2nd March - Udawalawa to Galoya, Sri Lanka

It was a leisurely start to the day before leaving for our next location, a Wild Glamping site in the Gal Oya area to the east of Sri Lanka. Our journey would be on single carriageway roads, heading in a north easterly direction through the towns of Wellawaya, and Bibilie.  The journey was just under four hours.  Before leaving there was time to take in the views from our hotel.

Leaving Kulu's Hideaway we turned to the east past the entrance to the Udawalawa park we had visited the day before.  There are extensive electric fences along the side of the road as the elephants have learnt to exploit the small fruit stalls outside the park, some of the bulls holding the buses to ransom in order to get food.  The fences though have not stopped them still trying and as we passed there was a bull close to the fence, this one though was quite special as it was a "tusker", only about 3% of the male elephants in Sri Lanka actually have tusks so this one was a bit special.  As a result we stopped to take the obligatory photograph.

A short wayin to the journey we passed a large lake called Thanamalwima Wewa.  The water was almost covered with large lily pads and running around on the lily pads was a Pheasant-tailed Jacana.

Blessed with large toes it nimbly walked around the lily pads looking for insects on the leaves and the surface of the water.

However sometimes the leaves can't hold the weight of the Jacana and it has to use the wings to stop it from falling into the water.

As we were getting closer to our destination we stopped to watch two Wooly-necked Storks in a field by the side of the road.

Close up the wings show the same petrol colours in the plumage to that of the Glossy Ibis.

We arrived at the top of a dirt track.  Here we were met and transferred to the camp by safari jeep, the road being steep and very undulating.  Wild Glamping Gal Oya is located near the Gal Oya National Park, in the historic Rathugala a majestic mountain-locked village inhabited by the Adivasi people – a Vedda or indigenous tribe that calls Rathugala their home.  We were met by one of the elders of the village in traditional costume.  The public areas and tented lodges have been constructed by people from the indigenous community using locally sourced, eco-friendly materials.  This is a thirty acre farm on which almost all of the produce used in cooking the meals is provided by the farm

After checking in we were taken to our tented lodge, the walk taking us past paddy fields with orchards in the distance.  The lodges were supplied by solar power and were very luxurious.  We were lucky with our lodge being tucked away from the main area.

Views of the farmland and the paddyfields.

We had the afternoon to ourselves, a chance to explore the area around the site.  There were plenty of butterflies about once again, many just wouldn't stop for me.  One or two did though.

This is a Common Sailor

The Interestingly called Grey Pansy.

Seen a few days ago, the Common Crow.

and the Common Four Ring.

There was a lot of activity in the trees around the lodges, A Greater Coucal was calling but was well hidden by the trees.  The sunbirds were easier to see as they were nectaring on the flowers in the smaller bushes.  A female Purple-rumped Sunbird.

And the male.

I walked around the edge of the lodges and found a scrubby area where Merlin told me a Common Tailor bird was calling.  I only managed quick views, it looks a little like a female Blackcap.  However what did appear was a new bird for me, a Yellow-eyed Babbler.

A brahminy Kite was nesting in one of the taller trees overlooking the camp.  I could just make out on bird sitting on the nest.  

I decided to walk up the main track through the orchard.  Red-vented Bulbuls were singing from the trees, but unfortunately there wasn't any sign of the Little Green Bee-eater that had been on the track when we came in.

I found a path that led to the paddy fields and here there were Sri Lankan Swallows hawking over the fields.  So the challenge was thrown down.

They appear very similar to the Red-rumped Swallow, but lack the streaking, the underparts almost all a flame red.  The tail and the manner of flying is very similar to the Red-rumped Swallow.

A call from the the rice plants turned out to be an Ashy Prinia.

Walking back down the main track I had a rather obscured view of a Black-headed Oriole.

And a similar obscured view of a Greater Coucal.

Purple -rumped Sunbirds were probably the commonest sunbirds around the cam, I did manage one view of Purple Sunbird, but it was much too quick for the camera.  I did though manage to get good views of the other Sri Lankan sunbird, Loten's Sunbird.

The name of the bird commemorates Joan Gideon Loten, the Dutch governor to Ceylon who commissioned the artist Pieter Cornelis de Bevere to illustrate the natural history of the region from living and collected specimens.

Close to the restaurant there were several Scaly-breasted Munia.

Back at Kulu's Hideaway there was a large noisy flock of Yellow-billed Babbler, I forgot to photograph them there.  The Babblers were doing much the same here so I thought I needed to get the photograph.

It was a lovely walk to the restaurant with the sun setting behind the distant mountain, passing some golden light across the paddyfield.

When we left Udawalawa I sent my contact in Audley Travel an emails, stating our thoughts on the current situation and our journey home.  When we arrived here we were told there is no wifi.  Panic!  In the end I turned on data roaming and checked messages.  That evening as we sat having a night cap we decided to call.  We managed to get through and were completely reassured we hadn't been forgotten, there was now a plan

We went to bed that night feeling a lot better.

1st March - Udawalawa National Park, Sri Lanka - Afternoon Drive

We were told that the morning drive would be all about the birds as the elephants seem to be more active in the afternoon and early evening drives.  We set off around 14.30 and entered the park at the same site.  As e passed through the main gate there was an Indian Roller on one of the dead trees by the office buildings.

