Gunung Mutis

So if we thought yesterday’s birding was hard, then I tell you that spending the day on Mount Mutis in dense low cloud and fog, a howling wind and steady rain would beat it hands down. There were spells when it didn’t rain and these very short interludes were just long enough to lull us into thinking the weather was clearing up – but oh no! Anyway, we made the best of it as we always do but our time on Timor does seem to have been jinxed. Even so we kept at it and dug out some quality birds with endemics such as Timor Imperial-pigeon, Timor Friarbird, Timor Leaf-warbler, and more views of Timor Blue Flycatcher. There was also Golden Whistler, Paddyfield Pipit, lots of Island Thrushes (and can you tell me why there are 50+ races of this species and no mention of splits forthcoming at all?), but I just couldn’t call in a Pygmy Wren-babbler which were particularly non-responsive to the ipod – as everything else seems to be on this island. In the afternoon we birded at a lower elevation and notched up tickable views of the endemic Olive-headed Lorikeet, several of which were seen perched in the Eucalyptus trees, a few Metallic Pigeons, a noisy flock of Spot-breasted Dark-eyes, Arafura Fantail, Plain Gerygone, Little Pied Flycatcher, Derek had a Black-backed Fruit-dove, and we also had Tricoloured Parrotfinch as well, which was a bonus. We eventually arrived back at the hotel at 8pm…

Still no photos.......

Timor

It was actually 4 hours sleep in the end and at 4am bags were outside the rooms and we left soon after for the hour or so drive to Camplong. It was a long, slow, hot day where we had to work for every single bird and dig them out one by one – certainly the toughest day I can remember in a long while. When we reached our hotel at Soe at the end of the day, everyone was totally knackered. 

Anyway, we began with a flock of Ashy-bellied White-eyes not long after walking into the forest. It was then a slog along an old dry stream-bed in search of Orange-sided Thrush, not a Zoothera any more but a Geokichla, which eventually turned up trumps but not for everyone I’m afraid. We walked a little way into the dry forest and found it to be some of the toughest birding imaginable with very little reward for maximum effort for most of the day. Yet a few Rose-crowned Fruit-doves showed a few times, and we also had Brown Goshawk, Red-chested Flowerpecker, Sunda Bush-warbler, Common Cicadabird, Greater Wallacean Drongo, Arafura Fantail, White-bellied Chat and Plain Gerygone. We’d been hearing Buff-banded Thicketbird several times but we were always on the hunt for something else when they were calling, but eventually after a protracted effort everyone had very good views of this distinctive and totally unusual looking species. Shortly after we’d all seen this a Timor Stubtail put on a good show for most of the group as well. The best birding of the day was late in the morning when we were stood underneath a canopy of huge trees and had Streak-breasted, Yellow-eared and Indonesian Honeyeaters, Helmeted Friarbird and Flame-breasted Sunbird all in a very short space of time. And as we were walking back to the bus a Gould’s Bronze Cuckoo was seen.

The afternoon was even slower as we walked to a few clearings where we had Tree Martins flying over, a pair of Timor Figbirds and Timor Oriole. In the forest there was a group of Spot-breasted Dark-eyes that took a little getting on, but we did eventually and it’s a potentially tricky bird to find at the best of times. The walk also gave us Spectacled Monarch, Fawn-breasted Whistler, and more Rose-crowned Fruit-doves before we arrived back at the bus at dusk. No photos today as the birding was so tough.....

Timor

Great start to the day with Linchi Swiftlet, Scarlet-headed Flowerpecker and Sunda Woodpecker around the hotel gardens – a nice way to get the ball rolling. So here we are on the tropical paradise island of Bali (love saying that!) and not for us the palm-fringed beaches, oh no. It’s the local sewage ponds that hold more allure as we find Small Blue Kingfisher to be very common, with maybe a dozen or more individuals present. What a little beauty this bird is. 

Small Blue Kingfisher

We also have lots of egrets including Pacific Reef, Little Pied Cormorant, a flock of Sunda Teal, Zebra Dove, Pink-necked Green-pigeon, White-breasted Woodswallow, White-bellied Sea-eagle, flocks of Little Terns, Collared and Sacred Kingfishers, Blue-tailed Bee-eater, Pied Fantail, Olive-backed Sunbird, White-shouldered Triller and Golden-bellied Gerygone. 

Sacred Kingfisher

A quick stop en-route to the airport gives us several Great Crested Terns out in the bay.

Little Pied Cormorant

 Our already delayed flight to Timor eventually leaves around 1.30pm and an hour and a half later we arrive at our destination– greeted by several Australian Pratincoles along the runway. A ridiculously lengthy baggage reclaim delays us even more until we finally board our lovely bright blue and red bus for the hour long drive to Bipolo forest. So it is already late in the day by the time we arrive but pretty quickly we start picking up our first endemics with Black-chested Myzomela, Fawn-breasted Whistler, Timor Blue Flycatcher, Pale-shouldered Cuckooshrike (Cicadabird), whilst a nice Northern Fantail was also appreciated. After a cup of coffee, conveniently supplied by our ground crew, we follow a trail away from the noisy main road and enter the forest in darkness. After a little while of playing the call, I eventually get a response from a Timor (or Streaked) Boobook which eventually gives very nice views – although once again I fail to et a decent owl photo. But a point of note, if you are an avid Clements list follower then this is just a Southern Boobook and not a lifer – but if you are IOC orientated then you are quids in. Not rocket science as to which authority you follow is it…..

Timor or Streaked Boobook

Anyway, we drive an hour back to Kupang and another fine hotel and evening meal, and now watching Mr Murray in the Wimbledon final. But just around 5 hours sleep before we get up…..

