Red BoP's, Tricky Pittas and Islands.....

So how to follow yesterday’s Wilson’s BoP extravaganza? With another BoP displaying of course and this morning’s entertainment was provided by some male Red Bird-of-Paradise darting around their display tree in a crazy manner. A totally different experience this one as we were sat on benches out in the open gazing up at a tall tree maybe 70m away and watching this extraordinary species darting around the branches in maniacal fashion. It really was a superb display and my photos just don't do this bird justice at all.

Red Bird-of-Paradise

Whilst watching this, a pair of Hooded Butcherbirds began feeding right in front of us and we enjoyed fine looks at this endemic. 

Hooded Butcherbird

We then spent the rest of the morning wandering along the old logging track looking for Western Crowned Pigeon, occasionally taking side trails or heading inside the forest but we didn’t get a sniff. All we had to show for this morning’s efforts were Papuan Drongo, another Pale-billed Scrubwren and a Green-backed Gerygone. 

 

At lunch I decided we needed a change of scenery and to take a boat out to some islands, and what a great decision this proved to be. 

The Gang....

New birds came thick and fast and spending an hour cruising in a boat wasn’t the worst experience either. On the way out we had fantastic close views of a White-bellied Sea-Eagle, some distant frigatebirds which were mainly Greater but there was at least one Lesser Frigatebird as well. 

White-bellied Sea-Eagle

Lesser Frigatebird

Once ashore on what was for all intents and purposes a typical tropical paradise island we were greeted immediately by a Beach Kingfisher. 

That's William watching the kingfisher

We hadn’t walked more than 20m when some Violet-necked Lory’sscreeched by and we eventually had decent perched views of this stunning species. In a nearby large leafy tree we saw Olive Honeyeater, Arafura Fantail, Variable Honeyeater, and a nice Island Whistler. 

Island Whistler

Nearby some Moluccan Starlings seemed to be nesting in a dead palm tree and as we scoped them an Eastern Hooded Pitta began calling. Usually I find this species not too difficult to track down, but this individual was very tricky and we ended up spending way too long trying to get everyone on to it, which we did in the end. So we left here and headed to another island to look for Spice Imperial-Pigeon, but arrived too late and only saw lots of Pied Imperial-Pigeons and some White-breasted Woodswallows, although the sight of hundreds of huge Flying Foxes setting out to hunt against the setting sun made for a pretty spectacular end to the day.

Amazing sunset tonight.....

THE DAY OF THE WILSON'S BIRD-OF-PARADISE EXTRAVAGANZA

So this was it. THE day. The day when we would get to see the incomparable Wilson’s Bird-of-Paradise. If anyone has ever asked you what’s the ‘best bird’ you’ve seen or some similar awkward question, well look no further! It was almost an hour’s drive to the start of the trail and we did it in the dark of course (another 4.30am start) and then a short and very easy 15 minute walk to the large hide. We were inside by 5.45am and then waited impatiently for dawn to break, but could hear the Wilson’s BoP’s calling almost as soon as we arrived. With the light seemingly taking an inordinate amount of time to do it’s one job we could see several birds moving around and eventually could make out bright scarlet or crimson backs of at least 4 Wilson’s BoP’s. Anyway, over the next hour and a half we had the most incredible views of what has to be THE most beautiful of all Birds-of-Paradise…. The males danced around their vertical display spikes just a few inches above the ground, whilst several females watched on rather unamused I thought. It was one of those magical sights I’ve dreamed about for years. I mean, the males look like they have glowing blue brains exposed to the world, a bright scarlet mantle, shining green underparts, and curly tail wired that look like they are made out of velvet. Just look at these photos man!

The one, the only........... Wilson's Bird-of-Paradise

I could go on with the superlatives but at the risk of you throwing up! SO how to follow that little episode……? Well a Papuan Pitta began calling and it took a bit of effort but eventually everyone had decent looks at this most-wanted bird as well. 

Always in the gloomiest part of the forest...... Papuan Pitta

What a start to the morning, with numerous Common Paradise-Kingfishers calling all around we walked back to the waiting cars and had breakfast. We were definitely on a roll as a pair of Raja Ampat Pitohui’s showed quite well right next to us before we drove a bit further along the former logging track. We then began walking, trying to find Western Crowned Pigeon but I wasn’t enthused by our chances as the local guides didn’t seem that bothered in my opinion. So instead we just birded and had a successful couple of hours along a side trail with Common Paradise-Kingfisher, Frilled Monarch, Black Berrypecker, several Tawny-breasted Honeyeaters, Northern Fantail, Pale-billed Scrubwren and Fairy Gerygone.

