South West Pacific Islands Samoa, Fiji, Vanuatu and New Caledonia 28th July to 13th August 2019 (17 days) Trip Report Golden Fruit Dove by Jenny Bowman Trip report compiled by Tour Leader: Erik Forsyth Trip Report – RBL South West Pacific Islands – 2019 2 Tour Summary Our group met up at Dave Parker’s Eco Lodge in a tropical Rainforest a few kilometres inland of the capital Apia, in Samoa. We started birding that afternoon and soon racked up a healthy list of birds including stunning White-tailed Tropicbirds, dainty White Terns, Brown Noddy, all of which flew overhead on numerous occasions. Jungle Myna and Buff-banded Rails were numerous and often ignored. We also located the scarce Mao, (an endemic honeyeater) and were treated to great looks. Scope views were had of Polynesian Wattled Honeyeater, Polynesian and Samoan Starlings, heaps of Cardinal Myzomelas, but we had to settle for good fly-bye looks at Pacific Imperial Pigeons, Many-coloured Fruit Dove, Crimson-crowned Fruit Dove, and Blue-capped Lorikeets. This was a good start to our adventure in the Pacific Islands. The following morning, we headed off early to the Malo Lei Lei Recreation Reserve. A quick scan from the balcony gave us White-tailed Tropicbird, White Tern, and Brown Noddy. Unfortunately, the rain and wind during the night continued and we arrived at the reserve in dense mist and rain. We took some of the shorter trails to avoid the mud and slippery rocks on the longer trails to the waterfall. Despite the constant rain, we were successful here with very good looks at Samoan Maroon Shining Parrot by Jenny Bowman Flycatcher, Samoan Whistler and Romney picked up a stunning Red-headed Parrotfinch for all to see. We also had short but good looks at a Mao, many Polynesian Wattled Honeyeaters, Samoan Starlings and Cardinal Myzomelas. We also found the tricky Samoan Triller, a pair found foraging high up in a tree. After a short while they came closer and we could see the orange bill of these birds. Due to the continual rain, we headed off the mountain early and visited the Robert Louise Stevenson Museum. After a guided tour of the museum, we took a nearby trail, which was very quiet. Returning to the vehicle, Buff-banded Rails and Polynesian Trillers were found feeding on the lawns and were added to our growing list. We also visited the Apia beachfront where we saw White Tern and a dark- morph Pacific Reef Heron. The afternoon was rained out and only the usual suspects were noted. Our second full day on Samoa saw us heading to the O Le Pupu-Pu’e National Park for a coastal walk, first stopping at a sports grounds in Apia to scope Pacific Golden Plovers. Up to 40 birds were present including one bird in almost full-breeding attire. We also had several Buff-banded Rail and groups of Jungle Myna as well as Polynesian Trillers in the same fields. After arriving in the carpark at O Le Pupu-Pu’e, we had good Buff-banded Rail by Jenny Bowman views of a Samoan Whistler. A few hundred meters Rockjumper Birding Tours Visit our website Trip Report – RBL South West Pacific Islands – 2019 3 down the trail, we came to a viewpoint and scanned the ocean. A few fishing boats were not too far offshore and here we picked up a flock of feeding Black Noddy and four Bridled Terns. After this success, we continued along the coastal walk but after 15 or so minutes found the trail to be too slippery and the track too rough. We turned around and headed back to the vehicle and continue on our explorations of the island. We then drove down to the south-east corner of the island, where we tried some sea watching, looking out towards the Alepaita Islands. As we were driving, Jenny spotted a shorebird at a small lagoon. We jumped out and scoped the wader which turned out to be a Grey- tailed Tattler…a scarce bird in this part of the world. A Pacific Golden Plover and Pacific Reef Heron were also noted. At another small wetland further along the coast, we found a White-faced Heron, a vagrant to this island, as well as a Wandering Tattler. Scanning out to Nu‘utele Island, although the birds were a fair way out, Vanikoro Flycatcher by Jenny Bowman we picked up, Lesser Frigatebird, Brown and Red-footed Booby, Brown and Black Noddy and the striking White Tern. Our drive back to our lodge in the afternoon was fairly uneventful but we ended the day with 121 Buff-banded Rail seen… must be the highest density on the planet for this species! Early on our last morning in Samoa, with much- improved weather, blue skies, and no wind, we revisited Malo Lei Lei