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SCOTT - TRIP TO SRI LANKA



Elephant Orphanage, one of Sri Lanka’s biggest tourist attractions, which

has a herd of over 80 elephants that take part in a daily parade, travelling

from their grazing pasture through the streets to the river to cool off. It is

quite a spectacle. Just up the road is the Millennium Elephant Foundation

which rescues elderly, sick and mistreated elephants. There it is possible to

get ‘hands on’ experience and it is well worth a visit.


After spending two nights in Kandy, it was time to move again but

before we left we visited the Temple of the Sacred Tooth. Then we set¬

off for Nuwara-eliya situated in the highlands at about 2,000m-(6,500ft).

On the way we stopped to visit a tea plantation and a tea factory. In the

afternoon we visited Hakgala Gardens which were established in 1860. The

following endemic species were seen there: Sri Lanka Wood Pigeon Columba

torringtoni , Sri Lanka White-eye Zosterops ceylonensis , Dull Blue Flycatcher

Muscicapa sordida, Yellow-eared Bulbul P. penicillatus , Sri Lanka Whistling

Thrush Myophonus blighi and the Purple-faced Leaf Monkey Semnopithecus

vetullus. Other birds seen were: Grey-headed Canary Flycatcher Culicicapa

ceylonensis , Velvet-fronted Nuthatch Sitta frontalis , Brown Shrike Lanius

c. cristatus , Scaly-breasted Rail Rallus striatus and Hill Swallow Hirundo

tahitica domicola.


The next day we made an early start, returning at first light to Hakgala

Gardens, before travelling onto Horton Plains National Park situated at

2,500m (approx. 8,200ft). On day eight we made another early start, this

time travelling to Yala National Park, Sri Lanka’s most famous park, which

is situated on the south-east coast, which bore the brunt of the Boxing Day

2004 tsunami. Yala is a very large park situated in the dry zone, with a

diversity of habitats ranging from scrub forest to reservoirs, a brackish lagoon

and an estuary. We saw more elephants and had good views of the elusive

Leopard in this park, which is well-known for its species of mammal. Birds

not previously seen included: Barred Buttonquail Turnix suscitator, Eurasian

Thick-Knee Burnhinus oedicnemus , Rosy Starling Sturnus roseus, Black¬

winged Stilt Himantopus himantopus and Orange-breasted Fruit Pigeon T.

bicincta leggei. On the morning of day nine we visited the Bundala Ramsar

Wetland National Park, which comprises scrub jungle and coast, with large

saltpans which are flooded and then sealed to allow the water to evaporate and

leave behind the salt which is collected by hand. It is very labour intensive

work carried out in extremely hot temperatures. Large numbers of waders

and other coastal birds were present. After lunch some of us went on a jeep

safari to Udawalawa National Park, an area of scrub jungle and tall grass,

where we saw: Black-shouldered Kite Elanus caeruleus, Plaintive Cuckoo

Cacomantis merulinus, Yellow-crested Woodpecker Picoides mahrattensis

and the fifth and final parrot species found on Sri Lanka, the Plum-headed



