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Sri Lanka The Enchanted Isle A Greentours Trip Report 17th February to 7th March 2014 Led by Paul Cardy Trip Report and Systematic Lists written by Paul Cardy Day 0/1 Monday February 17th & Tuesday February 18th Journey to Sri Lanka and to Kandy A rather unusual beginning to the tour this year, as I had been in the north checking out some new areas, and the two different flight arrivals were met by our excellent ground agents. I arrived at the Suisse in Kandy late morning to meet Geoff, Margaret, and Mary and before too long Rees and Carol arrived. Free time followed with lunch available if and when wanted. On the lake in front of the hotel were Indian Cormorants, Little Cormorants, Little and Great Egrets, and Black-crowned Night Herons. Basking on the same log was Indian Softshell Terrapin. Three-spot Grass Yellow, Psyche, and Zebra Blue flew in the hotel gardens, which supported a very large Flying Fox roost. We met up at 3.30 for an afternoon excursion. In three-wheelers we motored around the lake to a small guesthouse, the terrace of which overlooks the good forest of the Udawattakelle Sanctuary. White-bellied Sea Eagle was much in evidence throughout our stay, with two birds in the air over the forest. Yellow-fronted Barbet, Orange Minivets, Oriental White-eyes, Bar-winged Flycatcher Shrike, and Hill Mynas were all seen well. Sri Lanka Hanging Parrots regularly flew over, calling, which would be how we would most often see them during the tour, and Ceylon Swallows were in the air. A troop of mischievous Toque Macques moved across the rooftops and came extremely close to us. The beautiful butterfly Metallic Caerulean was on the wing, and Red Pierrot was as always a pleasing find. The birds continued with the endemic Layard’s Parakeet, the widespread Oriental Magpie-Robin, Rose-ringed Parakeets flying over, and Asian Brown Flycatcher. Whilst all this was going on our hosts provided welcome afternoon tea and coconut hoppers. Back at the Suisse we enjoyed a very good buffet dinner beside the pool, and looked forward to a productive and enjoyable tour. Day 2 Wednesday 19th February Peradineya, Udawattakelle, and Kandy A very fine morning, and indeed rather warm, with blue skies. After an excellent breakfast, as usual either western or curries, we set off in the bus for the short drive to Peradineya Botanic Greentours Natural History Holidays www.greentours.co.uk 1 Gardens. We spent the morning walking slowly around the gardens, and generally our route avoided the busiest areas, although anyway visitor numbers were not especially high today. We saw a wealth of interesting things during our visit and of course there was a fine selection of plants here, both native and non-native, the gardens particularly attractive and well laid out. A new entrance area with cafe and shop was here this year, but the latter sadly had no books for sale. An avenue of Javan Almonds was particularly fine, with incredible irregular buttress roots. Among the many trees were Nutmeg, Mango, African Tulip Tree, Sausage Tree, Bread Fruit and Jack Fruit, but the most impressive were the Pride of Burma, Amherstia nobilis, many of which were in fine bloom, as usual at this time of year. The Cannonball trees were in both flower and fruit, a good example of cauliflory. Thunbergia fragrans had white trumpets and there was some fine Monstera deliciosa. A feature of the gardens are the beautiful avenues of Royal Palms, Cabbage Palms, and Borassus Palms. As always the gardens give us an introduction to the common birds of Sri Lanka. Yellow-billed Babblers moved around in small groups, White-bellied Drongos sallied for insects, and Magpie Robins were conspicuous. Asian Palm Swifts wheeled over the lawns. We had good views of nectaring Pale-billed Flowerpeckers and Purple-rumped Sunbirds, and Common Tailorbirds were active in the dense shrubbery. Koels called noisily, as did Common Hawk Cuckoo, and Brown- headed Barbet, Yellow-fronted Barbet, and Ceylon Small Barbets provided a constant soundtrack. The butterfly highlight today was a superb Ceylon Birdwing, not usually seen here. Other species included Psyche, White Four-ring, Dark Caerulean, Common Crow, and both Emigrants. Apefly was a good record, and Lime Blue was here. Lesser Grass Blues were rather common over the lawns and Grey Pansy, Common Mormon, and Common Tiger were also on the wing. Three-striped Palm Squirrels were much in evidence and there were troops of Toque Macaques. Forest Wagtail was seen well under the trees, and Black-hooded Oriole called regularly, and was also seen. In the air were several raptors, namely White-bellied Sea Eagle, Brahminy Kite, Oriental Honey Buzzard, and Shikra. Thankfully the honey buzzard stayed away from the semi- circular bee nests hanging under some high branches. We reached the immense Flying Fox