The manager of Kithulgala Resthouse booked an excellent guide for us – Shanaka Lakmina for our morning bird walk.  I told him I was especially keen to see parrot species, preferably close up so he tailored the walk to the areas of most interest.  Of course we saw lots of fantastic birds along the way.  We did manage to find a Sri Lanka Hanging Parrot that perched for awhile except he was backlit by the sun.  There were also a few Alexandrines and possibly a quick flyby of a Layard’s Parakeet.  The other highlight of the trip was the endemic Chestnut-backed Owlet.

First meet Shanaka.  He’s a licensed guide who works for Kelaniriver Adventure Kithulgala (KAK).  He can be booked via your hotel or in advance by Facebook.  He’s a great guy, knows the local birds quite well and where to find them.

These are photos he sent me of the parrots since I couldn’t get good shots.  The smaller one is the Sri Lanka Hanging Parrot, the others are Layard’s Parakeets in a nest.

Sri Lanka Hanging Parrot – just hanging around

Layard’s Parakeets in a nest.

Layard’s Parakeet on a tree

And now some blurry shots of parrots at a distance taken by me.

Chestnut-backed Owlet

And the rest of the birds in chronological order starting with the walk through town.

After the bird walk, we sat down and ticked off all the species we saw over both days.  This was my final tally:  Cattle Egret, Little Egret, Little Cormorant,  White-bellied Sea-Eagle,  Crested Serpent Eagle,  Green Imperial Pigeon, Spotted Dove, Sri Lanka Green Pigeon,  Sri Lanka Hanging Parrot, Layard’s Parakeet, Alexandrine Parakeet, Chestnut-backed Owlet, White-throated Kingfisher,  Sri Lanka Grey Hornbill, Yellow-fronted Barbet, Orange Minivet, Sri Lanka Drongo, White-bellied Drongo,  Black-capped Bulbul, Red-vented Bulbul, Yellow-browed Bulbul, Orange-billed Babbler, Yellow-billed Babbler, Oriental White-eye, Lesser Hill Myna, Common Myna, Purple-rumped Sunbird, White-rumped Munia, Grey Wagtail.