Papua New Guinea Birding in Paradise IV 21st July to 6th August 2019 (18 days) Trip Report Flame Bowerbird by Jacques Erard Tour Leaders: Adam Walleyn and Gareth Robbins Trip report compiled by Tour Leader: Adam Walleyn Rockjumper Birding Tours www.rockjumperbirding.com Trip Report – RBL Papua New Guinea – Birding in Paradise IV 2019 2 Tour Summary Our group assembled in Port Moresby and set off on a lovely afternoon for an exploration of the Pacific Adventist University grounds, full of eager anticipation for the epic adventure ahead. A quick stop en route at some rice fields produced several Raja Shelducks and numerous Pied Herons amongst more widespread species. A few hours gentle walking on the grounds yielded all the hoped-for specialties: Black-backed Butcherbird, Fawn-breasted Bowerbird, Grey-headed Mannikin and a pair of massive yet perfectly camouflaged Papuan Frogmouths on their day roost in an enormous raintree. The various water bodies were full of birds including Comb-crested Jacana, Grey Teal, Plumed and Wandering Whistling Ducks, Australian White Ibis, Nankeen Night Heron, Intermediate Egret and many more. Several trees were dripping with fruiting figs Plumed Whistling Duck by Ma Yan Bryant and playing host to unusually large numbers of Orange-fronted and Orange -bellied Fruit Doves, Torresian Imperial Pigeon, Australasian Figbird, Brown Oriole, and Yellow-faced Myna. A very birdy introduction to this amazing country! One of our earliest starts of the tour saw us leaving Port Moresby and winding up the Sogeri Plateau, flushing a Large-tailed Nightjar off the road along the way. In the early morning light, we arrived at the Raggiana Bird-of-paradise lek and could already hear several males giving their raucous calls. We soon settled in and watched an amazing scene unfold, as up to a dozen males displayed furiously to several onlooking females. It took some time and a lot of effort but one or two of the females were eventually satisfied with a certain male, resulting in copulation for him! We watched mesmerized for half an hour, soaked it all in and then carried on our way to a forest clearing. Here, we were very busy with new species coming fast: a quick flypast of Gray-headed Goshawk, nice scope views of Amboyna Cuckoo Dove, Pink-spotted, Beautiful and Yellow-faced Myna by Jacques Erard Superb Fruit Dove, Zoe’s Imperial Pigeon, massive Blue-winged Kookaburras, colourful Papuan King Parrot, localized Elegant Honeyeater, nomadic Red Myzomela, and poisonous Hooded Pitohui. The piercing calls of a Papuan Scrub Robin emanated from just inside the forest, so we tried to call it in. The bird responded quite strongly and flew Rockjumper Birding Tours View more tours to Papua New Guinea Trip Report – RBL Papua New Guinea – Birding in Paradise IV 2019 3 up to land for a second in a low sapling just in front of us. For this notorious skulker, that counts as a good view! As the day started to warm up slightly, we headed into the cool and dark of the forest interior; a fine spotting by Gareth at the back of the line yielded us some wonderful scope views of a glowing Brown-headed Paradise Kingfisher. Continuing a beautiful forest trail for the remainder of the morning was very hard to make progress as mixed-species flocks kept us very busy. Though providing a challenge to get views of everything, most species behaved pretty well and over the course of the morning we saw some of the more sought-after flock birds like Growling Riflebird, Drongo Fantail, and Goldenface. Amongst many other species we recorded Fairy Gerygone, Black Berrypecker, Yellow-breasted Boatbill, Grey Whistler, newly-split Variable Shrikethrush, Chestnut-bellied Fantail, Spot-winged, and Frilled Monarch, scarce Olive Flyrobin, a Raggiana Bird-of-paradise by Jacques Erard White-faced Robin clinging to the side of a tree and even a female Magnificent Bird-of-paradise. Near the end of the trail, a spectacular flowering tree held our attention – viewing was not easy but many interesting species were in the tree including Black-capped Lory, Papuan Black, Red, and Ruby-throated Myzomela and Dwarf Longbill. Eventually, we pulled ourselves away for a late picnic lunch during which we saw our first Boyer’s and Barred Cuckooshrikes. Walking another forest trail, we soon came across a sleepy Barred Owlet-nightjar at a well-known day roost and scored excellent views of a pair of Rufous-bellied Kookaburra in the same area. As we walked downhill, the forest was extremely quiet until we spooked the enigmatic Forest Bittern from the streambed and up into the trees. The bird was furtive and moving around quite a bit but with some persistence and group cooperation, everyone eventually got a good look at one of New Guinea’s most difficult birds to see. A couple of hundred meters further