Birds, Wildlife And Cultural Tour

We could not have enjoyed our first visit to Sri Lanka more. We came as near-beginner birders, with only four or five years' experience. We were a bit worried that since most of Jith's clients seemed to be hard-core bird-watchers, dealing with us would be like looking after the village idiots. But that fear dissipated once we met out guide, Thilina, who assumed we would have the same ambitions to see birds as any expert.  Here, I have to say this man is something of a phenomenon. His ability to find a bird simply from the reactions of other wildlife, or from the slightest, barely audible whistle (which we often couldn't detect) is little short of uncanny. Thanks to his skill, we saw all but one of Sri Lanka's endemic bird species. And the one that got away was the victim of abnormally dry conditions in his habitats, something we were forced to admit after Thilina led us in two and a half days' hunts. We knew that if he couldn't find it, it wasn't there. Besides the endemics, we had the excitement of seeing birds from barbets (four) to wood-swallows (ashy). Almost all were "lifers" for us. We visited a variety of habitats and zones, enabling us to record a grand total of two hundred and seven species in this one visit alone.

Then there was the wildlife. After a few days, we were almost blasé about huge land monitors stomping across the roads, or the crocodiles lounging on the lake islands in Tissa. Still, it was exciting to come across a huge rat snake (one of three) in Victoria Park in Nuwara Eliya and the giant squirrels which checked us out in Kitulgala and Sinharajah. We were even philosophical when a marauding group of toque macaques broke into our hotel room in Kandy and made short work of all the powdered milk and sugar - which they spread all over the bed, along with enough footprints to keep the police busy for a week. We were less philosophical to find a leopard in Yala National Park - literally at the eleventh hour - but we were able to watch her until the park closed, which was magical. But then, so was pretty much everything in Yala, even the stone-sucker fish which cluster round your toes, given a chance.

Almost all our hotels were delightful. I could happily spend a week at the Hibiscus Garden alone, bird- and flying-fox - watching… Floating in the pool. To mention but one. And during a walk in front of the Sorowwa Hotel, it took us half an hour to locate all the species in just one lakeside tree.

Then there was Thilina's driving. He's an ex haulage professional - and it shows. We felt completely safe throughout, even when weaving through the tuk-tuk dominated suburbs of big towns, or on the endlessly winding roads in the highland areas. This meant we could relax and use the longer drives to go through our notes, compare impressions, take snaps or just enjoy the ever-changing scenery of Sri Lanka.

One more thing we must say about Thilina is that he was unfailingly helpful, polite and patient. His patience must have been strained when we couldn't pick out a bird which to him was in an open spot and impossible to miss..

Anny Kilbourne and Ian Dodds
Exeter,
United Kingdom

01st – 17th February 2020

BIRDS, WILDLIFE AND CULTURAL TOUR, February 1st - 17th 2020