A couple of hundred metres into the park and the jeeps started to back up, the reason being our first elephant of the afternoon.  This was a small male and was feeding on the grass by kicking the grass and then with its trunk rolling the grass, shaking the soil of, then rolling it into a ball and finally eating it.

We went into a different part of the park from that we visited in the morning, our driver seemingly now searching for elephants.  We came across another large lake and in the distance could see good numbers of elephants on the other side of the lake.  As we drove around there was still plenty of birds.  Here a nice collection of Black winged Stilt, Grey Heron Indian darter, Spoonbill and Open-billed Stork

A pair of Open-billed Stork, any idea why the name?

Black-headed Ibis feeding in the deeper water.

There were two lone male Elephants feeding on the far side of the lake.  The bull elephants live solitary lives away from the matriarch female and her young and other females.  Five legs?

My challenge was to get a close up of the head, particularly the eye, for such a large animal the elephants have very small eyes and consequently poor eye sight, but there hearing and smell plus the low bass rumble noises that they can feel through their feet fully make up for it.

Water is essential and Elephants have to drink at least 70mto 90 litres of water a day, so proximity to water holes is essential, water is sucked up with the trunk and swallowed as so.

I mentioned earlier about the method of eating grass.  Here you can see the grass ball being manipulated by the trunk.

We moved away from the bull and came across a female with a very young baby and a juvenile, probably another daughter.

The youngster was copying its mother as it tried to ball the grass, but wasn't very successful, they remain on the mother's milk for up to four years'

All three together.

As the elephants fed they came closer so I was able to get some close ups which I was able to convert to black and white as I feel this gives them more atmosphere and structure.

There was a larger group of Elephants on the far side so we were trying to get around, one jeep got stuck trying to get across a ditch.

We came across the male again, along with some views of the lake itself.

We managed to get around to the far side eventually and the larger group was present, but it was as if the jeeps were blocking the elephants from getting to the water and one or two were getting stressed.  We stayed back and just watched the group interact.

A view in black and white.

There were two youngsters, this was the smaller of the two and I liked the way the afternoon sun was catching the hairs on its back.

We decided to move on and leave the elephants, the number of jeeps was slowly increasing and it didn't seem fair to hang around.  We stopped for some more waders on the shore.  This was a surprise, a Common Snipe with a Redshank.

And this was a Thick Knee, similar and related to our Stone Curlew, there are two species in Sri Lanka, the Great Thick Knee and the Indian Thick Knee, which is what these two are.

We came across a pair of Common Kingfisher perched on an old log, the female with the pinkish red lower mandible, it makes for a lovely composition.

Having had the elephant encounter it was a case of find a spot and sit and wait.  On one of these sessions we had a Spot-billed Pelican fly over.

I ha only just remarked there hadn't been an monkeys when we found a small group of Toque Macaques.  They are so called because the whorl of fur on their head is said to resemble a Toque cap.

Moving on our driver suddenly stopped and pointed to a White-bellied Sea Eagle in a tree alongside the track.  It took some dexterity on my part and the recling of the seat to allow me to get the photograph.

It turned out there were two in the tree, the other bird ripping a fish apart and eating it surrounded by flies.

We came across yet another lake and this time we were able to get out and walk to the shore, there was a lovely dead tree in the middle of the water.

A closer look at the tree and you may well see birds perched on the dead branches.

It was in fact covered with Black-crowned Night Herons.  Known to be crepuscular, that is the feed and dusk and dawn, the birds were roosting with eyes half open.

Another dead tree was a suitable perch for a Brahminy Kite.

Later one seen flying in.

Those Night Herons not in the dead tree were in amongst the grass and crocodile below the tree.

Once again there were plenty of winter plumaged Whiskered Terns quartering back and forth over the water.

Other birds around the edge of the lake were a Spot-billed Pelican

A Great Egret on what seems to be a favourite dead tree perch.

Two Spoonbill.

A Little Ringed Plover with  very distinctive yellow eye ring.

A pair of Black-winged Stilts flew in and then flew out again.

There were at least four Common Kingfisher on the lake, one decided to come close, right in front of us on some dead branches.  Note the pale tail feathers spot.

Then closer to a single branch.

The weekend was a long holiday due to the full moon and there were a lot of people now at the lake, many having no idea what they were looking at.  We left and as we drove along the track a pair of Malabar Pied Hornbill flew overhead and perched in a tree alongside the track in perfect light.

Both male birds with the large bill extension on the top.

As we headed for the park entrance we came a cross a Ruddy Mongoose, these can be quite ferocious predators capable of taking snakes and Land and Water Monitor lizards.

At another stop and wait we were able to watch two Asian Flycatchers dunking in a pond to bathe.  Unfortunately there wasn't any sign of the superb male.

As we exited the park there was a herd of Spotted Deer grazing on the edge of the woodland, they move out of the scrub as nigh falls, this being safe land with a better chance of becoming a Leopard's evening meal.

The end of our time in Udawalawa, tomorrow we move on heading east across the dry zone of the island and a chance to do some glamping.