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Pursuit of the Endless Birdwave Sulawesi and Central Molukas 2020 [January Through February 2020]

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Pursuit of the Endless Birdwave Sulawesi and Central Molukas 2020 [January Through February 2020] Pursuit of the Endless Birdwave Sulawesi and Central Molukas 2020 [January through February 2020] This is a compressed account of my primarily single-person roundtrip, a long overdue return to the region. I thought it best to avoid emulating that abundance of autoscroller-tripreports out there – those which don’t indulge much in detail and the accessibility of the reader, but tend to consist of bird-lists, the occasional atmospheric anecdote and a select sprinkle of photos. Tired by these, I aim for a more extensive how-to-conduct-a-trip in the region, that doesn’t solely rely on target-birds and twitchin’. Straying off the beaten path earns its own merit whether one treks, travels or is there for the ornithology. To me it seems that it’s the location-finding-aspect that is key to timely navigate this archipelago’s vast and biodiverse opportunities. There’s this tendency for birding destinations to be jammed in tightly between on the one hand inaccessible wilderness and on the other severely human-impacted ecospheres. This calls for less of specifics on exact bird taxa, and wanting more of notes on how-you- get-there, plus a socio-cultural contextualisation that could ease the logistics of it all, and give inspiration to planning it. Makassar 2020 1) Peleng……………………..page 4 2) Xulla islands…………....page 5 3) Bouru island…………....page 7 4) Amboin…………………...page 9 5) Ceram………………….….page 10 6) Sulawesi………………….page 12 7) Birdlists…………………..page 17 8) Recommended literature 21 9) Qamus…………………....page 21 Preliminary notes In preparation to leave for this wonderful archipelagic region I had planned to spend the weeks in Central Sulawesi. With only a few errands to do there, I’d have a fair amount of time for the wilderness, birdbanding or birdwatching, and possibly heading east if the opportunity should arise. And so it happened that in the final period before my return, I became intrigued by the idea of undertaking a full elliptical trip through the Central Molukas and back to Sulawesi – as shown on front page map. I spent part of my youth in Malaysia & Indonesia, and in truth these periods set in motion my commitment to ornithology. Birdwatching and trekking gets a lot easier with a flexible time schedule, and with guidance, awareness to detail and access to information. I.e. having some command of Indonesian, the regional lingua franca, is a great and totally achievable skill while peregrinating the archipelago – it’s straight forward and a little goes a long way. Cannot stress this enough. Traversing Central Sulawesi on foot, and the Banda and Molukan Sea in freight and passenger vessels, would prove manageable but the perpetual need for playing it by the ear would in turn limit me lots. This triprapport will chronicle treks, birdlife and practical recommendations for each major island, with a little extra effort spent on mapping routes, schedules and possibilities for transit between the isles - as it were in primo 2020. Less-so as something directly emulatable and more-so as a reference point for future endeavors and imagination. Settling for paths less trodden, and relying on sleeping rough, with gear carried on ones back, is one main reason for the lack of crepuscular birdspecies in my sightings, incl. not a single pitta, few rails, owls. Very rarely and mostly unsuccessfully, did I use playback. I relied almost solely on binoculars, and the indispensable assistance and taxonomic vision of Birds of the Indonesian Archipelago1(BIA). From an ornithological perspective, my observations don’t present much out of the ordinary, besides low- elevation sightings of Small Sparrowhawk and Ceram Mountain Pigeon, a puzzling Meyer’s Goshawk and a Hen Harrier on Sulawesi. The thrill of spontaneity, unexpected birdwaves and encounters with the peoples and wildlife – will make any trip to Sulawesi and Central Molukas fruitful, regardless of how well it translates in writing and however one decides to go about it. This winter saw a continuation of half years worth of droughts in Sulawesi and the Molukas. In turn 2020 would not fair much better2, the dryspell endured in the Indonesian archipelago - while Java and elsewhere enduring severe floods. With the 2020 dry season arriving early in many parts, and SE-Asia + the entire region similarly affected, the scope of it remains unknown. Conditions of the forests (lots of leaf fall, and mosquito-less), the rivers (dried-up), wetlands (eroded) and agriculture (zero output) where evident as I circled the Molukas. I guess these conditions are imperative to take into account when applying the specific routes, treks, sights and sounds that follow here, to your own pending pursuits. For any inquiries please refer to the final notes of the triprapport. 