The pitta patter

Another hike up onto the volcano required a 5.30am departure from the homestay in order to be in the forest at daybreak. Was feeling the pressure as there were no pittas calling at all, so I decided to hang around the lower slope and see what happened. The theory is that you can bump into a pitta by walking the trail quietly, just be patient and hold your nerve – oh and throw in a few days worth of waiting and watching. So I waited and stalked the trail, peering around every corner and scanning the longer, straighter stretches of path. Nothing. So I went higher up and just as the trail gets a little steeper, BANG! Out hops a freakin male Schneider’s Pitta after just 2 hours of trying this morning. It scuttles across the path and away, pauses briefly at the edge for another view and then simply melts away into the forest. No amount of searching could find it again - magic! No photos though as our brief liaison lasted shorter than Luis Suarez manages without making a tit of himself – and that’s saying something.

I couldn’t believe my luck but then had to decide if it was worth yomping up the mountain for another attempt at the cochoa….. My legs were aching after yesterday and the wet boots had given me the first stages of trench foot but I didn’t have to think too long. At ‘Air Minum’, the camp below Camp Cochoa, I needed a rest and during this time was entertained with a search for a calling Sumatran Owlet high in the canopy overhead. It's not a widely recognised split just yet, although it is vocally distinctive from the Collared Owlet call i'm used to. Eventually I found it looking down at me and it seemed to be fascinated with the laser pen dot my local guide Dewie was toying with!

Sumatran Owlet

 The trail from here up to Camp Cochoa gets quite steep but it isn’t too far and we hadn’t even reached our destination when a flurry of activity around a fruiting tree some 200 yards into the forest got my pulse racing. There were several birds acting like crazy amidst the foliage, but never coming out to the side of the tree where I could get a clear view. After a few frustrating minutes one of the birds finally landed in view, and I found myself looking at a Sumatran Cochoa. Holy cow!

Sumatran Cochoa

There were at least 4 birds present (maybe 6) unbelievably and I spent quite some time watching these rare beauties. I was obviously on a run of good luck following the pitta and cochoa, as a stonking Pink-headed Fruit-dove flew in and began to feed on the fruit as well. Wow! A rubbish photo, but it’s the bird!

Pink-headed Fruit-dove

Heading back I finally tracked down a pair of Sunda Blue Robins feeding quietly by the trail and the male made for an obliging subject.

Sunda Blue Robin

There were plenty of other commoner birds around today as the weather was much better than yesterday, with this fine male Snowy-browed Flycatcher showing nicely.

Snowy-browed Flycatcher

So that was it and an early night was called for as we leave at 2.30am for some night birding… 

Sumatra

So I find myself in Sumatra and based at Gunung Kerinci, a still active volcano and at 3805m is the tallest peak in the country. The slopes of the volcano are covered in lush forest and home to some of the most celebrated endemics in the entire island and I got off to a great start within the first half hour of walking up the single track, when a pair of Salvadori’s Pheasants were found.

Salvadori's Pheasant

 Other endemics followed with stunning views of these Rusty-breasted Wren-babblers, which gave crippling views as they sang back at the ipod from point-blank range.

Rusty-breasted Wren-babblers

 Then Shiny Whistling-thrush became increasingly common.

Shiny Whistling-thrush

 There were plenty of other more widespread birds around including showy Lesser and White-browed Shortwings, Grey-throated and Golden Babblers, Sunda Warbler and Pygmy Wren-babbler.

Golden Babbler

Pygmy Wren-babbler

Sunda Warbler

 My search for the near-mythical Sumatran Cochoa turned up a blank and it was quite a tough, muddy walk up to the so-called ‘Cochoa Camp’. But it was worth it for the views of Sumatran Wren-babbIer – a split from Long-billed Wren-babbler. I think I spent too long up here waiting and searching for the cochoa, as the rain came in around 4pm and was torrential indeed! Not quite up to Mt Kitinglad proportions but very close and the walk down wasn’t pleasant at all. Must remember to bring wellingtons next time as my hiking boots became waterlogged and now face the prospect of spending the next week with wet feet..! 

Still, a successful day and my thoughts are turning to how exactly to find Schneider’s Pitta tomorrow…………

Getting the Hump in California

Birding opportunities have been limited on my family holiday for one reason or another, but today we took a short 3 hour boat trip out of Monterey Bay. It was very misty early morning, as is usual on the mid-upper California coast. 

California Sealions in the mist

I love the Brown Pelicans sailing by in the mist

A number of California Sealions were around, and we also saw our first Sea Otter as well, along with lots of Jellyfish and a few Ocean Sunfish (Mola Mola).

California Sealions were out in large numbers feeding on huge Anchovy shoals

The fog bank continued as we sailed 45 minutes across the bay and headed for an area of water where we could see large numbers of Sealions feeding on a shoal of Anchovies. All of a sudden a Humpback Whale broke the surface of the water right behind the Sealions. 

Humpback Whale

Over the course of an hour we saw maybe 7 Humpback Whales and the views just got better and better and in the end we had 4 animals passing right in front of our ship. Great views indeed.