Reserve. Here, we had excellent looks at a pair of Samoan Flycatcher, Samoan Whistler, and a pair of Samoan Triller feeding a juvenile bird allowing better looks than before. As we left the forest, we had good looks at a Metallic Pigeon in flight. In the late afternoon, we said our farewells to our lodge staff and flew from Apia to Nadi on the Island of Viti Levu, Fiji. We woke up early today in Nadi and caught our early morning flight to the island of Taveuni, in Fiji. We arrived late morning and en route to the hotel we stopped for Fiji Woodswallow, our first endemic seen on the powerlines. It was a fortuitous stop because soon we were watching stunning Maroon Shining Parrots, Vanikoro Flycatchers, and Pacific Kingfishers. Our stunning resort on the beachfront had spectacular views and we enjoyed the large flock of roosting Pacific Flying Foxes in trees alongside the pool. In the Metallic Pigeon by Jenny Bowman afternoon, we headed up Devo Peak in our 4x4s. Unfortunately, the weather that gave us a hard time on Rockjumper Birding Tours Visit our website Trip Report – RBL South West Pacific Islands – 2019 4 Samoa had followed us and we battled for the first two hours seeing only Fiji Goshawk, Barking Imperial Pigeon and Maroon Shining Parrots. Later when the sun came out, we had better success with fabulous looks at two Azure-crested Flycatchers, Streaked Fantail, Fiji Shrikebill, Fiji Wattled Honeyeater, Fiji White-eye, and Polynesian Trillers. All in all, a successful day! A very early start today to get us up Devo Peak for first light. However, the weather higher up was against us again with a steady drizzle and was very windy, which did not make for easy birding! Apart from Fiji Goshawk and Barking Imperial Pigeon, not a lot was showing. We persevered hearing at least two Orange Fruit Dove but no sightings due to the wild weather conditions. Further down the track, we headed on a muddy trail into the forest and after a bit of a wait the bird gods gave us a break for our hard work. Soon we were watching a splendid pair of Taveuni Silktails flitting around in the forest, their white rump and tails glowing in the gloomy forest. What a relief! Also noted were stunning Azure-crested Flycatcher, Fiji Whistler, and Fiji Shrikebill. Streaked Fantail and Fiji Bush Warbler were also observed for some. Later, we headed down the track to lunch and picked up Australian Magpie, more Maroon Shining Parrot and a couple of fly-bye Collared Lory. The afternoon was a washout with constant rain, although we had Sulphur-breasted Myzomela around our hotel. Cardinal Myzomela by Jenny Bowman Our last morning in Taveuni was a relaxed affair with a sit-down breakfast and enjoying the views. A pair of Sulphur-breasted Myzomelas were noted as were Great Crested Terns, Pacific Swallows, Vanikoro Flycatchers, and a lone Lesser Frigatebird. It was time to leave and soon we were flying to the Suva on the main island of Viti Levu. No sooner had we arrived and started birding around our lodge at Coli-Suva-Rainforest when, we quickly picked up endemic Masked Shining Parrots, with their raucous calls, while Kikau and Giant Honeyeaters put on a great show flying close to us and perching on several occasions. The afternoon was slow due to rain but a male Golden Fruit Dove certainly livened the birding up and we were treated to fabulously close looks at this stunner, allowing everybody wonderful pictures of this brightly coloured bird! Rockjumper Birding Tours Visit our website Trip Report – RBL South West Pacific Islands – 2019 5 Early this morning, we headed to the interior of Suva where we were greeted with light showers but no wind. We persevered and ended up with a good tally at the end of the day. First off, we stopped at an agricultural area where several Fiji Parrotfinches gave us the runaround but eventually, we had really good looks at several birds feeding on the ground. It was here that we also had great looks at several Metallic Pigeons perched on the telephone lines and flying around. Fiji Bush Warblers were also very showy, but you had to be quick to get them in the bins. Fiji Wood Swallows, Spotted Doves, Red Avadavats and Kikau were always in view, while White-rumped Swifts were hawking insects even in the steady drizzle. From here, we moved on to a muddy, forested stream. Access was tricky as the path was a mud bath with the last two weeks of constant rain. We made our way down slowly and carefully and placed ourselves along the stream. We were trying for the scarce and localised Long-legged Thicketbird.