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The Lesser Sundas

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‘Roti’ Boobook (Craig Robson) THE LESSER SUNDAS 10-28 AUGUST 2016 Bali & East Java Extension until 2 September LEADER: CRAIG ROBSON With our first visit to Rote (or Roti) Island off west Timor, and the additional of an optional extension to Bali and east Java, our eleventh tour to this region must go down as the most successful to date. Highlights amongst our huge total of 356 species included: Grey-breasted Partridge, Green Peafowl, Flores and Javan Hawk-Eagles, Sumba Buttonquail, Ruddy, Timor and Black Cuckoo-Doves, Red-naped and Pink-headed Fruit Doves, Flores Green Pigeon, Timor and Pink-headed Imperial Pigeons, ‘Roti’ Boobook, Flores and Wallace's Scops Owls, Javan Owlet, Yellow-eared Barbet, ‘Red-crested’ Woodpecker, Javan Flameback, Yellow- and ‘Citron’-crested Cockatoos, Wallace’s Hanging Parrot, Jonquil (or Olive-shouldered) Parrot, Iris Lorikeet, Javan Banded and Elegant Pittas, Flores Monarch, Bare-throated Whistler, Javan Bush Warbler, White-bibbed Babbler, Large Wren-Babbler, Black-winged Starling, Bali Myna, Chestnut-capped, Chestnut- backed, and Orange-sided Thrushes, Black-banded Flycatcher, Tricolored Parrotfinch, and Timor Sparrow. A Leopard Cat, right in front of our vehicle at Baluran National Park, was probably the star mammal. ! ! 1 BirdQuest Tour Report: The Lesser Sundas 2016 www.birdquest-tours.com We all assembled at the Airport in Denpasar, Bali and checked-in for our relatively short flight to Waingapu, the main town on the island of Sumba. On arrival we were whisked away to our newly built hotel, and arrived just in time for lunch. By the early afternoon we were already beginning our explorations with a visit to the coastline north-west of town in the Londa Liru Beach area. The main purpose of going to this site was two- fold. Most important was the small population of tailorbirds that Birdquest discovered here in 2013, inhabiting coastal trees and scrub. They are similar to Olive-backed but the voice, at least, appears slightly different. Olive-backed is the only Orthotomus tailorbird occurring east of Wallace’s Line, reaching distant Lombok only. Could this be an undescribed form, or is this population derived from released Olive-backed’s of captive origin? Before finally tracking down some tailorbirds, we enjoyed a rather tame pair of Malaysian Plovers along the shoreline. ! Malaysian Plover near Waingapu (Craig Robson) From here we continued to Yumbu grasslands. Forming a well-organized line, it wasn’t too long before a Sumba Buttonquail was flushed, and we had multiple good flight views. Several of us were also lucky enough to see it on the ground too. There was not much else to hold our attention here, apart from Horsfield’s Bush Lark, so we headed back to base for an early night. Early the following morning we visited a number of wetlands in the Menggitimbe area. A nice range of species as usual, included Wandering Whistling and Pacific Black Ducks, Australian Swamphen, Buff-banded Rail (including a pair with a chick), White-headed Stilt, Lots of Javan Plovers, Sacred Kingfisher, Indonesia Honeyeater, White-shouldered Triller, Australian Reed Warbler, Ashy-bellied White-eye, Apricot-breasted Sunbird, and large numbers of Zebra Finches and Pale-headed Munias. We returned to the hotel relatively early, packed-up, and drove the fairly short distance to our homestay in Lewa. After a great lunch and welcome break (the first of many here!) we went west to Langgaliru National Park and got into our first endemic-filled session! A rapid succession of goodies included Sumba Green Pigeon, Black-naped Fruit Dove, three perched Sumba Hornbills, great looks at Sumba Myzomela, Rusty-breasted Whistler (a split from the former Golden), Arafura Fantail, Spectacled Monarch, Yellow-ringed (or -spectacled) White-eye, Sumba Jungle Flycatcher (split from Russet- backed), a couple of very sneaky Sumba Flycatchers, and Sumba Flowerpecker (split from Blood-breasted). ! ! 