Brown Fish Owl - Ketupa zeylonensis
Back to Yala National Park in Sri Lanka again this morning. Also our first owl.
I have to admit that I would not have seen this bird on my own. We did a series of 4 game drives over three days and our driver Stuart, a Burgher (white Sri Lankan)and his spotter were very good at suddenly stopping and pointing out birds for me. The big draws at Yala are the leopards and the elephants and we were lucky with these. Over the course of our short stay in the park I saw something like 90 birds species that were all new to me. It was hard to keep up and I am definately going back.
You always feel very privilaged to see an owl. It is always a special moment. This was a big owl - perhaps 50 cm + in height.
These are birds of tropical South Asia with a large range. They are generally nocturnal so this bird must have been roosting. They mainly feed on fish , frogs and aquatic crustacea. He was sat in a fairly large tree next to what they call a tank in Sri Lanka (a big resevoir or lake) and very close to the track. The sheer number and diversity of birds in this place was breathtaking.
Yala - heaven
I think Yala has put me off the deep end again with my desire to get out and see more.
Brown Fish-owl - Ketupa zeylonensis
15-18 April 2011, Yala National Park, Sri Lanka
74 Points
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