Sri Lanka 27.2.2017

So finally the last day of the Sri Lanka posts. I've stretched these out a little as to be honest I've taken very few pictures since I've been back so haven't had a whole lot to blog about in the last two and a half months or so. Anyway I spend the early morning of our last day in Sri Lanka around the Tissa Tanks while the rest of the group had their first lie-in on the trip. I couldn't bring myself to do the same as I wanted to soak in the very last bit of birding as I knew what a relatively bird-free experience was awaiting me back home! Nothing too exciting and no ticks. I was maybe hoping on the half chance of picking up something like a Besra, Slaty-breasted Rail or Ruddy-breasted Crake. It turned out that my Red-necked Stint the previous day was my last lifer of the trip. In the end I got 84 lifers, much more than I had anticipated considering I had previously visited Goa, India with a somewhat similar avifauna. In total I personally saw a total of 248 species on the trip and of course we all managed to see all of the 34 currently recognised endemics. I've attached my trip list below with lifers in red font and the endemics in bold format.

Lesser Whistling-Duck	Caspian Tern	Black-naped Monarch
Garganey	White-winged Tern	Asian Paradise-Flycatcher
Rain Quail	Whiskered Tern	Sri Lanka Blue Magpie
Sri Lanka Spurfowl	Bridled Tern	House Crow
Sri Lanka Junglefowl	Common Tern	Indian Jungle Crow
Indian Peafowl	Greater Crested Tern	Grey-headed Canary-flycatcher
Little Grebe	Lesser Crested Tern	Cinereous Tit
Painted Stork	Rock Pigeon	Ashy-crowned Sparrow-Lark
Asian Openbill	Sri Lanka Wood Pigeon	Jerdon's Bush Lark
Woolly-necked Stork	Spotted Dove	Oriental Skylark
Black-necked Stork	Common Emerald Dove	Black-capped Bulbul
Lesser Adjutant	Orange-breasted Green Pigeon	Red-vented Bulbul
Glossy Ibis	Sri Lanka Green Pigeon	Yellow-eared Bulbul
Black-headed Ibis	Green Imperial Pigeon	White-browed Bulbul
Eurasian Spoonbill	Green-billed Coucal	Yellow-browed Bulbul
Yellow Bittern	Greater Coucal	Square-tailed Bulbul
Cinnamon Bittern	Sirkeer Malkoha	Barn Swallow
Black Bittern	Red-faced Malkoha	Hill Swallow
Black-crowned Night-Heron	Blue-faced Malkoha	Red-rumped Swallow
Striated Heron	Asian Koel	Sri Lanka Swallow
Indian Pond-Heron	Banded Bay Cuckoo	Green Warbler
Eastern Cattle Egret	Grey-bellied Cuckoo	Clamorous Reed Warbler
Grey Heron	Serendib Scops Owl	Blyth's Reed-Warbler
Purple Heron	Indian Scops-Owl	Sri Lanka Bush Warbler
Great Egret	Brown Fish-Owl	Zitting Cisticola
Intermediate Egret	Brown Wood Owl	Grey-breasted Prinia
Little Egret	Jungle Owlet	Jungle Prinia
Spot-billed Pelican	Chestnut-backed Owlet	Ashy Prinia
Little Cormorant	Brown Hawk Owl	Plain Prinia
Indian Cormorant	Sri Lanka Frogmouth	Common Tailorbird
Great Cormorant	Jerdon's Nightjar	Sri Lanka Scimitar Babbler
Oriental Darter	Indian Nightjar	Tawny-bellied Babbler
Osprey	Crested Treeswift	Dark-fronted Babbler
Black-shouldered Kite	Indian Swiftlet	Brown-capped Babbler
Oriental Honey-buzzard	Brown-backed Needletail	Orange-billed Babbler
