Weerawila Birding, Sri Lanka

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When: April 2024 Weather Hot30C

Nikon P950

On our 24 hour outing to Yala, we elected to stay at the Doubletree Hilton in Weerawila, about an hour away. It’s an absolutely beautiful 2 level hotel built on the banks of Lake Weerawila and was a great place to stay.

this is the view of the lake from the reception area
no sooner had we checked in and whilst we were waiting for our rooms did this handsome fellow appear….at first sight, a Malaysian Pied fantail which I had just shot in Santiphap Park Bangkok last week…
but on closer scrutiny, I noticed that above the eye was a marked white eyebrow….making this the White-browed fantail…a lifer no less!
a number of nondescript sunbirds were around
we’d been told that the sunrises were nice…..so at 6 am this is the view of the lake from my room
a few minutes later the sun peeked over the horizon
and rapidly rose
stunning sunrise over weerawila lake
boatman on the water
in the dullmorning light, this common tailorbird appeared

We then walked through the carpark and out the main entrance to walk on the road bisecting the lake outside….

an imperial green pigeon posed…
rose ringed parakeet
on to the lake, where a pelican cruised serenely
the malabar pied hornbill also showed
and a lone fisherman on the lake
with an attentive little egret watching
egret with pond heron posing
and then a splash of colour as the purple swamphens appeared…
also known as the purple gallinule

So just an hour and a half walk outside the hotel was very interesting witha few good sitings….

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