NOTES ON FIELD TRIPS TO WILPATTU NATIONAL PARK

Arrived at the jungle house on the 30th Saturday around 3.30pm to attend a function in the village on Sunday morning.

A pair of Brown-headed Barbets had nested in one of the three coconut logs that had been erected in the garden to attract Woodpeckers.

As it was the dry season in Wilpattu many species of mammals arrive at the Hunuwilagama tank throughout the day in search of water. Thus, I decided to remain at the bungalow without going to the park to photograph animals that would come to this tank. There were many large Mugger Crocodiles basking in the sun at the water’s edge. I counted nine of them.

There were scattered herds of Spotted Deer totaling up to 72 animals feeding on the fresh grass growing on the areas exposed by the receding water.

Around 5.30pm I was quite pleased to observe a herd of Elephants emerge from the jungle. The family group of 12 animals consisted of a sub adult tusker and two calves. Despite having arrived at the tank all members of the herd patiently remained without approaching the water until the matriarch decided that it was safe to do so. Once they reached the water it was wonderful to watch the calves rolling in the water and splashing water with their tiny trunks. Even the adults engaged in playful interactions with others. Despite their obvious desire for a drink, it was fascinating to see how the whole herd spent almost 10 minutes prior to approaching the water until the matriarch decided that it was safe.

By 6.00pm another small herd of 5 Elephants emerged from the forest. This second herd was followed by three middled aged bull elephants. One was a tusker. The tusks of this animal were symmetrical, and he had all the signs of growing up to be a majestic animal with an impressive pair of tusks.

Intermittent trumpeting and guttural sounds of the elephants were heard well into the night.

Other than the left-over rice from the kitchen which is left by the pond at dusk for the turtles I have instructed the caretaker to leave a few sour bananas every morning at the bird feeder in the garden. I always take some extra fruits each time I visit. Usually most is consumed by the resident pair/family of Malabar Pied Hornbills. Many species of birds are attracted to these bananas. including the Small Indian Civets Cats and Common Palm Civets that feed on the left-over rice. I purchased a bunch of over ripe sour bananas on my way to Wilpattu and placed it in the bird feeder. I wanted to do this for some time to see what other species of birds would be attracted. The resident pair of Malabar Pied Hornbills gorged on the bananas the previous day as well as in the morning and left with plenty of fruits still left on the combs. The previous night the aroma of the ripe bananas attracted the Common Palm Civets, Small Indian Civets and many species of Bats. Once the Hornbills left a Jerdons’s Leafbird flew in and fed on the left-over bananas.

A pair of Barking Deer and a herd of 3 Elephants arrived at the tank around 7.00am to drink water. A White-bellied Sea Eagle was circling above the tank while making its loud “honking” calls

While photographing the elephants a male Golden-backed Woodpecker alighted on one of the coconut logs erected close to the bungalow. The bird inspected the log for some time and left. It is likely that they would nest in one of these logs soon.

Arrived at the Jungle house at Wipattu around 10.30am. I counted 7 large Mugger Crocodiles at the water’s edge at Hunuwilagama Tank. The bungalow keeper informed me that a baby Crocodile had arrived at the garden pond the day before. The previous resident crocodile that used to feed on the left-over rice put out for the turtles had left some months ago. The tiny reptile was basking in the sun at the edge of the pond for some time and climed on to the log in the center of the pond.

The Painted Stork nesting colony at this water body appear to have expanded with many nests being built even on the adjoining Palu Tree. The nests had immature birds at differeewnt stages of growth.

Wilpattu is one location where this species lives along with its cousin the Tufted Grey Langur Semnopithecus priam. I have seen them at Eluwankulama, Pomparippu, Maradanmaduwa, Palu Kola Wala and at Ibba Wala.

Having photographed the female I drove back to check on the leopard that was sleeping on the Ficus tree. The jeep drivers informed me that it had descended from the tree and had walked into the thicket. I decided to drive down to the villu, expecting the leopard to break cover. After a few minutes a fine young male leopard moved out of the forest to lay down on a white sand patch. I had received images of this cub with its mother and its sibling that I just photographed. It was the male cub of the second litter of Manikrala Uraniya Female 1 (MRUF 1). Despite being of the same age (one year and 4 months) difference in size of the male was obvious. I was thrilled to have capture both these cubs that had eluded me from mid last year. As this is my first sighting of this cub, I named it Kuruttupandi Male 1 with the code KRPMC 1 for the purpose of my study.

