An unexpected day on Flores!

 Delana & I met up with the rest of the Heritage Expeditions people (both passengers & staff) & we were transferred to the Hyatt Regency in Sanur. A nice hotel right by the sea. 

The very pleasant tranquil gardens of the hotel.

We met a few of the passengers over drinks, then enjoyed a nice meal together. I was pleased to see there was a bird guide Mike on board. We found out that there was to be a cultural trip to Ubud the next day. Delana & I decided to opt out of this excursion & enjoy a day resting around the hotel grounds. 

Our ship, the Heritage Adventurer, has been delayed in Singapore & while this is a disappointment, the upside is that we get to spend a day on endemic rich Flores! I contacted the local bird guide Samuel & Heritage has arranged transport for us birders for the afternoon. Every cloud has a silver lining!

Very Balinese!

There is a nice walkway along the beachfront.

Delana & I enjoyed a little casual birding in late afternoon. Followed by a pleasant evening again with everyone in the restaurant.

Several species of Egrets on the pond.

Whiskered Tern

White winged Black Tern

We took the short flight to Flores on 13th October. Upon landing, we had a short look at some flood pans by the roadside. The spot was full of Egrets & many Whiskered & a few White winged Black Terns. 

Male Brown throated Sunbird

Female

Back at the hotel, we saw a couple of Brown throated Sunbirds in the garden.

In the afternoon we birded the Potawanka Road, which cuts through excellent primary hill forest. This place is obviously a top spot, but we were birding in the heat of the afternoon & the road was incredibly busy with traffic.

White-rumped Kingfisher

This is a really spectacular species!

Flame-breasted Sunbird

Male

Best birds:

Flores Green Pigeon, one flew across the road & briefly perched high in a tree. This is a tough species to see. Tengarra & White nest Swiftlets; Besra; White-rumped Kingfisher; Ornate Pitta (heard only); Helmeted Friarbird; Wallacean (Flores) Drongo; Flores Crow (heard); Russet capped Tesia (heard) & Flame throated Sunbird.

In the evening we found 3 Mees's Nightjars & a Moluccan Scops Owl, but I was unable to obtain photos.

On our return from Komodo on 14th October Mike & I did a little birding in & around the hotel gardens. It was surprisingly productive:

Greater Coucal; Blue-tailed Bee-eater; Sunda Pygmy Woodpecker; Cinereous Tit; Zitting Cisticola; Yellow-spectacled White-eye; Lemon-bellied White-eye; Black-fronted Flowerpecker & Brown Throated Sunbird.

Bali Mynah: A great conservation success story.

Bali Mynah

For me, this story began 31 years ago when I came with my family to Indonesia on holiday. We commenced our time here with a leisurely three weeks on Bali (remember we had two small children in tow)! My most wanted bird was of course was the very rare & beautiful Bali Mynah (Starling). But alas, it was not to be! 

My most wanted bird for this trip!

In my life time, this species had always been rare & localized on Bali, but increased trapping for the cage bird trade had pushed it to the very edge of extinction. I believe the numbers were as low as fifteen birds at one point. Like all rare things, as they getter rarer they become more desirable to many & the pressure steadily increasing on the remaining wild population.

This bird was a captive bred bird

 that was breeding in the wild.

The authorities recognized this perilous state for the Bali Mynah & commenced a captive breeding program which certainly saved the species from extinction. Despite the breeding program being a resounding success, the release program was less so. They commenced on what is termed a hard release, whereby birds are released straight into the wild, without any support. Now, these released birds were born in captivity & almost certainly didn't have the range of skills present in truly wild birds. Unfortunately most of these released birds died.

This bird is coming to a feeding station in the wild.

Scientists learned from these early mistakes & when further birds were released, they began a soft release program, whereby birds were released initially into large aviaries & then the door was deliberately left open for the birds to explore further afield. However, food was still provided inside the aviaries & many birds came back to regularly roost & feed there. 

