Birds,  Sri Lanka,  Travel galleries

Gallery: birds in a land of lakes

March 21, 2026 / 53 Comments

I had forgotten you were a bird-watcher till you reminded me just now. … What’s the procedure? … I suppose you lurk in a bush till a bird comes along, and then you out with the glasses and watch it.

P.G. Wodehouse, Aunts Aren’t Gentlemen

Substitute ‘glasses’ for ‘camera’ and you have a pretty good description of bird photography. Although in this case we were lurking not in a bush but in a jeep. We were on safari in Wilpattu National Park and on the look out for everything from leopards to sloth bears to birds.

Wilpattu National Park is one of the largest and oldest national parks in Sri Lanka. Its name is derived from the Sinhala words ‘Willu-pattu’, meaning ‘land of lakes’. The landscape is a mix of dense jungle, open grassy plains and the sand-rimmed water basins that gave it its name.

Namal (protecting our jeep from marauding macaques!)

This is one of the prime places in the country to spot leopards, and is quieter than the more famous Yala National Park. However when we visited the park was still feeling the effects of Cyclone Ditwah which had devasted parts of the country the previous December. Some roads and tracks were closed, with the result that jeeps were concentrated on just a few routes. Nevertheless, it was still relatively quiet, especially on one day when our guide Namal proposed spending a whole day in the park rather than separate morning and late afternoon drives.

Namal was our host at the Wilpattu Safari Camp, a simple tented property very near the park gates. He is also a talented wildlife photographer (do check out his Instagram feed) and knew just how to find us the best spots to take our own photos. What he didn’t find, however, was a leopard. Or rather, he found one, but it was largely hidden in the trees. So no photos of leopards worth sharing, I’m afraid.

But other wildlife was plentiful. So I plan a couple of posts featuring the best of the images I captured there, starting with the birds and following up soon with the other animals we saw.

Little Green Bee Eater (also in my featured photo)

Blue-tailed Bee Eater

Chestnut-headed Bee Eater

Malabar Pied Hornbill and Whiskered Tern

Black Winged Stilt

Mongolian Plover (aka Lesser Sand Plover)

Common Greenshank

Painted Stork

Black Headed Ibis

A pair of Yellow-wattled Lapwings

A couple of Peacocks (it was so strange to see them in the wild, and they were everywhere!)

White-throated Kingfisher

White-bellied Sea Eagle

Crested Serpent Eagle

Crested Hawk Eagle and Brown Fish Owl

I visited Sri Lanka in February 2026

53 Comments

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