The adult female was lying down under the shade of a Madang Tree. It was Kumbuk Wila Female 2 (KWFC 2) popularly referred to as Cleopatra. She is 10 years and 6 months of age now and had already produced two successful litters of two cubs each. Her last litter was in July 2023 and the two cubs, a male and a female, had left her. She should be having a third litter by now. I identified the leopard while photographing with the familiar spot pattern of her forehead.

This interesting bird which resembles a Drongo in appearance is inafct a cuckoo. They are known to lay their eggs in the nests of Black-fronted Babblers and the immature birds, are covered with white spots, which disappear as the birds reach maturity. In adult birds white spots/bars will remain in the under tail and undertail-coverts. This species is found throughout the Park in Wilpattu. Its ascending six-note call is often heard during the breeding season from about late December until March. This is a bird that is often heard but seldome seen as it usually ocupies the canopy.

The young male leopard was lying down under the shade of a small tree across the villu. It was difficult to spot the leopard with the naked without the aid of binoculars. He would occasionally raise his head to investigate any thing that distracts him or shift position to move from direct sunlight falling on him but go back to sleep. Upon examination of the spot pattern, I noted that this is Kuruttupandi Male 1 (KRPMC 1), one of the second litter cubs of Manikrala Uraniya Female 1. He is around one year and six months of age now and is often seen together with its female sibling. Leopard cubs stay in the company of their mother for about two years. Despite having got a few images I was keen to remain at this location due to the possibility of seeing its sibling and the arrival of their mother. Thus, I parked at the edge of the area enabling other safari vehicles to move out once they have seen the leopard.

11.25am another leopard was seen seated to the edge of the forest, remained seated for a few minutes and moved down to the edge of the water and started drinking. After drinking for about 5 minutes, she moved in the direction of the sleeping leopard but lied down briefly prior to moving into the forest. I checked her spot pattern and realized that this is Kuruttupandi Female 1 (KRPFC 1), the female sibling of the sleeping leopard.

12.50pm sunlight started to fall on the sleeping KRPMC 1. He stood up, yawned and moved from where he was sleeping. I expected him to walk down to drink but he moved under another bush and lay down again.

It was an adult male leopard sleeping at the edge of the water with its hind towards us. The vehicles had to drive in to the water to see the animal. We parked keeping a distance of about 40-50 meters from the animal to ensure he is not disturbed. After a few minutes he raised his head and started licking its stomach area. It was Nelum Wila Male 5 (NWMC 5) referred to as “Neluma” in Wilpattu. This is the current dominant male in the main Villu area of the park. During the last two months he had developed a bulge on its stomach and many were quite concerned about its health as it started to increase in size. This growth did not appear to trouble the animal and it looked in good health despite this growth. Considering these circumstance it looked like an Lipoma, which is known to be a benign fatty tumor found under the skin that causes no pain. This bulge had disssapered but there was a small opening of its skin which the animal was licking. I was pleased to observe that the contentents of its growth appear to have naturally drained off.

After a fewe mninutes direct rays of the sun started to fall on the leopard and he moved under the shade of a tree. Later, around 3.15pm with the arrival of more safari jeeps, many safari jeeps including me decided to drive off permitting the later arrival to have a close look. But it was sad to observe a few safari jeeps dring fast trough the water and moving too close to the animal. This unruly behaviour caused the animal to move quickly in to the forest robbing many of the visitors of a good opportunity to enjoy a good leopard sighting.

The leopard was lying on a large ficus tree and was partly covered by foliage. A long line of vehicles had formed almost up to the Kudapatessa junction to see the sleeping feline. Thankfully the leopard remained on the tree despite the heavy disturbance caused by vehicles trying to cross on the narrow road with the loud voices of many jeep drivers and visitors. Each vehicle would spend a few minutes where the leopard cound be seen and leave allowing the others move forward. When I arrived at the location the young female leopard was with her head up which allowed me to get a few images adaquate for identification. It was Kuruttupandi Female 1 (KRPFC 1). Having captured a few images I drove off permitting the others in the queu to get a glimpse of the elusive cat.

The Leopard was seen seated below the road. Safari jeep driver Randika had spotted the leopard. It was apparent that the cat wanted to cross the road in order to drink water. So we reversed our vehicles about 50 meteres to create adaquate space. Within a few minutes the leopard walked up to the edge of the road and catiously walked across down to Palu Kola Wala. It was a young female leopard of about 3 years of age. This water body had receeded but still had plenty of water. The leopard inspected the the concreat pond which hardly contained any water but did not drink.

Thereafter she walked past a few Peafowl that had gathered to drink up to the edge of the pool but spend a minute or so looking carefully at the water while growling. I have often observed leopards doing this perhaps to ensure the abcense of any Crocodile lurking beneath the surface of the water. The water level here was too shallow for any crocodile but they do breed here during the rainy season. Perhaps her instints and past memories results in this behaviour. Thereafter she started to drink. After a few minutes she moved to a more secluded part of the pool and continued drinking. Having quenched her thirst for exactly 6 minutes the leopardess slowly moved in to the forest.

