I finally achieved my top most item in the bucket list after many years of chasing my dream confronting with the most illusive FOREST EAGLE OWL very recently in Sinharaja rain forest.
I was very lucky get this valuable information from the tracker I went with in Sinharaja only a couple of times Although he was not that familiar with the birds or bird calls etc. he was very keen to learn , enthusiastic and above all a very innocent block with a good heart. As I told him about this illusive bird and my desire to see and photograph to him a couple of times the luck had come his way a few days back through a villager whose livelihood is toddy tapping and while going about doing this one day he had come across a nest where an adult and one chick were nesting and as the adult used to fly away and perch on a tree for sometime before coming back ,out of sheer concern, he had kept this as a secret for a week or two and then had told my contact.
As I knew how urgent and important I should make my way there without delay specially as this is the rainy season ( usually the nesting takes place from December to March and this was very unusual), I contacted a couple of friends and went within 4 days.
Although we started around 7 in the morning with only a small drizzle which not ad at all the journey took about an hour climbing a very steep mountainous terrain for about one km where the path was very slippery and not many supporting small trees and creepers to hold on to and then descending for another 400 meters or so and the real challenge was the ever present and blood thirsty leeches attacking us from all sided.
all of us were out of breath now and then a one friend found it extremely difficult to climb as he is a chain smoker. and more than once I wondered whether we might have to leave him and continue.
However when we finally saw them watching us from far, the site took our breath away differently and the joy it brought was indescribable,
This was easily my toughest and most gruelling trekking anywhere for the longest time I could remember but the reward was un -imaginable and very satisfying .
