Oak Beauty

 

The back garden is usually void of moths from late November to the end of March. I put the trap out on suitable nights hoping for a catch but am always disappointed come the morning. This year was the same until Friday morning.

A Common Plume on the wall near the trap was a good sign but an Oak Beauty on the outside of the trap was a real find. Not only my earliest garden catch of the year since I started mothing but also a first for the garden. It's not a particularly rare moth but it is scarce where I live, near the coast and with few trees around.

Oak Beauty - Biston strataria

A great start to the year and some encouragement to get the trap out more often.

Sri Lanka 1 - Habarana

 

Another of our touring holidays, this time two weeks in Sri Lanka. Our holidays are all very similar, a lot of travelling, a lot of places to visit and explore and if I am lucky, a bit of time to do some birding. I would see more on a dedicated birding trip with the use of professional guides but I think the sense of achievement is greater when you find your own birds.

I had four locations where I could spend some time birding and there were a few other brief opportunities at various other points we stopped off at. That gives me four blogs, The  Habarana area, Kandy, Queen Victoria Park in Nuwara Eliya, and the National Parks at Udawalawe and Yala.

So Habarana, we stayed at the Habarana Village by Cinnamon and you could see from the map, before we went, that it was going to be good for birding. A village complex set in a large green area, along side a lake, with its own butterfly trail. The lake is artificial, part of a complex system of tanks and canals that collect and redistributes surface water across the dryer parts of the island. Much of the system was built around 2000 years ago and is still working today. However, renovation is also taking place, as global warming starts to put the agricultural system under stress and the importance of these resources becomes more recognised.

We stayed for two nights and that gave me some time for birding. A couple of hours before breakfast and an afternoon when Sue went off to explore a local village. There were some good birds about, hearing them was easy but actually seeing them and then getting a photograph was hard work. Most of the island is covered in lush green vegetation with trees and bushes providing dense cover for the birds.

Asian Koel - Eudynamys scolopaceus

Some of the birds are spectacular and top of my wish list was the Indian Paradise-Flycatcher. Fortunately they are fairly common and I saw many of them during the holiday although none that would pose willingly in front of the camera.

Indian Paradise-Flycatcher (Sri Lanka) - Terpsiphone paradisi ssp. ceylonensis

These two were around the hotel grounds. I thought initially that I had photographed a male and female but reading up on them later it looks like two males The first ssp ceylonensis is the local breeding resident, with the second, ssp paradisi a winter migrant. The females of both look similar to ssp ceylonensis but have paler throats.

Indian Paradise-Flycatcher - Terpsiphone paradisi ssp. paradisi

Black-hooded Oriole - Oriolus xanthornus

Brahminy Kite - Haliastur indus

The Common Kingfisher from back home in the UK.

Common Kingfisher - Alcedo atthis

And a much less common Kingfisher, the Stork-billed.

Stork-billed Kingfisher - Pelargopsis capensis

Darter - Anhinga melanogaster

Great Egret - Casmerodius albus

House Crow - Corvus splendens

Malabar Pied Hornbill - Anthracoceros coronatus

I also had a fly over of  a Sri Lanka Grey Hornbill which is endemic to the island. Unfortunately flying away from me by the time I got the camera onto it. A missed opportunity but at least the views were good and there were no doubts on the sighting. Pale grey and white and no casque on the beak.

There were good numbers of the smaller birds in the bushes around the lake but they were not easy to photograph.

Two pictures of Sunbirds, the first looks like a female Loten's. No supercilium, light yellow and white underside and although not visible in this picture it had white in the underside tail feathers. The second is a Purple-rumped Sunbird.

Loten's Sunbird - Nectarinia lotenia

Purple-rumped Sunbird - Nectarinia zeylonica

The Red-vented Bulbul, one of the more common birds and found all over the island.

Red-vented Bulbul - Pycnonotus cafer

Two of the three Munia species found on the island. The third, the Black-throated is rare and has a limited distribution.

Scaly-breasted Munia - Lonchura punctulata

Black-headed Munia - Lonchura malacca

A poor picture of the Sri Lanka Green Pigeon but worth including as many consider it as endemic having split it from the pompadour green pigeon complex.

