Journey to the lakes/tanks around Tissamaharama. Colloquially shortened to Tissa is eminently the place for birders and bird photographers. The area is blessed with 5 larger lakes or handmade tanks . It is also near Yala and Bundala National Parks as neighbours.  Tissa is also a good drop-off base for owls and many other resident as well as endemic bird species. During migration time, an influx of birds from North-Western Europe as well as Siberia and China are observed in this area, the season starting mid-October to the end of March. Species visiting this area include Pintails, Eurasian Curlew, Whimbrel, Common Redshank, Western Reef Heron, and Barn Swallow, to name a few.  Also Tissa is the home base for the Sri Lanka Woodshrike.  Anyway, we came especially for the owl species found in this area. The safari we did here is special, we know the jeep safari as well as the walking safari, but here we did a motorcycle safari with the two guides Nipun and Saichintha, both of whom specialise in this new phenomenon, and know the area like the back of their hand. The owl species living in this area include the Eastern barn-owl, jungle owlet, Indian scops owl, brown boobook, brown fish owl .  I saw and photographed four of the five species there. The brown fish owl was nowhere to be seen these days.

With a good guide and of course some luck, you can also find a sixth species near Tissa, namely the brown forest owl.  Both guides are very concerned with the local wildlife, and handle it with care. They know how fragile the habitat can be, and for that they try to be as least disruptive as possible. In this so-called dry zone, the weather can also be very hot as well as stormy with many thunderstorms. There are warning signs to avoid taking shelter under large trees, lightning can strike there. Besides these owls, there are many other species of birds to see and discover. For instance, there are several Kingfishers to see, such as the White-throated kingfisher, Pied Kingfisher that pray in the sky, with some luck you will also see the Stork-billed Kingfisher and the common kingfisher. Smaller species are the munias, sunbirds, oriental white eyes. Slightly larger species are the smaller heron species, such as Yellow Bittern, Indian pond heron, Night heron, Cinnamon Heron. Then there are the larger heron species to be seen in all sizes and shapes such as Purple Heron, Great Grey Heron, Cattle Egret, Intermediate Egret, Great Egret, Little Egret. To distinguish these you have to look at the colour of the feet and beak to tell the difference.  Then of course there are the larger birds to discover like the Asian open bill stork, painted stork. Also birds of prey you may come across, are the Crested Serpent eagle, Shikra, Changeable hawk-eagle, Grey-headed fish eagle, White-bellied sea eagle. Other animal species you may encounter are the Mugger crocodile, Toque Macaque, Hanuman Langur, Jackal, Fishing cat, Palm civet, Cobra and Python also live in these areas. If you have time, there is a lot to explore in the areas around Tissa. , you will also find beautiful monumental trees where hundreds of flying foxes wake up at dusk and hunt in large numbers for food, mainly fruit. It is a great area for photographers in general both for landscape and nature in general as well as for bird photography. The area has good infra structure in terms of accommodation and restaurants.  Definitely a place to return to several times.