The third and final location of the Sri Lanka Untamed wildlife photography tour was Wilpattu National Park, in the north-east of the country. To get there, we had an 8 hour bus trip from Yala National Park, and we got to enjoy some more of Sri Lanka's beautiful landscapes and some great local cuisine along the way. We arrived in the evening, and were delighted to learn that we could sleep in a bit the next morning. We set our alarms for 4:45am instead of 3:45am! Wilpattu National Park is not as busy as Yala, and the Jeep drivers are allowed to wait in the queue without the passengers, so we could get up a bit later and meet our Jeeps at the gate.
Our main wildlife target in Wilpattu was the Sloth Bear, as we had missed them in Yala (some people had a brief glimpse, but Maggie and I hadn't seen them at all), as well as more leopards, birds, and what ever else we could find.
Upon our arrival, some park officials had a rescued Indian Scops Owl that they were showing to the waiting tourists. A cool bird to see, but it didn't count as a tick and we didn't see one in the wild - I hope this one got released soon after this!
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| Indian Scops Owl |
We spent the morning having a look around, and saw Spotted Deer, and Elephants feeding in the water. I also added a few bird species to my list, including Greater Thick-knee and Kentish Plover.
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| Spotted Deer |
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| Greater Thick-knee, adult with chick |
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| Greater Thick-knee |
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| Painted Stork |
We were were fortunate to get this view of a Black-naped Monarch nesting next to the track. We had seen this species in Yala, but not up close.
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| Black-naped Monarch |
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| Kentish Plover |
It was fascinating to watch the elephants pulling up aquatic vegetation of some sort, and shaking off the excess water before consuming.
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| Asian Elephant |
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| ...Going.... |
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| ...GONE!! |
We breakfasted at a rest area beside a beautiful lake, where we were joined again by Toque Macaques (slightly less cheeky than the macaques of Yala, but not by much!).
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| Toque Macaque |
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| Lakeside Rest Area, Wilpattu National Park |
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| Crested Hawk-Eagle |
After breakfast we were quickly back into our search - driving along forest tracks, examining lakes and muddy banks. We got some good views of some forest birds and waders, as well as a couple of lizards with excellent camouflage.
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| White-rumped Shama |
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| Chestnut-headed Bee-eater |
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| Barking Deer |
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| Wood Sandpiper |
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| Common Greenshank |
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| Black-winged Stilt |
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| Paddyfield Pipit |
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| Camouflaged Lizard - this one should have stood out more than the second one, but took me a lot longer to spot! |
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| Camouflaged Lizard 2, harder to distinguish from the bark, yet I spotted it quite easily |
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| Asian Emerald Dove |
Late in the day, we stopped by a waterhole, hoping to get a sighting of a leopard coming in to drink. We sat for a while, watching Asian Paradise-Flycatchers darting around, catching insects on the water's suface.
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| Asian Paradise-Flycatcher |
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| Asian Paradise-Flycatcher |
As we were watching the Paradise-Flycatchers, a Ruddy Mongoose wandered around between fallen branches near the track. Suddenly, the Mongoose took off like a shot, and a leopard appeared.
The leopard wandered around between the same branches as the mongoose, and eventually came up on the track behind our vehicle. It appeared to be quite comfortable, as it sat for a while, groomed a bit, and then got up and STRETCHED. It is amazing watching a wild big cat exhibit the same behaviours as my own pet cats at home!
By the time the leopard left us, it was time to head out of the park and back to our accommodation. But only a minute further down the road we had a glimpse of a pair of Sloth Bears! Darting in and out between trees, we couldn't get a great view, let alone a photo, but we were happy! On the way out, we also saw this Star Tortoise wandering around, feeding.
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| Star Tortoise |
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| Star Tortoise |
And with that, our first day at Wilpattu had come to an end; a relatively quiet day, compared to Yala, but so much action in the last half hour or so! We headed back to our accommodation for dinner and sleep, before our last full day safari of the trip. The next morning we were at the park early again, and excited to see what our last day would bring. We got more great views of some bird species, but as had happened on our first day in Wilpattu, most of the action happened right at the end of the day!
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| Buffaloes |
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| Oriental Darter |
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| Crested Serpent-Eagle |
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| Crested Serpent-Eagle |
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| Crested Serpent-Eagle |
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| Spotted Deer |
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| Spotted Deer |
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| Fighting or cuddling?... I guess we'll never know... |
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| Wild Pig |
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| Chestnut-headed Bee-eater |
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| Chestnut-headed Bee-eater |
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| Lesser Sand-Plover |
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| Yellow Wagtail |
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| Buffalo |
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| Buffalo with Cattle Egrets |
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| Crested Serpent_Eagle |
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| Indian Peafowl |
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| Crested Hawk-Eagle |
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| Kentish Plover |
Near the end of the day, our driver got a call to say where a leopard had been seen. Our driver took us to the spot - a leopard lay resting under a tree next to a pond.
Nearby, at the pond's edge, and slightly more exciting for my taste, we found a Pin-tailed Snipe - another lifer!
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| Pin-tailed Snipe |
Above, more Asian Paradise-Flycatchers flitted about in the trees.
On our way out of the park, we had a final stroke of luck - a Sloth Bear. This one was kind enough to cross the road for us, and even looked our way. What a fantastic end to our last safari in Sri Lanka!
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| Sloth Bear |
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| The beautiful wetlands of Wilpattu NP |
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| Fancy Leopard |
In the morning, I could have slept in, but our recent routine plus the birdsong coming from outside was enough to get me up and out of bed early. I stayed in the garden of our accommodation - Wilpattu Teal Cottage - and there I found quite a lot of birds. I got good views of an Orange-breasted Green-Pigeon - a lifer for me. I also found later that one of the little birds I had been watching was a Grey-breasted Prinia - the last prinia in Sri Lanka that I hadn't seen yet. I spent a while watching the birds, and eventually some of my friends came out joined me.
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| Orange-breasted Green-Pigeon |
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| Pale-billed Flower Pecker |
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| White-browed Bulbul |
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| White-browed Bulbul |
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| White-browed Bulbul |
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| Black-hooded Oriole |
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| Common Iora |
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| Grey-breasted Prinia |
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| White-rumped Munia |
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| Purple Sunbird |
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| Rose-ringed Parakeet |
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| White-bellied Drongo |
After breakfast, we packed up and loaded the bus for the last time. After a few hours we arrived back in Negombo, and it was time to say goodbye to everyone. Maggie, Craig and I were the first to depart - Maggie and I would be heading to Kandy the following day for the next leg of our adventure, Craig stayed in Negombo overnight before taking off to Singapore to go and hunt for insects and birds in the forest to photograph. Angus and Karen went on to spend a couple of days exploring in Colombo, and Nico and Barbro headed south to fly out over the ocean to photograph Blue Whales! It was sad saying good bye to everyone, but I'm sure we will all meet again. We had a fantastic time together, everyone got along really well, and we couldn't have asked for better guides. Thanks so much to everyone involved!
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| On the bus on the way back to Negombo |
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| My travel buddies and our wonderful guide and drivers |
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