9th November was a tiring travel day, leaving the boat for the last time, lunch in Port Villa & then sitting around in airports for our flights to Fiji. We arrived at Suva Airport on Fiji at 9pm in the pouring rain. Got a taxi & drove up the hill to the Rainforest Eco-Lodge. First impressions were not good & it poured down with rain all night.
It was still raining as dawn broke but it soon cleared up & we explored our surroundings. Our cabin was situated with trees all around it. It was a small forest remnant amid the more open farmed areas. Birds were easy to hear, but not so easy to see! However, we did record a nice suite of Fiji's endemic birds:
Peale's Imperial Pigeon; Masked Shining Parrot; Collared Lory; Duetting Giant Honeyeater (which were calling before dawn & were so loud they woke us up!); Western Wattled Honeyeater; Polynesian Triller; Vanikoro Flycatcher & a superb Fiji Parrotfinch! Under the threat of heavy rain, we then beat a hasty retreat to the restaurant for a well deserved breakfast.
Both of us were tired after Melanesia, so we just stayed around our cabin in the woods & in mid-afternoon I ventured out along the main road. The purpose of this walk, was to find the entrance to the nearby Forest Park for the next days birding. It was surprisingly birdy, but the only new species added was Orange-breasted Myzomela, another endemic!
After a nice evening in the restaurant we retired to bed early eager for the next day.
11th November, we were up just before dawn. There had been rain during the night but for the moment it had cleared up. After a quick breakfast we were off down the road & entered the Colo-I-Suva Forest Park just after dawn. We walked down the main road, surrounded by nice primary forest. However, the only bird calling was Fiji Bush Warbler & this took us a long time to see. Eventually our patience paid off & we both had great views of yet another Fiji Endemic!
We walked to the picnic area seeing little but enjoying ourselves as the surroundings were excellent. Then we took a forest path to the two kind of natural swimming pools along the river. Birds were sparse but I managed to see a Fiji Shrikebill while Delana was exploring the river!
Then we both enjoyed views of the endemic Chestnut-breasted Flycatcher & the more widespread Streaked Fantail.
Back on the main trail we recorded: Peale's Imperial Pigeon; Collared Lory; Orange breasted Myzomela; Vanikoro Flycatcher & more calling Fiji Bush Warblers.
We then walked up the hill briskly trying to beat the oncoming torrential rain & we just about made it back to the cabin before the heavens opened!
The afternoon was mostly a wash out, as it never stopped raining! However, it was nice to hear the calls of Masked Shining Parrot; Collared Lory & the huge & very noisy Duetting Giant Honeyeaters!
Around 5pm it stopped raining & I rushed outside to do some birding before dark. I concentrated on the more open areas across the road from the lodge & it paid off big time! A Many colored Fruit Dove shot overhead & briefly perched in a tree. It is a difficult bird to see on this Fijian Island, so I was well pleased with this sighting.
Peale's Imperial Pigeons & Collared Lorys were feeding in fruiting trees. Orange breasted Myzomelas were dashing around & best of all a pair of Fiji Parrotfinches were on show! It proved to be an excellent hours birding but Delana decided to stay home & work on her fish!
We were up well before dawn on 12th November & walking down the road into the Forest Reserve. Once again it was very quiet & for the first couple of hours we saw very little. However an immature Fiji Goshawk was a welcome sight & we finally found Slaty Monarch & Fiji Whistler. We heard the Whistler yesterday but without getting a view & today was much the same story until Delana got onto a bird high in the canopy.
We arrived back at our cabin around 11 am & rested for a few hours. It is a comfortable place to be & nice to have internet connection to catch up on all those little tasks.
We ventured into the field again at 3pm. This time we walked across the road & birded the village & then walked down a track with small patches of primary forest. It was quite birdy & after hearing a couple of Golden Doves we finally saw a female perched high in a tree. We celebrated with a bottle of champagne back at our cabin!
Out at 6 am on 13th November. A very grey morning. Looked like rain & so it proved after a couple of hours. We once again birded the more open area across the road from the lodge. We saw all the usual suspects, including a male Golden Dove which flew across the path! We also saw a Many-colored Fruit Dove flying over.
It was a pleasant morning but then the heavens opened & we got soaked before we made it back to our cabin. The rest of the morning spent listening to rain falling & trying to dry our stuff! It rained for the rest of the day. We spent the time on the computer & packing for the travel to Samoa. Lots of our stuff is still damp, which isn't ideal for travelling.
First impressions are not always the best ones. We arrived in torrential rain in late evening. The cabin is old & basic, but it proved to be fine for our purposes. The outside decking & excellent wi-fi connection made life a lot easier. The restaurant served OK meals, nothing too exciting, but it was a pleasant place to be in the evening. The birding was quite good. Here on Fiji, there are very few species: we have recorded 27 species in our time here, of which 16 were world ticks & endemics! Quite a proportion! For a lot of our time, it has rained, & mainly grey, overcast skies when it wasn't raining; making bird photography difficult, if not impossible. It appears that we are also leaving in torrential rain! We fly to Apia on Samoa in the morning, before returning to two smaller islands in Fiji. This order transpired because of flight frequency & availability. We have enjoyed our time here tremendously, even though the birding has been tough at times. Long walks in the dense forest with few, sometimes no birds. However, there are some quality species here, top of which are the Masked Shining Parrots, who behave exactly like the Macaws in central & south America. Amazing to think the vast Pacific Ocean separates these two areas.
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