 

After lunch back at the resort we returned to the same forest and this time had good views of the rare Brown-headed Crow, as well as Puff-backed Honeyeater, and repeated views of many of the same species as this morning. But it was rather slow going, with a Papuan Frogmouth seen on telegraph wires as we drove back to the resort. 

Sorong - Waigeo

We had the morning to check out the nearby mangroves where a pair of Brown-backed Honeyeaters were nest-building quite close to our parked cars. We walked along a road between the mangroves and had a Collared Imperial-Pigeon fly slowly overhead, brief Little Kingfisher, an Orange-fronted Fruit-Dove teed up in the scope, whilst overhead Uniform Swiftlets and our one and only Barn Swallow were screamed at by some supersonic Coconut Lorikeets. A short, sharp shower stopped us in our tracks as we tried to get a view of a Buff-banded Rail walking through a grassy area. So we hopped in the cars and drove a short distance and at this section of mangroves we had a party of Little Bronze Cuckoos moving through. As we watched them a Large-billed Gerygone appeared, and then a Blue-black Kingfisher called. After several flyby’s we eventually managed a decent perched view of it nestled in a dense patch of mangrove before it flew away. There was also a Sacred Kingfisher at the same spot and a Black Butcherbird to keep us entertained before we decided to drive to an area of low hills above Sorong. 

Pacific Baza

Several Blyth’s Hornbills flying past indicated that this must be a good forested area and we also had White-bellied Cuckooshrike, Black-browed Triller, Eclectus Parrot, New Guinea Friarbird, Rufous-bellied Kookaburra and a pair of Yellow-faced Mynas but the only new bird was a Pacific Baza. So we returned to the hotel with plenty of time to pack and have lunch before catching the 2pm ferry to Waigeo.

 

This was a fast ferry and the journey was only maybe 2.5 hours, during which time we saw 3 Wilson’s Storm-Petrels, distant Great Frigatebirds and a Great Crested Tern. Upon arrival we were met by our 3 cars and drove to a lovely resort where we’d be spending the next 3 nights, seeing a group of Singing Starlings along the way.

 

More BoP Action in the Arfak Mountains

We had a big chunk of the morning to catch up with a few things, so whilst most of the group began birding along the road with Royke, getting a surprise Bicoloured Mouse-warbler and Papuan King Parrot, I went with William to the Superb BoP hide. It was only a short walk of maybe 15 minutes down to the hide but I was a little surprised to see it was a feeding station about 30m down below us. Well, in about an hour and a half here we saw at least one male and two female Vogelkop Superb Bird-of-Paradise coming in to feed. 

Arfak Catbird

Vogelkop Superb Bird-of-Paradise

Apparently males display on the large fallen tree in front of the feeding station, but maybe due to the rain they didn’t fancy it this morning. But we were both content with decent, prolonged views of a male. An Arfak Catbird came in to feed and remained for several minutes, a few female Western Parotias appeared as well, a Crinkle-collared Manucode appeared, and there were several pairs of Magnificent Bird-of-Paradise to round off a truly stunning stint in the hide. 

Crinkle-collared Manucode

Magnificent Bird-of-Paradise

The photos aren’t so great but I was happy to get a few record shots, especially to sort out which manucode it was. So we left and got back up to the road just as the group arrived, with Colin & Pete heading down to the hide to catch up with this new Superb BoP split – having seen it in PNG some years before. 

 

Whilst waiting for Colin & Pete we walked along the road and amazingly came across a group of Masked Bowerbirds with a stunning male being absolutely mind-blowing. My initial reaction was absolute joy for a nanosecond, followed by a ‘Oh f%$k’ as two of us weren’t here and I knew how much everyone wanted to see this stunner. Well, we followed the group of bowerbirds and had repeated views, also seeing Black and Black-bellied Cicadabirds as well as a few commoner species before Colin & Pete arrived. Just about now there was an intense period of sustained activity with a distant calling Magnificent Riflebird we couldn’t locate, a Glossy-mantled Manucode below us, Red Myzomela, a cracking Papuan King Parrot and another Ashy Thornbill. As the flock moved along the slope below us we followed and picked up a group of Hooded Pitohui before amazingly, a male Masked Bowerbird flew across in front of us and followed the treeline beside the road giving everyone a chance to connect with this superb creature. It even had Peter running!! 

Masked Bowerbird

So by now it had passed 10am and we had a flight to catch so drove back down to Manokwari and caught the short flight to Sorong, where we took full advantage of hot showers and cold beers at a great hotel! 

Sicklebills and Wild Bowerbird Chases!