roost, and marvelled at the huge numbers of these impressive bats, quarrelling noisily and never seeming to rest. As usual hundreds were on the wing, despite it being mid-morning. This population has grown every time I visit and the roost now covers a vast area with many trees dripping with bats. After reaching the huge spreading Javan Fig we strolled along an avenue of contorted Cook’s Pines to a pond. But, not a pond this year as for some reason it had been drained leaving only cracked mud. Usually a great dragonfly site today we only saw Sri Lankan Orange-faced Sprite, Pink Skimmer, Sombre Skimmer, and Globe Skimmer, as there was no water! A small Water Monitor caused much interest, and Sri Lanka Hanging Parrots again flew over. Nearby the melastomataceous Medinilla magnifica had stunning large distinctly veined leaves. Here too was a strange tree, Napoleona, placed in its own family, showing cauliflory, the flowers being rather Passiflora like. In Kandy a small family run restaurant near the river provided us with a very good rice and curry lunch. There were many dishes of varying hotness, such as banana flower, and delicious chicken curries. The ginger beer was very refreshing. After a break back at the hotel, at 3.30pm we went to the forest of Udawattakelle, a beautiful place, although often quiet, especially in the afternoon. A bonus was almost no other visitors. Two of the lycaenid Slate Flash flew in a light gap, beautiful in the sunlight. The bird highlight, and one Greentours Natural History Holidays www.greentours.co.uk 2 of my main targets here, was a few of the endemic Brown-capped Babbler moving quietly on the forest floor, seen briefly but well today. Yellow-crowned Barbet excavated nest holes, and a white male Paradise Flycatcher moved daintily through the subcanopy. In the pond were a number of Indian Pond Terrapins. Hill Mynas and Black Bulbuls provided a noisy backdrop. At 5.30 p.m. Sunil took the group to the Temple of the Tooth, surely the cultural highlight of a visit to Kandy. Day 3 Thursday 20th February Sorabora and Victoria Radenigala Leaving at 7.15 we drove east from Kandy, making good progress. The skies were heavily overcast, and it was uncharacteristically rather cool. After the heavy traffic of Kandy we were soon in more rural surroundings, and some fine verdant scenery. We travelled the main road to Mahiyangana, over the Knuckles range, the road now much improved after several years of roadworks. The series of switchbacks down onto the eastern lowlands are now via a wide, brand new, much more comfortable road than in the past. Through fine vegetation, among the many roadside plants were the ‘handkerchief’ tree Mussaenda frondosa, Stachytarpheta urticifolia, and Crotalaria verrucosa with purple veined white flowers. Troops of Toque Macaques loitered on the roadsides. Despite the clouds we still had good views down to the lowlands. Once in the paddies of the eastern lowlands there were many White-throated Kingfishers on the wires. In Mahiyangana we had a ginger beer or tea break at the old rest house where we watched nesting Scaly-breasted Munias. A highlight here was two Malabar Pied Hornbills, in fact the only two seen today. On the river shores were a number or Red-wattled Lapwings. At Sorabora we parked and walked slowly to the reservoir. An early highlight was a pair of very close Stork-billed Kingfishers, one battling with a fish. Butterflies were soon much in evidence with species such as Crimson Rose, Common Mormon, Common Rose, Dark Wanderer, Chocolate Soldier and Lemon Pansy. Ceylon Birdwing was here again and Angled Castor was added to the list. Nearing the reservoir we met the first of several large Water Monitors, and a White-breasted Waterhen. At the reservoir itself were several Little Cormorants, and Brahminy Kites and Whiskered Terns were in the air. Walking slowly along the bank, lined with impressive fig trees, Green Imperial Pigeons and Brown-headed Barbets were seen well. Several Asian Paradise Flycatchers frequented a leafy corner by a smaller reservoir, all of the rufous phase, and we watched them for some time as they sallied for insects. Grey-breasted Prinias perched in the grasses very closely. The flora was very interesting with a wide selection of weedy species. Crossing a small bridge brought us into excellent habitat, where calling White-browed Bulbuls and Dark-fronted Babblers moved through the scrub. There was a good selection of bugs, beetles, Hymenoptera, Diptera, and other insects seen today. Among the Odonata were Sombre Skimmer and Orange-winged Groundling. Butterflies continued with a selection of danaids, namely Glassy Tiger, Dark Blue Tiger, and Common Crow. Bird activity in the lakeside scrub was rather less than usual but we did see Plain Prinias, and Indian Peafowl was calling.

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