IS THERE A BIRD WITHIN YOURSELF?

The Field Ornithology Group of Sri Lanka [FOGSL] the leading organization for the scientific study of avian fauna in Sri Lanka has taken the leadership in the conservation of birds during the last 40 years. Initiated in 1976, its 40 years of untiring effort in conservation and research has been recognized and honored both locally and internationally.

FOGSL has continuously been conducting awareness programmes on birds to the general public through exhibitions and monthly programmes. It introduced a new programme last year “BirdLife Asia Partnership Bird Fair’ which coincided with the Asia Council Meeting of the Birdlife International being held in Sri Lanka. FOGSL is also the affiliate in the country to BirdLife International. The Bird Fair being a success, FOGSL is to continue it as an annual event.

This year FOGSL is to conduct the Bird Fair with a more local touch by naming it the ‘Kurulu Kaiya’; scheduled for the  16^th and 17^th of December at the Thalawathugoda ‘Diyasaru Uyana’ wetland park. The Bird Fair is a multi-tasked event in promoting bird awareness to the public as a recreational pastime through birdwatching and to the academia through study groupings and discussions on avifauna and wildlife research. On the economic side it promotes trade and industry in birdwatching optics, books, guides and photographic equipment used in the industry. This is more in appreciation of the generous sponsorship that these institutions extend in return as funding to the various other programmes related to conservation of birds and wildlife.

Birds do play a very silent amusement in all of us though not  felt and realized directly.  From the time a child is shown his / her first flying bird by the mother, a liking towards it is developed as it is the only creature that adopts flight as a means to go places during the day apart from a butterfly which are unique to the child’s world. Almost all other creatures that a child encounters at early age is terrestrial.  It is almost through instinct from then on that the he / she realizes that there are birds of different colors and shapes and also they sound different in vocalization. This liking towards birds develop with age and there is a form of distinct identification that is registered in the mind which we generally recognize as common birds. The term common birds in this case do qualify both to the general bird species that occur almost in all habitats and locations while it also apply to the general identification character of color and shape of a species registered in our minds.

The common ones found in almost all locations and habitats generally are the Crow, the Bulbul or Konda Kurulla and the Spotted-dove. They have been included into our folklore; in children’s storybooks and even in our ancient ‘Jathaka Stories'. 

Apart from the named common birds arounds us there is a special adoption within our minds that involve our senses that define bird species through shape and color that only a very few seem to pursue further in our lives. Birdwatching is based on the extended analysis of this sensual categorization that takes place in our minds. As an example a bird with a colorful green plumage and a closely curved red or yellow beak is grouped in our thinking as a parrot. Likewise a white bird with long tall legs and long snaky neck and spear like beak are grouped in our minds as cranes or storks. All human minds go as far as this in relation to bird identification almost through instinct and from the early picture books that we are introduced to. But it is only in a very few people that the feeling to go look at birds beyond this point is triggered naturally. The science of birdwatching comes to play from this point onward and this is what FOGSL and all other such organizations related with birds extend as a service to those interested to study them further.

Sri Lanka has four species of Parakeets and just one parrot; the endemic Sri Lanka Hanging Parrot. So it was a myth to say we have parrots in this land. We have seven species of Kingfishers, ten species of Owls, fifteen species of Cuckoos, eight species of Woodpeckers that account to around 347 breeding and regular migrant species that are found year round in an area of  65,600 square miles. This number is enhanced by a further 150 species listed as vagrant or with uncertain presence where they have not been occurring as regulars. Sri Lanka therefore is unique in its avian fauna when compared with the North American land mass of 9.45 million square miles and only the home for 914 species of birds. There is scientific reason for this.

This then should be something very special to the child who knew his birds through the picture book of parrots, kingfishers, woodpeckers and owls. Birdwatching is the scientific extension of techniques to identify the different species in the field by understanding bird behavior, their anatomical features and filed characteristics. The differentiating species through observation in the field is challenging and interesting. Applying your own inbuilt analytical ways of thinking through self-argument in your mind, applying an elimination theory to isolate the species for definition is tough and not easy. This could be practiced alone or best in groups of likeminded people that is called a birding community where individual knowledge and experience is shared. It is not something that could be learnt overnight but requiring perseverance, patience and self-discipline.  It requires the time to travel to locations as some birds are biome restricted and occur only in special habitats. The migrants can only be seen during a certain period of the year. Birds are the only known fauna to adopt in mass migration by flight over continents to avoid adverse seasonal weather. This is now an advance scientific research where extensive work is carried out with collaboration in the scientific communities worldwide.

