Birds,  Monday walks,  Sri Lanka

Bird-watching walk at the Mudhouse

March 17, 2026 / 31 Comments

Spread throughout a large expanse of forest on the outskirts of a small village in Sri Lanka, The Mudhouse is a private and seductive jungle lodge, far away from the beaten track. Flanked by lakes and blessed with abundant birdlife, wildlife and natural beauty, The Mudhouse offers a range of rustic accommodation in private and individually designed huts. … The Mudhouse aims to be a positive force for the people and nature with whom we co-exist.

From the Mudhouse website

When our tour company, Selective Asia, suggested we might like a stay at the unique Mudhouse in western Sri Lanka we were in two minds. Would we love the ‘back to nature’ vibe or would we find sleeping in the semi-open with few ‘mod cons’ too much of a challenge? But we took the plunge, booked a two-night stay, and it proved to be a great decision.

As the same website explains:

The Mudhouse was started in 2005 by three friends: Kumar, Tom and Mark. It has slowly grown into the living and breathing life form we find today. They had no idea what they were doing when they started the project. They don’t really know what they are doing now but they still don’t let that stop them.

We were to meet Kumar during our stay and his passion for their project was obvious and very engaging. Accommodation here is in one of five ‘mudhouses’, all of them constructed with natural materials (wattle and daub) in a traditional style with open sides. Ours was large (it could comfortably have slept six) with an open-air cold shower and an equally open-air toilet! While the latter took some getting used to, on the whole we had a comfortable stay.

Our very own mudhouse, with two ‘rooms’ (we chose to sleep in the smaller of the two, on the left in the image top right) and open air shower

And the setting was incredible! Our mudhouse overlooked a small lake and was about fifteen minutes’ walk from the restaurant which was located by a much larger and truly beautiful lake, home to an amazing variety of birds.

On the morning after our arrival we enjoyed an excellent and informative bird watching walk. Led by the knowledgeable Mudhouse naturalist, Oshi, it was a great introduction to many of the species we were to encounter several times on our trip. It will also, I hope, make an interesting Monday Walk for Jo.

Sunrise

When my alarm went off at 5.45 having arranged to go bird watching with Oshi didn’t seem the brightest of ideas! But it was, of course, to prove well worth it.

The sky was just lightening as we dressed quickly and walked to the restaurant area. There Oshi was waiting for us, as was some decidedly weak coffee. But our attention was focused on the sun rising over the lake and all the bird activity already in evidence.

Sunrise

Oshi told us the names of all the birds we’d already spotted ourselves but not recognised, and with his telescope found many more distant ones too.

In this area, without even starting the walk, we saw:

  • Common Kingfisher
  • Blue-tailed Bee-eater
  • Indian Pond Heron
  • Purple Heron
  • Intermediate Egret
  • Red-wattled Lapwing
  • Brahminy Kite
  • Spotted Dove

And no doubt others I forgot to note.

The photos above are captioned; click on any one of them to open a slideshow and identify the birds

(if viewing on a phone you may need to click on the ‘i’ bottom right to see the caption)

Setting off

Eventually we started our walk, at first taking the path which led back towards the accommodation houses. Our first sighting here was of two Jungle Fowl (the national bird) fighting. We also saw a Spotted Dove, a bird we were to see several more times during the morning.

Jungle Fowl and Spotted Dove

At the main track we turned left rather than right towards our hut and continued our search for birds. Here is a probably incomplete list of those we saw along this track:

  • Red-vented Bulbul
  • White-bellied Drongo
  • Black Drongo
  • Black-headed Oriole
  • Orange-breasted Green Pigeon
  • Green Imperial Pigeon
  • Brown-capped Babbler
  • Yellow-eyed Babbler
  • Yellow-billed Babbler
  • White-rumped Munia
  • Shikra Loten’s Sunbird
  • Peacock

Again, the photos above are captioned; click on any one of them to open a slideshow and identify the birds

Towards the village

Our walk took us past several houses and Oshi also pointed out the crops being grown: watermelons, cashew nuts, rice. Eventually we came to another lake where as well as the birdlife our attention was drawn to the signs of local life here such as a small shrine and a lady washing clothes (who was happy to pose). 

Beyond the lake we could see a huge rock rising from the otherwise flat landscape. And of course there were more birds:

  • Little Grebe
  • Baya Weaver (and nests)
  • Crested Treeswift
  • Asian Brown Flycatcher
  • Pheasant-tailed Jacana
  • Rose-ringed Parakeet
  • Crested Hawk Eagle

And again, more that I forgot to note, as well as others that flew away before we could properly see them.

