were an adult and a recently fledged Green-billed Coucal. We had tried looking for this species a few times previously and had been unsuccessful. Also here were a few Sri Lanka Blue Magpies. These also proved to be the only sighting of this species during the trip. Similar to the Laughing-thrush I wasn't expecting them to be so scarce either. My photos the species are unfortunately rather poor.
The other memorable bird of the day was Sri Lanka Thrush which we picked up in the afternoon. We had spend a good two hours on one calling bird but just get onto it. While we eating a packed lunch one of our guides managed to find another rather showy bird which really gave itself up. This species is notoriously skulky and we were very lucky to have seen the species so well after all effort. Red-faced Malkoha was also a bit of a stonker I might add, quite a large bird.
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| Fledged Green-billed Coucal |
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| Adult Green-billed Coucal with snail. |
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| Sri Lanka Blue Magpie |
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| Golden-fronted Leafbird |
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| Sri Lanka Drongo |
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| Indian Paradise Flycatcher |
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| Sri Lanka Frogmouth |
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| Red-faced Malkoha |
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| Red-faced Malkoha |
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| Spot-winged Thrush |
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| Spot-winged Thrush |
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| Sri Lanka Thrush |
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| Sri Lanka Thrush |
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| Sri Lanka Thrush |
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| Sri Lanka Thrush |
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| Sri Lanka Junglefowl |
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| Sri Lanka Junglefowl |
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| Sri Lanka Junglefowl |
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| Sri Lanka Junglefowl |
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| Sri Lanka Spurfowl |
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