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West New Britain August 8–13, 2018

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WEST NEW BRITAIN AUGUST 8–13, 2018 New Britain Boobook (Dion Hobcroft) LEADER: DION HOBCROFT LIST COMPILED BY: DION HOBCROFT VICTOR EMANUEL NATURE TOURS, INC. 2525 WALLINGWOOD DRIVE, SUITE 1003 AUSTIN, TEXAS 78746 WWW.VENTBIRD.COM Our luck held for our third year to see the enigmatic Golden Masked Owl. (Dion Hobcroft) We had a very successful tour of West New Britain this year, seeing many of this New Guinean territory’s rarest and most elusive endemics. The fantastic staff at the Walindi Dive Resort made our stay very comfortable and relaxing, a perfect way to finish our birding in Papua New Guinea. Our arrival was perfect and, after settling in, we just birded the gardens of the resort, easing into our first endemics: Red-knobbed Imperial-Pigeon, New Britain Friarbird, Bismarck Crow, and lovely extended views of the Red-banded Flowerpecker. Noisy Eclectus Parrots, wing-whooshing Blyth’s Hornbills, and chattering flocks of Metallic Starlings added to the ambience, as did both Black and Olive-backed sunbirds. A few cold beverages while looking over the ocean of the Victor Emanuel Nature Tours 2 West New Britain, 2018 Gazelle Strait and well-fed, we were off to bed, ready for the first of several morning starts. A Spotted Whistling-Duck was a lucky sighting for us. (Dion Hobcroft) The first key birding destination we visited was the Garu Wildlife Management Area. New birds came thick and fast all morning ranging from Knob-billed Fruit- Dove, Pied Coucal, Blue-eyed Cockatoo, Melanesian Kingfisher, Purple-bellied Lory, and Ashy Myzomela. Two elusive birds we recorded were a perched Finsch’s Imperial-Pigeon and a frustrating Eastern Bronze Ground-Dove that called and called but gave only a few glimpses. In the forest interior we picked up the Melanesian Scrubfowl attracted to the volcanically heated soil that provides the perfect medium for them to bury their eggs in the soil. A pair of Black-bellied Myzomelas was attracted to a flowering tree. With the day now heating up, we retired to the resort for lunch and a siesta. Victor Emanuel Nature Tours 3 West New Britain, 2018 The afternoon proved a winner, first with excellent scope views of the scarce and inconspicuous White-mantled Kingfisher. Next, we had superb studies of three perched Nicobar Pigeons with their bizarre lanceolate hackles drooping over their wings. Black-headed Paradise-Kingfisher proved surprisingly straightforward, not the usual mongrel battle to see this often elusive bird that is so good at hiding in the vine thickets. It is strikingly beautiful. We had one last hurrah when Terence spotted a Spotted Whistling-Duck perched in an oil palm beside the forest. This crepuscular duck is quite difficult to see now in many sites where it was once a given. This capped off an excellent first full day. Easy to hear but problematic to see: the Violaceous Coucal. (Dion Hobcroft) This day was our boat trip to the small coral islands of Malo Malo and Restoff. A suite of birds—the so-called “Supertramps”—specialize in niches available on these atolls and shun the larger islands. The weather was good, and the birds were well- behaved too. With the pressure off on the Nicobar Pigeon, we went straight to work on the Mangrove Golden Whistler after enjoying our first Sclater’s Myzomelas and numerous Island Imperial-Pigeons. The whistler showed well, so we moved Victor Emanuel Nature Tours 4 West New Britain, 2018 along to try for Beach Kingfisher, which now seems more difficult as the years have gone by. Luckily, we struck one of these beauties almost immediately: turquoise- blue and starkly white, the plumage matching the stunning water color here. Mackinlay’s Cuckoo-dove proved very sneaky and shy—the situation not helped by local folks fishing and hunting on the best island. Island Monarch now seems to have dropped to a very low population and was missing in action, probably the result of much forest regeneration now favoring Shining Flycatcher which has now moved in. Snorkeling revealed many fish including Orange-striped, Pink-tailed, and Picasso triggerfish; Moorish Idol; Foxface Rabbitfish; Orange-striped Surgeon Fish; Black Anemone Fish; Imperial Angelfish; and Lattice Butterfly Fish to mention a few. Some big flocks of Black Noddies were working the baitfish pushed up by the tuna providing piratic opportunities for Lesser Frigatebirds. A lovely Black-naped Tern came right to us, and there were numerous Siberian Common Terns and a few Greater Crested Terns. A Green Turtle was seen briefly. With all that could be expected, we headed in early—a longer pelagic being abandoned after another group the day before mentioned nil rewards for much effort and heavy seas! Good views of Nicobar Pigeon were had at Kulu River. (Benny