This bird was singing.

These captive bred birds now began to breed themselves & several nests were outside the aviaries in specially erected nest boxes, which the birds particularly liked. As the population steadily increased scientists realized the danger of having the entire population in one location. Consequently, captive birds were translocated to Nusa Pendina, an island off the south-east coast of Bali. The local inhabitants were given financial incentives to protect these birds & it seems to have been successful. 

This bird was in the dry woodland, 

close to our resort.

Meanwhile in the core area of the north-west of Bali, the birds continue to thrive & at the time of our visit, the population was around 450 individuals. We saw birds around our resort & even in the nearby village by the side of a main road! 

I think the main reason this has been a conservation success story is that the ordinary local people are on board with the program. People are proud of their bird & the tourist dollars it brings with its success. 

Delana & I saw so many birds on our few days in the area. It is difficult to comprehend that the world nearly lost this species only three decades ago. 

A brief sojourn in Bali!

 Arrived at Sorong Airport  on 6th October & had a three hour wait for the flight. Air Batik proved to be surprisingly good, far better than Lion Air. Arrived in Makassar to discover the Lion Air flight to Bali was delayed. So arrived in Bali around 21.20 hours in the pouring rain! 

In the craft beer bar in Kuta

The beer was excellent!

Transferred to our hotel (which wasn't great) & enjoyed a beer in the bar next door. After two boat trips & two planes rides & thirteen hours after we set off we were ready for bed. It rained all night! Morning spent getting ready for our drive to Bedugul.

After a good nights sleep we picked up the hire car & Delana began what turned out to be a bit of a nightmare drive! Our destination was Bedugul, only 58 kms away. However, the incredibly heavy traffic, meant we were reduced to a crawl. 

Our bungalow for the night.

In a superb setting! 

Would love to spend more time here, 

as it looked great for birding!

It took us two hours to cover the first 18 kms from Kuta! We arrived at the Handara Golf Resort on the outskirts of the town mid-afternoon, in heavy rain, which continued for the rest of the afternoon. The place is in a spectacular setting with great birding all around. But we were reduced to looking through the rain at both Cave & White-nest Swiftlets hawking around our bungalow. We also saw a Grey-necked Green Pigeon perched up briefly. The afternoon was a wash-out, which was a real shame as the place looks amazing both for scenery & birds.

Delana looking very small 

next to this giant tree!

On the 8th October we took the short drive to the Bedugul Botanical Gardens. This place is magnificent! I must admit we struggled to find birds this morning. The trees are immense & birds calling but we couldn't find them! A pair of Crested Serpent Eagles were nice & the highlight of our walk as a singing Javan Whistling Thrush, which gave great views. I didn't take my camera because of persistent drizzle & glooming conditions. It was lovely if frustrating walk around. 

The resort was small & intimate.

The view across the bay.

Javan Rusa Deer taking a break in the shade.

Male

Female

Sunset dinner, overlooking the sea.

Then it was time to head for our next port of call, our three nights stay in The Menjangan Resort inside The West Bali Barat National Park. It was another time consuming slow drive, but we arrived late afternoon. Casual birding around the swimming pool netted Chestnut-headed Bee-eater & Scarlet-headed Flowerpecker.

Hery & Delana birding in the national park.

Up before dawn on 9th October as this was the day we were meeting our guide Hery for a full days birding in & around the national park. Not only was he an excellent guide, but he was very pleasant company & both Delana & I enjoyed our day tremendously. 

Bali Mynah.

What a stunner!

I never thought I would see this species!

We started out at the Bali Mynah release location. We had fantastic views of these birds & heard about the great conservation success story. This was our most wanted bird on Bali & it didn't disappoint. We also racked up an impressive list of other species & it was a great introduction to birding on this island.

Coppersmith Barbet

This bird was excavating a nesting hole.

Common Iora.

Olive-backed (Javan) Tailorbird

Olive-backed Sunbird.

