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.....

A Day with Dragons..

This was the day we had all been waiting for – a visit to Komodo Island and its dragons. We left Labuanbajo at 6am and sailed out through many beautiful islands in a speedboat. It was a stunningly impressive hour long ride, albeit a little bumpy once we hit deeper water. 

Komodo Island

A few Lesser Frigatebirds were seen, along with a probable Christmas Island Frigatebird, Great Crested and Black-naped Terns and unfortunately a very brief and unidentified storm petrel that crossed in front of us and just vanished into thin air. But I think it must have been a Wilson’s Storm-petrel –the most likely species in these waters. 

Yellow-crested Cockatoos

On approach to Komodo we saw 3 Yellow-crested Cockatoos perched in the treetops near the quay, and upon arrival we had a brief talk by the park rangers, trying to ignore the Barred and Island Collared Doves in the process. Then we set off on the long walk which produced several awesome Green Junglefowls (for a chicken..!), an Orange-footed Scrubfowl for some, Wallacean Cuckooshrike, Yellow-bellied White-eyes, and some really great looks at more cockatoos. Must admit, I was really taken with these birds - full of character, loud and noisy, and this pair I photographed were obviously an item!

Komodo Dragon

Then we had an incredible hour with the Komodo Dragons near the beach and had several walking around and posing for us, with a hulking 10-footer male that bellowed out a loud hiss at another dragon that got too close to him. I must admit they were very impressive for a non-bird! A lovely snorkelling session followed with many fantastic brightly-coloured fish and was a very relaxing way to spend a few hours, especially as the water was crystal clear. To cap off a great day, the owner of the boat took us to their private resort for drinks and snacks. What a great day..

Flores Clean-Up Part 2

We reached the Flores Monarch site at Puarlolo at daybreak, after another early, early start and following a nice picnic breakfast of banana pancakes and coffee walked into the forest. For once, it didn’t take us long to get the target bird when a cracking Flores Monarch flew right in above us and flitted about the canopy. In fact we had 3 birds in total and everyone had really nice views of them. As we were watching these a Chestnut-capped Thrush started singing and we walked deeper into the forest and began a game of cat-and-mouse with this bird over the next couple of hours. In the beginning all we were getting were flight views as it skipped around us repeatedly without settling. So we sat down in the leaf litter and waited and waited and in the end a few of us had brief perched views of this most-wanted species. Giving it up after what seemed a lifetime of trying we checked out another area and had a pair of Crested Dark-eyes which meant everyone had finally caught up with it. Leaving here we drove to a fine hotel in Labuanbajo, had a short rest and lunch before driving up into the hills. Another more obliging Chestnut-capped Thrush was found, along with Green Imperial-pigeons, Short-toed Eagle and other common birds. Quite excited tonight as we are off to Komodo tomorrow….

Flores Clean-Up!

Returned to the forest this morning and well and truly nailed White-rumped kingfisher although didnt get any photos. In afternoon we drove back to Danau Rana Mese and saw Crested Dark-eye, Horsfield’s Bronze Cuckoo and further up in hills had Flores Jungle-flycatcher and a brief Pygmy Wren-babbler. We also got very close to Wallace’s and Flores Scops-owls without seeing them..

The following day we were treated to one of the best mornings of the tour so far as we arrived at the pass at Golo Lusang just before daybreak and began walking down the road. It was lovely as there were no noisy cars or mopeds beeping at us every five minutes like on our last visit. The dawn chorus was just beginning and as it became lighter White-browed Shortwing and Pygmy Wren-babbler began calling from the densely vegetated hillside. The cool mountain air was a refreshing change from the hot, sweaty lowlands we’d become accustomed to and pretty soon new birds were being found, beginning with a pair of Dark-backed Imperial-pigeons perched up nicely, and continuing the theme we also had a pair of Ruddy Cuckoo-doves fly across the road in front of us, followed by a cracking perched view of a Barred Cuckoo-dove. 