Once again, the photos above are captioned; click on any one of them to open a slideshow and identify the birds

Before leaving we spent a bit of time watching and trying to photograph the weavers building their nests.

Baya Weavers and nests

And this was our final sighting on the walk, as while we were taking our photos another of the Mudhouse’s staff arrived in a tuk-tuk to take us back to the restaurant, and to breakfast. But birds were never far away at the Mudhouse and after breakfast we were to get two more great sightings in that area, a Jungle Babbler and a beautiful Paradise Flycatcher.

Paradise Flycatcher and Jungle Babbler

This walk set the tone for a trip in which we were often surrounded by beautiful birds, so no doubt you’ll be seeing more of them in future posts!

I visited Sri Lanka in February 2026

31 Comments

  • Sue

    March 18, 2026 at 10:49 Reply

    What a wonderful stay! I love the names of those birds- yellow eyed babbler and intermediate egret! Brilliant set of i mages

    • Sarah Wilkie

      March 18, 2026 at 11:02 Reply

      Very successful, yes 🙂 And we saw even more than I noted, I’m sure – Oshi told us that between him and the other guide who accompanied us they had noted 53 species that morning!

    • Sarah Wilkie

      March 18, 2026 at 11:01 Reply

      Yes, the decision to stay here definitely paid off, and I never really mind getting up early on holiday as there are usually rewards to be had! So glad you enjoyed that sunrise 🙂

    • Sarah Wilkie

      March 18, 2026 at 10:58 Reply

      The weather was hot there so a cold shower was fine, and I didn’t mind the loo during the day although it was a bit disconcerting to use it in the middle of the night!

  • restlessjo

    March 17, 2026 at 18:26 Reply

    I loved that Header photo when I saw it on Instagram this morning, and I love it still. Amazing variety of birds. One of those experiences you couldn’t really turn down but I can be paranoid when it comes to mosquitos and insects. Hopefully the birds ate them all. Thanks, Sarah! xx

    • Sarah Wilkie

      March 17, 2026 at 19:07 Reply

      Thank you Jo ☺️ One good thing is that there’s no malaria in Sri Lanka 🙂 Actually I don’t think I got any bites here, and usually the insects love me (Chris always says he doesn’t need insect repellent, he just stands next to me!) The worst I had were a couple that a guide told me were ants, but on the whole it wasn’t too bad.

  • margaret21

    March 17, 2026 at 17:55 Reply

    Blow the birds, the setting is wonderful! Seriously though, what fantastic variety you saw – and got some great images too. What obliging birds! I’ll be doing a dawn walk soon. But I shan’t see even a tenth of the bird life you enjoyed!

  • Alli Templeton

    March 17, 2026 at 17:23 Reply

    This really was the right decision, wasn’t it? What an amazing birding experience – even I would get up at 5.45 for that! An incredible array of birds, some of which I’ve never even heard of, and I can only imagine the atmosphere as the sun rose and the sights sounds of nature enveloped you. The best medicine! I really like the idea of the Mudhouse, what a great idea. And I love the quote from their website – they still don’t know what they’re doing – but it looks to me as though whatever it is they are doing, they’re getting it right! Wonderful, Sarah. I’m looking forward to seeing more of Sri Lanka’s stunning bird life. 🙂

    • Sarah Wilkie

      March 17, 2026 at 19:04 Reply

      I think it’s fairly obvious they do know what they’re doing! They did struggle during and immediately after Covid (and we were pleased to hear that Selective Asia helped them with an interest-free loan) and are still not back to full capacity, so we were glad we’d been able to spend some of holiday money on such a responsible and worthwhile project 🙂 The birds were fabulous all over the country – I lost count of how many kingfishers and bee eaters I photographed!

  • Easymalc

    March 17, 2026 at 16:13 Reply

    What an enterprising bunch of lads. This is a brilliant way to show off their locality in an environmentally sensitive way that should please both locals and tourists alike without upsetting the wildlife and landscape either.

    • Sarah Wilkie

      March 17, 2026 at 16:32 Reply

      Thanks Malcolm 🙂 We did a tour of the property with Kumar later the same day and learned a lot about how they had started and since expanded. Some locals have been keen to sell them land, and virtually all the staff are from the immediate locality.

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