After forty years of serving the local community, firstly as a teacher and then latterly as Primary Director for Ryedale Learning Trust my lovely wife retired at the end of the Autumn term. So to celebrate this amazing achievement, we decided to go on holiday to Sri Lanka and on our return leg we would have a few days in Dubai to break the journey up. As it was the end of Covid restrictions there were still many medical protocols to follow and to say the paperwork was a bit challenging – that would be an understatement. However, as the old saying goes ‘no pain no gain!!’ But, as I said it was just as restrictions were easing and we expected things to be still pretty strict. However, in retrospect the frustrations of the paperwork were very much worth it!!! As we left on the Thursday morning, the skies in Manchester were typically grey and overcast; however on the Friday in Colombo it was a beautiful 78 degrees and not a cloud in the sky!! We arrived and had a very pleasant transfer down to Ahunghalla our home for the next 3 weeks!! I cannot praise the staff at the Heritance Ahunghalla enough, they were brilliant, courteous, helpful and always very cheerful too!! The Heritance Ahunghalla is a superb hotel. Situated right on the coast with a beach to die for ! The beach itself is about 3 miles long and it was our daily stomp.
Along the beach we had point blank views of Gull billed Tern, Whimbrel and Brahminy Kites on a daily basis.
At the hotel bar over looking the Indian Ocean we enjoyed some of the most amazing sunsets whilst enjoying a cold beer or cocktail… sunsets were about 6pm. Then it was just a matter of time before the dying light was split into some amazing colours.
Most of my birding was done in and around the hotel grounds; with a walk early morning – then another at about 4pm. The grounds of the hotel provided many opportunities for photographs and there were no shortages of birds to see… an exciting challenge was photographing the sunbirds that frequented the hotel grounds namely Loten’s and Purple Rumped Sunbirds.
Fortunately, outside our room there was a flowering shrub that the birds used to visit on a regular basis in the late afternoon and it was possible with a bit of patience to get some nice close ups. One morning I found a Crested Serpent Eagle which provided some excellent views. Asian Paradise Flycatchers were also common in the grounds.However, one of the Taxi Drivers I talked to who was a local birder, told me the birds were just passing through and were not resident.
Other highlights in the hotel grounds included;Black Hooded Oriole, Ashy Wood Swallow, Imperial Green Pigeon and Lesser Flamebacks
Another cracking bird that was present throughout our stay was Blue-tailed Bee-eater. They were constantly seen flying from their favourite perches to catch grasshoppers, bees and crickets. They flew so quickly from their perches, it was virtually impossible to get a focussed shot!! I took the easy route and waited until they had settled!!!
Red Wattled Lapwings were also seen on a daily basis, infact one pair nested on one of the hotel’s tennis courts.
Apart from the birds there were a few mammal surprises too. The hotel was visited on a daily basis by a troupe of Grey Faced Langurs. The troupe was mainly comprised of females, lots of juveniles and a couple of males. They were very accustomed to humans and showed no fear when they were presented ‘fruit treats’ by hotel guests. The other mammal surprise I had was Ruddy Mongoose !!! These amazing little animals were always super wary … however, if you kept your distance and were very quiet often you could have some good views as they hunted and foraged in the undergrowth.
Even though it was not a full birding holiday, I still managed to negotiate some trips out into the local area the first been a river trip in and around the River Madu and its hinterland. In all honesty you could have spent a week here exploring all the channels and mangroves. As with all trips when abroad, I negotiated a single occupancy for the boat. There is nothing worse than going on a trip with folks who do not have the same interests as yourself. These trips can, if you are not careful be very frustrating as bodies get in the way, especially at that crucial moment when you are trying to get that National Geographic frame filler!!! The trip itself was outstanding, I was very lucky to get a boatman who had a very keen interest in the river’s wildlife and we got some outstanding views of Water Monitor, Little Cormorant, Whiskered Tern and White Bellied Sea Eagle- with an outstanding view of 8 birds in the air at the same time. If you do go to this area of Sri Lanka – it is well worth a visit, however if you are birding book a single occupancy!!
The other birding trip I booked was a full day trip to Udalwalwe National Park. This reserve has a high density of elephants and as part of the trip you can visit an elephant orphanage and hand feed young elephants. However, I skipped this section of the trip as it was too ‘zoo like’ for me – so I spent more time on the reserve birding. One word sums this trip: Stunning. If you have the the opportunity – Go!! The early start …. a 4:30 am early call and 5:oo am pick up …. is well worth it. The park itself is brimming with wildlife with birds at every turn ; again book single occupancy – as the driver will quite happily stop whenever you want him to! Bird highlights for me included: Woolly Necked Stork, Little Green Bee-eaters and Malabar Pied Hornbill.
The other big highlights were stunning views of a female Indian elephant with its calf and a Golden Jackal.
Apart from the birding trips we had a trip into Galle. On the way through to Galle we stopped at the Tsunami memorial just outside Hikkaduwa. A very moving memorial to remember all those people who sadly lost their lives in the Boxing Day Tsunami; 26th December 2004. It is hard to believe when you are standing in such a tranquil spot of all the destruction that took place here. Especially, when you realise that over 1700 people died at this spot; when the train that they were travelling on was struck by gigantic waves between 25-30ft high on that fateful morning.
Galle itself is a great city, you can climb the fort walls and take that iconic photograph of Galle International Cricket Stadium. The city is a great place to explore with its myriad of streets with lots of craft stores and places to eat.
We only explored a small part of this fascinating country, however there was so much to see! This was my third visit to Sri Lanka and it certainly won’t be my last!
After a 3 week stay in Sri Lanka it was time to start the long journey back to the UK, but we broke the journey with a four day stop over in Dubai.One of the first things that struck me after visiting Sri Lanka was the absence of trees !! Dubai in my opinion is a huge playground for adults – very rich ones too!! In Dubai you will find the biggest Malls, Ferris wheels, water parks in the world and of course the tallest building in the world – the iconic Burj Khalifa. It is mind boggling to think how much wealth and money this place generates and the scope of the buildings here too – and they are still building!! However. in this vast concrete edifice you will still find some great places to go birding and see some excellent birds too. As we were only here for a few days I restricted myself to a daily walk along Dubai creek and I visited two parks; namely; Safa Park and Dubai Creek Park. Which were both short rides by taxi from my hotel. I have driven abroad before … but these roads were something else so I chose the safer option. There is a brilliant website by the way uaebirding.com that will give you vast amounts of information about various sites, birds seen recently,checklists etc even if you are staying only a few days it is well worth checking out.
Safa park unfortunately was undergoing some major renovations. However, Indian Rollers one of my target birds to photograph was still showing exceptionally well.
Just close to my hotel was a little park and that produced some nice birds including a very elusive Menetries Warbler that showed well after nearly half an hour wait and also a new bird for me: Pied Mynah.
Dubai Creek park is another cracking birding spot that is full of surprises!!On my morning visit of our penultimate day the first bird I saw was a Song Thrush, Hoopoes were very common too with at least 10 counted in a very short space of time. As I walked along the creek path I was aware of a large tern and as it got closer it revealed its identity a stunning Caspian Tern with a superb carrot bill!!
And just as I was about to leave a large raptor appeared on the other side of the creek; an Osprey!! Slowly it flew over the creek and then flew parallel to me. giving some almost point blank views !! What a way to end the morning.
The next morning our taxi arrived at 10:00am for our afternoon flight back to the UK. What a trip; with some amazing birds and mammals too. As ever my lovely wife spotted some great birds for me….. now, the only thing I have to do is to persuade her to buy some binoculars….
