I visited Horton Plains National Park with two of my colleagues and our families last Sunday, traveling from Kurnegala to Kandy, then Nuwaraeliya and Horton Plains.These are some glimpses of what you can see on the way to the park's entrance.
Mount Sri Pada(Adam's Peak) viewed from distance
Kande Ela Lake
Chimney Pool
Baker's Falls
Flora And Fauna
This plant is the endemic Maha-rath-mal (Rododendron arboreum ssp.zeylanicum)And here are the animals I happened to observe during this trip.
Sambar Deer(Rusa unicolor)
This particular fella used walk right up to the travelers, looking for tidbits. I'm personally against feeding these wild animals.
These I couldn't identify
I'll try my best to pin identifications on the plants and critters that I didn't name in this post, and be grateful if any of you folks could help me with it. Enjoy this video till then!
'Sri Pada view' picture is super!
ReplyDeleteThe sixth picture shows 'Agra Bopath' mountains.
I'm very poor with flora and fauna. The critters in the last two photos are unique. I too eagerly waiting to know their names.
Hi Kiri, Thanks mate,I knew you'd like it! Thanks for naming that mountain too,it's the first time I hear the name.
ReplyDeleteI can help you to identify some flora and fauna :)
ReplyDeleteOrange flower - Crocosmia x crocosmiiflora(E: Montbretia) Escaped and naturalised plant of higher elevations. It is a hybrd plant of two African species and introduced to Sri Lanka as a ornamental plant.
Yellow flower - Ulex europaeus(E: Gorse) - Native plant of western europe introduced and natuaralised in montane forest edges, open lands and roadsides. Wild life department has been engaging with weeding out of this invasive plant from horton plain but so far not 100% succesful.
light blue flower - again another introduced plant. Vist my blog for more details on this- http://biodiversityofsrilanka.blogspot.com/2010/07/blue-stars-aristea-ecklonii.html
Purple flower - A Bowitiya species (Osbeckia spp.). Difficult of identifying it up to species level just by a photograph of the flower. So far 5 species of Osbeckia are reported from Horton plains.
Snake - Definatly Aspidura trachyprocta (Common rough-side or Dalawa Madilla in sinhala) acording to body color and also since it is the only species reliably reported from Horton plain other than Rat snake(garadiya).
Hi Bushana,I new you'd put some light on the matter,it's much appreciated!
ReplyDelete