A Season of Birds in Sri Lanka- Mannar
Flight of Greater flamingos (Phoenicopterus roseus) at Vankalai Sanctuary near Mannar.
Greater flamingos and visitors. The larger numbers- in the thousands-were behind me in the glare of sunlight.
For a relatively small island Sri Lanka has a number of different landscapes, each of them hosting diverse assemblages of life and rich cultural traditions. The island of Mannar on the north west coast is a place that is quite different from the wet forest of the Central Highlands and southern ranges that feature prominently in this blog. The land is low, barely a few meters above sea level, the climate is exceedingly dry and the area is sparsely populated (with humans). Other then the rich layers of Mannar’s history, now mostly lost in sand and surf, or the quirky feral donkeys that wander the streets, it is the non-human migrants that draw visitors up to this isolated corner of Sri Lanka.
I first heard stories of Mannar from my father who used to cross with his family to Rameshwaram from the pier at Talimannar. Prior to flight availability in the 1950s (initially in war-surplus DC-3s) and later the protracted conflict in Sri Lanka (1983-2009), the ferry service offered one of the easiest ways to get between Sri Lanka and India. It is a short journey across to Rameshwaram (there were unverified stories of people swimming over to watch a film and return the same day!). These were the sort of romantic stories, as well as those of shipwrecks, pirates and pearl divers that I grew up with. In 1984 my father Merrick, brother Brian, school friend Kevin and I had tried to explore the coral-fringed islands near Rameshwaram, but by then the political situation had deteriorated and we made little progress in exploring beyond the famous temple town.
Of course, the history goes far, far back to mythological times when Hanuman’s monkey army helped build a sea bridge (Ram Situ) from Rameshwaram across to Lanka to battle Ravana and rescue Sita. Those shoals in the Palk Straits, Adam’s Bridge, are still there as the maps below illustrate. There have occasionally been disputes about their origins and satellite imagery has been used to prove supporting and counter claims. At the moment the ferry is history and the sand banks and tiny islands of Adam’s Bridge are quiet. It is difficult to get out to Adam’s Bridge because of the international boundary and contemporary fishing controversies between Sri Lanka and Tamil Nadu. Mannar island, however, is a destination that has few restrictions. There is a crumbling Dutch-era fort, scattered Baobab trees, long quiet beaches and little else to see unless you are into birds…
Birds are what took my kids and me up to Mannar on our first visit in 2016. The shallow mud flats and saline lakes between the mainland and Mannar attract large numbers of wintering birds. In fact, Mannar and in particular Vankalai sanctuary, must be one of the best places in Sri Lanka to observe waders, water fowl and -if you are lucky- some of the thousands of flamingos that fly in to spend several months in the area. In 2016 the kids and I had a wonderful introductory trip along with the Duncan family. We got a sense of the area’s geography and enjoyed seeing many different birds. I’m still a bit of novice when it comes to identifying water birds and I was happy to have Will Duncan’s expert guidance identifying the myriad birds that we were seeing. In early 2016 there were no flamingos that made it south of the Jaffna lagoons. But by the end of year they had arrived in the thousands, prompting the necessity of a visit.
I returned with Lenny to photograph the flamingos that had returned en masse this year. I had been alerted by Sadeepa Gunawardana, a very talented Colombo-based wildlife photographer, of the opportunities to see the flamingos in Mannar. A poya three day weekend earlier this month provided the window that we needed to do the six hour drive up. In Vankalai we spent time with the Department of Wildlife Conservation guide Irfan to get a sense of the location and where best to go for early morning photography. Several other groups of Sri Lankan birders and photographers were also staying at Four Tees. The owner, Laurence is an outstanding and knowledgeable local resource who was clued into all the places to see birds. The food (Sri Lankan prawn curries etc.) was delicious and clearly this was the place to be to swap stories and share advice. Lenny and I had two days of good birding and photography. We started early (4:45 am), waded through lagoon sand and mud and waited in a hide for the light to illuminate the masses of pink and white. It was an amazing experience though I learned that it is quite tricky to get close to flamingos without them being disturbed. All in all it was a fulfilling trip and my next task is to plan a field study around some of the ecological and human interaction issues in Mannar.
GIS-generated map of the Mannar area. Double (or triple) click for larger A3 version.
Land and surface cover study of Mannar island based on a Landsat image from January 2016. Double click on image for larger A3 version.
Crimson sun at Vankalai Bird Sanctuary (January 2016)
FURTHER READING & REFERENCES
Birdlife International Asia. Web.
Birds Guide for Vankalai. Vankalai Bird Society. ND. Pamphlet.
de Livera, Lankika. “Haven for birds in war-ravaged Mannar: Vankalai declared a sanctuary.” The Sunday Times. 24 January 2009. Web.
Hettiarachchi, Kumudini. “ A cry from the wilds of Mannar.” The Sunday Times. 26 June 2016. Web.
Kotagama , Sarath and Gamini Ratnavira. An Illustrated Guide to the Birds of Sri Lanka. Colombo: FOGSL, 2010. Print.
Pethiyagoda, Rohan. “An Electric End to Vankalai Sanctuary?” Daily Mirror. 6 June 2016. Web.
Vankalai to be a Sanctuary. The Sunday Island. 21 January 2009. Web.
Warakagoda, Deepal et al. Birds of Sri Lanka. London: Christopher Helm, 2012. Print.
Great new article and wonderful pictures, Ian. You are good!
When John Piet and I flew to Jaffna from Trichy in October 1957 we flew on a DC3. bobb Holmes and I returned by the same route and same plane and continued northwards to Raipur by train.
Ted
PS What is the official spelling of the Pier? Is it Thalaimannar Pier or Talimanar pier? I found both.
Sent from my iPad
Ted C Essebaggers, Gladvollveien 24C, 1168 Oslo, Norway
Ted C Essebaggers
2017-03-01 at 1:17 am
I think the spelling is Talimannar..that is what the sign says and I made a few corrections on my text. Looks like my map has it the other way though… Thanks for that Ted!
ianlockwood
2017-03-01 at 7:58 pm
I know Talimannar well. My father was stationed there. He was in the Navy. We lived in a Bungalow in Talimannar. I remember the place well. There were many goats and donkeys. The old women taught me to weave baskets. We used to swim and snorkel and it was a great time when we were young. I still remember this place and saddened that an Australian company wants to mine its mineral sand. This should not happen as its an important pathway for many birds especially those flying all the way from Siberia. Sonia Bennett. Singer/songwriter/Botanical artist. Sydney, Australia.
Sonia Bennett
2020-12-27 at 6:02 am
I remember this place with great fondness. My father was stationed in Mannar in the 50’s. I was a small child but remember what a great time we had in this place, my sisters and me. My dad was in the Ceylon Navy. No school was the best. I remember there were many goats and donkeys. Lots of swimming and snorkling. I live in Australia now. Great memories of Mannar and Talimannar. Thanks for the great pictures , would love to see what the town looks like now. Sonia Bennett.
Sonia Bennett
2021-04-16 at 6:19 am
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