Lore Lindu 10th September

A day of surprises lay in store for us today, beginning with a new trail that Royke has discovered and which turned up a number of excellent birds. We had great luck in seeing 23 endemics along this trail which meandered along the edge of the forest and we began with a fine trio of Crimson-crowned, Yellow-sided and Grey-sided Flowerpeckers, several Grey-cheeked Green-pigeons, a close perched White-bellied Imperial-pigeon, Sulawesi Serpent-eagle, Sulawesi Blue Flycatcher and Yellow-vented Whistler. The trail from here crossed an area of damp woodland and clearings and we picked our way along on wooden planks that had been carefully placed so we wouldn't sink into the mud. Some brave souls had donned wellingtons for the walk……. Mmmm rather them than me!

We spent some time scanning the flocks of Grosbeak Mynas and soon found lots of Fiery-browed Mynas, but best of all were several groups of Sulawesi Crested Mynas flying by and landing in some tall, dead trees. Although a pair of Knobbed Hornbills slowly flying across the hillside was also very nice and we could hear the sound of the wind rushing through their immense wings.

Black-fronted White-eye

Once the trail entered the forest we found our first Black-fronted White-eye, and then more endemics appeared with Slender-billed Cuckoo-dove, Large Sulawesi Hanging-parrot, Yellow-billed Malkoha, Pale-blue Monarch, Rusty-bellied Fantail, Sulawesi Honey-buzzard, Sulawesi Drongo and Cerulean Cuckooshrike.

Cerulean Cuckooshrike

A fruiting tree held a couple of Black-naped and a Superb Fruit-dove, although our views of a male of the latter species were stunning a little later in the morning. A spot of raptor watching proved worthwhile and yielded Sulawesi Hawk-eagle, Rufous-bellied Eagle, and another Sulawesi Honey-buzzard. A nice cup of coffee was well deserved upon reaching our waiting vehicles and then we birded a short distance along the road in the heat of late morning which seemed like madness. But only until at least three endemic Ivory-backed Woodswallows were scoped on the forested hillside opposite us. Wow! A male Sulawesi Cicadabird was also much appreciated but we had to retreat to the relative comfort of our hotel and lunch, followed by a short siesta.

Blue-fronted Flycatcher

In the afternoon we drove up higher to Lake Tambing where a walk along the concrete path produced nice views of a pair of superb Blue-fronted Flycatcher, Piping Crow, flocks of Yellow-and-green Lorikeets, Black-billed Koel, Rusty-breasted Cuckoo and a typically skulking Chestnut-backed Bush-warbler.

Black-billed Koel (female)

Across the road we made our first attempt at Great Shortwing which only called back from the dense forest, but a showy Snowy-browed Flycatcher came as a little compensation. As the light began to fade we stopped for coffee before beginning our evening owling session which got off to a good start with nice views of Cinnabar Hawk-owl - but my continuing incompetence at photographing nightbirds continues! We then drove down into the lowlands and tried to call in Sulawesi Masked Owl which failed to respond apart from calling back briefly. However a Speckled Boobook began calling and was eventually spotlighted high in the canopy beside the road to round off an excellent day's birding.

Olive-backed SUnbird

I'm including this pic of an Olive-backed Sunbird - just because it's a nice composition but a trashy bird!

Jakarta - Palu - Lore Lindu 9th September

The internal flight to Palu was delayed slightly (as usual) allowing us to find the endemic Javan Munia around the airport complex and we arrived mid-afternoon where we met our guide and good friend Royke Mananta. After loading the luggage onto our three vehicles we set off on the long drive to Lore Lindu, stopping along the way amidst an area of low scrub and rice paddies to take a look at a couple of roosting Savannah Nightjars. 

Savannah Nightjar

It was really nice to be out birding and we pretty quickly notched up Little Bronze Cuckoo, Lemon-bellied White-eye, Grey-sided Flowerpecker, White-shouldered Triller, Olive-backed Sunbird and both Sulawesi and Uniform Swiftlets. Nearby, we had a look at several Pale-headed Munias, and also picked up Chestnut and Scaly-breasted Munias, White-breasted Woodswallow, Purple Heron and managed to flush a pair of Rufous-backed Buttonquails. All too brief views of Large Sulawesi Hanging-parrot and Slender-billed Cuckoo-dove were rather frustrating, but we’d have to save those for later! 