We headed in 3 different directions again today. Myself, Ray, Dave & William headed to a site for Black Sicklebill, Peter & Colin went to check out a hide for Masked Bowerbird – which unfortunately turned out to be duff, and Graham & Brian headed to the Superb BoP hide and then joined me at the Black Sicklebill hide a little later. As it turned out, the sicklebill hide was set up opposite a feeding station, and was quite a walk up in the dark at 5am I can tell you. It was steep, slippery and I thought quite dangerous – however, when it came time to walk back down, some of our entourage had constructed hand rails along the path and made the whole walk much easier! 

Up to 5 female Western Parotias came in to the feeding station

Anyway, the feeding station became alive with activity shortly after daybreak with up to 5 female Western Parotia coming in to feed. Fortunately, Graham & Brian arrived before a female Black Sicklebill arrived at 08:45am, and she visited on two separate occasions about half an hour apart. We were fortunate indeed to even have a shot of this species, which is usually found at much higher elevations.

Female Black Sicklebill - what a beast!

We waited in vain for the male to show before deciding to leave. The forest here was amazing, with every branch seemingly covered in moss, tree ferns and epiphytes, it was beautiful. A Canary Flyrobin flew in to take a look at us as we stood around, a Vogelkop Scrubwren appeared nearby and we then spent the next 20 minutes trying to get a view of a Trumpet Manucode that flew around us but never settled. 

Canary Flyrobin

Next up was an Arfak Honeyeater before we spent quite a while trying to call in a Spotted Jewel-Babbler that came in so close but the vegetation was so dense and it was clearly an impossible ask. So we walked lower down the trail and enjoyed a fine Lesser Ground-Robin, brief Mountain Mouse-Warbler and Capped White-eye before meeting a disgruntled Peter & Colin along the road who had spent some time waiting for Masked Bowerbird in vain and then being left stranded by our ground crew!!!

 

In the afternoon we birded along the road, mainly hanging around a fruiting tree where Masked Bowerbird allegedly was visiting. It never did and that was no surprise to anyone but we did get Vogelkop Whistler, Papuan Flowerpecker and Mountain Myzomela before staking out the fruiting tree. Luckily, a diminutive Fairy Lorikeet flew in and lingered long enough for most of us to lay eyes on it, whilst a group of Arfak Catbirds gave only the briefest of views. 

Papuan Boobook

At dusk a Papuan Boobook answered my iPhone and we eventually tracked it down to a nearby tree after giving us the runaround! So an interesting and ultimately productive day in all, finished off with Ray not really nailing his landing too successfully into a 5 foot deep concrete roadside drainage ditch……

HEADING UP TO THE ARFAK MOUNTAINS

We flew from Jayapura to Manokwari on the west shore of Geelvink Bay and located on the romantically named Birds head Peninsula. We were met by three 4WD pick-up trucks and headed up into the Arfak Mountains. After just over an hour’s drive we stopped along the road and intended to do some birding but the heavens opened and we had the first rain of the tour so far. So not wishing to waste any time we drove up higher and fortunately by the time we arrived at our chosen birding spot the rain had stopped. 

Vogelkop Melidectes

Everyone was excited at the prospect of seeing plenty of new birds and we quickly found Vogelkop Melidectes , which proved to be rather common. We followed this with a cracking Arfak Honeyeater, Ruby-throated Myzomela, Friendly Fantailand a flyby Metallic Pigeon. By now it was approaching dusk, so we drove to our homestay where we’d be staying for the next 3 nights.

Arfak Mountain Magic!

We split up into groups of three this morning in order to visit the various BoP hides, some of us visiting a hide for Western Parotia, whilst Magnificent & Superb BoP’s were on the menu for others. I went to the Western Parotia hide, which involved a steep uphill climb for around 25 minutes. Everyone had top leave at 4.30am after a hot cup of coffee in our rooms, in order to be inside each hide before daybreak, which was around 5.50am. We didn’t have to wait long, as an absolutely awesome male came in and began tidying up some scattered leaves from his display site before doing a brief wing-shuffling display.   

Blue-grey Robin

Red-breasted Pygmy-Parrot (female)

He hung around for quite a while and we enjoyed superb views. Once he was finished we began walking down the trail and scored a fine Blue-grey (Slaty) Robin, both Perplexing and Vogelkop Scrubwrens, Sclater’s Whistler, Black Fantail (my 7,000^th lifer!), Mountain Fruit-Dove (split from White-bibbed), a female Red-breasted Pygmy-Parrot, a huge Green-backed Robin, Goldenface, Garnet Robin, Ashy Thornbill, Mid-Mountain Berrypecker and finished with a Black Pitohui. Little did we know that this was the birdiest trail of the entire stay up here in the Arfaks! 