Sri Lanka Green Pigeon - Treron (pompadora) pompadora

Indian White-eye - Zosterops palpebrosus

Sri Lanka Woodshrike - Tephrodornis (pondicereanus) affinis

And one final picture, hand held at 1/20 sec, on a 420mm lens, well after dusk and deep in the  undergrowth. It's just amazing what modern cameras can do.

Orange-headed Thrush - Zootherea citrina

There were a few other birds seen but the pictures were not worth publishing. Poor record shot quality only. It was a pity to move on. I could easily have spent a few more days exploring the area.

Perhaps one final picture. It looks like a Carpenter Bee - Xylacopa, probably the Slender-scaped Carpenter Bee - Xylacopa tenuiscapa but there are around 500 bees in the genus so I could be wrong. I just wish I had the macro lens with me!

Blue Cader Bee - Xylocopa agg

Sri Lanka 2 - Kandy

 

Kandy, the old capital of the ancient kings. It is home to sacred landmarks, landscaped gardens, and cultural museums. It may not seem to be an obvious place for birding but I had great hopes. The hotel we stayed at was set on the Mahaweli Ganga, the main river in the area; we had a visit planned to the Botanical Gardens, e-bird list 151 species. There was the Kandy Lake, in the centre of the city and next to the Temple of the Tooth that we would also be visiting, e-bird list 113 species. If all that failed there was also the Royal Forest Park Udawatta Kele another notable birding area just a few minutes from the city centre with an e-bird list of 184 species.

It didn't quite work out as I had planned. We had a lot packed into our two days there. I didn't have time to visit the lake although I could see birds around it as we went by on the coach. The visit to the Botanic Gardens was a waste of time as far as the birding went. I saw two or three birds and heard a couple more but with the visit in the middle of the day, the heat was oppressive and there was very little moving.

The only bird I photographed at the gardens was this Little Cormorant.

Little Cormorant - Microcarbo niger

The main birding interest was around the hotel and along the river.

Black Eagle - Ictinaetus malayensis

Brahminy Kite - Haliastur indus

Indian Pond Heron - Ardeola grayii

Red-vented Bulbul - Pycnonotus cafer

Common Myna - Acridotheres tristis

Red-wattled Lapwing - Vanellus indicus

A couple more shots of Kingfishers.

Stork-billed Kingfisher - Pelargopsis capensis

White-throated Kingfisher - Halycon smyrnensis

White-bellied Sea Eagle - Haliaeetus leucogaster

White-bellied Sea Eagle - Haliaeetus leucogaster

A massive crop but I couldn't resist including the Brown-headed Barbet below.

Brown-headed Barbet - Megalaima zeylanica

Yellow-billed Babbler - Chrysomma sinense

I had a fly over of another bird of prey. I am reasonably confident that it is an Oriental Honey Buzzard. A good bird given that I have still not had close views of a Honey Buzzard back in the UK.

Oriental Honey-Buzzard - Pernis ptilorhynchus

A bit disappointing as I had expected more from the Botanic Gardens and at least a bit of time around the Kandy Lake. I had not realised how quiet the birdlife gets around midday. The periods after dawn and before dusk are even more important in these hot countries.

Sri Lanka 3 - Nuwara Eliya

Nuwara Eliya (Little England) is set at a height of over 1800 metres (6000 ft) amongst the hills and mountains of central Sri Lanka. The climate is similar to England, hence the name, and the bird life includes some of the rarer species and endemics.

We only stayed one night in Nuwara Eliya, arriving late afternoon and leaving early the next morning but I did manage to get a couple of hours before dark in Queen Victoria Park which offered the opportunity of seeing some of these birds

It looks like a typical English manicured park but the trees and scrub at the back of the park are less well  managed and it was here that most of these pictures were taken.

Brown Shrike - Lanius cristatus

Bar-winged Flycatcher-shrike - Hemipus picatus

A Yellow-fronted Barbet. It stayed high in the tree but I eventually managed to get enough detail in the picture to be able to identify it. An endemic so a good find.

Yellow-fronted Barbet - Megalaima rubricapillus

Another endemic, the Sri Lanka Scimitar Babbler, this one feeding young and very difficult to photograph as it stayed in deep cover.

Sri Lanka Scimitar Babbler - Pomatorhinus melanurus

Sri Lanka Scimitar Babbler - Pomatorhinus melanurus

White-breasted Waterhen - Amaurornis phoenicurus

I had seen a White-breasted Waterhens before but this was the first out in the open. The Tailor bird I had seen a couple of times in the park before this one eventually sat up nicely on a branch for me to photograph.