Pic Courtesy: Akila Panditha                                                                                                                                                                                            

Birds been at Thalawathugoda Diyasaru Uyana 

This is only a glimpse of the bird world waiting for you to explore beyond the Parrot and the Kingfisher that you knew from your kindergarten picture book. FOGSL that originated in the University of Colombo, Zoology Department is an NGO, providing free services to the general public on bird awareness. It also engages in research and conservation work with inputs from the general public. FOGSL is for all those who are interested in birds, wildlife and nature. It does not require academic qualification for membership but only your interest for outdoors. Membership is open for all ages from 8 – 80. ‘FOG KIDS’ is for the very young who are still with the picture book birds. The general membership is gifted with free knowledge through monthly awareness programmes and bird-watching excursions to Important Bird Areas [IBA] in the country on a cost sharing basis.

If this snippet did arouse that hidden bird within yourself; FOGSL is pleased to welcome you to the 18^th P.B. Karunaratne Memorial Bird Educational and Photographic Exhibition on the 14^th and 15^th December 2017 at the Zoology Seminar Room University of Colombo and the ‘Kurulu Kaiya’ Bird Fair at the ‘Diyasaru Uyana’, Thalawathugoda wetland park on the 16^th and 17^th December 2017. You could then join hands in a national cause that will definitely change your lifestyle for betterment both in quality and health. 

Sinharaja–A rain Forest in Sri Lanka

Ever since joining the Field Ornithology Group of Sri Lanka [FOGSL] in 1996, attending the annual workshop at Sinharaja was a routine event for me. This was to continue for almost 10 years until occupational and family priorities overrode. However, it was always an urge to be at Martin’s Lodge in Sinharaja whenever time permitted. The creek flowing by with its ice-cold water and the dip in it after a day’s wandering in the forest was the most soothing feeling one could achieve in this pristine patch of forest called Sinharaja.

As it is generally said that your kids follow your habits………both my son and daughter also turned out to prefer the outdoors and enjoyed the wildly stays at Sinharaja or Horton Plains whenever they wanted to be away from home and the city.

Sinharaja was the choice this year when Naveen came over for holidays since his last visit in 2012 when we stayed over at Horton plains.

Sinharaja still has the virgin touch.

As agreed by all we book Martins Lodge from the 22nd to 24th of May 2016. This time we have a new kid in the group our second grandchild Arun. However we miss our daughter Hiruni who is away for higher studies.

Our regular trip driver Tharindu gets us to Kudawa in Weddagala where Martin’s son Gumasoma is waiting for us with the old 1940’s Willys 4X4 to get us up on the only motorable dirt track to their lodge. A continuous jerky climb of almost twenty minutes we are at the lodge greeted by our good old companion and friend Martin. We are all veterans at this facility excepting the kids and their mother being here for the first time.

Vista from Martin's Lodge

A very late lunch had we decide to spend the last four hours to sundown relaxing at Martin’s with ample plain tea enjoying the vista across the dining room and doing some long-range bird watching through binoculars. I recall that a few of the older trees that were iconic of this vista are no more and Martin says that they had died and fallen. The natural regeneration process in a rain forest. The older ones fall for those that have stayed years to catch the sunlight to gain heights……a competitive process.

Research has shown that Pinus could be grown with an indigenous undergrowth in the Sinharaja buffer zone 

Being the month of March it is generally warm…. but this year the rains have failed miserably compared to 2015 that was above average. The forest is dry and the streams to have parched. In this climate, we were not to expect the large bird flocks in the forest says, Martin. But for one consolation……..the blood-sucking leeches have all gone deep in the ground until the rains occur and we are safe without leech socks.

The kids enjoyed the stay so far as now there is electricity up here unlike in the past when paraffin lamps gave light for an early dinner and to bed for an early rise for birding. The plan to go frogging was not to be with the lack of water and moisture around. Mevan was so adamant that he locate a frog by the light of his headlamp was finally gifted with a large Bufo toad that had burrowed under a dripping water pipe.

After an early dinner, we retire for the day planning that Naveen with me would go down to the ticketing office by 6:00 a:m to collect the passes and get a forest guide assigned for the day in the forest.

The night was dry and silent without the cicada and the croaking toads. There was no rain dripping on the larger leaves creating a melody that is special to a rain forest.

Dawn brakes to the whistle of the Spot-winged Thrush; Naveen is dressed up ready to trek downhill with me for the passes. Breakfast had we are ready to go in the forest with the cherubic guide,… Sujith.