London - Bali

Well it's taken the best part of two days to eventually end up at a wonderful hotel on the tropical paradise island of Bali. Our Lesser Sundas tour is about to begin but it has been a looong journey to get here and we are all very tired tonight. You don't read about that in the tour itinerary right...?! Had some bad news upon arrival, in that we have had to cut short our stay on Flores due to internal flight changes and now only have 3 nights, which i'm fretting is going to curtail our endemic ticking somewhat - but let's see..........

It's a Pere David's Owl....!

After yesterdays mega tick I was quite looking forward to a relatively calm day but this was not to be the case. We arrived at the far side of Gongangglin Forest just after sunrise and set about our Chinese Grouse hunt and after waiting at a clearing for a while we got distracted by a singing Long-tailed Thrush which didn’t perform as we would have liked. So at that point we split into smaller ‘teams’ and headed in different directions. A few of us searched for thrushes but only had Tibetan Siskin and a few other common species, but as we got back to the coach for breakfast Keith was waiting and offering me his camcorder to see what he’d just filmed. Well, after the shock of seeing a Pere David’s Owl staring back at me from his viewing screen we literally legged it to the last known spot with his wife, Lynne, leading us to the correct spot. Fortunately a few others were there already looking for grouse – and then the beast called, a deep double-hoot. Must admit I had the old shakey-hand syndrome as the bird continued to call for half an hour and I fired off a few notes from the I-pod but it just called back. Finally it flew and gave us a glimpse of this mythical forest-ghost. Well, it gave us the runaround and eventually flew off up the hill and out of sight, but continued to call. I wasn’t for giving up and after a protracted and exhausting trek up a steep slope we had it perched next to a tree trunk, but looking through bushes so no clear shot. What a relief! So we headed back to the coach for breakfast, but one person had been missing throughout all this. So I dragged Russell back up the hill and into the forest where the bird was still calling at 10am (!) and within a matter of seconds we had the beastie close by on a bare branch right in front of us – time to celebrate this ‘once-in-a-lifetime’ bird with clenched fist and a little dance…! Definitely bird of the trip for me…!

Pere David's Owl

 So we then said goodbye to 3 of our team before heading off to Jiuzhaigou where a few Spectacled Fulvettas were a good addition to our list before an early night.

Sukatschev's, Slogging and a Partridge..!

This was the morning of the great grouse hunt as we scoured Baxi Forest for Severtzov’s (Chinese) Grouse and is one of those sessions that either produces the goods or absolutely nothing. Well, it started off slowly as we crept quietly up a promising forest ride, and with only a quick view of Blood Pheasant and Black Woodpecker to show for it. After an hour of walking up and down the forested hillside it was only natural that we would split into smaller groups, however nothing much happened for a while. A couple of us walked up a relatively steep ride into the hill and as I was tinkering with a White-bellied Redstart Lynne spotted a bird feeding quietly on the grassy floor behind me. As I turned around I couldn’t believe my eyes as it was the endemic Sukatschev’s Laughingthrush – not your average endemic, but the rarest of the lot here in Sichuan. 

Sukatschev's Laughingthrush

It was just hopping around in the open about 15 feet in front of us and it didn’t care we were there. Of course I’d left the camera in the coach. So I ran back down the hillside to find the rest of the group, seeing nobody until I made it back to the coach and rounded up a few people. Some time later we had made it back up the hill and after an anxious wait the bird reappeared to our relief. But with a couple of the guys still M.I.A I ran back down to the bottom of the hill and found Trevor and Kevin and I crawled back up the hill for a 3^rd time and this made me feel really ill at this altitude. The bird had disappeared but we relocated it a little later and had crippling views of it calling from a small bushy tree. As we celebrated a movement off to our left in the shadows caught my eye and I turned and saw the elusive pimpernel (I mean grouse!) run across a clearing. Shouting to the guys to follow it I ran up the hill and cut across the hillside, through dense thorn and birch-type scrub to try and head it off and completely knackered myself in the process and as I headed down Trevor & Kevin said they’d seen it. What a relief. But only the 3 of us had, so the rest were a little disgruntled to say the least. As we headed down the hill the others were coming up and wanted a crack at the grouse, so up I went for a 4^th time and it was now that I felt very, very sick. Needless to say the grouse weren’t around so we finally got to the coach for a breakfast at 10am!

We then decided to return to ‘Gansu Valley’ but that proved to be quiet again (despite near perfect sunny conditions) so went to a nearby restaurant. Afterwards we drove slowly back up towards the plateau and I decided to stop at a favourite little spot of mine, and what an excellent decision it was. Just as we were trying to suss out a potential new Rosefinch for us Keith shouted the immortal word “PARTRIDGE” which took a few seconds to register with me. 

Tibetan Partridges

But then we ran up to his position and after frantic directions a pair of Tibetan Partridges were in my bins – omg! I’ve always wanted to see this bird but never really knew where to look for it in Sichuan – its like a needle in a haystack being so scarce here. But here we were, about 40 yards from two absolutely stunning beauties. The magnitude of our sighting took a little while to sink in and we enjoyed 10 minutes on the birds as they picked their way up a small bank and disappeared into the bushes. YES!! 

White-browed Tit-warbler

There was also an obliging pair of White-browed Tit-warblers here, another White-browed Tit and several Alpine Leaf-warblers. We were on a high for a while and with the rare laughingthrush and partridge  in the bag it had been a very good day, although the grouse dip soured it a little for some!

All that was left was to drive to  our next hotel for the night, via a singing Siberian Rubythroat that eventually showed quite well.