Later upon checking her spot pattern I was thrilled to note that this is a new leopard for me. I had listed it under Leopards of Wilpattu – Guest section as Divulgas Mandiya Leopard 2. Having studied the images I have received from Pathum Neeliya, Hemantha Wimalasena and Namal Kamalgod I was able to determine her age as two years and 10 months. As this is my first sighting of this female I named her Palu Kola Wala Female 3 for the purpose of my study with the code (PKWF 3).

9.36am a colony of tree dwelling Black Termites at Panikkar Villu. These insects build their nests on crevices of trees. They are reffered to as “Geriya” in sinhala and the soft earth that is used by them to build their nests are referred to as ‘Geri Pas”. It is said that this earth is used in some preparations of traditional medicine. The earth used by these insects turn black in coloure due to the black liquid they emit from their bodies. I have observed the movement of these insects on the forest floor. The majority of the colony consisits of smaller warker termites and they move in a long line with the larger soldier termites standing guard along the way. The path that they take becomes blackish.

My wife Dilki and I arrived at our house in Hunuwilagama around 10.30am to spend the Vesak long weekend. Wilpattu received quite a few heavy showers during the past few days and the water level at Hunuwilagama tank risen to spill level and reached the forest edge.

It was a young female leopard that was partly covered by the foliage and branches. The young leopardess was not disturbed by the vehicles parked on the road and appeared quite relaxed. Later upon examination of its spot pattern I noted that this is one of the second litter cubs of Manikrala Uraniya Female 1 (MRUF 1) popularly referred by the jeep drivers as Kuruttupandi Female. I estimated its age to be around one year and 4 months. As this is my first sighting of this cub, I named it Kuruttupandi Female 1 with the code KRPFC 1 for the purpose of my study.

Having photographed the female I drove back to check on the leopard that was sleeping on the Ficus tree. The jeep drivers informed me that it had descended from the tree and had walked into the thicket. I decided to drive down to the villu, expecting the leopard to break cover. After a few minutes a fine young male leopard moved out of the forest to lay down on a white sand patch. I had received images of this cub with its mother and its sibling that I just photographed. It was the male cub of the second litter of Manikrala Uraniya Female 1 (MRUF 1). Despite being of the same age (one year and 4 months) difference in size of the male was obvious. I was thrilled to have capture both these cubs that had eluded me from mid last year. As this is my first sighting of this cub, I named it Kuruttupandi Male 1 with the code KRPMC 1 for the purpose of my study.

The female leopard was lying on a slightly elevated part of the ground. It was partly covered by bushes. She did not appear to be relaxed as she kept on looking over her shoulder towards the forest. Later upon examination of her spot pattern I noted that it is Palukola Wala Female 2 PKWFC 2. This female was seen with her mother, Palukola Wala Female, between Thammanna ala and Palukola Wala originally in September 2022. She has recently moved towards Maradanmaduwa which perhaps is the reason for her agitated behaviour.

I was informed of a Malabar Pied Hornbill nest in a chena close to a paddy field in Hunuwilagama. I arrived at Wilpattu Safari camp to pick up Namal Kamalgoda and the manager Patrick who joined me.

The nest hole was found on a Margosa tree growing adjacent to a patch of forest and a paddy field. The breeding behaviour of these birds are quite interesting. Once a nest hole is selected by the pair the female moves into the nest cavity. She then cements the opening with a mixture of mud and its own droppings leaving only a vertical slit where the male can pass food. Thereafter she sheds her flight, and tail feathers and lays her eggs. The bird remains inside this self-imposed prison incubating and relying on its mate to supply her food. These birds mainly feed on fruits but will feed on any small animals they can catch. I have seen them feeding on Lizards, snakes as well as chicks of smaller birds. Once the eggs are hatched the male brings a diet consisting of a higher percentage of animal prey which includes small animals such as lizards, frogs, mice and squirrels. Once her flight feathers have grown back the female will break the cemented opening and fly out of the nest to join the male in feeding their family. The remaining chicks will re cement the opening and will continue to remain in the nest feeding on the food that is delivered by both their parents. Once they grow their flight feathers the chicks move out and follow the parents begging to be fed during the first two months of their life.

7.31am the male visited the nest hole with a piece of earth in its beak and passed it to the nest. We were not able to see inside but it is very likely that it was received by the female. There after he regurgitated several small fruits from its crop and passed into the nest.