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Gentle New Guinea 2019 Trip Report

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SICKLEBILL SAFARIS Email: [email protected] Website: www.sicklebillsafaris.com www.s2travel.com.au www.birder.travel Phone: 04 13 66 12 13 (Int. +61 413 661 213) Gentle New Guinea 4th – 17th September 2019 Guides: Phil Gregory & Scott Baker (Trainee) This was a Gentle New Guinea outing, designed to hopefully not be too strenuous, and to maximize photo opportunities in what is a challenging place for photographers. We were blessed with pretty good weather, but got impacted by fog on two afternoons, at both Murmur Pass and then at Rondon. Flight logistics were good except Air Niugini lived up to their reputation Air Agony nametag and cancelled our afternoon flight to Hoskins just as we were expecting to board, costing us a morning on New Britain, but at least they departed only slightly late on the day we all had international connections! Kiunga, Kumul, Rondon Ridge and Walindi were great destinations with some terrific birds as always, and our hotel in Port Moresby is a very pleasant haven. Sadly this year tribal unrest meant Ambua was not open, but should be restored for 2020 and we included Walindi in the main tour instead. We had a morning up at Varirata and a rewarding afternoon at the PAU. Varirata was great for kingfishers with Yellow-billed, Rufous-bellied Kookaburra, Blue-winged Kookaburra and Brown-headed Paradise Kingfisher, and several sightings of Raggianas though the lek was quiet today. All of us saw both Glossy-mantled (our first of the bird of paradise family) and Crinkle-collared manucodes, and some got brief looks at Growling Riflebird, which was calling close by. The old faithful Barred Owlet-nightjar showed well at the roost site, and fruiting trees by the car park picnic site gave us Orange-bellied, Pink- spotted, and Beautiful Fruit Doves, Red-cheeked Parrot, Hooded Pitohui, Boyer’s Cuckooshrike and a lovely Dwarf Koel. The PAU gave us Plumed and Wandering Whistling- Duck, Papuan Frogmouth, Black-backed Butcherbird and Fawn-breasted Bowerbird with a nice bower, plus very viewable Grey-headed Mannikin, and is always a nice easy intro. Next day saw us over to Kiunga, and an excellent late afternoon trip up to Km 17 for the Greater Bird of Paradise lek, which had just a couple of males calling but not displaying, plus a lovely bonus of a terrific male King Bird of Paradise en route. The river trip was very nice, and we had some great looks at Twelve-wired Bird of Paradise, Palm Cockatoo, and Sclater’s (Southern) Crowned Pigeon, Common Paradise-Kingfisher and Yellow-legged Brushturkey. The next morning watch at the mound at Km 14 gave us a total of 50 species, with some 4 Flame Bowerbirds (though the male was a brief flyby), Greater Bird of Paradise, Palm Cockatoo and Little Bronze-Cuckoo. Over then to Mt Hagen and Kumul Lodge, which gave us some fine sightings, with up to 6 (each differently plumaged!) Ribbon-tailed Astrapia coming at various times to the feeder, including 3 striking adult males with varying length tails; there were also several female- plumaged Brown Sicklebills, some lovely Brehm’s Tiger-Parrots, a few Belford’s Melidectes and great looks at Rufous-naped Bellbird, Island Thrush, White-winged Robin and Regent Whistler along with a fabulous male Crested Satinbird seen by some of us by the feeder and by all near the chalets. The trip to the lek at Kama paid off with a single adult male Lesser Bird of Paradise and Yellow-breasted Bowerbird, whilst Torrent Flyrobin and Marbled Honeyeater showed nicely at the Sepik headwaters. That afternoon we visited Murmur Pass, hearing male King of Saxony in the fog and getting terrific views of Black-capped (Ashy) Robin there, plus the rarely seen Bronze Ground- Dove, as well as a misty view of Loria’s Satinbird and Garnet Robin there on a brief visit. We returned next day en route to Rondon, seeing the male King of Saxony briefly, ditto a Princess Stephanie’s Astrapia. We also earlier made an extra trip down to Tonga (Tomba) where a wonderful male Blue Bird of Paradise was sitting up beautifully in the early morning light, though with very little calling. Next came the much more luxurious Rondon Ridge near Mt Hagen, with lovely big rooms, and the 40 plus 30 steps to climb up to the dining area keeping us fit! Thankfully they now have a good system of trails in the forest here and we found it a rewarding place, albeit still hard to see things well. One afternoon was very foggy but we still saw Princess Stephanie’s Astrapia, Superb Lophorina and a female Blue Bird of Paradise. Everyone made the pre-dawn trek next morning up to the ridge top, a great effort by Cynthia that