Crested Serpent Eagle	Little Swift	Yellow-billed Babbler
Changeable Hawk-Eagle	Asian Palm-Swift	Ashy-headed Laughingthrush
Mountain Hawk-Eagle	Malabar Trogon	Yellow-eyed Babbler
Rufous-bellied Eagle	Indian Roller	Oriental White-eye
Black Eagle	Stork-billed Kingfisher	Sri Lanka White-eye
Crested Goshawk	White-throated Kingfisher	Velvet-fronted Nuthatch
Shikra	Common Kingfisher	Sri Lanka Hill Myna
Brahminy Kite	Oriental Dwarf Kingfisher	Southern Hill Myna
White-bellied Sea-Eagle	Pied Kingfisher	Common Myna
Grey-headed Fish Eagle	Green Bee-eater	Brahminy Starling
White-breasted Waterhen	Blue-tailed Bee-eater	White-faced Starling
Baillon's Crake	Chestnut-headed Bee-eater	Rosy Starling
Watercock	Eurasian Hoopoe	Pied Thrush
Grey-headed Swamphen	Sri Lanka Grey Hornbill	Spot-winged Thrush
Common Moorhen	Malabar Pied-Hornbill	Sri Lanka Thrush
Barred Buttonquail	Brown-headed Barbet	Indian Thrush
Indian Stone-curlew	Yellow-fronted Barbet	Indian Robin
Great Stone-curlew	Crimson-fronted Barbet	Oriental Magpie-Robin
Black-winged Stilt	Coppersmith Barbet	White-rumped Shama
Yellow-wattled Lapwing	Brown-capped Woodpecker	Asian Brown Flycatcher
Red-wattled Lapwing	Yellow-crowned Woodpecker	Brown-breasted Flycatcher
Grey Plover	Lesser Yellownape	Tickell's Blue-Flycatcher
Pacific Golden Plover	Red-backed Flameback	Dull-blue Flycatcher
Lesser Sand-Plover	Crimson-backed Flameback	Indian Blue Robin
Greater Sand-Plover	White-naped Woodpecker	Sri Lanka Whistling Thrush
Kentish Plover	Eurasian Kestrel	Kashmir Flycatcher
Ringed Plover	Sri Lanka Hanging Parrot	Pied Bushchat
Little Ringed Plover	Rose-ringed Parakeet	Jerdon's Leafbird
Pheasant-tailed Jacana	Plum-headed Parakeet	Golden-fronted Leafbird
Common Snipe	Layard's Parakeet	Thick-billed Flowerpecker
Black-tailed Godwit	Alexandrine Parakeet	Legge's Flowerpecker
Whimbrel	Indian Pitta	Pale-billed Flowerpecker
Redshank	Bar-winged Flycatcher-shrike	Purple-rumped Sunbird
Marsh Sandpiper	Sri Lanka Woodshrike	Purple Sunbird
Common Greenshank	Ashy Woodswallow	House Sparrow
Green Sandpiper	Common Iora	Streaked Weaver
Wood Sandpiper	Marshall's Iora	Baya Weaver
Common Sandpiper	Large Cuckooshrike	Indian Silverbill
Ruddy Turnstone	Black-headed Cuckoo-shrike	White-rumped Munia
Red-necked Stint	Small Minivet	Scaly-breasted Munia
Little Stint	Orange Minivet	Black-throated Munia
Curlew Sandpiper	Brown Shrike	Tricolored Munia
Ruff	Indian Golden Oriole	Forest Wagtail
Red-necked Phalarope	Black-hooded Oriole	Western Yellow Wagtail
Small Pratincole	Ashy Drongo	Grey Wagtail
Brown-headed Gull	White-bellied Drongo	Oriental Pipit
Little Tern	Sri Lanka Drongo	Blyth's Pipit
Gull-billed Tern	White-browed Fantail

Pheasant-tailed Jacana

Grey-headed Fish Eagle

Black Bittern

Indian Pond Heron

Indian Pond Heron

Moorhen

Grey-headed Fish Eagle

Shrika/Besra

Grey-headed Swamphen

Grey-headed Swamphen

White-breasted Waterhen

White-breasted Waterhen

Tawny-bellied Babbler

Tawny-bellied Babbler

Tawny-belied Babbler

Sri Lanka Passerines 25.2.2017

The last of the pictures from Yala National Park.

