Trip Report Sri Lanka 2003

Simon Plat, Maaike Poppinga
Dates: 24-02-2003 till 13-03-2003
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Nuwara Eliya and Arrenga Pond

Location: Nuwara Eliya is located in the central Highlands, about 5 hours west of Colombo and about 3-4 norht of Tissamarahama. Victoria Park is easily found in the centre of town. To get to Arrenga Pond, follow the signs to Pattipola and Horton Plains from Nuwara Eliya (about 45 minutes drive). The pond is on the right side of the road just before a big sign "Have you seen a Leopard yet?". The Pattipola area is also good for birding.

Costs: There's a small entrance fee for Victoria Park. Arrenga Pond was (still) just before the entrance to Horton Plains and consequently free of charge (but see Itinerary).

Date(s): 4 and 5-03-2003 (6 birding hours)

Notes: Nuwara Eliya is a British style Hill Station at an altitude of almost 200 m. It can be pretty cold in Nuwara Eliya, especially at nights. Victoria Park is small but there's great birding along the stream. We slept in a hotel near Lake Gregory (see Itinerary), about 2 km for town centre. The lake was not very interesting for birds. We didn't visit Horton Plains, since all high altitude endemics can be found near Arrenga Pond. On the way to Nuwara Eliya we had a short stop at the Surres Tea Estate near Welinada, a good spot for Brown Wood-Owl.

Highlights (endemics in bold): Ceylon Wood-Pigeon (1 - at Arrenga Pond), Brown Wood-Owl (1 - at Surres Tea Estate), Alpine Swift (V), Yellow-eared Bulbul (V - Victoria Park and Arrenga Pond), Philippine Shrike (1), Indian Blue Robin (1), Ceylon Whistling-Thrush (1 - Arrenga Pond), Pied Bushchat (V), Eurasian Blackbird (2 - ssp kinnisii - Arrenga Pond), Pied Thrush (9 - Victoria Park), Tawny-bellied Babbler (V - Surres Tea Estate), Ceylon Bush-Warbler (1 - Arrenga Pond), Dull-blue Flycatcher (2 - Arrenga Pond), Kashmir Flycatcher (1 - Victoria Park), Great Tit (V), Ceylon White-eye (V - Victoria Park and Arrenga Pond), Ceylon Hill Munia (4 - Pattipola).

Pics:

An impression of Nuwara Eliya.

 
Victoria Park, in the centre of Nuwara Eliya is tiny but great birding, with lots of Pied Trush and good chances for Kashmir Flycatcher.
When you see this sign on your way from Patipola to Horton Plains, you're just a split second away from finding Sri Lanka's most spectacular endemic: Ceylon Whistling-Thrush, also called Arrenga.
The famous Arrenga Pond, this is where we had an unforgettable 30 minutes of displaying and singing Ceylon Whistling-Thrush.

Bird List:

Column 1: S= endemic species; R=endemic race/subspecies
Column 2: N=Near-threatened; V=Vulnerable; E=Endangered

A = Nuwara Eliya
B = Arrenga Pond

       
A
B
    Phalacrocorax carbo Great Cormorant
    Phalacrocorax fuscicollis Indian Cormorant
V
    Phalacrocorax niger Little Cormorant
V
    Ardea cinerea Grey Heron
1
    Ardeola grayii Indian Pond-Heron
X
    Bubulcus ibis Cattle Egret
XX
    Egretta garzetta Little Egret
V
S   Gallus lafayetii Ceylon Junglefowl
V
    Amaurornis phoenicurus White-breasted Waterhen
V
    Himantopus himantopus Black-winged Stilt
V
    Columba livia Rock Pigeon
X
V
S V Columba torringtoni Ceylon Wood-Pigeon
1
R   Streptopelia chinensis ceylonensis Spotted Dove
X
V
R   Strix leptogrammica ochrogenys Brown Wood-Owl
1
    Apus affinis Little Swift
V
    Collocalia unicolor Indian Swiftlet
XX
X
    Tachymarptis melba Alpine Swift
V
    Halcyon smyrnensis White-throated Kingfisher
2
    Hirundo rustica (incl. gutteralis) Barn Swallow
X
    Anthus rufulus Paddyfield Pipit
V
V
    Dendronanthus indicus Forest Wagtail
2
    Motacilla cinerea Grey Wagtail
V
1
R   Pycnonotus cafer cafer Red-vented Bulbul
X
X
S N Pycnonotus penicillatus Yellow-eared Bulbul
2
V
    Lanius cristatus cristatus Brown Shrike
1
1
    Lanius cristatus lucionensis Philippine Shrike
1
r?   Copsychus saularis ceylonensis Oriental Magpie-Robin
X
V
    Luscinia brunnea Indian Blue Robin
1
S E Myiophonus blighi Ceylon Whistling-Thrush
1
R   Saxicola caprata atrata Pied Bushchat
V
R   Turdus merula kinnisii Eurasian Blackbird
2
    Zoothera wardii Pied Thrush
9
R   Dumetia hyperythra phillipsi Tawny-bellied Babbler
V
    Acrocephalus dumetorum Blyth's Reed-Warbler
1
S N Bradypterus palliseri Ceylon Bush-Warbler
1
R   Orthotomus sutorius fernandonis Common Tailorbird
2
    Phylloscopus nitidus Green Leaf Warbler
1
R   Prinia inornata insularis Plain Prinia
2
R   Prinia socialis brevicauda Ashy Prinia
V
S N Eumyias sordida Dull-blue Flycatcher
2
  V Ficedula subrubra Kashmir Flycatcher
1
    Terpsiphone paradisi paradisi Asian Paradise-Flycatcher
1
    Parus major mahrattarum Great Tit
V
V
R   Dicaeum erythrorhynchos ceylonense Pale-billed Flowerpecker
1
R   Nectarinia lotenia lotenia Loten's Sunbird
1
S   Zosterops ceylonensis Ceylon White-eye
1
V
    Zosterops palpebrosus Oriental White-eye
V
S   Lonchura kelaarti Ceylon Hill Munia
4
    Lonchura punctulata Scaly-breasted Munia
1
    Lonchura striata White-rumped Munia
2
    Passer domesticus House Sparrow
X
X
R   Acridotheres tristis melanosternus Common Myna
X
X
R   Oriolus xanthornus ceylonensis Black-hooded Oriole
V
    Corvus macrorhynchos Large-billed Crow
X
X
    Corvus splendens House Crow
X
X

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