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Day 309: Rained Out
Noah's feet are squishy with leeches as he birds on his last day in Sri Lanka.
November 5, 2015: Sinharaja Forest, Sri Lanka — I’d almost forgotten what it feels like to get rained out (I’ve been lucky with the weather lately), but this afternoon’s birding got washed away. Asoka, our driver and I arrived at Sinharaja just in time to get caught in a thunderstorm, and the rain poured down for the whole rest of the day, shutting down bird activity.
We saw a few birds in the forest before conditions completely disintegrated. A pair of roosting Sri Lanka Frogmouths reminded me of that world-record day in September, and we had brief, waterlogged looks at an Indian Blue Robin and Sri Lanka Blue-Magpie (my most wanted Sri Lanka bird—hope we get better views tomorrow!). For the most part, we waited around to see if the rain would stop. I ended the day soaked to the core, with leeches squelching in my shoes.
Still, six new birds ain’t nothin’ to shake a stick at, and it sure beats a kick in the teeth. Every day is a new adventure! We’ll have another go at this spot tomorrow, my last day in Sri Lanka, hoping to clean up a few last endemics here.
New birds today: 6
Year list: 5129
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