36 reasons to fly back home.

36 things I look forward to experiencing on returning to Peterborough after 25 days in Sri Lanka. I know that some of these sound trivial or petty, but sometimes the little things mean a lot.

1. The familiarity of my own house, bed books, kitchen etc.
2. Going to Drolma Buddhist centre. So lucky to have this on our doorstep.
3. Some nice cold or cool weather. Still not used to 30 degree heat with high humidity
4. Playing walking football
5. Going for a run, or spin class
6. A decent cup of coffee, either at home or in cafes
7. A decent cup of tea with cold non uht milk. Tea tends to be served with hot uht milk in Sri Lanka.
8. Cooking. Longest period of my adult life with no cooking. My expensive vitamix will be rusting up with disuse.
9. Not living out of a rucksack. And stuffsacks. 
10. A break from hotel buffets. These are great, but have had too many of these because there aren't a huge number of evening restaurants in Sri Lanka outside of Colombo.
11. Talking to people about things other than travel
12. Reliable and reasonably fast wifi and affordable 4g.
13. Normal local bird watching, even in the wind, rain and cold.
14. Live football on TV and radio. This seems to be one of the few places in the world where hardly anyone cares about soccer. cricket on the other hand is very popular.
15. Pavements to walk along without fear of a broken ankle
16. Going to a nature reserve without queuing for a ticket. Ticket buying can sometimes be slow business and in national parks you can't buy them in advance. Surely they can improve on that.
17. The familiarity of a British supermarket.
18. seeing Family and friends or communicating with them in the same time zone.
19. western art and culture
20. Charity shops
21. Fenland skies and weather. Lovely flat landscapes.
22. Cycling on familiar routes
23. No more bakery tuk tuks playing a crappy electronic version of fur Elise 
24. Traffic without horn parps every few seconds
25. No more bumpy noisy rides in tuk tuks or jeeps.
26. Cheese. Proper cheese. 
27. Beer other than the standard nothing to write home about lager.
28. No more air con noise
29. A real log fire in the living room
30. Cities that are not horribly polluted and full of chaotic traffic.
31. A washing machine at home. I became an expert at wringing out clothes washed in hotel sinks. 
32. Quorn. Yes I know it's sometimes derided, e.g. by jay rayner, but it's not done mo farah any harm has it?
33. Bare trees.
34. No more negotiating with tuk tuk taxi drivers to save the equivalent of 50p. If you don't do that, other tourists think you are horribly naive, and encoraging exploitation of tourists by money grubbing locals.
35. Seeing adult couples without a guide/driver. This seems like a win win  situation bringing income to Sri Lankans and benefits to the tourists , but it sometimes turns intelligent visitors e.g. Retired head teachers into the equivalent of infants. The classic was seeing so many tourists being put on a touristy train ride whilst the guide driver transports their luggage by car to meet them down the line to continue their tour. We are glad that we only had a guide driver for 4 days out of 25, and that was to buy in specialist birding experience, not easily available at short notice.
36. A choice of walks that are possible that are off road and do do involve hiring a local guide. For my next trip abroad I am thinking of having a sign printed in the local language saying "I am primarily a bird watcher. I am not really interested in getting to the top of a hill to see the view. Please find me a nice woodland glade with some tall trees,  ideally bare at the top, where I can stand, or preferably sit, for 10 minutes. A wetland edge habitat is also good, but no crocodiles please."
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    

