We took a bus, an overcrowded train, and another bus on a day-and-a-half
long journey from home to Nuwara Eliya last week. Leaving temperatures in the low-90s
in Anuradhapura, we arrived on a misty and cool 58-degree evening in the
mountains.
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| A view from the bus as we passed through the mountains and tea plantations |
We showered and layered on the clothing we brought and settled into
our hotel room for the night. In the morning we would be leaving at 4:45AM to
head to Horton Plains National Park… another hour away by tuk-tuk. The morning was
misty and rainy, windy, and downright cold as we made our way to the park. Upon
arrival, and seemingly on cue, the rain let up, and the wind settled. Making
our way to the trail head, we met Lillie, a fellow birder from the United
States.
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| Birding Horton Plains! - Photo by NS Dissanayaka |
Horton Plains is a vast and unique park with open grasslands
flanked by rainforest, high in the mountains. It’s the home to Leopards, the
regionally endemic Bear Leaf-monkey, a subspecies or the Purple-faced
Leaf-monkey, Sambar Deer, many regionally endemic birds, and several endemic
lizards, including my favorite Rhino-horned Lizard. The climate, montane habitat,
and wildlife are unlike anywhere else in Sri Lanka.
We started our nearly 6-mile trek through the grasslands to
the famous Baker’s Falls, through the jungle, and on to the End of the World overlook.
It didn’t take very long until Saranga pointed out a Blyth’s Pipit… a life
bird! It’s #916 for the world, and #222 for Sri Lanka! Here’s a short
photo-tour of Horton Plains National Park…
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| Sambar Deer - Photo by NS Dissanayaka |
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| Tricolored Munia (Lonchura malacca) |
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| Baker's Falls |
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Yellow-eared Bulbul (Pycnonotus penicillatus)
a Sri Lanka endemic - Photo by NS Dissanayaka |
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| Cinereous Tit (Parus cinereus) - Photo by NS Dissanayaka |
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| Saranga and me at the World's End overlook - Photo by L. Kline |
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| World's End |
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| Dark-fronted Babbler (Rhopocichla atriceps) - Photo by NS Dissanayaka |
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| Photo by NS Dissanayaka |
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| Saranga and me at Baker's Falls - Photo by K. Wijesinghe |
All photos in this post are mine unless noted otherwise :) Thanks for reading!
-Anna