Paddyfield Pipit

Yellow-crowned Woodpecker

Spotted Dove

Orange-breasted Green-Pigeon

Sirkeer Malkoha 

Sirkeer Malkoha

Black-headed Cuckooshrike

Chestnut-headed Bee-eater

Malabar Pied Hornbill

Sri Lanka Swallow

Brahimy Starling

Little Bee-eater 

Common Iora

Purple Sunbird

Purple Sunbird

Sri Lanka Mammals 25.2.2017

We spend the whole day in Yala National Park on another safari. Another photo heavy session ensued so I'm going to break this up into a three posts. Starting first with the respectful list of mammals encountered during the day. The undoubted highlight being Leopard of course. We managed to come across four individuals, all found by ourselves after "dipping on" one animal first thing. It looked like this animal had been seen by large numbers of visitors so it was nice to have several Leopards largely all to ourselves. The first animal was first spotted lying right in the middle of the dirt track when we came around a corner, couldn't get much easier than that! Later on we came across another animal on the road. Over the next hour we had three animals in this same small area. It looked like two males and one female were involved. One of the males came very close to the jeep at one stage, almost too close for my 400mm lens. The female retreated up into a tree and was closely followed by one of the males. She wasn't very impressed by his advances and aggressively admonished him with paw swipes and spine-tingling deep roars. Another amazing wildlife experience and certainly one of the highlights of the whole trip.

Yala Leopard from Dermot Breen on Vimeo.

Spotted Deer

Ruddy Mongoose

Ruddy Mongoose

Indian Elephant

Toque Macaque

Toque Macaque

Marsh Mugger

Sri Lanka 24.2.2017

Today was to be Blue Whale day. We stayed near Mirissa the previous night and first thing in the morning we heading offshore from the rather busy and maniac harbour. Blue Whales have been found to be a regular sight just off southern Sri Lanka in recent years. The sea bed drops quickly to 1000 metres only 10 km offshore which prove to be productive feeding grounds due to up-welling of cold water from the depths into the warmer waters of the surface. Our first sighting of the morning was a mating pair of sea turtles. They were called out as Green Sea Turtles by the on-board guides but on reviewing the pictures for this post I think they're actually Olive Ridley's Sea Turtles. We also had one large pod of Spinner Dolphins on the way out. The seabird diversity was extremely poor as was to be expected with the only seabirds seen being several tern species which included several Bridled Terns which were a lifer for myself. We eventually seemed to hit a hotspot for whales and managed to see about three Blue Whales. These animals are supposed to belong to the subspecies of Blue Whales called the Pygmy Blue Whale which as the name would suggest are slightly smaller than Blue Whales found in the Atlantic but they were still gigantic animals. It really was an honour to see the largest ever animal that has existed on planet Earth. Several Remora fish were also seen attached to the whales. These fish have specially adapted suckers on the top of their heads which attach to the whales skin. A few ugly scars were seen on one animal and many have been the result of a run-in with a boat propeller. This area has a heavy flow of large container ships which use the deep water to transport goods along the coastline. Whale fatalities are a regular occurrence unfortunately. Another feature of concern was the large number of whale watching tour boats in the area and their behaviour. At one stage I counted 21 whale-watching boats in the immediate vicinity of the whales. Once a whale came to the surface to breath there was a huge stampede of boats rushing towards the whales. I don't think this is potentially the best for the whales welfare. The whole whale watching industry is only a very recent addition here and I'd hate to see what sort of numbers of boats will be involved in these trips in a short number of years.

In the afternoon we visited a few more nearby lakes/marshes and gardens where the birding proved very productive.

Blue Whale

Blue Whale tail with Remora fish.

Close up of Remora fish.

Blue Whale blow on the right with whale watching boat very close-by on the left.

Blue Whale blow.

Blue Whale blowhole.

Remora fish.

Blue Whale

Blue Whale

Blue Whale with three Remora fish.

Spinner Dolphins

Spinner Dolphins

Spinner Dolphins

Olive Ridley's Sea Turtle

Olive Ridley's Sea Turtle

Olive Ridley's Turtle

Summer plumaged Bridled Tern

Summer plumaged Bridled Tern

Winter plumaged Bridled Tern

Black Bittern 

White-winged Black Tern

White-winged Black Tern

Whiskered Tern

Grey-headed Swamphen

Watercock

Blue-tailed Bee-eater

Spot-billed Pelican

Spot-billed Pelican

Spot-billed Pelicans

White-breasted Waterhen

Lesser Whistling Ducks and Red-wattled Lapwings.

Red-backed Woodpecker

Female White-naped Woodpecker

Male and female White-naped Woodpeckers

Male White-naped Woodpeker

White-naped Woodpecker

Male and female White-naped Woodpecker