2 BirdQuest Tour Report: The Lesser Sundas 2016 www.birdquest-tours.com At dusk the Sumba form of Eastern Barn Owl and Elegant Pittas called loudly, before Sumba Boobook was tempted into full view at the top of a dead tree. Moving to another spot, Little Sumba Hawk-Owl (or Boobook) proved more elusive, but gave us a number of good views overhead. A great start! Over the next two days we successfully tracked-down all of the islands endemic bird species. At an excellent vantage point with beautiful early morning views at Langgaliru, we found two Citron-crested Cockatoos (a split from Yellow- crested), as well as our first lovely Red-naped Fruit Doves, Cinnamon-banded Kingfisher (always a crowd- pleaser), more Sumba Hornbills, a nice female Eclectus Parrot, and Broad-billed Flycatcher. ! Sumba Myzomela (Craig Robson) Further birding at Langgaliru yielded Brown Goshawk, good looks at a perched group of Marigold Lorikeets, the Sumba race of Elegant Pittas, Lesser Wallacean Drongo (split from Wallacean). A forest patch to the east of town was also quite birdy, and here we had very good views of several excellent Spotted Harriers, Sunda Nightjar, Pale-shouldered Cicadabird, and both Sumba and Sumba Brown Flycatchers. We returned for another comfortable night in Waingapu, before our morning flight to Kupang in west Timor. Arriving at Kupang relatively early, we decided to visit a coastal area not far from town before lunch. This was a good call by our local guide Martinus, as this proved to be an excellent location. Mixed flocks of terns included both species of Gull-billed (the commoner Australian Gull-billed now split by a number of authorities), as well as Whiskered, White-winged and Little (the latter also breeding at the site). A mix of roosting shorebirds also held a few gems, with Far Eastern Curlew, Great Knot and Terek Sandpiper. In the afternoon we introduced ourselves to the endemic Timor avifauna with a visit to the Pan Muti-Bipolo area on the other side of Kupang Bay. Three Brown Quail showed ridiculously well and we also found Black- faced Woodshrike, Fawn-breasted Whistler, Northern and Arafura Fantails, Tree Martin, Red Avadavat, Five- ! ! 3 BirdQuest Tour Report: The Lesser Sundas 2016 www.birdquest-tours.com coloured Munia and, best of all, around 20 Timor Sparrows. As night fell, we had some nice looks at Streaked Boobook (a long acknowledged split from Southern) calling from some dead trees. ‘Roti’ Leaf Warbler (Craig Robson) The following morning we embarked on our side-trip to the neighbouring island of Rote (or Roti), just a short ferry ride away but a new location for Birdquest. With one night at a small hotel, we had the rest of the day and a morning to explore the north-eastern part of the island. Our main targets on the island were four potential splits: Roti Boobook (from Southern), Roti Myzomela (from an undescribed form resembling Sumba), Roti Fantail (from Northern), and Roti Leaf Warbler (from another undescribed form resembling Timor). With the help of a knowledgeable local guide we succeeded in getting great views of all of them. Additionally, the forest patches and wetlands yielded Sunda Teal, Oriental Darter, Royal Spoonbill, Australian Pelican, Red-backed Buttonquail, Red-capped Plover, Black Cuckoo-Dove (or Timor Black Pigeon), Jonquil Parrot, Olive-brown (or Timor) Oriole, Greater Wallacean Drongo (split from Wallacean), Orange-sided Thrush, White-bellied Bush Chat, and Black-faced Munia. Back on Timor, we spent our first early morning slot at Camplong, where we had several important target birds to track down. Fortunately things went very well. A flowering tree attracted Black-breasted Myzomela, Flame- (or Yellow-) eared and Streak-breasted Honeyeaters and Blue-cheeked (or Red-chested) Flowerpecker, while skulkers like Timor Stubtail, Buff-banded Thicketbird, Black-banded Flycatcher, and Spot-breasted Heleia (or Dark-eye) all put in an appearance. We also enjoyed Plain Gerygone and Sunda Bush Warbler. Moving to the well-known lowland forest patch at Bipolo for the rest of the morning, we added Rose-crowned Fruit Dove, Timor Friarbird, Wallacean Cuckooshrike, and another Orange-sided Thrush. We spent the afternoon and following morning at a nice site that we know just north of here. We had good scope views of the scarce Pink-headed Imperial Pigeon, several Pacific Emerald Doves (or Green-winged ! ! 