11th to 12th March - Weligama Bay, Sri Lanka

We decided to have a walk along the beach from the hotel after breakfast on our first day of leisure, we headed east and walked among the fishing boats.  

The boats were being cleaned and washed down after the night's fishing and this was attracting quite a few terns to the beach as they picked off the remains of the fish catch that was washed off the nets in the sea.

I made a mental note to come back tomorrow and to try and photograph them.  That evening some cloud produced a beautiful sunset.

The following day I returned to the beach after breakfast and there were plenty of terns on the beach and in the air around the fishing boats.

A Whiskered Tern.

Not just the terns though, the House Crows were also in on the act.  Again another very common bird, but also comical to watch around the human settlements as with all corvids

The crows keeping close to the boats and the nets rather than picking off the scraps in the sea

But it was the terns on the beach this morning that were the centre attraction.  Common Terns settling on the beach, this time looking into the sun.

Where one settled others would follow.  They didn't seem to bothered as people walked past, but if they got too close they would take off hanging over the water before settling back on to the sand.

It was possible to get close and low down amongst them.

Interestingly this one has a damaged lower mandible.

There were also a few Whiskered Terns, one of which was almost in full breeding plumage, with the black belly that extends towards the bill leaving a white streak that gives them the name "whiskered".

These were still in non breeding plumage hovering over the water where the nets were being washed.

There was calling behind me as I looked out across the water and turned to find two White-throated Kingfishers squabbling.  One settled on the ropes of one of the fishing boats.

I moved around the boat to get a view without too much ropes.

Its mate or rival was perched in a dead tree, the bill is covered in mud, so has probably been hunting around the trees, prey more than likely lizards or frogs.

The other bird still on the ropes before both flew off.

With the kingfisher in the dead tree was a Blue-tailed Bee-eater.

It was back to the terns around the boats, the numbers seeming to increase.  Amongst the Common Terns and Whiskered Terns was the much larger Greater Crested Tern.  Its size and distinctive yellow bill standing out.

I wanted some more photographs of the breeding plumaged Whiskered Tern.  Not quite full plumage but good to see

Nice ones hovering.

Then I found what I had hoped to see, a Gull-billed Tern.  Larger than the Common Terns but not up to the size of the Greater Crested Tern.  It showed much whiter than the others, still in non breeding plumage the head cap pattern different to that of the Common and Whiskered and of course the substantial bill that gives it the name.

A successful hour on the beach, with four tern species and two I was hoping for, Greater Crested and Gull-billed and a nice breeding plumaged Whiskered Tern.  It was getting hot now so I returned to the pool to chill out for the rest of the last day here.

10th March - Marissa Bay, Sri Lanka

It wasn't the earliest of starts, leaving the hotel just after sunrise.  We drove through the village of Marissa, familiar streets and sights from previous visits here on our last two trips.  We pulled into the car park of the Marissa Water Sports company, another familiar sight (the photo was taken when we returned, hence the light, but I thought it fitted better here).

There were familiar faces as we checked in, however today would be different we were going out in a small boat, just us on board and a driver and guide.  This was not what we expected and really not what we wanted, but we had no choice now.  We walked to the harbour, put on the life jackets and settled in.  The fishing boats in the harbour were as colourful as ever in the morning light.

The designs and names are always interesting to see

Greater Crested Terns on one of the fishing boats.

Boats coming in from the night's fishing.

We headed out into quite a swell and with a small boat this meant we were getting wet as the boat broke the waves.  As a result I kept the camera well out of the way.  We could see other boats ahead of us and the hope as always is that they find something.

It turned out that they had as we came across a pod of over a hundred Spinner Dolphins.  The dolphins were all around us, breaking the water.  There were also local fishermen in small boats as the presence of the dolphins means that there was probably Yellow-fin Tuna about and the dolphins were feeding on them.

These dolphins are very active, leaping out of the water and one or two living up to their name by spinning high into the air.

It wasn't easy photographing from the small boat as you are too low down and can't anticipate where the dolphins will be.

A young dolphin alongside its mother.

The closest I got to a full leap.

We moved on from the dolphins and set off in search of bigger things. We saw a couple, but these were oil tankers and not the whales we hoped for.  After searching for some time we came across a pod of Risso's Dolphin, but if the Spinners were difficult to photograph these were nearly impossible.  This was the only acceptable one I got and it was just a dorsal fin.  I did though see them.

There was more searching but without any luck and we headed back to shore, missing out on a whale sighting, which was a big shame, but that is nature.