Pale-headed Munia

Moving on we slowly wound our way up into the hills and drove the last few hours in the dark, which enabled us to make our first attempt at Cinnabar Boobook. Despite luring one in and hearing its distinctive call we just couldn’t manage to find it in the spotlight so had to drag ourselves away and head to the Sendy Inn at Wuasa Village where we’d be staying for the next four nights.

Sulawesi & Halmahera 2012 - Arrival

Well, after the summer doldrums it's finally time to get on the road again - and I find myself at the FM7 Hotel at Jakarta Airport. In a few hours we fly to Palu in Sulawesi and head off to Lore Lindu for the start of our tour. Postings will be erratic over the next few weeks but looking forward to sharing my story with you.........

Birdfair 2012

The Zoothera team - Steve, Nick and Viv (from left to right).            Photo by Gina Nichol.

Well what can I say. This year's Birdfair was a huge success for us and we would like to say a big  thank you to all of our friends from previous tours who attended and came to say hello. It really was  like old times and it was great to chat about the birds we had all shared over the years. On top of that  we had a large number of bookings from old and new clients, showing that the word is spreading and  it really is worth checking out our rapidly growing programme of tours for the next year or two. In fact  we have now filled 17 tours up to the end of 2013, with several more filling fast. Adding to this are our  exciting new itineraries to South Africa, Madagascar, NE Brazil, Northern Peru, Pantanal & Cristalino  Lodge and Brazil's Atlantic Rainforest that all have lists of people waiting to book once the itineraries  are posted. Then we have already filled one of our Thailand trips in 2014 (and added an extra tour there),  Sulawesi & Halmahera in 2014 is full, and Sumatra & Java in 2014 is also attracting bookings as well.  We will also be adding a few more tours for next year, so please keep an eye out for a surprise or two!

Birdfair 2012

During this holiday time we are gearing up for the British Birdwatching Fair, so maybe see you at Marquee 6 Stand 33 - our regular spot.

With many tours already full for next year we are preparing exciting new itineraries to NE Brazil and NE Peru, both of which have already attracted quite a bit of interest and are most probably nearly full already before the itineraries are posted on the Zoothera website!

But back to next year, so far we have filled Thailand 1, Thailand 2, C Rica, Colombia, Mexico, Lesser Sundas and West Java & Sumatra. India 1 & 2 only have 2 spaces and both Ecuador 1 & 2 are half full. So things are hotting up!

For a full run down of all of our tours then just go to www.zootherabirding.com

Fraser's Hill

Well it’s been a while since my return from Malaysia, so apologies for delay in completing the story but have been tied up with office work since I got back home. But Fraser’s Hill was as good as ever with all the usual goodies like Spectacled, Malayan and Black Laughingthrushes, Malayan Whistling-thrush, Fire-tufted Barbet, Rufous-browed Flycatcher, Chestnut-backed Scimitar-babbler, Blyth's Hawk-eagle, Rufous Piculet, lots of Red-bearded Bee-eaters, Blue Nuthatch and others.

Blyth's Hawk-eagle

Chestnut-naped Forktail - again

Fire-tufted Barbet

Red-headed Trogon

Rufous-browed Flycatcher

Rufous Piculet

Orange-breasted Trogon

My primary focus was on getting Rusty-naped Pitta and despite another bout of illness had a couple of attempts at the wee beastie. I knew it was a real toughie and had previously been subject to a few negative comments about my chances of success. Well in your face!! The first attempt saw the three of us at the spot where I’d head one back in March along the Telecom Loop and we scuttled noisily downhill about 50 metres. Sitting amongst the leaf litter I gave it a blast of call from the ipod and one responded immediately, but sounded another 50m or so away further downhill. We waited and waited and it called a few times more then fell silent. Knowing this could either mean it had got the hell out of there or was coming in we sat quietly and waited some more. It did indeed come closer but not close enough and in the end Lee left and Sophy and I made our way further down the steep slope and spent the next couple of hours watching and waiting, without any luck. So a whole morning wasted then!