36 things I miss about tropical Sri Lanka after returning to wintry peterborough

1. Lovely curries, even though they are usually served lukewarm. Plenty of choice for vegetarians, with dhal being a staple.
2. water Buffalo curd. Lovelier than cows yogurt, and served with palm sugar syrup. 
3. Short eats - samosas, vadai, roti and other savoury snack items. The deep frying cooking method provides some reassurance in terms of bacteria.
4. Colourful birds aplenty and wonderful bird sounds, even though the sources are hard to track down. 
5. Birding from hotel verandas and balconies, often with stunning views. Add tea or beer to make it even more pleasant.
6. Smiles and waves from schoolkids, who often ask "where are you going?", and then start giggling. 
7. The low levels of anger displayed even in heavy traffic merging and interweaving from all directions. 
8. Hills that are completely covered in forests (as opposed to our bare sheepwrecked variety). 
9. Old fashioned trains that take me back to the 70s, and clatter slowly and noisily through majestic scenery.
10. Buses that are kings of the roads and cost about a £1 for a journey of up to 4 hours. It's double that in peterborough for a 10 minute ride.
11. Swimming in hotel pools, rivers and the Indian Ocean to cool off in the heat of the day.
12. Beautiful buddha statues and shrines all over the place, big ones, little ones.
13. Hardly any rain (just one hour in 25 days).
14. Cheap food in local restaurants. Lunch for two for £5 including a fresh fruit juice. Not a huge number of evening restaurants outside tourist hotels though.
15. Warm welcomes especially in very small hotel/guest houses
16. The sound of Buddhist prayers morning and evening
17. Beautiful Buddhist ancient ruins that are regarded as holy places, with special rules for visitors. No bare shoulders or knees. Shoes off.  No selfies allowed with Buddha statues in the background. 
18. Water monitors and land iguanas. Except for the time I feel into an iguana hole.
19. Humongous butterflies. Tricky to photograph though.
20. Beautiful lotus flowers.
21. Fruit bats aka flying foxes in great abundance at dusk or in large tree roosts during the day.
22. Superb botanical gardens, especially in the morning when it is cooler and there are fewer visitors.
23. Wild elephants, including the bolder more opportunistic ones that come to the edge of the elephant fences to be fed.
24. Beautiful lakes fringed by natural vegetation. many of these  so called "tanks"  were created hundreds of years ago as reservoirs.
25. Early mornings birding in a t shirt. Starts around 6 am. Nicest part of the day. I like to stay in one place looking at tall trees in open glades.
26. Monkeys. Three types, all with different haircuts. The toque macaques have hair like footballers. The purple faced leaf monkeys look like they are wearing goggles.
27. Trees of incredible variety.
28. Tropical fruits freshly prepared for eating. A great way to start breakfast.
29. Kottu - a national dish of left over bread chopped up fine wth vegetables and spices.
30. Rice paddies, all dotted with white cattle egrets.
31. Tea plantations in the highlands.
32. The sound
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    of Buddhist prayers early in the morning and in the evening. The sound carries a long way.
33. Friendly hotel staff, often keen to show you the hotel vegetable and fruit garden.
34. Roadside fruit and veg for sale at incredibly low prices. Limes for example are less than one 10th the price of limes in the uk.
35. Female tourists in elephant print trousers purchased locally. It's a look that suits very few male tourists.
36. Knowledgeable, friendly and streetwise Aussies and Kiwis. More than you can say for a lot of the Brits, some of whom are mainly chasing winter sun. Aussies can of course just stay at home in January if sunshine is their priority.

Being a tourist on Horton Plains Sri Lanka

its a curious and strange thing, a day in the life of a tourist sometimes. today for example we found ourselves being driven for an hour in a tuk tuk setting out in the dark, an hour before dawn. The early start was recommended because if you set out later, when you arrive at the destination viewpoint on Horton Plains, all you see is clouds. On the drive there our tuk tuk was overtaken by dozens of vehicles all heading for the same goal and all carrying occupants in considerably more comfort than myself and Sue huddled in the noisy three wheeler. As we drew closer we could see a traffic jam of more than 100 cars. At six in the morning, all waiting to get tickets for the national park. Not very environmentally friendly is it? I couldn't believe it. It was like queuing for a concert in Thetford forest but at 6 am ffs? This doesn't even happen in the Lake District. The tuk tuk fortunately could squeeze down the side of the jam  to the front of the queue of vehicles. The next step was to join a lengthy queue for tickets, which was moving at snails pace, but even when I finally got our tickets we were stymied because the tuk tuk was blocked in by a van, and unable to proceed to the trail head a couple of miles along the road. Our tuk tuk driver simply got in the van and was able to move it out of the way because the keys were in the ignition. Smart move. Then when we did start the walk, my grumpiness went up another notch. A bag check was in operation to remove all plastic and non biodegradable items. An exception was made for water bottles but even then the labels were removed. This is in a country where litter is everywhere and makes fly tip blighted Millfield in Peterborough look like Zurich. My ironyometer was off the scale. The reason for my grumpiness was that more than half of my breakfast, as packed by our hotel, was confiscated, never to be seen again. Finally we started the walk one and a half hours after arriving at the entrance! But there was yet more cause for grumpiness. Young Chinese tourists playing music on their tinny smartphone speakers. I told them to turn it off, which they did. Bird watching along the route was somewhat challenging because of all the noisy hordes, especially the Chinese and Koreans. However I did log some new for me sightings -  four lifers along the route - three of which posed for photos. The pied bush chat, the black eagle and best of all the endemic dull blue flycatcher.

. I also saw some hill swallows but they moved too quickly to be photographed. The walk was about 4 km to the viewpoint and the same back, but on a different track. So was it worth all the hassle and lost sleep? Yes. It's a place like no other I have seen on this island. Superficially it resembles Wales or Scotland. Hopefully the photos will give some idea.

Half way through our 26 day Sri Lanka trip

Some random thoughts at halftime on my first ever Asia trip.