Best birds:

Sunda Collared Dove; Pink-necked Green-Pigeon; Greater & Lesser Coucal; Rusty-breasted Cuckoo; Coppersmith Barbet; Common Iora; Bar-winged Prinia: Olive-backed Tailorbird; Olive-backed Sunbird. And of course the beautiful Bali Mynah.

Hery & Pitta Man!

We then visited a couple of bird hides to try for elusive species & we saw the lot! These hides have been built & maintained by Pita Man! He was an ex-bird trapper now turned bird protector. He said his life it a lot easier & more profitable these days, than when he was a rapper. Long my it continue.

Black-thighed Falconet

Green Junglefowl

Male Javan Banded Pita

What a stunner!

Female

Red-backed Dwarf Kingfisher

Horsefield's Babbler

Normally a tricky species to get good views of.

Yellow-vented Bulbul

Malaysian Pied- Fantail

Fulvous-chested Jungle Flycatcher

We had a great time in the hides. It is rare to get such good views of what are normally very difficult birds to see. The Javan Banded Pittas were the highlight, but there was so much more as well.

Sunda Scops Owl

Hery was telling us he was giving a bird talk at the local school, when he showed a slide of the above species & a girl pupil said yes we have those in our garden! Since that date this species has been easy to see in the daytime in her garden! There are lots of people milling about & plenty of farm animals including dogs barking, but the Owl doesn't seem to mind & has been faithful to this spot for a number of years now!

Large tailed Nightjar

Grey-cheekmed Green Pigeon,

unfortunately deep in shade!

Blue-tailed Bee-eater

We then travelled a little further down the road into an open area  with a few mangroves, mainly to find Large-tailed Nightjar at a day roost. After a short search, we found two birds & enjoyed prolonged close up views. We also saw a group of five Grey-cheeked Green Pigeons & nesting Blue tailed Bee-eaters.

Oriental (Crested) Honey Buzzard

This species is a bit of an enigma:

 seen migrating, but then it just disappears into the forest

 & is rarely seen again!

It was then time for lunch at an excellent local restaurant & we saw 56 Oriental Honey Buzzard migrating over!

After lunch, we visited some nearby salt pans. It proved to be very productive, although hot in the middle of the day with no shade! We spent a couple of hours driving & walking around, logging an impressive list of species.

Javan Pond Heron

Javan Plover

Long-toed Stint

Grey-tailed Tattler

Grey-tailed Tattler & Greater Sand Plover

Very pleased to see this species. 

I don't see it very often.

Malaysian Plover

Always a scarce species.

Common Redshank, Grey-tailed Tattler &

 Greater Sand Plover.

Best birds:

12 Sunda Teal; 2 Savanna Nightjar; Greater & Lesser Sand Plovers; Malaysian & Javan Plovers; Red-necked & Long-toed Stints; Grey-tailed Tattler; Small Blue Kingfisher & Golden-bellied Gerygone.

We ended the day by looking for & finding Black-winged Starling near our resort. Unfortunately just as we were viewing them lightning struck very close to us & then the heavens opened! However, we had enjoyed a wonderful days birding with Hery. Highly recommended.

Monsoon forest surrounds the resort.

Green Junglefowl

A really impressive species!

Freckle-breasted Woodpecker

Bali Mynah

. We got up slightly late on the 10th October & walked around the monsoon forest around the resort. We had good views of the plentiful Green Junglefowl; Freckle-breasted Woodpecker & Bali Mynah among others.

Black-winged Starling

This species is critically endangered &

 only found in a handful of locations.

The rest of the day was spent in leisurely fashion & then we returned for the Black-winged Starlings in the late afternoon. We saw three birds of this critically endangered species & I managed to obtain some photos. This form has a grey rump (not white) & could soon be split. It is endemic to Bali. 

The next day were left at dawn for the long drive to Nusa Dua. Delana did all the driving & it was a tiring drive. We arrived on time & dropped off the car. Now for the main event!