Sri Lanka Days 1 and 2

I'd been hoping to take a big nature holiday at the end of the winter and signed up for the Naturetrek Butterfly Tour of Sri Lanka 25th February to 6th March.

Due to works at the airport we only arrived at Colombo at about 16.30 on the 26th, which left little time for any sightings en route to our first destination at Sinharaja Forest, as darkness fell fairly punctually just after 18.00.  However we did manage to see little egret, brahmini kite, crested serpent eagle and indian flying fox and saw our first butterfly while settling down to eat - the evening brown, which apparently only comes out an hour before dusk.

An early 6.30 a.m. start took place the next day and before we had even set out we had seen Sri Lanka hanging parrot, tree swift, drongos and and a preying mantis.  Unfortunately the weather was overcast on reaching the entrance to the Sinharaja Nature Reserve, so we hung around the entrance area bird watching for a while and it was soon apparent what a profusion of wildlife there is in the area. I unashamedly plump for the the more exotic species and found straight away that the Blue Magpie was even more spectacular than I had been expecting.  These birds' feeding patterns seem to have been affected by contact with humans and, until recently, they often turned up in the hotel we stayed at.

Also in the spectacular category came emerald dove, yellow browed bulbul, and the grey hornbill.

After a time, hazy sunshine started to appear and so we set off up into the hills, a jeep ride over rough and bumpy tracks.  It didn't take long for butterflies to appear and we soon saw our first - a common sailor.  We stooped to investigate a meadow area and I was pleased to see good numbers of one of the species I had been keen to see - the common jezebel.  Frustratingly I could not with my relatively downmarket gear get a good photograph, as it refused to settle for long enough to get a decent focus.

Further on up the trail, I was first to spot the Sri Lanka Tree Nymph but had a similar photographic experience as it wavered its way among the trees in an elusive manner, resulting in multiple blurred shots and total misfires.

In between times we also made the acquaintance of the gladeye bushbrown, Sri Lankan Jungle Fowl, lesser yellow-naped woodpecker, asian paradise flycatcher, as well as the first of many fleeting encounters with blue mormon, common rose, blue tiger and Sri Lanka birdwing.

There were also a profusion of blues that needed very careful; identification by our guides and a number of yellows that I personally find difficult to disentangle, particularly the one spot, two spot and three spot grass yellows. Plus we encountered purple-faced leaf monkeys, squirrels, lizards and snakes.

Eventually we ended up at a lodge where there was a large water monitor at a nearby stream, but I was fortunate enough to return in time to see another two of my target butterflies, the spectacular bluebottle and the commander.  Then the sky clouded over and we headed back to the hotel.  In the evening, with camera on charge, I took a brief walk nad got good views of purple-faced leaf monkeys, the oriental magpie robin, and the red-vented bulbul.

Here's a video of what I did manage to capture on camera.  I hope the captions are correct.

Overall, I think the most exciting part of the day was to see the sudden flash of the bluebottle flying around at speed.