Sunday, July 4, 2010

Horton Plains







Horton plains are one of the most beautiful places in Sri Lanka and the diversity of this area is amazing… Here are some highlights coming with courtesy of Thlilanka Ranatunge who serves as a naturalist in Nature Odyssey.

Wednesday, June 9, 2010

First blog post away from the country


This is happened to me my first blog post away from my country and keeps my memory alive about the wildlife i always enjoyed in my country.. Special thanks to Thilanka for his courtesy of sending me the fresh capture from Yala.





Thursday, March 25, 2010

Jaffna , The awakening island

Mervin invited me for this 4.5 days trip headed to Jaffna just two days prior to the departure, which impressed me to join without leaving me to think twice as everybody loves to visit this part of the island especially after the war, which dragged for nearly 30 years or more.



Transport has come to normalcy and people have started their day-to-day life. This is Jaffna – Kareyngar road.



Birding is one of the most encouraging activities in and around Jaffna and certainly no one who loves bird watching will not be disappointed. Large flocks of pelicans can be observed in the lagoons.



This lovely picture of the Crested Serpent Eagle was photographed while it was sitting on a lamp post near Kilinochchi.





People in Jaffna are more religious and all the temples are full of devotees.





Flamingos are seen in most the lagoons and I am sure all bird watchers love to hear this news.




Lagoons in Jaffna are famous for fishing a number of people makes their livelihood by catching fishes in the lagoon.




A fisherman is selling crabs....



Black Kite is sitting on a post.

Wednesday, January 20, 2010

Black Eagle's Nest

This Black Eagle's nest was observed by Thilanka Ranathunga, A naturalist who works for the Nature Odyssey at the moment, in the suburbs of Kandy somewhere near to his residence.






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Tuesday, January 19, 2010

Camping in Udalwalawe National Park on Tai Pongal Day

A request came from Eshan, the operation’s manager at Eco Team to participate and the play the role of the naturalist of that camping tour organized on 14th and 15th January 2009. Reaching the Udawalawe park entrance by 10.30 AM in the morning met the clients, a British couple in their 60’s and came through Pan Lanka around 2.30 in the evening. The campsite was organized in “PRANSADARA” which is about 17 kilometers away from the park entrance (excuse me if I have mentioned this name of the campsite incorrectly), so we started traveling to the campsite and from the beginning itself we were able to spot so many bird species like Crested serpent eagle, Indian Roller, Changeable hawk eagle, Common hoopoe etc. including few spotted deers, land monitors etc. We had to tolerate the giant bull elephant that was blocking the road and walking along the road by taking his own time with the understanding of that we are roaming within their territory and I am sure this was a memory repeating experience for our clients.

Having a late lunch around 3.30 started our first game drive inside the park around 4.00, With the privilege of staying inside park for the night we took a quite undisturbed routes since our clients are careful observers of the animals and this rewarded us so many memory refreshing events. We were lucky enough to spot Malabar pied hornbills and Sri Lanka Grey hornbill in the same canopy. For the first time in my life we spotted a python that has taken it’s life long meal, imagine a python that swallowed a well-grown spotted deer, few yards away from the THIMBIRIYAGASMANKADA circuit bungalow. In the same time I was so unlucky at that moment not to have my camera with me unfortunately. We returned to the campsite with this unforgettable safari experience in the dusk and were treated us with a glass of coriander that usually takes at the end of tiresome exercise to get a relief for the aching body.

Dining in a thick jungle under the star studded sky with a light of a kerosene oil lamp is always going to be one of the most remarkable experience whoever who enjoys it. As usual the dinner was followed by B.B.Q. dishes, brown onion soup the most demanding soup in the camping sites followed by an array of Sri Lankan dishes as well.

Getting up to the rhythm of the bird vocalization in the morning started our second game drive in the park around 7.30, which ended up with adding sweet memories who enjoys the beauty of an untamed forest as a wildlife enthusiast.