Kalametiya Bird Sanctuary

9th January 2023 - Today we woke up at 4.30 in the morning to do a boat trip on the Kalametiya lagoon with our brilliant bird spotter guide, Mahesh. It was very exciting to be out so early when it was still dark. It was just sunrise when we started our trip.

It was so peaceful and beautiful out on the catamaran. All we could hear was the sound of the birds singing and the water buffaloes funny quacking-grunting. Up above we could see the moon and the sun at the same time. We were surrounded by the mangrove trees and their reflections on the water.

Mahesh explained that there are 440 different species of bird in Sri Lanka. Half are migratory (which means they fly to Sri Lanka for a few months of the year and then go back home) and half are resident birds. 34 species are endemic (which means they are only found in Sri Lanka). He told us that for a couple of months the wind blows strong from Europe to Asia and that helps the birds as they fly in this direction. Then there is another time of year when the wind blows in the opposite direction to help the birds fly back to Europe. The reason they come to Sri Lanka is that it is much warmer here (especially for mating and their chicks) but also because there is more food available.

We saw :

After sitting on the catamaran we climbed an enormous rock. Mummy was too scared to climb the rock so she stayed down on the ground.

The view was incredible.

We could see blue lakes, green trees and rocky mountains.

You could just see the sun glittering on top of the water.