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Asia - Sri Lanka

Sri Lanka is a tear drop shaped island in the Indian Ocean separated from the Indian peninsula by the Gulf of Mannar and the Palk Strait, which at its narrowest is just 32 km. The island is 432 km from north to south and 224 km from east to west. It is about twice the size of Belgium or a third larger than Switzerland. There are fine sandy beaches around most of the island. On the south coast are the Dutch fortress towns of Galle and Matara and beyond them the sanctuaries of Kalametiya and the national parks of Bundala and Yala. Here the jungle belongs to elephants and leopards. Eco-tourism is attracting more and more visitors to Sri Lanka. The islands' isolation from the mainland, two diagonally blowing monsoons shedding water into a mountainous core, has created a variation in climate which is normally found only across a continent. The wet lowlands rainforests and the cloud forests in the highlands teem with an endemic bio-diversity found nowhere else in the world.Endemicity is high with a quarter of the flowering plants, and half the amphibians and reptiles endemic. Endemics species include Pompadour Green Pigeon, Serendib Scops-Owl, Ceylon Small Barbet, Crimson-backed Flameback, Ceylon Swallow, Ceylon Woodshrike, Black-capped Bulbul, Ceylon Scaly Thrush, Ceylon Scimitar-Babbler and Ceylon Crested Drongo. The Sri Lankan races of the Common Hawk Cuckoo and the Eurasian Blackbird may well also warrant treatment as full species and would therefore be island endemics. By concentrating on Sinharaja, Kithulgala and Horton Plains National Park the birdwatcher can see nearly all of Sri Lanka's endemic bird species in two weeks . text supplied by Gehan de Silva Wijeyeratne - For the full article 'Introducing Sri Lanka' - click here

Serendib Scops Owl © Ian Merrill

Trip Reports Sri Lanka January - February 2000, author Surfbirds Admin (added September 19, 2004) Sri Lanka, January 2001, author Surfbirds Admin (added September 19, 2004) Sri Lanka, 1st - 15th March 2002, author Surfbirds Admin (added September 19, 2004) Sri Lanka, August 2002, author Surfbirds Admin (added September 19, 2004) Sri Lanka, January 2003, author Surfbirds Admin (added September 19, 2004) Sri Lanka, 4th - 19th February 2003, author Surfbirds Admin (added September 19, 2004) Sri Lanka, November 2001 , author Surfbirds Admin (link created September 19, 2004) Sri Lanka - a whirlwind tour in search of endemics - 27th January – 1st February 2008, author Andy Adcock (added May 6, 2008) Sri Lanka - A Birding, Wildlife, History, and Culture Tour - 13th Feb - 8th March 2006, author Sue Ebbutt & Alan Smith (added May 27, 2006) (Being keen but novice birders, we wanted a tour that would give us the opportunity to see as many of the birds of the country as possible, but also other wildlife, historic and cultural sites.) Sri Lanka - 16th to 31st January 2006, author Paul and Barbara Heatley (added May 26, 2006) Sri Lanka: 31 Jan – 14 Feb, 2008 – Absolute Birding, author Amila Salgado (added March 28, 2008) (with photos of Sri Lanka Scaly Thrush, Sri Lanka Blue Magpie plus others) A Wildlife and Birding Tour in Sri Lanka after the Tsunami, 5th- 26th February 2005, author Mike Hillman (added March 28, 2005) (All bar two of the Sri-lankan endemics with visits to Yala, Bundala, Sinharaja, Sigirya, Horton Plains and many other sites) Basic Sri Lanka, author Paul Jones (added March 27, 2006) (Sinharaja, Yala, Horton Plains, Arrenga, Ceylon Scaly Thrush, Red-faced Malkoha) Sri Lanka - 9th to 18th January 2007, author Brian Clasper (added March 23, 2007) Off Season Sri Lanka - September 2003, author Stuart White (added March 20, 2006) (Endemics) Birding in Sri Lanka - 3rd February - 23rd February 2006, author Alec Crawford (added June 9, 2006) (The next two days were spent in the Sinharaja rain forest where most of the endemic birds can be found) Sri Lanka - chasing the thirty-three - January 2006, author Howard Broughton (added July 1, 2006) (Kitugala, Sinharaja, Udawalawe, Yala, The Highlands, Kandy) Sri Lanka - Serendipity on the Teardrop of India - 16th to 24th January, author Ian Merrill (added July 1, 2005) Sri Lanka - new endemics and future splits, author Ashley Banwell (added January 8, 2008) (Serindib Scops Owl, Slaty-legged Rail, Ceylon Scaly Thrush, Pied Ground Thrush, Kashmir Flycatcher) Sri Lanka Update - 5th - 25th January 2005 – Don’t cancel your trip!, author Ian Merrill (added January 26, 2005) (All the endemics seen including Serendib Scops-Owl) Sri Lanka 10-20 December 2007- Unseasonally Rainy Birding, author Low Bing Wen Albert (added January 15, 2008) (Usual circuit with slight variations; Pied Thrush; Kashmir Flycatcher; Marshall's Iora and 31 endemics) Sri Lanka Trip Report 3rd -21st December 2005, author Carol Inskipp (added January 12, 2006) Sri Lanka - 18th December 2003 – 2nd January 2004, author Nick Moran (added January 10, 2006) Post Tsunami birding in Sri Lanka - 23rd January - 6th February 2005, author Steve Dark (added February 21, 2005) (Sinharaja, Kitulgala, Yala) The Gathering of Elephants - Sri Lanka - August - September 2005, author Surfbirds Admin (link created December 6, 2005) (Author: Gehan de Silva Wijeyeratne) Sri Lanka - 1st - 14th August 2007, author Ken Tucker (added August 27, 2007) (33 endemic species, Kitulgala, Sinharaja, Kalamitiya, Uda Walawe, Yala, Nuwara Eliya, Kandy) Sri Lanka - after the tsunami - February 28th to March 12th 2005, author Jon Ashworth (added April 7, 2005) (This was our first visit to Sri Lanka. The timing of the visit, post-tsunami, gave an edge to the holiday.) How wildlife tourism can support the Sri Lankan economy post-tsunami, author Surfbirds Admin (link created April 7, 2005) (by Antero Topp, editor Alula (1) and Simon Boyes, Ornitholidays (2)) Sri Lanka - November - December 2006, author Simon Hartill (added April 12, 2007) (Our guide excelled in finding us all the endemics and most of the specials that were on the target list.) Showing the 29 Most Recent Trip Reports Posted BACK TO TRIP REPORTS HOME PAGE POST A TRIP REPORT EDIT YOUR TRIP REPORTS

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