Sujith our guide

The dryness of the forest was imminent with the crushed up leaf matter from the foot traffic on the forest path. A silent stalk on the birds was hard to come and in return, the Jungle-fowl in the undergrowth was also very noisy turning up the leaf matter for grub. At a closer look, we find a number of Jungle fowl females turning up the leaf matter for the chicks to pick. It’s mid of the springtime and the birds have just flushed the fledglings off their nests giving them the first lessons on foraging.

Jungle fowl with brood

A little further on we come across a brood of Brown-capped Babblers also turning up the dry leaves, marching on with their young. We are so close to them and are not alarmed which is strange…. and Sujith our guide says that it's because of the many young in the flock that they would not abandon them.

Brown-capped babblers with brood

The kids are also fascinated in the dark and gloomy forest just as their parents; both practicing biologists, a similarity running in the family.

Dark and gloomy an  art of its own - Sinharaja

Midway on the path Sujith who knows the forest better says this is the locality for the Malabar Trogon and with a little ambling around in silence, we hear them……… and staining our eyes and necks we see a pair high up in the canopy. The flaming frontal view of the male and the back view of the female.

Giant Squirrel

Today Sinharaja too has turned out to be a location for guaranteed species sighting. I ask Sujith of the possibilities of seeing the Serendib Scops Owl. He tells me that there is a place outside the reserve in the buffer zone and that he would check out after the tour and come back for us if it is in its day roost. Sighting the endemic Sri Lanka Spur-fowl, he tells me that one needs to go out in a jeep to an adjoining village where a group has been almost domesticated by luring them for cooked rice.

We now come over to a location dominant with ‘Ginihota’ trees [Cyathea crinite] when Sujith tells us…. let’s check for the Frogmouth. Again we have closed up at a recorded day roost of the rare Sri Lanka Frogmouth [Batrachostomus moniliger]. We go down from the road with difficulty into the ferny groove and notice there is no vegetation on the ground due to excessive foot traffic looking for the Frogmouth. We are lucky today there is a solitary male bird roosting for us to watch. There had been none roosting the last week says Sujith. The Frogmouth being nocturnal is not excited or disturbed at human presence; most nocturnal birds are yet to be subjugated by us.

Sri Lanka Frogmouth

This being a noteworthy sighting I tell our group that we would not see anything significant from here on. This is based on an irrational belief that I have on these wild tours. If a special bird is sighted by chance you would not see anything significant from thereon. This worked out to be true today as well. From here on no noteworthy bird observation was made except for the ones very common to Sinharaja. But something special was seen outside birds. It was the first time that I saw the lantern moth in Sinharaja thanks to Sujith.

The Lantern Moth

Fish in the Maguru wala

 

In a short while, we reach the “Maguru Wala’ a marker point on this Sinharaja trek. Mevan spots something moving in the leaf litter and we follow it. The kids are impressed with the Rasbora’s and many other fish species in the crystal clear water in the Maguru Wala. The one that moved in the leaf litter is photographed and identified as the difficult to locate ground lizard the “Cerataphora aspera” the Rough Nose Horned Lizard.

 

“Cerataphora aspera” - Rough Nose Horned Lizard.

“Calotes liocephalus” - Spineless Forest Lizard

“Calotes calotes” - Green Garden Lizard

Yellow-browed Bulbul

We continue up to the Research Station the termination point on this trek encountering small flocks of Orange-billed Babblers, Sri Lanka Laughing Thrush, Crested Drongo, and Crimson backed Flameback, Velvet-fronted Nuthatch, Sri Lanka Hill Mynah, and the numerous flycatchers.

Spiders in Sinharaja

Flora in Sinharaja

Another of the rear lizards were spotted …. the “Calotes liocephalus” or the Spineless Forest Lizard. Its closest resemblance being the very common “Calotes calotes” the Green Garden Lizard who are in plentiful here and their body scales grow upwards while those of the former grow backward and down.

While resting in the summerhouse just before the climb on the Mulawella hike Mevan and Arun find the other lizard common to Sinharaja the “Otocryptis wiegmanni”, also called the Sri Lankan Kangaroo Lizard. They have startled the lizard to run on its hind legs mimicking the name Kangaroo Lizard.

Kids play with “Otocryptis wiegmanni”, - Sri Lankan Kangaroo Lizard.

Mevan with Water Monitor

We are now at the research station at the end of the walk which is a distance close to two kilometers. The Jungle fowl and the Sri Lanka Blue Magpie; the Sinhalese damsel of the forest here around the research station are study-specimens wearing identification rings and are attracted to people. They are so attached that they are of the habit of snatching food from the unsuspecting visitor. Arun nearly lost his snack and started to boo……… we now had to make it back from here soon to keep other visitors happy in a silent forest.