Our last morning in Malaysia saw us out before first light and the others, knowing my desire to see the pitta, left me alone to try on the Bishop Trail. Thanks guys! It was dark inside the forest so I headed down to the bottom of the trail and sat down on a log and listened to the sounds of the forest coming to life. It was a really wonderful experience just sitting there, listening and waiting with Streaked Wren-babblers, Buff-breasted Babblers and Lesser Shortwings coming in real close. But no pitta calls. So I walked on a few hundred metres more and played a short burst from the ipod, and a pitta responded immediately from somewhere in the distance. I couldn’t pinpoint the direction so retraced my steps and played again, but it didn’t help as the pitta was so far away. Feeling dejected I trudged on for maybe half a kilometres and played the call again and one responded off to my right below the path – and very close. But I had dense vegetation either side of me and no view, but I squatted down and waited. Total silence enveloped the immediate area and after a long twenty minutes I tried the call again. And again the pitta responded close by from more or less the same area, so I moved slowly along the path for a few metres and could just manage a small view of the forest floor under a fallen tree. The pitta called again and I waited, staring intently at the only bit of forest floor available to me. More minutes passed and my legs were cramping and back aching – not as young as I used to be!! Then the pitta called again from a bit closer and from the direction I was hoping and then a shape hopped into the clearing under the fallen tree. My heart pounded and hands were shaking as I raised my bins slowly and in the shadows there was the pitta – undoubtedly, unequivocally a pitta but no colours or features were possible. Then it moved into the better light for a few seconds and that image was seared into my brain for all time! Yes!! I blinked and it was gone. I waited for another half an hour but that was it – my Rusty-naped Pitta. No photo, but the buzz I got and the high were unparalleled with anything else so far this week. As I walked along the path to meet the guys I walked past a gulley in the left and a pitta hopped out and flew down the slope in perfect light. Another or same Rusty-naped Pitta! Wow!! As I got up to the road and the guys were there I didn’t want to gloat or celebrate as that wouldn’t be fair, so I just walked past them without saying a word with my arms raised!! A rock sailed past my head and I jumped into the bus with a beaming smile. Our birding was over in Malaysia, I’d had more lifers than I had the right to expect, filled in quite a few gaps on my list and had a good laugh! Must have a holiday more often – next year Ethiopia…..

Sultan Tit

Streaked Wren-babbler

Streaked Wren-babbler

Spectacled Laughingthrush

Taman Negara - The End

Some final images from Taman Negara:

Rhinoceros Hornbills

Gould's Frogmouth

Had much better views of Gould's Frogmouth on our last morning at TN and was sad to leave here.

Kuala Tehan

Looking across the Tembeling River to the Mutiara Resort

Tembeling River

Tembeling River

Nice Forest

Taman Negara - Day 6

A cracking day today, our final one in fabulous Taman Negara, began with the daily dip on Rail Babbler. One was calling along the Jenet Muda Trail and we tried leaving the ipod some distance away in the hope that the wee beastie would creep in for a peek, and after that epic fail we crept into the forest and stalked the bird but only managed to encourage it to go further away. I was torn whether to stay and wait it out, hedging my bets on this one bird at the expense of others – or just go birding with the others. Things still didn’t bode well with several birds only heard, including the elusive Crested Jay in the same area. Glad to say common sense prevailed as we had a barnstorming day and after the guys had said it was dead along this trail yesterday, it was rather pleasing to have possibly our best day of the week. Nothing to do with me right?! So we kicked things off with Crimson-winged Woodpecker up close, followed by a huge Great Slaty Woodpecker further down the trail, then a Rufous Woodpecker appeared and finally a pair of awesome Checker-throated Woodpeckers obliged for several minutes. So that filled some gaping holes in the pecker list! We also had a load of babblers: White-chested, Ferruginous, Scaly-crowned, Rufous-crowned, Sooty-capped, Moustached, Chestnut-winged, and best of all was a pair of raucous Fluffy-backed Tit-babblers.

Fluffy-backed Tit-babbler

Fluffy-backed Tit-babbler

We birded right through the day, not stopping for lunch, ignoring the heat and humidity and kept on pulling in goodies. Two key birds were added to the list today, and I was very pleased to nail them as they are species everyone wants to see, especially if new to se Asia. First of all I found a male Banded Kingfisher perched high up over the trail, and he stayed for quite some time looking down at us with a real crazy, mad eye! Then a Rufous-collared Kingfisher gave us the run around, and we all independently saw it t some stage before it finally perched up, half-obscured for several minutes. Great views and a lifer for Sophy and Lee who both seemed rather pleased.

