- Trip Details
10/11 days with Dhammithra Samarasinghe
Ground Price: from £1400 (US$1775, €1625)
After arrival we head to Kitulgala. Here we can begin looking for Serendib Scops Owl, Black and Rufous-bellied Eagles, Sri Lanka Spurfowl, Sri Lanka Junglefowl, Sri Lanka Green-pigeon, Sri Lanka Hanging-parrot, Layard's Parakeet, Green-billed Coucal, Chestnut-backed Owlet, Brown Hawk-owl, Sri Lanka Frogmouth, Black-backed Dwarf Kingfisher, Sri Lanka Swallow, Sri Lanka Grey Hornbill, Yellow-fronted Barbet, Black-capped Bulbul, Gold-fronted Leafbird, Spot-winged Ground-thrush, Legge's Flowerpecker, Brown-capped Babbler, Sri Lanka Rufous Babbler, Sri Lanka Hill-myna and Sri Lanka Crested Drongo.
We next visit Nuwara Eliya where we can seek out Sri Lanka Woodpigeon, Forest Wagtail, Pied Flycatcher-shrike, Yellow-eared Bulbul, Pied Bush Chat, Sri Lanka Scaly Thrush, Sri Lanka Bush-warbler, Rusty-rumped Warbler, Large-billed Leaf-warbler, Velvet-fronted Nuthatch, Dusky Blue Flycatcher, Kashmir Flycatcher, Sri Lanka White-eye and Pied Bushchat. From here, we will make a morning visit to Horton Plains, to look for Pied Bush Chat, Sri Lanka Whistling Thrush, Grey-Headed Canary and Kashmir Flycatcher.
The wetlands at Tissa and Bundala and the scrub at Yala are good for Greater Flamingo, Watercock,Yellow-wattled and Red-wattled Lapwings, Eurasian Stone Curlew, Great Thick-Knee, Small Pratincole, Pacific Golden Plover, Kentish, Mongolian & Greater Sand Plovers and other waders, Brown-Headed Gull, Caspian, Great-Crested, Lesser-Crested, Gull-Billed, Whiskered, White-Winged, Saunders’s & Little Terns, Bengal Bushlark and Oriental Skylark. Leopard is also commonly seen.
We finally visit Udawalawa and Sinharaja, where we hope to finish the endemics and see good numbers of Asian Elephants. Species here include Crested Goshawk, Besra Sparrowhawk, Rufous-Bellied, Crested Serpent and Black Eagles, Mountain Hawk-Eagle, Sri Lanka Spurfowl, Sri Lanka Junglefowl, Red-Faced Malkoha, Green-Billed Coucal, Chestnut-Winged Cuckoo, Serendib Scops-Owl, Chestnut-Backed Owlet, Sri Lanka Frogmouth, Malabar Trogon, Himalayan Black Bulbul, Spot-Winged Ground Thrush, Sri Lanka Scaly Thrush, Sri Lanka Rufous Babbler, Ashy-Headed Laughing Thrush, Asian Paradise Flycatcher, Sri Lanka Blue Magpie, White-Faced Starling and Sri Lanka Hill-Myna.
There is the option of an extra day to look for Blue Whales (and other species) with a pelagic off Mirissa on the south coast (£210)
