After leaving the Leopard we made our way around the trails, moving away from the other cars. We headed for more water, stopping for this Cattle Egret on the back of a Water Buffalo
A shallow lake with Lotus and Lily pads had quite a bit of activity. Fo once some duck. This is the only duck I have seen in Sri Lanka, the Lesser Whistling Duck.
A Purple Heron was hunting at the back of the lake, the long snake like neck recoiled as if to strike.
But then another Purple Heron arrived and they were clearly not prepared to share the lake and one was chased off.
In amongst the flooded grass a Pheasant-tailed Jacana.
There was a report of another Leopard, but another lengthy search did find anything. We then drove around and came across another lake, but we were not here for the water and birds. A Leopard had earlier killed a Water Buffalo calf and the mother had managed to chase the Leopard off, but unfortunately the calf was dead. We sat close by in the vain hope the Leopard might return. The Water Buffalo was out in the water and very soon we had to endure here pleading calls to an offspring that wasn't going to answer. It was extremely sad to watch and listen to. Needless to say the Leopard did not appear.
I had noticed a small bird that seemed to like to perch on a dried lump of elephant dung. As we left we drove past and it turned out to be an Ashy Crowned Lark Sparrow.
Another Brahminy Kite surveying the open areas.
A Little Green Bee-eater by the side of the track.
It was now lunch time and we headed to wards a look out point for lunch. But a bull Elephant had beaten us to it and we couldn't get out of the car. We eventually did and climbed the steps for a view over the wetlands. Alongside the concrete tower were a pair of Blue-tailed Bee-eaters.
Leaving the concrete tower we came across the third Bee-eater found in Sri Lanka, the Chestnut-headed Bee-eater. A pair settled on the ground and anting in the sunshine.
The bill open in the hot sun.
Then flew to the shade and showing of the stunning colours of the Bee-eater.
Driving around the open water areas there were plenty of birds, this a Whiskered Tern.
A smart Little Stint, there were plenty of these delightful little waders.
The other "marsh tern", the White-winged Tern again in winter plumage. This tern is also slightly smaller than the Whiskered Tern.
Another large gathering of Barn Swallows.
You will recall at the start of the holiday I photographed a Red-wattled Lapwing. Since then they have been everywhere and I haven't bothered again. But here was the "other" Lapwing, the Yellow-wattled Lapwing, this one a little rarer.
Our driver then picked out a Crested Serpent Eagle by the side of the track. Similar to the Changeable Hawk Eagle, the difference is the yellow colouring around the bill and a banded tail.
We stopped near the dead calf once again, thankfully the mother had moved away, but there wasn't any sign of the Leopard. I spent the time photographing this Pacific Golden Plover.
A Land Monitor on a rock.
Another sunbathing, anting Bee-eater, this time a Little Green Bee-eater.
This caused a lot of debate between the Sri Lankans in the car, they thought it was a duck, it is in fact the Little Grebe.
I had to work hard to see this even when pointed out, it is a Samba Deer, the largest deer in Sri Lanka.
The wetlands of Kumana are important for a small population of Black-necked Storks, we were lucky to find one. These storks are found across India and South east Asia.
As our time was running down we stopped to watch a large gathering of Malabar Pied Hornbills. They appeared to be feeding on the ground, dropping down to the grond from the tree tops. There were at least a dozen birds, maybe more.
We were now on our way out of the park, but the driver stopped and pointed out a Hoopoe, dust bathing on the track.
We had another stop for a Leopard and I did manage a brief glimpse through the scrub. The light was going and we were not looking forward to the ride out of the park. Just before the offices there was a Black-naped Hare by the side of the track.
We set of out of the park, bouncing and bumping once again, the light was going and the speed was painful it was back to the kilometre posts and counting down to one! This sign was a little ridiculous when you consider how fast we were going.
We reached tarmac and then the car, however halfway into the journey to the hotel, we realised that we had to turn back as we had forgotten the blue ice box that belonged to the hotel.
We got back to the hotel in the dark after an excellent day if exhausting.
No comments:
Post a Comment