Banded Kingfisher

Rufous-collared Kingfisher

 We also had Little Spiderhunter, Green Iora, Black Hornbill, Rufous Piculet, Blue-crowned Hanging-parrot, Drongo Cuckoo, Crested Fireback and some others. All four previously seen broadbills were calling but we didn’t bother them and a Chestnut-naped Forktail was calling along a stream.

Crested Fireback

But after so many great and repeated views of all these good birds, I was thinking there’d be no lifers today, but as the trail got ever steeper on the way up the hill a couple huge birds flew into a large tree off to the left. Through a gap in the canopy we could see they were hornbills, but then a really long white tail with a black band dropped down which could only be one thing. Then the bird hopped up the branch revealing a red face and short casque: Helmetted Hornbill! Well, I wanted to do a jig right then and there but didn’t have the energy as I was totally knackered and obviously way too cool to do that. So a quick air punch had to suffice and that was it. We walked back to Kuala Tehan, got a boat across the river and celebrated with burgers and fries and lots of cold drinks. Our plan was to go owling later but that was quashed as it started to rain heavily just as a Reddish Scops-owl and Gould’s Frogmouth began calling.

Taman Negara - Day 5

So the day started disastrously for me as I stumbled to the fruiting tree along the River Trail and saw a fine pair of Rhinoceros Hornbills but got sick again and returned to the cabin. Managed to raise myself in the afternoon and returned to the tree but only heard Helmetted Hornbill and Rail Babbler. 

Rhinoceros Hornbills

But down at Lubik Simpon beach a male Blue-banded Kingfisher flew in and perched up showing his breast band, and suddenly I was feeling a lot better! When a couple Malayan Eared-Nightjars flew over I was practically ready to run a marathon – well almost. As it got dark we heard a weird call behind us and thought it may have been a Large Frogmouth of all things but it wasn’t responsive and we’ll never know for sure. 

Taman Negara Day 4 - Pure Jam!

Well the day started brilliantly back at the fruiting tree across the river, as the first bird I put my binoculars on was a male Jambu Fruit-dove!! I couldn’t get the words out quick enough when i saw it and there was probably some expletive mixed in with the bird’s name but I didn’t care, everyone got on it easily and it stayed feeding the whole time we were there. A female was also present but was nothing on the male! 

Jambu Fruit-dove

Jambu Fruit-dove

Jambu Fruit-dove

Today was also turning into a bulbul-fest as Finsch’s and Buff-vented were among the first of 12 we had today. But, alas, no partridges so we hailed a boat and went over to the Kuala Tehan side where we negotiated for a boat to take us upriver for about 45 minutes to a different trail. It was very pleasant sailing upriver, with clear blue skies and primary rainforest all around, Rhinoceros and Wreathed Hornbills flying over. 

Straw-headed Bulbul - record shot.

Another lifer appeared in the shape of a Straw-headed Bulbul perched on the riverbank and we followed it for a while, a really impressive bulbul for a change. Once we were dropped off we birded around the old buildings where some flowering trees were pulling in Olive-winged Bulbul, Sultan Tit, Violet Cuckoo, another pair of Finsch’s Bulbuls, Blue-winged Leafbird, Yellow-breasted Flowerpecker, and some others as well.

Chestnut-naped Forktail

Chestnut-naped Forktail

Chestnut-naped Forktail

One of the highlights of my trip then occurred, and a bird I’ve waited for years to see and been asked by a fair few people where they can get it……. On the small stream running along the edge of the forest was a Chestnut-naped Forktail. I couldn’t believe it and had shaky hands trying to hold the bins still but it was going nowhere, in fact after we’d all watched it for a while I braved the leeches and stole downstream slowly and hid behind a mossy boulder and waited for a bit. Sure enough the bird began working it’s way towards me, oblivious it seemed and kept on coming. I was all set up for a long (ish) range photo when it crossed a patch of sunlight midstream but it came so close and I was afraid to move my hands to change the iso setting. This was incredible for an allegedly skittish bird to allow me the privilege of being so close to one of my dream birds – and I fortunately got a couple of decent images out of about 300 taken! Shaky hands again didn’t help – but I didn’t realise at the time I was on the point of some bad virus that would lay me low for the next 24 hours. Anyway we worked the trail uphill a short distance but apart from calling Great Argus and Malayan Banded Pitta and some previously seen babblers it was quiet. So we returned to Kuala Tehan mid-afternoon and I took to bed whilst the others nailed Helmetted Hornbill – not jealous at all!