Baeten) Victor Emanuel Nature Tours 5 West New Britain, 2018 After another siesta we spent our most profitable time at the Numundo Beef Ranch seeing good flocks of the dapper endemic Buff-bellied Munia. We spotted a few King Quail scooting across the road in the late afternoon while the Buff-banded Rails lingered, in fact, loitered about. Papuan Grassbird display flighted above the tall grass paddocks, while Australian Reed-Warblers chortled away and showed here and there. One of our biggest tour highlights was to come in the evening when we had almost instant success (thanks to Terence) with the Golden Masked-Owl. Until a few years ago this was one of the most poorly known and enigmatic birds in Melanesia; now with the formula having been figured out, we have a reasonably good chance of seeing this most beautiful golden barn owl. With great views early, we were off to bed. A New Britain Boobook that showed so well in the end! (Dion Hobcroft) Victor Emanuel Nature Tours 6 West New Britain, 2018 Several folks opted to rest this morning, so some of us decided to do a bit of scouting up a forest trail in primary forest that ascends to the Gabuna Volcano. It proved to be a thoroughly good move, as we soon had a perched male Song Parrot on the forest edge. Several Channel-billed Cuckoos were milling about, calling with squawks more abbreviated than the mainland Australian population. Once into the forest proper, we gradually ascended to an altitude of 450 meters. We found a mixed flock that provided the elusive Black-tailed Monarch, Velvet Flycatcher, Northern Fantail, and Melanesian Cicadabird. We located a stupendous Violaceous Coucal and, right where we decided to turn around, picked up a White-bibbed Fruit- Dove (recently split from Mountain and Moluccan), a species I have not encountered on this tour. We returned to the lodge by 11:30 am and had a delicious lunch and a siesta. An entertaining afternoon unfolded, one that took an unexpected twist. The hitherto staked out New Britain Boobook (a beautifully patterned small hawk-owl) had fled the scene where it should have been. Joel, David, and Joel’s brother-in-law rallied to the challenge and spent about an hour scouring the hillside of dense bamboo and palms when they relocated the owl. It gave amazing views. Yes! Thank you gentlemen. A final morning, and it proved to be one of the most interesting of the tour. A patient wait overlooking the Kulu River hoping for a sighting of the flightless Victor Emanuel Nature Tours 7 West New Britain, 2018 The flightless Pink-legged Rail is a rarely seen endemic to New Britain. (Benny Baeten) Pink-legged Rail would be our plan. An incoming dark cuckoo-shrike was thought to be the typical Melanesian Cicadabird. However, when I followed it into a giant tree and it sat upon a nest, it turned out to be a Barred Cuckoo-shrike, a species I had never previously seen on this itinerary and, in fact, new for both the local guides Joseph and David, who have been in the district for years. While taking this in, my eyes nearly popped when Joseph spotted a Little Kingfisher perched on a log by the river, new for both my New Britain list and my Melanesian list. Both the cuckoo-shrike and kingfisher gave good views and photographic chances. Rarely does it happen like this. When the Pink-legged Rail showed up, it was too good, and it gave superb scope looks as it slowly milled along the riverbank. White-rumped Swiftlet, a Tree Martin, and some very cooperative White-browed Crakes finished our trip. After a shower, lunch, and a transfer, we flew on time to Port Moresby. Victor Emanuel Nature Tours 8 West New Britain, 2018 With a morning free until 11 am some of us went out to the coastal village of Lea Lea where we could see a few new birds. The new birds we encountered were Radjah Shelduck, Australian Gull-billed Tern, the endemic Silver-eared Honeyeater, and Varied Honeyeater. A large camp of Spectacled Flying-foxes attracted our attention. Our flight to Australia all went to plan, and this wrapped up our successful and comfortable tour of remote Papua New Guinea. BIRDS Spotted Whistling-Duck (Dendrocygna guttata) Radjah Shelduck (Tadorna radjah) Port Moresby Pacific Black Duck (Anas superciliosa) Grey Teal (Anas gibberifrons) Port Moresby Melanesian Scrubfowl (Megapodius eremita) King (Blue-breasted) Quail (Coturnix chinensis) Lesser Frigatebird (Fregata ariel) Black Bittern (Ixobrychus flavicollis) Great Egret (Ardea alba) Intermediate Egret (Ardea intermedia) Port Moresby Victor Emanuel Nature Tours 9 West New Britain, 2018 Pacific Reef-Heron (Egretta sacra) Eastern Cattle Egret (Bubulcus ibis coromandus) Port Moresby Rufous Night-Heron (Nycticorax caledonicus) Osprey (Pandion haliaetus) Variable Goshawk (Accipiter hiogaster) Brahminy Kite (Haliastur indus) White-bellied Sea-Eagle
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