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Return of an Enigma

Posted by Namal Kamalgoda on Jul 30th, 2010 | 12 responses

Tuesday evening, I was just out of a mind numbing discussion. It was around 4 in the afternoon and I was looking out of the window, when my phone rang. Without looking at who it was I answered the phone. “Good evening…..I’m looking at the big tusker right now”. My mind snapped back into action, “big tusker”, and the time of the year June……. could only mean one thing, my enigma was back. My contact at Kaudulla had called me to say the tusker was back. For those of you who are unaware of my relationship with this tusker can follow this link. http://www.zero3images.com/trails/?p=887. The...

Return to Wilpattu

Posted by Namal Kamalgoda on Mar 31st, 2010 | 12 responses

As I child I grew up in Kenya. My memories were of Sunday picnic lunch in the Nairobi National Park, holidays in the Mara and Amboseli. So the jungle was in my system from a young age, I was addicted before I even knew it. As a wildlife lover I grew up in Yala. From 1988 till 2002, I would faithfully make six to seven trips a year to Yala, sometimes more. It came to a point if someone showed me a picture of a leopard on a tree I could tell you where in Yala it was. So people came to the conclusion I was a “Yala person”. But this was due to lack of choice. All the other parks like...

Alone with European Bee Eaters

Posted by Gehan Rajapakse on Feb 22nd, 2010 | 5 responses

A Ruddy Shelduck in Bundala created quite a stir in the “birding” community, with many making a dash to see and photograph this rare visitor. I had no idea what this bird looked like so as soon as I received the text message from Gehan De S Wijeratne I grabbed the Harrison our trusted field guide. It was a beautiful rust colored duck and there was no question that I had to go to Bundala as well. Towards the latter part of 2009 I spent a few days in Yala and Wasantha a guide with whom I have traveled frequently showed me pictures of European Bee Eaters he had taken on the Talgasmankade road....

Mannar – A Birding Paradise

Posted by Gehan Rajapakse on Feb 16th, 2010 | 13 responses

Since my first visit to Mannar during the period of the ceasefire, I have been a regular visitor at every given opportunity because it is one of the best places in the country to see and photograph rarely seen species of birds. Many rare migrants in numbers that one cannot imagine spend the winter in the open shallow water bodies that is a characteristic feature of Mannar. Widgeon, Pintail Duck, Garganey, Crab Plovers, Avocets, Shovellers and many varieties of Gulls and Terns make it just an unbelievable place. The open arid country side makes the light conditions superb for photography with the...

And… A ‘quicker’ quickie.

Posted by Sarinda Unamboowe on Dec 22nd, 2009 | 7 responses

The end of the year is manic in many ways. Firstly there are the seasonal social events that seem to pile on top of each other, then the relatives and friends that all seem to descend on our sunny isle at the same time. In my case, being involved in the manufacture of swimwear (my real job), we have to cope with the severe seasonality of our work cycle which peaks during the last two months of the year. The combination of these factors means that during peak bird migration season, I can barely find time to pull my camera’s out, let alone get away to the wilds for any real length of time. Therefore,...

The Joys of a “Quickie”

Posted by Sarinda Unamboowe on Dec 14th, 2009 | 3 responses

I am sure the joys of a “quickie” have been debated by most at some time or the other. And I am sure many of you have your strong views on the subject. To me the “quickie” is an integral part of survival. Stealing a ‘quickie’ can sometimes be the only way to get any gratification in the hustle and bustle world we live in. That’s exactly what Ashani, Gehan, Uditha and I did last month. Now get your minds out of the gutter. I speak strictly in the context of quick trips to the jungle. Ashani and I had planned a trip to the religious shrines of Katharagama. We were to drive there on...

Fight for life

Posted by Gehan Rajapakse on Oct 26th, 2009 | 6 responses

The dry season in Yala reached a peak in the last few months with many animals dying due to the lack of water and food. The sight of weary buffaloes dying at the edge of the remaining water puddles was an agonizing sight as life slowly ebbed away from their drought stricken bodies. They remained fallen for a long while and just as we concluded it had died, a desperate attempt to raise its head reflected the fight for life. The fallen bounty was being watched by the scavengers now well fed and plump. We watched from one bund of Palugaswala 1, whilst a leopard sprawled on the other bund closer...

