After a three hour transfer from Kitulgala to Nuwara-eliya – capital of the central hill country, at an altitude of over 6,000 feet – and longest lunch-break ever we did manage two hours this afternoon in the birding hotspot of Victoria Park – a typical town park creating in the colonial style with a creek running through it. I say creek but it was more like a giant waste disposal unit. However, as we all know birds aren’t usually put off by their surroundings, and so it proved today. In the space about 100m of ‘water-front’ we had some exceptional birding. We added about a dozen new species to the overall trip list, including a couple of endemics: Sri Lanka Scaly Thrush and Sri Lanka Scimitar-babbler, several scarce migrants and at least one other hard-to-get thrush. A really great session and prelude to a 4.30 am start tomorrow for our trip to the Horton Plains National Park.