On 10 February (day 3 of the trip) we drove back south to the town of Kitulgala where we stayed at the very comfortable Moksha hotel, although unfortunately for just one night. We arrived in time for lunch before we set out for our afternoon birding session.
In Kitulgala we crossed the rather wobbly Kilani suspension bridge to reach our first destination on the south side of the Kilani River.
We first walked a track running parallel to the river and started to see lots of birds, including Hanging Parrot and many Orange-billed Babbler. Yellow-browed Bulbul were also around, along with White-browed Fantail, Square-tailed Bulbul and Green Imperial Pigeon.
On 11 February we made an early start, leaving the Moksha at 6 AM for some dawn birding. The birding was a little slow, but a highlight was seeing the endemic Spot-winged Thrush at the site of an old abandoned ecolodge. Then we were back to the Moksha for their excellent breakfast.
We then re-crossed the Kelani Ganga River, this time by boat, which departed from the Rest House Kitulgala.
On the south side we walked up the rather steep road that was lined with small tea plantations. The birding continued to be slow, but on our return river crossing we had good views of a White-bellied Sea-Eagle perched in a tree by the river bank.
We then drove back to the Moksha for lunch before leaving for our next destination, Nuwara-eliya.
On the way to Nuwara-eliya we stopped at the Mlesna Tea Castle St. Clair, which claims to be the largest tea shop in the world. We enjoyed a wonderful cup of Ceylon tea there and scanned the surrounding tea bushes for birds.