Uda Walawe & Yala August 2009

Posted by Namal Kamalgoda on Oct 22nd, 2009 | 6 responses

By now you would have read Sarinda’s version of the week long zero3 images trip (http://www.zero3images.com/trails/?p=817), now you have my version. Yala has a special place in my heart. I know every road by heart, I could drive in virtual darkness and avoid every hole and ditch in Yala. I could look at a picture of a tree and tell you where it was. So it is strange that I would move away from Yala. When Wilpattu and Kumana reopened, I focused my attention there. The reasons were very simple, Yala was too crowded, and the behavior of the safari jeep drivers and the visitors made any sighting...

Intruder at Kotigala

Posted by Palitha Antony on Oct 22nd, 2009 | 11 responses

Following my trip to Yala during August with my zero3 friends (http://www.zero3images.com/trails/?p=817) Namal, Gehan, Sari, Ashani, and Jackie, I was keen to visit again before the monsoon sets in. The park was very dry and ideal for leopard watching. The only possible to combine work with some play, by planning an official trip to the south and make a detour to the park. I called DK, one of the senior guides at Yala, to find out about the weather and sightings and he urged me to come as soon as possible as there were “sightings everywhere”. I called my friend Uditha who promptly agreed to...

In pursuit of an Enigma

Posted by Namal Kamalgoda on Oct 9th, 2009 | 14 responses

Way back in 1998, I had heard of a “huge tusker” at Kaudulla National Park. It apparently visited the park for a few days every year and disappeared as suddenly as it appeared. This was a real mystery elephant, and like most mysteries I thought it best not to bother my mind with it until more concrete evidence surfaced. But to be on the safe side, I told my local contacts to call me if it came. No tusker was seen and no call came, and the tusker slipped from my mind. In 2004 the first confirmed sighting and photographs appeared courtesy of Vajira Wijegunawardane a fellow wildlife photographer...

Dolphins at Kalpitiya

Posted by Namal Kamalgoda on Sep 14th, 2009 | 9 responses

For about a year I have heard stories about Kalpitiya and the dolphins. Crystal clear waters, and thousands of dolphins where the tales I have heard. Been a skeptic by nature, I assumed it’s good but it could not be that good. Unfortunately at the time I heard about it my finances didn’t permit much travelling as I had just completed my house and the housing loans were beginning to bite. So talked about it and procrastinated and never ended up going. No one from zero 3images seemed keen and the others are worried about boats capsizing and sea sickness. Also one should never forget that most...

Random acts of madness (part 2)

Posted by Namal Kamalgoda on Sep 14th, 2009 | 2 responses

If you read “random acts of madness’ (http://www.zero3images.com/trails/?p=163) you would have been excused to think I had learned my lesson. Someone with more common sense might have, but I’m a fool when it comes to these things. As you read on you will discover what happens is more than just an act of madness but rather a comedy of errors. It was a lazy Saturday afternoon and I was watching Sri Lanka losing the 3rd and decisive ODI to India, when I received a sms from an unknown number simply stating “Gray-headed Lapwing in Palutuphana”. This was good news, but who was delivering this...

COSMIC MIND F*****

Posted by Sarinda Unamboowe on Sep 11th, 2009 | 8 responses

‘Birders’ have some strange terms to describe their sightings, and to me the most hilarious is that given to describe something that is rare in the extreme. That is what is referred to as a Cosmic Mind F***er. As CMF’s go 2009 has been an exceptional year for me. Although I have done a fair amount of work photographing birds, my knowledge of our feathery friends is still fairly amateurish, so I depend heavily on my partners and my wife Ashani when in the field. Of recent we have been extremely fortunate to spend a lot of time in the field with some of Sri Lanka’s best birders, Deepal Warakagoda,...

UW / Yala August 09.