 

Back at the homestay for lunch we compared notes on a successful morning before heading back out immediately to visit a couple different Western Parotia hides, one of which had a displaying male ‘doing his thing’ for quite a while. But the other just had a male sitting around posing and not really doing much at all…… Them’s the breaks! But the trail back downhill did produced another Goldenface, Papuan Treecreeper, Arfak Catbird, a flock of Red-collared Myzomela and ended up with everyone seated in another hide watching a rather demure Vogelkop Bowerbird perched next to his amazing bower.

Vogelkop Bowerbird and his bower....

We spent the remainder of the afternoon staking out a fruiting tree, which produced a steady stream of sightings. Several Vogelkop Melidectes got the ball rolling, with Slender-billed, Black-billed and Great Cuckoo-Doves appearing regularly. An Arfak Honeyeater then appeared, another Vogelkop Scrubwren showed well, a superb pair of Ornate Melidectes added the Wow! factor, and a group of Black-fronted White-eyes passed in front of us. 

Great Cuckoo-Dove

A Mountain Mouse-Warbler called from dense vegetation behind us before we saw a mixed group of New Guinea and Capped White-eyes, and ended with a brief Eastern Superb Fruit-Dove and some Papuan Mountain-Pigeons to end the day on a high.

NIMBOKRANG TO JAYAPURA

Headed up to the canopy tower early doors, after a quick look at the nearby Twelve-wired BoP display site behind the lodge. A Frilled Monarch called in the gloom and a pair of New Guinea Scrubfowl scuttled away from us, only being seen by the leaders. Up at the canopy tower we enjoyed a steady stream of birds either flying by or perching up to catch the first of the sun’s rays. A personal favourite was our first Pink-spotted Fruit-Doves that eventually gave decent views in a large tree nearby. Many Oriental Dollarbirds flew over the treetops, a Red-cheeked Parrot screeched as it flew by, a huge Great Cuckoo-Dove flew directly over the tower, a massive Blyth’s Hornbill flew by with the sounds of its wings almost deafening, but best of all was a cracking Palm Cockatoo flying slowly over the treetops in front of us. Wow! I have been totally impressed by this species and when you get a good look at its hulking bill, you would too! Other notable species included Papuan Spangled Drongo (still lumped in the Spangled Drongo complex by IOC), a few Double-eyed Fig-Parrots playing hard-to-see in a large leafy tree, more Orange-bellied Fruit-Doves, and a few other commoner species. 

Yellow-billed Kingfisher

Tearing ourselves away we hit the trails and did a fairly long walk that turned out to be rather slow, yet we nailed a superb Yellow-billed Kingfisher, saw more hornbills (there’s only one here), and had our closest views of Boyer’s Cuckooshrike.

 

After a rest and siesta over lunchtime we drove towards Jayapura (spending the night at a decent hotel) and spent a pleasant couple of hours birding near the huge lake, seeing Black-billed Coucal, a superb bunch of Orange-fronted Fruit-Doves feeding amongst the much commoner Orange-bellied Fruit-Dove in some large trees, several New Guinea Friarbirds and other common species. It was really nice to stay in a good hotel with air-con and copious amounts of cold beer tonight!

A Wild Crowned Pigeon Chase, Emperors and Hookies!

We set out at 4am for what I can only describe as a ‘wild goose chase’ or rather more relevantly a ‘wild crowned pigeon chase’ to a site just under quarter of an hour away from the lodge. Parking up we walked for a mere 20 minutes before I played the call of Papuan Hawk-Owl which promptly called back and Royke spotlighted. What a result! 

Papuan Hawk-Owl

The horizon was just beginning to get light as we walked away from the bird and within another 20 mins had stopped to look at an Azure Kingfisher perched along a stream. Highlights from our route march (which I won’t repeat ever again) were headlined by a superb Black-sided Robin giving repeated views as it circled us before perching right over our head on multiple occasions. A pair of Blue-black Kingfishers flew around us repeatedly as well and it was a shame they never perched close enough for us to see. Other sightings included Northern Fantail, a group of stunning Emperor Fairy-Wrens, Northern Variable Pitohui and a group of Salvadori’s Fig-Parrots feeding high overhead. 

Emperor Fairywren

The walk out of the forest was tough, with barely a trail to follow as we climbed over fallen logs, vines and roots making the going underfoot extremely treacherous and we eventually made it back to the lodge at 12.30 utterly exhausted in the high temperature.

Hook-billed Kingfisher

An hour after lunch we set out on another short drive to a spectacular viewpoint overlooking mile upon mile of pristine forest where we saw Pinon’s Imperial-Pigeon, a distant Jobi Manucode picked up by Pete, another Long-tailed Honey-Buzzard, several Lowland Peltops, at least 4 Rufous-bellied Kookaburras, Channel-billed Cuckoo and a confiding Hook-billed Kingfisher to end the day on a high note.