The long weekend in October was eagerly awaited as a trip to Mannar was planned with family friends. Unfortunately, at the last moment they couldn’t make it, but we decided to keep to our plans though the kids were a little disheartened. We left home (Nawala) at 5 in the morning and took our first break at the dried out Thabbowa Tank around 8am. We expected some bird activity but guess we were too late for that.

Peace in the country means that we can explore it at will and that was what took us to Mannar. Out of bounds until recently, exploring Mannar was an unforgettable experience as the area is steeped in both history and culture. After a lovely lunch at Four Tees, the first day had us exploring Mannar. The Fort and some birding at the Vankalai Sanctuary was all what we could manage

It has been almost a year since visiting Mannar and I was tempting to go there again, especially in the middle of the migration season. I have called Mr. Laurance, the owner of Four Tees Guest Inn, many times since the season begun, but couldn’t go there due to some concerns. This time I was very determined to go there and ask my friends to join me from about month a go.

According to the “Birds of Sri Lanka” by Prof. Sarath Kotagama, Mannar is one of the main entry points for migrant birds to the main land of Sri Lanka. The area facilitates lot of water holes which are rich of food for these birds. So only few of those birds that are not satisfied with those facilities only come inland, so Mannar is rich with bird life on migrant season mainly from September to May. Few of my friends who had been to Mannar recently had seen lot of bird life there. So we decide that it’s time to pay a visit to Mannar.

We started in the morning around six thirty and headed towards Negombo. We traveled in a 4×4 Hilux pickup and had all what was needed such as several cans of water food items and other necessary supplements. From Paliyagoda we traveled along the A3 highway. At Wenappuwa we had our breakfast and we went to the Chilaw rest house for a cup of tea. By 10.30 am we were at Puttalam. As it was a poya day the roads were peaceful and we made it to Puttalam sooner than we thought.