paid off nicely for her with star birds being King of Saxony BoP, Princess Stephanie’s Astrapia, hearing the amazing rattling call of Brown Sicklebill, and then for most a sighting of a male Black Sicklebill, plus the extraordinary MacGregor’s Bowerbird bowers, Red-collared Myzomela and heard a Wattled Ploughbill calling persistently but only showing for one person. Thanks to Sue and Rowan at Sicklebill Safaris for good logistics, and to our esteemed local guides Leonard at Port Moresby, Samuel, Glen and Roy at Kiunga, Max Mal (orchid Max) at Kumul, and Joseph Ando at Rondon. My particular thanks to the group for good company and the chance to do the trip and get some great sightings, various recordings and a few nice photos. I do hope you were able to get some good photos, New Guinea is not an easy place for bird photography but some things do come good. We saw some 16 species of Bird of Paradise and heard 2 more, with many of them photographed too and some nice displays seen. The very multicultural group comprised John with his amazingly heavy Eifel Tower-like tripod, Barbara with her excellent spotting (despite denial of being a birder), Sharon and Barry (Shazza and Bazza in local parlance) ever optimistic and up for everything, Anu in at the deep end on her first bird tour, and with an interest extending beyond birds into culture (I hope the Goroka show was enjoyable?) and 85 year old Cynthia who kept up remarkably well and eagerly participated in almost everything (one great thing about PNG is the respect for elders and the awe which they occasion). Thanks to my trainee leader Scott for his assistance and his infectious enthusiasm, extraordinary fast eating habits and bright yellow gumboots, also for not snoring! The episode with the electric kettle on the hot plate at Rondon is also worth noting, that’s what happens with too many 0500 mornings. The Land of the Unexpected treated us well overall with pretty good weather, albeit with one flight glitch in Port Moresby causing a certain amount of angst. Tenk yu tru. Itinerary • Sept 4 Port Moresby arrival. Overnight Raintree Lodge. • Sept 5 Varirata NP morning, then PAU trip afternoon. Fine conditions. Overnight Raintree Lodge. • Sept 6 POM-Kiunga via Tabubil, then Km17 lek pm. Overcast. Overnight Kiunga GH. • Sept 7 Fly River and Elevala, visiting Watame Lodge. Mainly overcast. Overnight Kiunga GH • Sept 8 Boystown Road Km 14 am, then new trail at Drimgas pm. Nicely overcast. Overnight Kiunga GH. • Sept 9 Kiunga to Mt Hagen on PNG Air, then Kumul Lodge 2600 m. Max’s Orchid garden area pm. • Sept 10 Kumul Lodge /Kama lek/Lai-Mambis, overcast later. Pm to Murmur Pass with fog encroaching later. Overnight Kumul Lodge • Sept 11 Kumul to Rondon Ridge via Murmur Pass 0800-0900. Fine conditions am but foggy pm around Rondon. Overnight Rondon Ridge • Sept 12 Rondon Ridge track to 2300 m. Rondon grounds pm and for owling later. Overnight Rondon Ridge • Sept 13 Depart Rondon 0730, then Mt Hagen and Air Niugini to Port Moresby and flight to Hoskins cancelled. Overnight at Lamana Hotel, Port Moresby. • Sept 14 0330 departure for airport and 0600 departure for Hoskins, arriving at Walindi 0830. Brief foray to Garu in hot sunny conditions, pm to Kulu River. • Sept 15 Boat trip out to Restorf and Big Malo Malo islands with snorkelling. Depart 050 and return 1130; pm to Numundo in light rain, then an outing to the oil palm plantations after dark 2000-2230 for Golden Masked Owl which proved unsuccessful. • Sept 16 0530 depart for Garu, return 1130. pm Lodge grounds then short Golden Masked Owl foray which proved successful • Sept 17 Depart Walindi 0430 for Hoskins airport 0530 and 0700 departure for Port Moresby and onward connections via Australia. BIRD LIST * Heard only I Introduced Bold type denotes endemic to New Guinea [Denotes seen or heard by leader(s) only] Alternate names given in brackets XC posted on Xenocanto IBC posted on Internet Bird Collection The family sequence follows the chronological order of the Tree of Life (2015) project Anatidae (Ducks, Geese, and Waterfowl) WANDERING WHISTLING-DUCK (Dendrocygna arcuata) Nice looks at 6 at the PAU. PLUMED WHISTLING-DUCK (Dendrocygna eytoni) 9 at the PAU, formerly a vagrant to PNG but the status seems to have changed recently. RADJAH SHELDUCK (Tadorna radjah) One seen at the PAU and c.15 on rice fields nearby, a good find as it is uncommon here. GREY TEAL (Anas gibberifrons) A couple seen at the PAU. PACIFIC BLACK DUCK (Anas superciliosa) 40 at the PAU. Megapodiidae (Megapodes) ORANGE-FOOTED SCRUBFOWL (Megapodius reinwardt) One presumably this species flushed along the trail at Km 17 was a surprise; I rarely see this bird around Kiunga.
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