Archive for February 2008
Sri Pada: Winter Visits
East view of Sri Pada (Adam’s Peak) from about 1600 meters. (December 2007)
In the last few months I’ve had a chance to visit Sri Pada and the Peak Wilderness forests on several occasions. In December I took my IB Environmental Systems class on a three-day trip to Peak Wilderness. We stayed at the Fishing Hut and used our time to explore and study the montane and cloud forests that surround the sacred peak. The bird and reptile sightings were modest with a highlight being a flock of 10 or so Sri Lanka Blue Magpies around the hut. We hiked up on a forested ridge leading to the peak but stopped short of making it all the way to the main path and summit. I had a chance to visit the peak again when my friends Matthew and Shelly visited over the winter holidays. We had a very nice walk up and night at the top of Sri Pada in early January. Swimming in the large pool below Laxsapana Falls was a marvelous experience that mirrored the sense of awe on Sri Pada’s summit.
Impatiens sp. in Peak Wilderness forest near the Fishing Hut. (December 2007)
Looking west from the Sri Pada (Adam’s Peak) summit just before dawn. Colombo’s lights can be see on the far Horizon. The lights demarcate the Ratnapura and Kuruwita paths that snake through the Peak Wilderness forests. (January 2008)
Summit temple bells on Sri Pada (Adam’s Peak) looking northwards. January 2008
Sri Lanka Blue Magpie (Urocissa ornata) in flight in front of Sri Pada. Taken near the Fishing Hut at dawn. (December 2007)
Laxsapana Falls, Central Highlands (December 2007)
OSC students at Laxsapana Falls, Central Highlands (December 2007)
Monsoon Months In Sri Lanka
Monsoon clouds over Sri Pada (Adam’s Peak). (October 2007)
Fruit Bats (Pteropus giganteus) above our house in Colombo. (October 2007)
Mist over Maskeliya Reservoir, Adam’s Peak Falls and the Moray tea estate near Hatton. (October 2007)
Baby Russel’s Viper (Daboia russelii) that was my pet for two months. It now lives in a nearby wetlands on my way to work at OSC. (September 2007)
An endemic Hump-Nosed Lizard (Lyriocephalus scutatus) juvenile at Hiyare reserve near Galle. (October 2007)
Catching Up…Cobscook Bay in the Summer
I’ve been bogged down with school, family and graduate commitments during the last 8 months. All very exciting and invigorating but there hasn’t been a great deal of time to update this. Much of my free time has been devoted to pursuing my second master’s degree through the Lesley University ETL program. The upcoming year promises to be just as busy and challenging as I look towards finishing the program by January 2009. Here are some off the brief glimpses from the study in Cobscook Bay, Maine.
Hamilton Cove, a scenic protected area along Maine’s rugged northern Atlantic coastline. We had a chance to visit and do service learning in places like this over our three week study in Cobscook Bay.
Still life on the Bold Coast, Maine
Window on Cobscook Bay. Dawn at the Friedman Field Station (our home and study site for three weeks in July)