Common Tailorbird - Orthotomus sutorius

The ever present Red-vented Bulbul

Red-vented Bulbul - Pycnonotus cafer

Oriental Magpie Robin - Copsychus saularis

I had seen an image of a Great Tit in my Helm Field Guide so was not surprised when I found one in the garden. It is a common bird back home so I did not pay it much attention. It was only when I got back home and was searching on the web that I found that the Sri Lanka species had been split off and was now referred to as a Cinereous Tit - Parus cinereus race mahratturum.

There was one final bird which was located by another birder as we were leaving the park. It was very dark by then but he could hear the call and we eventually we saw it moving around. He identified it from the call as a Kashmir Flycatcher but you could only see it as a dark shadow with no indication of colour. Personally I could not hear the call and had no idea what it was.

Being a photographer I attempted a shot. I managed two frames before the camera refused to fire probably due too it's inability to focus on anything. Picture taken at ISO 10000 and 1/3 of a second in near full darkness.

Clearly not a Kashmir Flycatcher.

Not a particularly good picture but at least it does show that this is not a Kashmir Flycatcher which has grey brown upper parts with deep rufus throat and breast. It does look good for a Grey-headed Canary Flycatcher, blue grey head and breast with yellow underneath and yellowish green on top. They are the same size at 13cms and listening to xeno-canto their calls, to me, sound very similar.

Unfortunately this is one that got away, I will never know for sure.

Sri Lanka 4 - Yala

 

We travelled down from Nuwara Eliya to Tissamaharama where we stayed for a couple of nights and used it as a base to visit Yala National Park. We stopped off at a baby elephant sanctuary on the way where I added a Painted Stork, Yellow Wagtail, Green Bee-eater and White-browed Fantail to my list.

Green Bee-eater - Merops orientalis

White-browed Fantail - Rhipidura aureola

Painted Stork - Mycteria leucocephala

There were also a few other birds that I had already seen and of course, lots of baby elephants.

We had a couple of trips into Yala. The early morning visit was quite productive and I picked up a number of new birds. The late afternoon visit was less successful. There seemed to be a lot less activity from birds and mammals, possibly due to the heat, although we were also in an area of denser undergrowth and so less visibility.

Crested Hawk Eagle - Nisaetus cirrhatus

We saw two Crested Hawk Eagles. You always hope for one sitting out in the open but both had picked spots where they blended into the background.

Crested Hawk Eagle - Nisaetus cirrhatus

Crested Treeswift - Hemipprocne coronata

Great Thick-knee - Esacus recurvirostris

Pin-tailed Snipe - Gallinago stenura

Black-winged Stilt - Himantopus Himantopus

Blue-faced Malkoha - Rhopodytes viridirostris

Brahminy Starling - Sturnia pagodarum

Indian Robin - Saxicoloides fulicatus

Marsh Sandpiper - Tringa stagnatilis

Orange-breasted Green Pigeon - Treron bicintus

Pheasant-tailed Jacana - Hydrophasianus chirurgus

Sri Lanka Junglefowl - Gallus lafayeti

Sri Lanka Swallow - Cecropis (daurica) hyperythra

Yellow-wattled Lapwing - Vanellus malabaricus

Asian Openbill - Anastomus oscitans

Black-headed Ibis - Threskiornis melanocephalus

Emerald Dove - Chalcophaps indica

Purple Heron - Ardea purpurea

Scaly-breasted Munia - Lonchura punctulata

Spot-billed Pelican - Pelecanus philippensis

White-throated Kingfisher - Halycon smyrnensis

Woolly-necked Stork - Ciconia episcopus

and lots of Blue-tailed Bee-eaters

Blue-tailed Bee-eater - Merops philippinus

Blue-tailed Bee-eater - Merops phillippinus

I would have liked to visit the Bundala National Park but was advised that it that it had been badly degraded by flooding. Checking later I found mixed reviews of the park, some reporting the damage others saying it is the best location in Sri Lanka for waders. 

Maybe next time I visit Sri Lanka!

In total for the holiday I saw 87 birds, managed to get record shots for 71, and will probably have between 45 and 50 life ticks once I get round to checking them. Not too bad but trips like this always leave you wanting more.