along, amazingly, there was a second Forest Bittern, this one with a white head and very bright yellow lores, probably recently fledged from a nearby nest. Wow!! The day was not finished yet, though, as we Brown-headed Paradise Kingfisher by Jacques Erard emerged from the rainforest and headed for an area of eucalyptus forest. We eventually tracked down a very cooperative pair of White-bellied Whistler, a highly localized species. Other species recorded in this birdy habitat included Pacific Baza, Forest Rockjumper Birding Tours View more tours to Papua New Guinea Trip Report – RBL Papua New Guinea – Birding in Paradise IV 2019 4 Kingfisher, Rainbow Bee-eater, Sulphur-crested Cockatoo, Eclectus and Red-cheeked Parrot, Mountain Myzomela, White-throated Honeyeater, Black-backed and Hooded Butcherbird, Common Cicadabird, Varied Triller, Leaden Flycatcher, and Lemon-bellied Flyrobin. As we returned to Moresby with the slowly setting sun, it was a lot to process after a very long and lifer-filled day at one the best birding spots in the country. The next morning saw us heading to the airport for our flight up to the hub of the highlands, Hagen. Here, we boarded our bus for the drive up to spectacular Rondon Ridge lodge. We settled into our rather luxurious rooms with their amazing views over the Barred Owlet-Nightjar by Jacques Erard Waghi Valley and enjoyed our first lunch there. A bit of time spent around our rooms yielded some quite tame Mountain and Red-collared Myzomelas, Papuan White-eyes, Long-tailed Shrike, Hooded Mannikins and excellent views of a trio of Brown Quail – thanks to Jonathan and Ma Yan for inviting us into their room to watch them! We then headed over to some fruiting trees at the forest edge just above the lodge and, skirting rain showers, enjoyed our first Greater Lophorinas, both males and females, along with some Princess Stephanie’s Astrapia including one spectacular long-tailed male. Other nice birds to be seen around here included Bar-tailed Cuckoo-dove, a scarce Madarasz’s Tiger Parrot, Yellow-browed and Ornate Melidectes, Fan-tailed Berrypecker, a cooperative Black-throated Robin, many Island Leaf Warblers and Red-capped Flowerpeckers. A solid start to our birding here! Heavy rain tonight curtailed any night birding plans.zWe now headed up the mountain for our most ambitious hike of the trip as we climbed the steep, narrow and muddy track up to a birdy forest clearing. For this, we decided to split the group in two. The faster walkers arrived into the clearing quite early in the morning, where they were entertained by two male Princess Stephanie’s Astrapias chasing around some females, but only heard the hoped-for Black Sicklebill. The second group was rewarded with a Forest Bittern by Jacques Erard wonderful male Wattled Ploughbill on the way up. Soon enough, we were all reunited in the clearing and enjoyed both male and female Brown Sicklebills and even better was a phenomenal King of Saxony Bird-of-paradise that was on show for a good portion of the morning, proclaiming his territory and swinging his amazing head wires around. Additional species seen during our extended watch here included Fan-tailed Cuckoo, brief views of Red- breasted Pygmy Parrot, perched views of Plum-faced, Papuan and Orange-billed Lorikeets, Black- breasted Boatbill and excellent Dimorphic Fantail viewing. The high-pitched calls of Wattled Ploughbill Rockjumper Birding Tours View more tours to Papua New Guinea Trip Report – RBL Papua New Guinea – Birding in Paradise IV 2019 5 taunted us through much of the morning and those that had not yet seen the bird spent some time on the forest trails trying to track it down. It proved very elusive, although, we eventually had a quick look at a female, low down in some very thick climbing bamboo. Other species that were seen in the process made the time spent well worth it: elusive Orange-crowned Fairywren, Slaty Robin and wonderful views of Blue-capped Ifrit. After enjoying a tasty picnic lunch, run up to us by the lodge staff, we set off on the downhill walk back towards the lodge. It was slow going through the beautiful montane forest, although, we did have a sighting of a male Wattled Ploughbill, a Black Pitohui and a soaring Pygmy Eagle. Perhaps the most interesting observation was of a Moss-forest Rat that David spotted, and I managed to catch. It proceeded to run up my arm to my shoulder and then jump off and scurry away! We were all ready for a little break mid-afternoon once we had reached the lodge and then spent the remainder of the afternoon back around the fruiting trees, where we enjoyed some new species – no less than 3 Rufous-throated Bronze Cuckoo plus a Fan-tailed Cuckoo all feeding on caterpillars, perching Yellow-billed Lorikeet and best of all a stunning female Blue Bird-of-paradise.