In nearly a fortnight I have only encountered 5 visiting birders. 4 Ausssies and a German. That might change a bit when we go to some of the endemic rich areas in the second half of our trip. I have really enjoyed the birding, especially in wetlands and forests. Every morning I have got up at dawn to be around for peak bird activity. One morning I paid about £10 to be accompanied by an in house hotel naturalist for 2 hours. His advice was to treat birding as a meditation, to watch for the shadows, to stay still for 10 minutes, and don't worry about trying to identify everything. Much of my birding has been within 200 metres of our various hotels and guest houses, sometimes lurking furtively around the air conditioning plant and compost bins. Sue is invariably having a lie in when this is happening. I haven't seen anything rare yet but the highlights have been three sightings of Indian pittas, a gorgeous 

Orange headed thrush, the bee eaters, sea eagles, a brown owl, the amazing primary school child designed stork billed kingfisher, the Asian open bills, the Indian roller, the red wattled lapwings. Brahminy kites are as frequently seen as their red cousins back in Blighty. They make the most pathetic sounding noises. Their collective name should be a whinge of Brahminy kites.

We have been to most of the major sites in the cultural triangle. This is where most of the tourists gather. But there are so many sites to visit that some are honeypots and others are very quiet. I have heard several British tourists complain about "temple overload". Hashtag first world problems. However in mitigation for these whingers, the heat can be sapping if you don't start your day trip early in the morning and the local driver guides hired by tourists  can often be heard delivering their standard patter for what must be in many cases the 100 th or more time, which can be a bit dull sounding . You can see the eyes of the tourists glaze over as they are bombarded with umpteen facts about some ancient Buddhist king from 900 years ago. As you might tell, ancient ruins ain't really my thing, but I have been impressed with what I have seen, especially the iconic giant carved in one piece stone Buddhas at Polonnawaru. When the lonely planet guide mentions the "profound spirituality" of such places, I have to say my experiences of such, in such places is easily destroyed. For me it only takes a handful of hawkers, or a snake charmer having to  tap his reluctant cobra on the head to get it to perform, to undermine my feelings of spirituality. 

We have met some lovely tourists, but of those we have spoken to in some depth, I have been particularly impressed with the Aussies, some of the Germans and French. Some nice brits too, but we do let the side down. I think it's because some of the British tourists in January are primarily chasing winter sun and don't have much of a clue about where they are visiting on their whistlestop tours. The Aussies at this time of year obviously don't need to travel to chase the sun, so they are here for the culture. Some of the brits we have met hate curry, which must be awkward for them here. Tea is served with hot milk, often uht, which is another bone of contention. A typical January British tourist here might be a retired offsted inspector from somewhere like Harrogate, ready and willing to put a hotel in "special measures" if only they had the power to do so. Sri Lanka needs the income from mass Chinese tourism, a big growth sector. Without wish to indulge in racial stereotyping, shall we just say that attending hotel buffet frequented by a coach load of 20 somethings from Beijing is quite an eye opener. 

I know some you might say "you should see India if you think Sri Lanka is rough and ready and chaotic", but I am still 

getting my head around all those corrugated iron clad buildings you see everywhere. When my son was young, we used to have a competition on Fenland car trips to see who could spot the most derelict sheds and either side of the road. Sue would be the judge whenever there was a shout of "ramshackle!".  If we did that here, e.g. on our four hour bus ride from polonnawaru To kandy the scores would be tied at 10,000 all. In fact the game should be reversed to count the substantially constructed buildings that are well maintained. The four hour bus ride by the way cost us less than the bus ride from our house in Peterborough to the city centre (3km).  

Food wise, we are very fond of the Vardies. Deep fried flying saucer shaped spiced lentil cakes the size of a flattened egg and costing about 10 p each. I call them  "Jamies" after the footballer Jamie Vardy. I have said many times that if I were president of the uk republic- Kim-Jon-Dave - I would shut down all the burger and kebab outlets and force them to reopen serving only dhall. Here I am in dhall heaven and have eaten this wholesome food every day. Here though it is served mostly cold or lukewarm, which I do not totally approve ofa

A day in Sigiriya, Sri Lanka

Sue and I are staying in the Sigiriya Hotel for three nights. It's pretty much enveloped by "jungle" and has a fine view of Sigiriya rock, one of the most famous landmarks in the country, and on almost every tourist itinerary. This is the view from the pool. Possibly even more beautiful than peterborough lido and that's saying something.

It's a good idea to start very early if you want to climb the rock to avoid the heat and the hoards. Even so, it was very busy at 8 am. there were loads of tourists from the Far East.