A marked Sri Lanka Blue Magpie

We called it a day after a late lunch and said goodbye to Sujith requesting him to be back in the morning with new passes looking forward to another prospective trek in the forest.

The colorful Sri Lanka Jungle Fowl Gallus Lafayetti - The National Bird

The trek in the forest the following day was not fruitful as the previous day. The Frogmouth was not in the roost. Of anything significant seen it was the extra-large earthworms that had come out in the night and the excessively dry weather had made it lose their body mucus making them immobilized ending up a feast for the forest ants.

Giant Earthworms

We are back at Martin’s for an early lunch and packed up and ready for Gunasoma to take us downhill in his 4X4. We say goodbye to Sujith and wishing Martin and his family good health…. with a positive assurance of our return again when the rains are in....once again to brave the leeches of Sinharaja.

Spring is over; it’s Summertime

It’s a Saturday morning in the month of July and I'm still in bed at home in Galle; a township deep down in the south of Sri Lanka…listening to the morning melody of the birds in the garden calling me out of bed… they all seem to say; ‘gone are the rains and sunny days are back.’ 

This year the monsoon rains were very much on time unlike last year. 

Yes I know it’s going to be a bright and sunny day as it’s been a long time since my bedroom wall caught the morning rays that stream through the windowpane. I’m still lazy though when I hear a unfamiliar call….not heard before in our garden and I’m sprung out of bed into the garden looking for my new feathered friend. My guess was right it was the Black-headed Cuckoo Shrike calling high up in the mango tree [Mangifera Indica]… it was a male bird whistling a high pitched, wheep-wheep-wheep while hopping about in the brightly lit canopy

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Black-headed Cuckoo Shrike

A riot of yellow - Ehela in bloom

Happy and content with the new found friend I wonder about in the garden. It’s high activity all around. The parched and dry weather in March-April, that wilted my three Ehela trees [Cassia fistula] forcing them to drop every leaf and bloom out into a riot of yellow is now a deep green. The monsoon rains that followed have triggered off new life into them and are now adorned in new foliage. The Black–hooded Orioles are busy in them staining their black hoods in odd angles looking for grub. The Ehela trees are ready again to host the larvae of the Lemon Emigrant, and the Common Grass Yellow, the two butterflies that prefer the Ehela to lay their eggs. Very soon the fresh foliage will be chewed up by the larvae and the Orioles and the Bul-buls with the Magpie Robins and the Tailor Birds will be feasting on the fattened larvae before they go into pupa. 

A deep green

Black-hooded Oriole

There is more activity in the shades among the Anthurium’s I see. Approaching them stealthily I'm almost in touching distance with three fledglings hopping about in the sand calling out to the parents who keep feeding them constantly. My wife Hemamala joins me and inquires as to what they are. “They are Magpie Robin chicks” I say to her disbelief. Yes the chicks have mottled beast feathers that fade away in adulthood. The Magpie Robins have had a successful brood this season with three chicks surviving; thanks we do not have a feline pet with us now.”

Exploring the surround

Magpie Robin chicks with mottled breasts

Earlier on inside the weep-holes in the stone wall opposite our bathroom fanlight, nested the White-breasted Kingfishers. They too were successful this year as the rat snake that inspects these cavities for cleanliness was a late comer this year. I now see four Kingfishers flying about in the garden. 

The bathroom fanlight a hideout for photography

This is the cycle of nature that keeps going year round in this little green patch that we maintain around the house in Galle; a 14 perch housing block. What a friendly atmosphere and I get the feeling that all these feathered friends take time off to thank us every summer for helping them keep their progeny alive year round.

Black- rumped Flameback

Just as I was about to go into the house, I hear him thanking me in his own special way. Yes the Black-rumped Flameback is on the mango now and is drumming away for me, trur…rrrrrrrrrrrrrr 

Drumming away happily

Very soon in two months’ time there would be other friends coming over. The Brown Flycatcher, Brown Shrike and the Indian Paradise Flycatcher are regular migrant visitors to our garden. They have an annual reservation in the Mango the Biling [Arerrhoa bilimbi] and the Kathuru-murunga trees. [Sesbenia grandiflora] 

Indian Paradise Fly-catcher

But this year I'm reluctant to provide all of them with a regular service that I continued all year-round before. Our birdbath will only be filled again once the local authorities have completed their inspections on mosquito breeding sites; a precautionary procedure to arrest the spread of dengue.