Sri Lanka 4-16 Oct 2011

As with our previous trip to Sri Lanka, we arrived at Colombo airport at about 2 am and were met by Upali our guide from Starron Tours

Our group consisted of Bee, Gerard and ourselves who made the trip last year plus Janet, on her 1st visit. Upali had guided the four of us previously in August last year. As always Upali was full of energy and without much delay he had our group of five, plus luggages, loaded into our bus, helped by our driver Ranjan.

Then we were on our way to Habarana, our first stopover. During the 4-hour ride we all tried to grab a nap. We arrived at The Other Corner in time for breakfast. We were welcomed by the “brothers” who we had met during our stay last year. the food and service was, as usual, excellent. Sunrise is early at 5:45am and sunset before 6pm

For the next 4 days we birded around the area, taking in some of the tanks. One morning at breakfast a rare Blue-breasted Quail was spotted  but too quick a visit for photos except for “quick-draw” Bee who had some good shots.  There was a visit to Sigiriya Rock Citadel, where the fitter members, Gerard & Bee, climbed to the summit while we explored the vicinity. Highlight was a Crested Serpent Eagle 10 metres away perched on a low tree, and an even closer Coucal.

 

 

 

Our next stop was Kandy, where we stayed at the Tree of Life for 2 nights and visited Peradeniya Botanical Gardens, Udawattakele Forest Reserve and an evening visit for a cultural show. The weather was very dry and some migratory birds we had hoped to see seemed to be absent. One morning we did experience a bird wave that included some Velvet-fronted Nuthatch, minivets and other species.

It was then on to Nuwara Eliya, staying at Galway’s Forest Lodge for 2 nights. We birded around the Galway’s Forest National Park in the afternoon, followed by a pre-dawn trip to Horton Plain with a picnic breakfast. On arrival at Horton we saw the Indian Black Robin. Last year’s visit to Horton had been a short one due to mist and rain. We were glad we had the opportunity to enjoy the place. The weather could not have been better this time.

The afternoon was spent at Bomuru Ella Forest Reserve and a couple of evening waiting for a Thrush. 

Next morning was off to Embilipitiya and a jeep safari in Uda Walawe National Park.  We had visited Uda Walawe last so were prepared for a dusty bouncy ride. The water levels were very low but we saw many migratory birds including the Caspian Tern. It was an overnight at the Centauria Tourist Hotel where an Indian Scops Owl was roosting in one of the trees in the garden.After breakfast on to Tissamaharama and Hibiscus Garden Hotel, and another jeep safari, this time in Yala National Park, where catching a glimpse of a mother leopard crossing the track carrying a small wild piglet, and later, very good views of the juvenile leopard waiting patiently for its meal to arrive, with several jeep-loads of tourists, including ourselves, clicking away. Next morning as we had been lucky enough to have had excellent views of the Yala leopards, we decided on a jeep safari in Bundala National Park, a much less dusty and smoother ride. A Hoopoe was seen more than once skimming along in front of the jeep.

A couple of nights at Hibiscus and next day a long drive to the south through Galle where the devastation of the December 26, 2004 tsunami could still be seen in some abandoned houses which some owners could not afford to repair. There was a memorial to the lives lost when the train derailed and a mural of the incident was put up. Upali explained that Galle had its origin in the Red Jungle Fowl (Gallus gallus) the Portuguese had first seen on landing.

Our last evening was spent at the Hotel Tamarind in Katunayake near Colombo.

The following day the birding, in the hotel garden, went on right to the last minute and at lunchtime it was time for a quick drive to the airport and farewells to our guide and mentor, Upali and our excellent driver Ranjan, who was always in good spirits throughout the 13 days with us. Ranjan had been a radio officer at sea so has visited many countries including a couple of trips to Singapore many years ago.

Another excellent trip and we thank everyone for making it so. Ayubowan.

Link to Sri Lanka Birds

Revisit Mauritius 4–11 Aug 2011

Our previous visit was in July of 1993, so quite a bit of water has passed under the bridge since then.  Therefore we jumped at this opportunity to revisit when a birding buddy, PB, said she was arranging a trip with a friend, EK, and had room for two more.  We stayed at La Plantation hotel on the North West coast, not far from Port Louis. 

On arrival at the hotel PB arranged a rental car and the following morning we were ready to go with PB doing the driving.

The weather was mostly cool and dry with a little rain, mainly in the highlands.

Over the next 6 days we covered most if not all of the island.

The highlights were L’Aventure du Sucre, where we sampled all kinds of flavoured Rum, and of course, ended up taking some home, 

and a morning coffee with Rum, what else. The birds joined us for coffee although they seemed to be only interested in the different types of sugar on offer.

We followed up with a visit to the Sir Seewoosagur Ramgoolam Botanical Gardens where a Striated Heron was making full use of the Giant Amazon Lily pads to hunt on the lake surface.

We drove to Grand Baie for a late lunch and a bit of shopping.

The Black River National Park was our destination the next day where we were lucky to see the endemic Mauritius Kestrel as well as the Tropicbirds,usually,far away in the valleys.

Next day was Chamarel, the Falls and the Seven Coloured Earth then on the to Gris Gris to see the Roche qui Pleure

A “must see” was next: We drove down to Mahébourg for a visit to Ile Aux Aigrettes and were lucky to be shown around by Hugo, a volunteer, on his last tour before returning the UK for Uni.

He showed us the endemic Mauritius Fody as well as the Aldabran Giant Tortoise, Gunther’s GeckoMauritius Ornate Day Gecko, Pink Pigeon and also the Mauritius White Ebony.