4 BirdQuest Tour Report: The Lesser Sundas 2016 www.birdquest-tours.com Pigeons), the lovely Banded (or Black-backed) Fruit Dove, more Jonquil Parrots, Green (or Timor) Figbird, Timor Stubtails, Buff-banded Thicketbirds, a pair of Timor Blue Flycatchers, and lots of quite showy Tricolored Parrotfinches. We moved on inland and uphill to Soe and in the afternoon, paid our first visit to Oelnasi, an area of monsoon forest 15km back towards Kupang. Things were a bit quieter than expected, apart from our first Timor Leaf Warblers, but before and after nightfall we had more success, with superb views of Timor Nightjar (to be split from Large-tailed) and a cracking Eastern Barn Owl. Timor Imperial Pigeon at Gunung Mutis (Craig Robson) For our visit to West Timor’s highest mountain, Gunung Mutis, we had to leave very early in our four-wheel drive vehicles, in order to negotiate the very bad road. Soon after arrival at the trail-head, around some rocky outcrops, we lured-in a very entertaining little Timor Wren-babbler (or Cupwing) - a likely future split from Pygmy. Some authorities still insist on calling these birds wren-babblers, even though it has been clearly demonstrated that they are totally unrelated. Weather conditions were clear, sunny and hot for the third year running, so we made rapid progress along the summit trail through impressive Eucalyptus forests. Numerous Island Thrushes, and regular groups of Mountain White-eyes were encountered along the way and a number of hyper-active Iris Lorikeets zapped through the tree-tops and gave us the run-around.
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  • Malaysia & Borneo Trip Report

    Malaysia & Borneo Trip Report

    Malaysia & Borneo Trip Report Rainforest Birds & Mammals th th 8 to 26 June 2015 The scarce and beautiful Jambu Fruit Dove, Taman Nagara by Rosemary Loyd RBT Trip Report Malaysia & Borneo 2015 2 The rare Whitehead’s Trogon, Mt Kinabalu and a male Crested Fireback, Taman Nagara, both by Butch Carter Top Ten Birds as voted by the participants: 1) Whitehead’s Broadbill 2) Whitehead’s Trogon 3) Jambu Fruit Dove 4) Bornean Green Magpie 5) Long-tailed Broadbill 6) Buffy Fish Owl 7) Oriental Dwarf Kingfisher/Hooded Pitta 8) Temminck’s Sunbird 9) Rhinoceros Hornbill 10) Crested Fireback Mammals: 1) Malaysian Tapir 2) Orangutan 3) Proboscis Monkey 4) Small-clawed Otter RBT Trip Report Malaysia & Borneo 2015 3 Tour Leaders: Dennis Yong and Erik Forsyth Tour report compiled by Tour Leader: Erik Forsyth Temminck’s Sunbird by John Clark Tour Summary On this year’s tour we recorded the rare and highly prized Whitehead’s Trogon, Whitehead’s Broadbill (after a long search on Mount Kinabalu) and Garnet, Blue-headed, Black-crowned and Hooded Pittas. Other mouthwatering species seen were Rhinoceros, Wreathed, Wrinkled and Black Hornbills, White- fronted and Black-thighed Falconets, Black-and-red, Black-and-yellow, Long-tailed, Dusky, Green and Banded Broadbills, the stunning Oriental Dwarf, Blue-eared, Blue-banded and Stork-billed Kingfishers, Red-headed, Diard’s, Red-naped and Scarlet-rumped Trogons, Great-billed Heron, Painted and Storm’s Storks, Lesser Adjutant, Wallace’s, Rufous-bellied and Blyth’s Hawk-Eagles, Crested Fireback, Buffy Fish and Brown Wood Owls, the highly sought-after Bornean Bristlehead and Blue Nuthatch, the endangered Straw-headed Bulbul, a whopping eight sightings of Orangutan and several troops of Proboscis Monkey, Malaysian Tapir and Western Tarsier.