Matara Wetlands

 

Thursday 13^th February – We were all up at dawn watching from the balcony as groups of Herons and Egrets flew along the valley after leaving their roosts. A fantastic sight as the mist burned off and our panoramic view overlooking a tea plantation, with hills further back was classic Sri Lanka. We also had a couple of Crested Serpent Eagles on the opposite side of the valley and a Brown-headed Barbet just below us.

After breakfast it was time to leave and head for the coast, a five hour drive away. A Grey Wagtail in a stream was a bit of compensation while sitting in some roadworks and we stopped by the side of the road for a drink from a Giant Coconut fruit, thanks to Miender!

We eventually reached the coast just after 2.00pm and stopped to look at a roost of Flying Foxes and admire the deep blue Indian Ocean.

Further along an area of wetland next to the road produced Pheasant-tailed Jacanas, Yellow Bittern and Little Cormorant.

Yellow Bittern  – Seen a few metres from a busy road and next to the lake below where another Yellow Bittern can be seen.

Little Cormorant – Seen on most days during the trip.

 

We reached the Nawathana Hotel just after 3.00pm where a large Land Moniterwas the first thing we saw on the lawn. An Asian Koel also flew into one of the trees and a quick look out at the sea produced a few distant Terns

Land Monitor – Wandered across the grounds of the hotel.  As soon as we armed ourselves with cameras it disappeared over a high wall.

Asian Koel – This bird appeared in the hotel grounds at Matara.  

After dropping off our cases we were straight out birding again, a short distance to the Matara Wetlands. A Plain Prinia was singing in an adjacent field and some stunning Blue Glassy Tiger Butterflies were flitting about.

Blue Glassy Tiger, Ideopsis similis exprompta

Where the track crosses the river an impressive Stork-billed Kingfisher was on an overhanging branch and a couple of Blyth’s Reed Warblers were in the low vegetation. A pair of Asian Paradise Flycatchers were occasionally showing as they flew out of the waterside bushes to grab an insect but the incredible white morph male disappeared all too swiftly.

Matara Wetlands – Birding from tracks alongside the water.

Stork-billed Kingfisher – One of only two sightings of this huge bill!We walked on to an area of marsh where some pools were full of birds including Purple Swamphens, Painted Storks, Black-headed Ibis’s, Great White, Intermediate, Little and Cattle Egrets, Purple Heron and Whiskered Terns floating over the water. A couple of Yellow Bitterns crept through the denser vegetation and then an elusive Cinnamon Bittern appeared for a few seconds before disappearing back into the undergrowth.With the light fading we watched the spectacular spectacle of 40+ Brahminy Kites and 2 Black Kites coming into their roost trees.