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!