White-bellied Sea Eagle (Haliaeetus leucogaster) - Yala, Sri Lanka
During my trip to Yala, I photographed a number of species that I either saw only once or managed to shoot only a handful of photographs of. In this post, I've uploaded four photographs of four different species taken during the trip. The first is of a White-bellied Sea Eagle (Haliaeetus leucogaster) who was perched on a tree overhanging the road. Fortunately I had a clear shot of the raptor from a bit of a distance away and didn't have to shoot from directly below the bird.
More photographs inside.
Barred Buttonquail (Turnix suscitator) - Yala, Sri Lanka
I was fortunate to be able to photograph this Barred Buttonquail (Turnix suscitator) as they are difficult to spot in the undergrowth of the dry zone, specially from the back of a Land Rover! We came across a pair of them very close to the road and would not have seen them if not for the fact that they moved quickly into the undergrowth. Interestingly, the female of this species courts the male.
Ceylon Jungle fowl (Gallus lafayettii) - Yala, Sri Lanka
The Ceylon Jungle Fowl (Gallus lafayettii) is a common endemic and can be seen throughout the island. I came across this species in Sinharaja, Yala and Willpattu. The photograph above is of a male. The female is brown and white and comparatively dull in terms of colour. They are easy to find as they feed in the open.
Common Hoopoe (Upupa epops) - Yala, Sri Lanka
I hadn't been to Yala in a while and was quite keen to photograph the Hoopoe (Upupa epops) in July. I was surprised to find that they weren't as common as I remembered them to be. During the whole trip I came across only one Hoopoe. I'm not sure exactly why this was. It could have been the fact that you have to rely on local drivers to get you around (as opposed to driving yourself with a tracker) and the drivers are only interested in the "big" animals, or it could be because there aren't as many Hoopoe around.
All these photographs were taken with the Canon 100-400mm lens and the 7D from the back of a Land Rover.