1 Birds of the Indonesian Archipelago – Greater Sundas and Wallacea. Eaton, van Balen, Brickle, Rheindt. Lynx 1st Edition 2016 2 http://en.antaranews.com/news/149350/indonesia-braces-for-extreme-dry-season-amid-covid-19?utm_medium=mobile Mini checklist for trekking - Pre-planning ◊ Access ◊ Weather ◊ Go alone? Notify someone, communicate timeframe. Plan B - Planning ◊ Elevation (is a priority over direction) ◊ GPS (secondary means of nav) ◊ Gear: Base pack, compas, tent, knife, string, first aid, topographic map, phone (ability to make notes/bookmarks). Offline maps a la MAPS.me is a minimum-requirement. (Although scale and detail have improved drastically from the past, certain places in Indonesia are white spots on the map. Open Street Maps in general struggles at naming coastal villages, look here instead upstream/hulu for the likely local name) - Strats ◊ Reading tracks: Intention, humanmade, age ◊ C.O.L.D: (stay warm: Clean, avoid Overheating, Layers, Dry) ◊ Ask locally: Think: misinfo, disinfo, misunderstandings Explanation of terms Lowland: 0 – 1000 m Submontane: 1000 – 1500 m Montane: 1500 + Birdwave: Mixed flock of birds, congregating in casual nieche-specific constellations – gaining safety in numbers, in addition to presumed unintentional foraging synchronization. Deciduous: Forest type where trees shed leaves seasonally or at stage in their life cycles. Dipterocarps: Mostly lowland, and submontane massive trees. Large canopies. Logged for their hardwood. Diverse biospshere, species-rich. Kopra: Dried cocunut kernel. Important agricultural product in Indonesia, coastline plantations. Primary forest: Untouched forest, or at least undesturbed. PELNI: Passenger ships of the Indonesian Flag Carrier. QIO: Quay-side Inquiries Only. Unlike say for PELNI, which has schedules and a website, smaller routes are only known when asked for directly at the harbor quay. Secondary forest: Previous felled forest, that is regrowing - or still is subject to human activity / harvesting. 1) Peleng – [into the shallow sea] Peleng, the larger island in the Banggai archipelago, is the first step towards the Central Molukas. In brief, the floral and faunic diversities of Sulawesi and the Molukas is predisposed by a combination of shallow seas and their cut off, situated between the Sunda and Sahul shelves; demarcated by the Wallace, Weber and Lydekker Lines. As described in more depth in BIA, the fluctuating sea-levels have exposed and submerged the landmasses, over time creating some brilliant birdwatching to be had. Peleng is easily accessible from Luwuk, Sulawesi. Obviously birdtrips head there for the Banggai Crow, which seems to be restricted to Kokolomboi forest, inland from the village Tataba [LOCATION]. Other triprapports can detail this better. I decided to explore elsewhere inland, as Peleng has a handful of endemics and a nice touch of Molukan fauna (+ an endemic Tarsier) albeit lying only 10 km off Sulawesi. The sea is littered with overwintering Red-necked Phalarope. Keep an eye out for Frigatebirds, Boobies and Terns when in the Banda and Molukan sea, as they might reveal pods of dolphines. I’m no marine biologist but it seems there’s a correlation between schools of flying-fish, tunas in their pursuit and subsequently pods of dolphins with Frigatebirds flocking overhead. South of Tataba lies Lompilompia, with a minimalist but recommendable accommodation in the harbor. From here I drove up into the hilly interior, as far in on paved road as Ahir Osan. Heavily degraded secondary forest and plantations all along coast and largely inland too. Worth while is exploration of coastal road all the way to Bulagi (75 km from Tataba / Lompilompia) on the opposite side of the island, and heading up inland → north-west right there. Would def. spend a couple days up there next time I return. GETTING IN / GETTING OUT Direct connect from Luwuk to Lompilompia, a slightly slower ferry than the Tataba one – they leave about same time from Luwuk midday, return mornings most days. QIO RECOMMENDATIONS Go local. As elsewhere outside of Sulawesi, information is difficult to come by. When needing to access info; the locals’ guesses are as good as any, and outside major cities the mantra here seems to be exclusively: QIO (Quay-side Inquiries Only). A most cumbersome option sure, and in the case that there’s no-one to guide you .. well, surrender to the circumstances or .. succumb to death by impatience. Trying to access interior of northern parts is not that much of a hassle. With a previous undiscovered crow there, who knows what lies in wait between the forested hilltop. 2) Xulla islands - [Taliabu, Mangole, Sulabes] (modeled on Filip Verbelen’s 1997 handdrawn map, from his tripreport to Taliabu, Mangole) There’s this sullen feel to Alfred Russel Wallace thoughts on the avifauna encountered during his two months spent on the islands3. Truth be told he sounds kinda spoiled, and at any rate he missed out on quite a few species. In fact there’s a number of endemic birds def. worth an effort, and undiscoveries upstream on the Xulla islands, merely home to 150.000 people or so. Interior is sparsely inhabited, and the coastal settlements fully reliant on maritime trade – disregarding Falabisahaya and Sanana landing strips.
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