Posted by Sarinda Unamboowe on Sep 8th, 2009 | 18 responses

One of the drawbacks of being a ‘part time’ photographer who has a ‘real job’ that pays the bills is lengthy trips into the wilds come at a premium. Generally they are quick darts to a not too distant location for a specific shot or a desperate escape for a night or two, just to get a quick ‘jungle fix’. So when those rare, long trips do come along, I start to foam at the mouth from weeks before departure. Namal, Gehan, Palitha and I hadn’t made a long trip together since early this year and around the middle of June we decided that it was time for another. Many ideas were tossed...

A day trip for a Three Toed Kingfisher family

Posted by Gehan Rajapakse on May 28th, 2009 | 11 responses

I had been waiting impatiently awaiting some information that would give me a chance to see something through my viewfinder. Last Friday I was told that there were two young Three Toed Kingfishers that had just flown from their nest and were being frequently fed by the adult birds. The location is familiar to me and is one of the best places to see the Three Toed Kingfisher which I have seen on many previous occasions at this place. (more…)

Knuckles – Heaven on Earth

Posted by Gehan Rajapakse on May 28th, 2009 | 3 responses

It was the long weekend. 4.30 am I was driving out of Colombo to spend a few quiet days in perhaps one of the most beautiful places of our country, the knuckles. As always, getting up early to drive on a trip is no big deal and with the fresh morning air beating in from the open windows we were on our way. Uditha’s family and Chinthaka’s family made the crowd and to photograph frogs was a special mission. Jinadasa’s in Warakapola was bustling with all the holiday makers tucking into hot hoppers with a dynamite lunu miris that made my bare head sweat quite a bit. Next stop was Cargills at...

Ruddy Breasted Crake

Posted by Gehan Rajapakse on Feb 19th, 2009 | one response

News reached the community that a Ruddy Breasted Crake was seen in Moratuwa. Being a rare sighting, Namal myself and Deepal took off that evening to the location. Kithsiri was already at the location which was close to a small mangrove patch by the side of a gravel road. There was a small culvert with a smelly stream full of plastic bags and discarded “Mega” bottles not to mention a few flies. The location was not great for photography as the angle was steep and the light very low due to the over hanging branches of the trees growing by the edge of the stream. The embankment was also full of...

Dance of the Angels

Posted by Namal Kamalgoda on Jan 25th, 2009 | 4 responses

Uda Walawe is a “nice” park. Nice friendly elephants who like to inspect vehicles and rearrange their body panels. Nice tall grass ensuring you see these nice elephants only at the last moment, But what I love it is for the relaxation. With no pressure for leopards, I can drive around aimlessly and take in what ever I see. This is not to say there are no leopards just that they don’t like to be seen. You can sleep in a bit late and be back at the bungalow early, some days I have just sat in and done nothing. With low expectations I have been surprised by some excellent photo opportunities....

Random Acts of Insanity

Posted by Namal Kamalgoda on Dec 9th, 2008 | 4 responses

One only hears of the so called glamour side of wildlife photography where we travel hundreds of kilometers in a day, where we take our pictures and are home for a sun downer. Some would say “we came, we saw, we conquered”. Unfortunately life is never as simple and as easy as this. These spectacular failures are what makes the successful trips enjoyable and memorable. Inspired by a very recent one day drive across the country side I will enlighten you on some of our less than spectacular exploits. Since there have been very many of these I will write briefly on each of our “exploits”....

Photographing Bats – A Great Way To Relax

Posted by Gehan Rajapakse on Nov 24th, 2008 | 15 responses

Since the launch of our second book Enchanted – A journey through the wilds in November 2007, trips to our favorite haunts have been few and far between. Sadly, many of the places we felt at home are not safe anymore due to the threat of terrorism. Spending time in the jungle wondering if we would have a visit from an unpleasant source is not something any one of us would enjoy. Early this year we were on a trip to Bundala when my colleague Uditha showed me some pictures he had taken of fruit bats in flight. They were great images and the play of light and the ability to freeze in action...