Who would have thought that Sri Lanka would offer a safari!
Close to our hotel on the South coast of the island, Bundala National Park was waiting to be discovered. This small national park of ~60 square km can only be explored from a safari vehicle with a park ranger and is famous for its migratory bird population in winter.
I was especially pleased to find three species of my favourite family, the bee eaters:
Green Bee-eater (Merops orientalis)
Blue-tailed Bee-eater (Merops philippinus)
and the rare Bee-eater with a copper-coloured head:
Chestnut-headed Bee-eater (Merops leschenaulti)
We did not see the fourth species, the European bee-eater, that visits Sri Lanka in winter. Maybe it stayed in Europe this year ...
Sri Lanka Woodshrike (Tephrodornis affinis)
Oriental Darter (Anhinga melanogaster)
Eurasian Thick-knee (Burhinus oedicnemus), that sits still on the ground for long periods of time
Great Thick-knee (Esacus recurvirostris)
a Parakeet (Psittacula)
Asian Openbill (Anastomus oscitans)
Beautiful wild Peacocks everywhere - Green Peafowl (Pavo muticus)
Spot-billed Pelican (Pelecanus philippensis)
Blackwinged Stilt
Redshank (Tringa spec.)
Painted Stork (Mycteria leucocephala)
Eurasian Spoonbill (Platalea leucorodia)
Red-wattled Lapwing (Vanellus indicus)
young White-breasted Waterhen (Amaurornis phoenicurus)
Purple Heron (Ardea purpurea)
Purple Swamphen (Porphyrio porphyrio)
a visiting Caspian tern (Hydroprogne caspia)
Crested Hawk Eagle (Nisaetus cirrhatus)
and many more ...
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