It was a very good, if somewhat short visit. We continued on to Kestrel Valley which was previously called  le domaine d'Anse Jonchée.

We found it in the middle of renovations, but by good luck we ran into the manager, Dominique, http://www.mauritiusfishingandhuntingsafaris.com/Mauritius_Fishing_and_Hunting_Safaris/Home.html.  Dominique, being extremely hospitable, drove us around the area and explained their future plans, and even invited us in for a cup of tea before we left.

Our next day was spent at Labourdonnais & The Black River Gorges.

The last day was a drive to Cap Malheureux and  Trou aux Biches, with a quick stop-off at L’Aventure du Sucre on the way.

It was a very full and enjoyable 8 days and some new birds were seen, Tropicbird, Fody, Kestrel and the ubiquitous Village Weaver were some of the 16 bird species seen on this “birding” trip.

From Pantai to Gunung – 3rd and 4th July

An early start on Sunday morning and a quick drive to the rice fields of Sungai Balang for our first stop. After a short delay due to driving down the wrong track we were delighted to see the weavers and munias next to the ricefield. More than twenty species were spotted quickly as we moved along the bunds during the 2 hours that were interrupted by a rain shower.

A short drive then took us to Parit Jawa jetty where, in between looking at shore birds and the fish being unloaded from the fishing boats, we managed to relax and have lunch.

Later we drove on to Seremban, checked into our hotel and proceeded to check out Telapak Buruk.

As it was late afternoon,when we arrived at the base of Telapak Buruk, we only had time for a quick trip to the “near summit” at about 1150m.

As it turned out it was well worth the effort as we spotted a pair of Orange-breasted Trogons. The following morning we returned to Telapak Buruk for a more leisurely ascent. We heard many different birds calling but sightings were unusually sparse.

Travelling May & June!

We had little time for blogging during the May-June period. As we were either preparing to travel, travelling or recovering from the last trip.
As they say a picture can tell a thousand words, these must be be a few thousand.

Thursday 28 April 2011 - Good Luck in Panti

An early morning drive into Johor for a visit to Gunung Lambak for a look around at this hill near Kluang.  Morning walkers were enjoying their trek up the hill while someone was exercising his vocal cords.  Jacky heard the calls of the Asian Fairy Blue Bird and after a short while we saw two birds foraging above in the Terentang trees.  As we watched these birds flying to a low bush a few times, we spotted they were nest building as they were picking up mosses from the trees.

After lunch in Kluang we decided Panti would be our next stop for a late afternoon check of birds.

We arrived Panti at about 2:30 pm and heard bird calls.  Within a short time, Alyce spotted a nesting bird which turned out to be a Black-naped Monarch which is not common in the area and a locally threatened species.
We were able to observe the bird for quite a while as he seemed quite unconcerned with our attention.
To round off a good day, on our drive out of Panti, we spotted a flock of 7 Plain-pouched Hornbills overhead, flying in a northerly direction. Again, not a common sight so far south.  

20-24th April 2011 Taiping (Raintown) & Ipoh

Maxwell Hill-remembered

A visitor to Taiping will find the town “olde worlde” as many of the “colonial” buildings are very much in use.   This old town with modern traffic is surprisingly easy to get around in a car inspite of having to negotiate “roundabouts” and wait on traffic when turning into side roads.  We came to Taiping for Maxwell Hill (now known as Bukit Larut) and on our early morning up the hill we saw our “silver” bird nesting right in front of us as we walked up one of the tracks

 

In town we met “Leong” at the Tourist information who told us the information office was just reopened a week ago and he shared some old photographs showing the “old” and the “new” Taiping with little change except for the “vehicles” found on the roads.  For more information check his FB site “Raintown Taiping” which he hopes will bring more visitors to his hometown.  We found the Lake Garden and the vicinity around worth visiting especially the Perak Museum, the oldest museum in Malaysia.  Of course Maxwell Hill is a must go for some cool air and this is also the first hill station built by the British.  You can get a nice view of “Raintown” from the top station after a 25 minute ride in a jeep for which you need to get tickets at the base office.

 

Two days later we drove south to Ipoh on Good Friday.  There were a few places on our list to visit with a morning stop at the Kledang-Sayong Hill.  When we arrived at 9:30am we found people walking up while the early birds were coming down from their morning walk.  One of the walkers told us it takes 2 hours to walk to the summit.  We were a little late for the birds but checked out the road to the summit.  While we heard the bird calls we spotted only a few. 

We then visited a couple of the “Tong” (caves ), Ipoh is also known as “San Seng” meaning Hill City.  
In the late afternoon we visited the town (the old part and the new part).   We had been recommended to visit the “Kinta Nature Park” so on our 2nd day in Ipoh we drove early with the GPS coordinates to guide us.  

We found the park after a slow and bumpy drive on a dirt track next to a lake.  At the “park” we found lots of herons, storks and egrets among others, perched on trees in the islands in the lake.  Some people were fishing and nearby were several commercial duck farms and further on another track  some quarrying activity in operation.    In the late afternoon we drove to Kellie’s Castle and found a “Collared Falconet” perched on a bare tree, a lifer for us.   In the evening we went back to Ipoh town to check out the “Pasar Malam”, where we tried Ipoh’s  famous beansprout,  steam chicken and “Hor Fun” which was a tasty finish to our short holiday in the Kinta Valley.

A Quiet Morning in Panti

Saturday we made an early start for Panti and arrived at 6:50 am, just as the sky was beginning to lighten. Together with Jacky and Lioe, we spent the morning covering most of the bunker trail, but unfortunately it was not a very productive morning. It seems the vehicular traffic has again increased, after a recent lull. Also there was indication of poaching.