Indian Roller of the subspecies  bengalanensis. I am confident that this is a female as there is a pair in the garden and the other bird is bigger, bolder and more brightly coloured.

Today has been exceptional and the trip has really got underway now. I had planned to be up at first light but having had the utmost difficulty getting a good nights sleep I didn't surface until 0830, something of a rarity for me when I am on my adventures. I took breakfast immediately and hoped that the intake of some fluid and food would kick start me. I have the worst head cold that I can remember and its getting on my nerves. I can't work out whether the head ache is the cold, beer from the previous day or jet lag and its probably, to be honest, a combination of all three. I surfaced in to the most gorgeous of days, lovely bright sunshine with a clear sky and a balmy feel to the air. The birds were singing their exotic songs and my Sri Lankan friends were there to thrust coffee in to my mitt and sit me in front of a nice plate of eggs, bread and sausage. I started to formulate my plan which involved a trip up to Chilaw sand spit which is 33kms from here. I am not going to be able to hide the fact that I have the use of a Motor Bike while I am here, so I won't try. I have used a Motor Bike off and on, regularly through my life but the last time I was on a motor scooter I was hit by a bus and I finished up with a broken collar bone. So I have been a bit reluctant to do it again. So, I packed up all my stuff, camera, binoculars and lunch etc. took the bull by the horns, started the bike up and away I went. Fantastic……..!!!! The freedom was brilliant and in the hot sunshine probably the only way that you can cool down. The ride was good, I was cautious and didn't take any chances, it seems that just about everybody else is doing that so I stayed as sensible and careful as I could possibly be. I love these adventures, I can't understand why others don't try and do something adventurous now and again. I guess its fear of the unknown which you just have to try and rise above….. almost everything I have tried to do has come off with no real dramas so why should this be any different. People are usually nice wherever you go as long as you smile broadly at them, they will always smile back and that's my mantra. After a lovely ride which involved me stopping regularly to look at the flooded paddy fields and hundreds of herons I got in to the manic town of Chillaw. I knew where I was headed because I have been twice before, it involved me negotiating the small village that runs almost out to the sand spit. I wanted to photograph the gulls, terns and wading birds that would be there. I parked the bike with a family who had a little house right at the end of the village. They make their living by fishing in the estuary and they also had pigs and goats, a house devoid of anything in it, and some livestock, that was it. It never ceases to amaze me when I see how calm and relaxed these people are. They appear to spend most of their time just trying to stay out of the heat which involves just sitting in one shady spot after another. With much gesticulating and laughter they said that I should leave the bike here under the shade of a crude palm thatched open sided structure which smelt of chickens, pigs and dead fish in a strange combination. Although they didn't ask, I gave them 100 rupees…about 48p and they were well chuffed! My walk on the sand spit was in the most extreme heat that I can remember and I quickly started to feel ill. I need to add heat to my other three potential headache causes!! I have a travel umbrella with me that is the most unexpectedly useful item. It was quickly put in to use as a sunshade and then when I wanted to change lenses on my camera it served as a sand free place to put things on….and no Jenny, I haven't broken it yet, my £10er is looking safe I think. Birds were there in their thousands and included 4 species of tern including Caspian and Swift. There were some interesting little waders which looked like greater and lesser sand plover but I will need some expert help with them. After no more than an hour I was beginning to really suffer from the heat so I decided enough was enough and reluctantly departed for my return journey. I had planned to stop off at the reservoir at Madampe where Terry and I had been last year and thats exactly what I did. It was really good, much cooler than the sand spit and in the shade of the tall trees surrounding the massive expanse of fresh water, I sat and photographed some great birds including Purple Heron, Cattle Egret a Prinia species which I will have to have a real look at and then a glorious close up of a Brahminy Kite, the best shot ever of this species that I have taken.

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Brahminy Kite Halastar indus

My drive home was uneventful as long as you don't include the lorries and busses on my side of the road travelling at 50 mile an hour, but lets not dwell on that too much. Back at Ravis house I tooted my horn triumphantly as I turned in to the forecourt of the shop. The girls came rushing out excitedly to see me which was really nice. All in all a great day finished off by photos of a Tailor Bird in the garden that allowed me to get within 6 feet of it and stayed there for an age as I took pictures and film.

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Common Tailor Bird