As we came into the harbour there were Whiskered Terns fishing around the still water.

I also managed to get one of the Greater Crested Terns.

We made our way back to the offices and then back to the hotel.  The rest of our time in Weligama bay would be at leisure.

3rd March - Gal Oya National Park, Sri Lanka

Today we were going into the Gal Oya National Park.  Located in Sri Lanka’s lesser-visited eastern region. The park was established in 1954, the park protects the catchment of the Senanayake Samudraya reservoir — the largest in Sri Lanka.

It is the only national park in the country where boat safaris are possible, offering the extraordinary chance to see elephants swimming between islands. This is a strikingly diverse landscape, with forested hills, savannahs, turtleback rock formations and low grasslands, providing a serene, varied environment that remains blissfully undeveloped by mass tourism.

Overnight it  became quite cold and with only a sheet on the bed I awoke in the night feeling very chilly.  But in the morning it was beautiful looking out across the paddyfields as we walked to breakfast.

There was plenty of activity around the restaurant.  A male Purple-rumped Sunbird feeding on the flowers of a banana plant.

Sri Lankan Swallows on some overhead wires.

A very vocal Indian Robin.

The bare granite escarpments of Monkey Mountain an important cultural site for the indigenous Veddah tribe.

It was a short drive into the national park, we were going on a boat safari around the Senanayake Samudraya reservoir.  The reservoir was opened in 1949 and was created by damming the Gal Oya river.  It is the largest reservoir in Sri Lanka.  Reservoirs are referred to as "Tanks" in Sri Lanka.  Interestingly Sri Lanka has no natural lakes all the inland water has been created by man, they do have many rivers.

We drove along the main dam of the reservoir to join the boat safari.  As we waited to board there were stunning views across the lake.  The water is dotted with many islands and rocks.

With very little breeze the water was like the proverbial mill pond, very welcome as we were in a very small boat with out any roof, we were given a life jacket though.

Cruising past a collection of rocks there were Whiskered Terns roosting.

On one of the islands we came a cross a pair of Great Thick Knees.  

They are larger than the Indian Thick Knee seen at Udawalawa and have a much more prominent eye and bill with definite black markings around the ear coverts and supercilium.

Away in the distance a large boulder in the water and there was something perched on the top.

As we approached the rock a White-bellied Sea Eagle was flying towards us.

The White-bellied Sea Eagle is the largest bird of prey in Sri Lanka and as you can see they do not just restrict themselves to the coast.

As we approached closer to the rock it was clear another was sitting on the rock and we were able to get very close without disturbing it.

A portrait.

But it was the elephants you felt the guides wanted to show us and soon we could see several on one of the larger islands.  Here a bull elephant.

As we got closer to the island it became clear there was a large group of elephants including two youngsters.  As the elephants became aware of us the the mothers of the youngsters were quick to move them away from us.

But as the engines were cut they seemed to accept us and we could watch them closely, not the best light though.

They had been feeding on the grass, but started to move towards the water.

Where a mud shower was the order of the day.

Pretty soon all the herd came to the water to shower in the mud and to drink the water.

The elephants here have the security of the many islands and will swim between the islands, using the trunk as a snorkel. Seeing them do so is rare, taking the opportunity to so so at dusk or night.

We waited to see if they would enter the water and even try to swim, but they didn't, after drinking they moved away once again and returned to feeding on the grass.

We moved on, taking in the scenery of the reservoir.  Dead trees poking out of the water, not unlike the dead trees of Souvalei in Namibia.

And another White-bellied Sea Eagle at the top of one of the dead trunks.

We were to be treated to some coffee and cake, so found a small island where we could get out of the boat and paddle.  From here though we could see the bull elephant we had seen first.  Accompanied by four Cattle Egret it moved into the water.

When we left the island we made our way towards the bull, he had now moved into deeper water and was almost submerged, the trunk being held under water, until it was time to breathe, then blowing bubbles he would raise the trunk.

As we turned away from the elephant a Blue-tailed Bee-eater flew from the perches of the dead branches.

By the way we were searching the shorelines of the lake I think the guides were trying to find us crocodiles, but they didn't find anything.  We did come across this nicely posed Grey Heron.

So it was back to the camp and another afternoon of leisure.  I decided to spend it this time by the pool.

Another wonderful sunset as we walked to the restaurant for another lovely dinner, the food here has really been very good.

A distant view of the Monkey Mountain.

We move on again tomorrow, further east to coast.