It cost over £20 to visit but that offers better value for money than say going to see peterborough united play. There's a lot of of stairs and railings to maintain, so we didn't begrudge paying this. The grounds at the base of the rock were also stunning

A review of 2017. Nature stuff. Part 2 of 2

At the end of the previous installment of this post, Sue and I are in Scotland heading for week in the Cairngorms with my bird watching friends, Stuart, Trevor and Fran. Let us not however forget Dorothy - the redoubtable, never-waste-a-single-thing Dorothy -  the long suffering wife of Stuart. Dorothy brought along hot cross buns aplenty from her freezer, mostly at 10p for 6. Yes thats for 6 and not just one. She also brought homemade marmalade from I think as long ago as 1989. It was as black as treacle and tasted like something that gourmets would rave about. We ate well and frugally that week. Us chaps are all of a certain age and temperament that could be described as prone to bouts of grumpiness. Think Victor Meldrew. Sue coped with us all with great patience and humour.

Birding highlights? We had a double eagle species hour up the Findhorn Valley. The first eagle, a goldie, appeared just as Fran had started to recite a dirty limerick to keep the spirits up just as our patience was beginning to run out. Ten minutes later, waiting in vain for the goldie to reappear, Fran began the limerick again. "There once was a bishop from Birmingham...".
To our astonishment the reciting of this limerick, or merely the first line of it summoned a second eagle from the same place as the goldie. This time it was a White Tailed eagle, looking huge even though it was a mile away.
We also enjoyed a breeding Slavonian Grebe on Loch Ruthven and perhaps even better, a black throated diver at a lovely spot called Lochindorb. A place name that sounds distinctly fictional if ever there was one. A days walking on the Cairngorms plateau (without Sue) gave us terrific views of Ring Ouzel, Snow Bunting and Ptarmigan. All of these birds were much more adapted to this barren windswept place than me.

I wrote various haikus inspired by the week in the Cairngorms.

White-tail and Golden drop

on unseen carrion.

Beyond the hill top.

I like my rocks,

blemished by life forms,

quartz and all.

Large capers

can be found in jars.

Also rarely in forests

Trump hair tails.

Picnic aftermath.

Red squirrel cleaners.

Shadowed corries.

White paint splash of

 snow bunting male

Artificial homes

for goldeneye ducks.

Martens' snack shacks.

Guardians fret over 

prospects for

their yellow eared Slavs.

Lochindorb depths.

Black-throated divers,

fleetingly up.

The ptarmigan has

a silent pee.

But is otherwise quite loud

The reciting of

a dirty limerick

seems to summon raptors.

The unseen capercaillies

must be hiding behind 

the unseen twinflower.

His and hers long lenses.

She wants it to be known - 

they are on a par. 

Nest cam stars.

Named fish hawks.

Tragedies exposed.

Tufts erect on

silvery heads.

Sylvestris sprites.

Superstitious finches,

mandibles always

crossed for luck.

July and August are the peak months for moths. The above photos are all from this time. Note the migrant hawker dragonfly interloping the lepidoptera. The variation in form, colour and pattern of all our moth species never ceases to amaze me. All of these moths came from my garden with the exception of the magpie moth at the top left and the garden tiger on the bottom left. Those came from the Southern Lake District in the garden of a cottage. The garden tiger moths have declined considerably in Southern Areas of England, as have cuckoos that feed on the hairy caterpillars of this species. Not sure if these two declines are linked in any way. The canary shouldered thorn is the one that looks like a fluffy baby chicken. The bottom right is the charismatic male vapourer moth, a remarkable beast that is capable of detecting a flightless female from miles away. It was the discovery and rearing of a vapourer caterpiller when I was about 14 that helped me to develop a lifelong fascination for weird and wonderful creatures. Completing the set above are the maple button (representing micro moths as opposed to macro moths) an early thorn and an arty shot of a white satin moth.

The photos above from top left moving clockwise are
1. You can see that by October (top left) that all this birdwatching had got the better of poor Sue. This is an unposed photo on Cley Beach.
2. One of my most memorable days in the whole of 2017 was going out in August with a licenced ringer of barn owls, Charles Gunn. We were both astonished at how many occupied nest boxes we found and must have seen over 30 barn owls (including at least six adults) within one afternoon. Astonishing.
3. This moth - a pale prominent, looks almost as fed up as Sue.
4. A close up of a pebble hook tip moth wing.

Grumpiness seems to be a feature of this blog post. I must admit I was a bit grumpy about the fact that although 2016 was a poor year for moths in my garden, the total number of moth species in my garden was even lower in 2017. Heres to 2018 when I hope to see 200 plus moth species in my garden. My UK birding target was also by coincidence 200 species. I fell short by 8 species - a poor effort really.

Finally a montage of winter shots from various places around Peterborough. From top left moving clockwise 1. Southey Woods (a known dogging spot), 2. Morton's Leam, 3. the ice floes of Nene Park and 4. my garden in snow.