Puliyankulam Tank - Anuradhapura

Puliyankulam is a relatively small tank and is situated on the A9 highway north of Anuradhapura. It is about a ten minute drive from the centre of town and is definitely worth a visit. For those of you who are not aware of what a "tank" is, it is a man made lake that is used for irrigation. The north central province of Sri Lanka is covered with a number of tanks that have been built over a thousand years ago, with the aim of collecting rain water in order to cultivate paddy in the drier months. More info and images after the jump.

We visited the tank one evening in January with the hope of doing some bird watching. It was around five in the evening when we got there and the light was fantastic for photography. Apart from a herd of water buffalo, we had the place to ourselves. As can be seen in the first and third images of this post, there was an abundance of lush green grass growing in the fertile soil around the tanks and in the shallows. Beyond the grasses the tank was covered with lotus and the area was teeming with bird life. Our sightings that evening included Common Kingfishers, Egrets, Grebes and Darters. 

We didn't wonder around too much to be honest.  We found a large rock on which we sat while watching the sun dip below the horizon. I'm an outdoors person and this to me, was one of the best ways to spend an evening, surrounded by wildlife and far away from the hustle and bustle of a city. 

All the images on this post were captured using the 7D with the 100-400mm lens mounted on it. These images must be viewed large.

White-browed Bulbul

The white browed Bulbul is a shy member of the Bulbul family of passerine birds. It is a resident breeder in Sri Lanka and the coasts of peninsular India. More info after the jump.

The white-browed Bulbul is about 20cm in length with a long tail. The upper part of the bird is an olive gray while the under parts are whitish. This species of Bulbul is identified by the white supercilium, the white crescent below the eye and the dark eye stripe. It also has a yellow vent, which is not always seen. The sexes are similar in plumage. It feeds on fruits, nectar and insects. It builds a cup shaped nest in a tree and typically lays two eggs per clutch.

The bird is usually detected by its characteristic call, a "loud rattle of sweetish notes", which is a familiar sound in the dry zone forests of Sri Lanka.

This photograph was taken at the Thalangama tank. I was out looking for Kingfishers when I came around a bend in the road and found it perched on a branch about 6 feet off the ground. It was very close to where I was standing and surprisingly it did not fly off or hide. I took these images at a focal length of 400mm. The light wasn't the best so I had to crank up the ISO to 1600. I was using the 400D at the time and wasn't too happy about increasing the ISO that much. At least I got a half decent image though!