An evening in Colombo

 

While travelling from India to Singapore, I had some spare time during the transit in Colombo. I searched the internet for a birding spot near Colombo city and  found a bird park called Diyasaru; it is not officially declared as a bird sanctuary. I reached the place in the late afternoon. There was no queue at the ticket counter. I asked the ticket agent about the park and, knowing where I come from, he spoke to me in Tamil and showed me how to navigate this park.

The weather was hot and the sky was clear. I entered the park after carefully studying the map and the list of bird species posted at the entrance. There were some Common Mynas, Spotted Doves, and Yellow-billed Babblers foraging in the ground beneath the tree. A crow was cawing from a bough. A male koel was singing at a distance. The pelage of the Indian Palm Squirrel was shining in the bright sunlight. I see and experience the same in my street in Palani. The circumstances in Palani and here are alike. 

Indian Palm Squirrel

Though the weather was hot, the shade of the trees on both sides of the path helped make walking comfortable. There were swamps covered with aquatic plants. White-breasted Waterhens were spotted on the bund and the walking path. Unlike the ones we see in India, these seem fearless of human proximity. Grey-headed Swamphens were perched on the branches of the bushes just above the water surface and, due to their weight, the thin branches bent towards the water.

Gray-headed Swamphen

I climbed to the top of the watchtower to get a clearer view of the park and to find more birds, even if they were perched or flying at a distance. There was a swamp just below, where the water level was very low and the swamphens walked through the aquatic plants. There were clumps of bamboo, reeds, shrubberies, tall trees, and a few coconut palms all around the swamp.

A massive Purple Heron came from nowhere and passed through the swamp. As time passed, the birds' activities increased as they had to complete their foraging and return to roost. The sky was still clear. I was looking for a raptor and, after some time, I saw a bird flying in the distance. A huge tree between us obscured the view, but as the bird circled and soared, I could catch a glimpse of it. It was a Red-backed Kite!

Purple Heron

As expected,  as dusk approached, the sky filled with parties of Rose-ringed Parakeets and Egrets. A white-bellied Drongo was perched unobscured straight ahead of me, hopping off from the perch to catch its prey, and returning to the same tree. A flock of Green Imperial Pigeons and a lone Black-hooded Oriole were all perched on the barren branches of the trees above the canopy.

The board at the entrance stated that the park has Fishing cats. While observing the habitat from the watchtower, I did not find the information misleading. Though I couldn’t see this elusive cat, I'm glad to know their habitat remains intact close to the busiest city in Sri Lanka. In India, they are found in mangrove habitats, particularly in the Sundarbans. Naturalists have also recorded their presence in the Western Ghats. Probably, wherever the swamps in the hills are still untouched, the water quality is good, and the fish are abundant, there must be a habitat for fishing cats. As far as I know, there is no record of Fishing Cats in the Palani hills. But I would recommend researching Kookal Lake for fishing cats and otters.

Coming back to Diyasaru, I came down from the watchtower and back to the entrance. A Greater Coucal was sitting gracefully on the leaf sheath of a coconut tree, but it disappeared after I noticed it. A little bird calling its mate was a Plain Prinia hopping around a nest built in the fork of branches. A cup nest may not belong to this bird. But I couldn’t see any other tree birds around. I had moved as it was getting dark and the park was about to close.

I came out of the park, and the light was better as it was an open lawn. A number of Jungle crows were sitting around a small pond in the yard. I have read that crows occasionally fish by setting their foot into the water. A red-wattled Lapwing was sitting on the lawn, and its red marks couldn’t go unnoticed on such a green lawn. A little boy approached it closely, and the bird didn’t want to move away. It closed its wings and sat comfortably in the hollow on the ground.

Red-wattled Lapwing

I reached the highway when therewas still a  little light. The silhouette of a White-throated Kingfisher sitting on a power line grabbed my attention. Across me there was a lake with  trees where water birds roosted. As the light diminished, the dotted egrets and storks on the trees appeared like stars in the dark sky. I walked along the lake's shore and crossed a bridge to a café built on the lake. When I took the first sip of my coffee, I saw a Darter was on its way back to roost!