Grat views of Humpback Whales in Monterey Bay

Flukes in California Part 2

So the Blue Whales were amazing and to round off a fantastic display we even had some whale poo! A first for me...!

Blue whale and poo...!

The return journey was a little slow to start with but up ahead there was a lot of activity with some gulls and Sooty Shearwaters hanging around one area directly in front of us. 

Sooty Shearwaters

Splashes ahead.....

And yes, there was also some splashes which had to be dolphins, and sure enough as we got closer they turned out to be Common Dolphins, at least 200 in fact, and some came in to bow ride and showed amazingly well. 

Common Dolphins

Returning to the harbour some California Sealions were loafing on a buoy, Heermann's Gulls and Brown Pelicans were giving close views and the sun was still shining.

California Sealions

Brown Pelican

Heermann's Gull

What a trip this had been and looking forward to Monterey Bay already in a few days..... 

Flukes in California Part 1

Well it is summertime and indeed time for a much needed holiday. So leaving the delights of Malibu, Rodeo Drive, Hollywood & Universal Studios behind for a while I managed to get out on a boat into the Pacific Ocean (sort of) and indulge in my other great passion - cetaceans. Long Beach, California was the starting point and the pretty harbour held a surprise (for me at least) in the shape of this Elegant Tern. A white trailing edge, long, droopy bill and splodge of black on the nape all didn't add up to a Royal Tern, so I was quite happy with this, as have done zero homework on the birds here and not seen anything this elegant for many years!

Elegant Tern

Brown Pelican

Other birds around here included lots of Brown Pelicans, they maybe very abundant but I love seeing them flying overhead in small flocks. Great! Lots of Heermann's Gulls, California Gulls and a few Western Gulls were around, 5 Black Oystercatchers flew past and some Pelagic Cormorants were also here.

We left the harbour and made it out into the bay and steamed out towards the open ocean for maybe 40 minutes and it was quite choppy with lots of white water around. Not ideal viewing conditions and it was more like a fairground ride for a while but it calmed down a bit and we were able to pick up several huge blows straight out in front of us.

There were two Blue Whales feeding quite close to each other and we had distant views to begin with.... Before getting closer....

And closer....

And then much closer with the full monty of spouts, visible blow holes and that huge long, pale grey back...

And then we had the classic tail fluke action as these two huge beasts dived...

To be continued......

Bali...

To finish off my story we spent a travelling day as we flew from Flores to Bali and then got caught in a major traffic jam that resulted in a 5 hour drive to our luxurious lodge set amidst superb forest at Bali Barat National Park. Along the way we had a whole bunch of Savanna Nightjars flying around us when we stopped at a small shop to buy some water, and quite a few White-headed Munias roosting in a tree bordering the car park here as well.

Java Sparrow - this is one of the best places to see real wild birds.

One last push the following morning as we had a 4.30am breakfast and then drove for one hour to a small quay where we boarded a small boat for a forty minute crossing to the site where we would search for a couple of very special birds. With lofty mountains, volcanoes, forested islands and a lovely clear blue sea it certainly was a beautiful crossing and as luck would have it we spotted our first major target bird from the boat, with a Black-winged Myna riding the back of a Timor Deer on an open hillside. We found a couple of others later as we zigzagged our way across the volcanic and rocky hillside – with a pair teed up nicely in the scope. There was also Black and Ashy Drongos, plenty of Java Sparrows, a Changeable Hawk-eagle on a nest, and 3 Black-thighed Falconets.

Black-thighed Falconet - see the black.... thighs?

The highlight for me was a pair of Beach Thick-knees we scoped on a distant sand spit – I’ve wanted that baby for a long time! But we were struggling for Bali Myna – only a handful survive as free flying wild birds, but there is a reintroduction programme with captive birds being released on a frequent basis. Eventually we found one in the mangroves of all places and had great views of this stunningly beautiful bird. In fact there were several more free-flying ringed birds around the release pens that also gave great views. So that was it and we set off on the boat trip back to the mainland and a veritable feast for lunch.

Bali Myna - a nice looker!

In the afternoon we visited the forest and had Fulvous-chested Jungle-flycatcher responding well to the ipod, both Blue-eared and Rufous-backed Kingfishers, Black-naped Monarch and at least 6 calling Javan Banded Pittas at dusk.

Sunda Scops-owl

Oh and we nailed a roosting Sunda Scops-owl here as well.

So that's it, more or less! Quite a successful tour despite being stuffed over flight schedules and a lost day on Timor. We saw around 244 species and could have easily bumped the list up with some wader watching, but we decided to concentrate on the endemics really. it was a pretty tough tour and, I must admit, without such a wonderful group it could have been a lot harder. Their good humour, willingness to get up early every day, and being ok with some 'dodgy' accommodation made my life so much easier. I always feel privileged to have so many loyal people who repeatedly come along on our tours, so I cannot thank them enough. So a huge "THANK YOU" to you all.

And that's it for 4 months. My first long break in something like 13 years of leading tours. But we're still travelling to California for some whale watching, making a quick visit to Sumatra, more whale watching in the Maldives and finally a long-awaited holiday in Ethiopia before getting 'back on the horse' again. So stay tuned.....