Barred Cuckoo-dove

As it got lighter still we began hearing the first Bare-throated Whistlers and what an amazing sound it made. After a bit of a search Brian P spotted our first one which flew up into a tall, dead tree and we were very privileged to be able to watch it sing, at leisure, through the scopes. The whole experience of seeing this amazing-looking bird with its bare throat patch and the incredible song made this the undoubted highlight of the tour so far. The sheer loudness of its song was awesome and enhanced by the curve of the hillside making an amphitheatre of noise emanating from this moss-encrusted ancient forest. In fact we saw several more birds throughout the morning, some singing, others feeding on the numerous berry bushes along the road. 

Bare-throated Whistler

There was also Blood-breasted Flowerpecker, Scale-crowned Honeyeater, Flores Leaf-warbler, Sunda Cuckoo, Chestnut-backed Thrush, Crested and Yellow-browed Dark-eyes and other previously seen species. It certainly was a lively morning but by 11am activity had died down dramatically so we returned to the hotel for a nice siesta. 

In the afternoon we visited a beautiful forest and walked along the road and although it was predictably quiet to begin with, our perseverance paid off with a few goodies. A Sunda Cuckoo flew by, whilst Royke spotted a Yellow-breasted Warbler feeding in the canopy of a roadside tree and its rufous head and golden yellow underparts literally shone. A Rufous-chested Flycatcher was a nice surprise, whilst Dark-backed Imperial-pigeon, Barred Cuckoo-dove, Metallic Pigeon and a few others were also seen. Once dusk settled and after a nice cup of tea we drove to another forest patch and found a rather cooperative Wallace’s Scops-owl that we spotlighted flying around us from one large tree to another and we had it perched twice, although not close, which was kind of neat in the binoculars. So a great end to a very good day....

Flores Tick-Fest

Another day and another early start for my intrepid group, and another crack at owling. Leaving the hotel at 4am saw us reach the forest in plenty of time and we took a little while before hearing a Moluccan Scops-owl which then took the best part of an hour to track down. Well it was almost light and the dawn chorus of White-rumped Kingfishers had already started, when Tracy noticed some movement overhead and there it was! Or rather a pair of Moluccan Scops-owls which were apparently going to roost. We’d already given it up, so this was a great way to start the day. 

Moluccan Scops-owl

Unfortunately the kingfisher didn’t play ball and turned out to be particularly unresponsive all day, and simply kept on calling from some impenetrable part of the forest where we couldn’t reach it. So we followed the trail a short distance and found a trio of endemics - Golden-rumped and Black-fronted Flowerpeckers, and a pair of obliging Thick-billed Dark-eyes. Then the forest began to resound to the sound of calling Elegant Pittas and as they call differently to the birds on Timor and also have a few plumage differences we made an effort to see them – well one or two without much effort. 

Elegant Pitta

The drivers brought our breakfast out to us which was very nice and then we set out on another walk. With the day warming up we found a nice viewpoint from which to scan the forested slopes of Gunung Pacan Deki for the sought-after Flores Hawk-eagle. During our vigil we had great views of Flame-breasted Sunbird and Black-fronted Flowerpecker, and Flores Crow before Derek spotted the biggie and we had prolonged views of a hawk-eagle soaring high over the valley before disappearing behind the trees. What a relief! 

Black-fronted Flowerpecker

Just up the hill was a fruiting tree and we had several Black-naped Fruit-doves here. So we left and walked slowly back to the cars, getting another Thick-billed Dark-eye, Black-naped Monarch, Striated Swallow, Wallacean Cuckooshrike and a few other things on the way before driving back to the hotel for a quick wash and then driving just down the road to the restaurant. We had a siesta afterwards which was very welcome after an early start before returning to the forest. It was predictably slow in the afternoon, although a flock of Flores Green-pigeons flew over and perched up just long enough to get cracking looks at them in the scope. Once dusk settled a pair of Mees’s Nightjars flew over the track and we heard at least six Moluccan Scops-owls before getting flight views of a Wallace’s Scops-owl that had been calling nearby.