A Spectacular Sight of Flamingos in Yala

Nature and its beauty is mesmerizing that it always gives us a chance to make us release how blessed and fortunate we are. It is at difficult times like this that nature makes us realize to sit back and relax enjoy the surroundings and to give us hope for a better tomorrow.

Such a spectacular sighting was recorded in Palatupana yesterday evening (17th May 2021) of flamingos. Over 300 birds were recorded in this sighting in a nearby salt lake.

The feathered celebrities of Mannar, the legendary Flamingos migrant season starts in December and spends more than five months in the wetlands of Mannar. The flamingos who migrate here are believed to come from Rann of Kutch in Northern Pakistan. 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.

After many years Sri Lanka was fortunate to record these birds in the Yala area. Although Bundala is known to be a haven for flamingos, spotting them in Palatupana in the vicinities of the Palatupana saltern and lagoon is a special occurrence, especially since they are not known to have frequented this area for a considerable period of time.

A wader bird residing in mudflats (coastal wetlands which are formed when mud is deposited by tides or rivers) and shallow coastal lagoons with salt water, flamingos feed on small shrimps, seeds, blue-green algae and molluscs. Using its feet, the flamingo stirs up the mud and sucks water through its beak and filters out its ‘edibles’.

Strange and surprising as it may seem we hope these visitors find their space, rest and begin their journey back and re-visit our island quite often to give us these beautiful captures that mesmerizing moments.