Bird Watching

Bird watching & trekking in Udawattekele Sanctuary

Introduction

Being a rich country of natural bio diversity, Sri Lanka elaborates and proves it many times. Udawattekele located north of Kandy Lake is an eco-tourism site which expands over 104 hectares. The Park was once a forbidden forest called Uda wasala watte (the garden above the royal palace) during the Kandyan kingdom. Visitors can tour the sanctuary every day from 6 am to 5 pm. Though the entire garden was declared as a forest reserve in 1856 and upgraded as a sanctuary in 1938.This garden has an exclusive collection of avifauna. Other than that, it is one of the beautiful bird sanctuaries in Sri Lanka.

 Udawatte Kele is on a hill ridge stretching between the Temple of the Tooth and the Uplands- Aruppola suburbs. The highest point of the ridge is 635 meters above sea level and 115 meters above the nearby Kandy Lake.

The sanctuary contains three Buddhist forest monasteries, i.e., Forest Hermitage,Senanayakaramaya and Tapovanaya, and three cave dwellings for Buddhist monks, i.e., Cittavisuddhi-lena, Maitri-lena and Senkadandagala-lena. The sanctuary acts as a catchment area for the supply of water to the city of Kandy. Udawatte Kele sanctuary houses to varieties of birds like yellow fronted barbet, Layard’s Parakeet, Spot bellied eagle owl, Sri Lankan hanging parrot, Green fronted leaf bird, and native three-toed kingfisher, Sri lanka hill myna (approximately 80 species of birds can be seen). Therefore, for the bird experts armed with binoculars, is a great place to explore the bird life. Annual rainfall is recorded about 1615 mm and temperature is around 24 c. The sanctuary is a good location for panoramic photographs of Kandy city and butterflies, mammals which comes very close to you. Endemic animals like toque macaque, jackal, porcupine and mouse deer seems to be common. Obviously 460 species of plants, especially lianas, Shrubs, herbs and small plants are survived in the jungle.

Bird watching and trekking in Kitulgala.

Introduction.

The Makandawa Forest Reserve in Kitulgala (195 Ha) was established to protect the watershed of the Kelani River and is home to many of Sri Lanka’s endemic fauna & flora. This area is also famous for its adventure activities including rafting on Grade 3 and 4 rapids down the Kelani River and jungle treks or mountain bike rides through jungle-clad hills and plantations growing low-country tea and rubber. The breathtaking scenery here was used for the filming of the Oscar-winning classic `The Bridge over the River Kwai’ by David Lean. The unique experience of visiting this Kitulgala forest reserve is the boat trip across the river.

Second to Sinharaja, the Kitulgala forest reserve would be the ideal rainforest habitat to spot most of the lowland endemic species of birds including the Green-bill Coucal, Chestnut-backed Owlet, Red-faced Mal koha, Sri Lanka Spot-winged Thrush, Grey Hornbill, Sri Lanka Spur fowl, Ceylon Jungle fowl and Yellow-fronted Barbet. The newly discovered Serendip Scoops Owl was also first heard in this forest. Plenty of insect repellent and anti-leech socks, if you have a pair, are useful to wear when entering the forest. Mammal species found here include the Grizzled Indian Squirrel, Layard’s Striped Squirrel and the Purple-faced Leaf Monkey. The streams hold endemic fish and many species of amphibians. The Earless Lizard, Kangaroo Lizard and the Hump-nosed Lizard are among the reptile species and are frequently seen in the foliage along the Kelani River.