I flew from Medan to Jakarta on 8th October. This was a travel day. It was nice to spend a comfortable night in a good hotel! Hot shower! Up before dawn & drove to Pamanukan, an area of coastal mangroves, fish farms & rice paddies which makes for excellent birding. I had been to this site twice before in 1994 & last year looking for Javan White-eye without success. Despite extensive searching, I missed this species again!
Pamanukan
Extensive fish farms.
Mudskipper sp.
Habitat for the Javan White-eye!
Best birds:
Lesser Whistling Duck; Sunda Collared Dove; Pied Stilt; Javan Plover; Common Sandpiper; Wood Sandpiper; Greenshank; Whiskered Tern; Cinnamon Bittern; Little Egret; Javan Pond Heron; Striated Heron; Black crowned Night Heron; Collared Kingfisher; Cerulean Kingfisher; Golden bellied Gerygone; White breasted Woodswallow; Sunda Pied Fantail; Pacific Swallow; Daurian (Striated) Swallow; Sunda (Oriental) White-eye; Australasian Reed Warbler; Zitting Cisticola; Ornate (Olive-backed) Sunbird; Scaly breasted Munia; Javan Munia & White capped Munia.
Arrived mid afternoon at Cibodes & birded the Botanical Gardens. Imagine my surprise when we turned up at the same homestay that I had stayed with Carol & the girls in 1994! It was also a pleasant journey into the past, walking around the gardens remembering what we did as a family in 1994.
Javan Kingfisher; Collared Kingfisher; Javan Hanging Parrot; Pied Shrike Vireo; Trilling Shrike Vireo; Cinereous Tit; Orange Spotted Bulbul; Pygmy Bushtit; Blue Nuthatch; White crowned Forktail; Little Pied Flycatcher; Javan Flowerpecker; White flanked Sunbird & Javan Munia.
We spent the next two & half days (10th -12th October) trekking up the mountain & back. We spent one night camping at Camp 2 & then hiked up to Camp 3 in the dark. This was at 2,400 m & the highest we got on this mountain. Hiking was arduous but the birding was excellent & is was a fantastic few days.
Chestnut bellied Partridge; Barred Cuckoo Dove; Pink headed Fruit Dove; Volcano Swiftlet; Salvadori's Nightjar; Javan Trogon; Fire tufted Barbet; Flame fronted Barbet; Sunda Minivet; Rufous tailed Fantail; Crescent chested Babbler; White bibbed Babbler; Javan Fulvetta; Javan Laughing Thrush; Javan Crocias; Javan Heleia; Mountain Leaf Warbler; Sunda Warbler; Javan Tesia; Sunda Bush Warbler; Sunda Thrush; Horsfield's Thrush; Javan Cochoa; Javan (White browed) Shortwing; Javan (Sunda ) Blue Robin; Javan Whistling Thrush; Snowy browed Flycatcher; Javan Flowerpecker & Tawny breasted Parrotfinch.
On the 12th October we had the very long drive over terrible roads to Hallinum National Park. We stayed with the rangers in the forest for two nights but despite good birding we were blighted by heavy rain which stopped me taking photographs!
Best birds:
Parzudaki's Cuckoo Dove; Little Cuckoo Dove; Dark backed Imperial Pigeon; Grey rumped Treeswift; Giant Swiftlet; Brown backed Needletail; Oriental Honey Buzzard; Javan Hawk Eagle; Black Eagle; Reddish Scops Owl; Brown throated Barbet; Flame fronted Barbet; Sunda Minivet; Javan (White breasted) Babbler; Temminck's Babbler; Eye browed Wren-Babbler; Striated Grassbird; Brown Prinia; Javan Leafbird; Crimson breasted Flowerpecker; Orange bellied Flowerpecker; Ruby cheeked Sunbird & Javan Sunbird.
On 14th October we drove to Carita to explore a patch of lowland forest (one of the few bits left)! It proved to be a pleasant place, with a nice hotel to stay in & some good birds seen.
Best birds:
Javan Owlet; Javan Banded Pitta; Black naped Monarch; Javan Tit-babbler; Black capped Babbler; Chestnut crowned Warbler & Javan Flowerpecker.
On 15th we drove back to Jakarta & visited Murangke Ange: this is a small isolated wetland area in the city. Best birds were Pink necked Green Pigeon & the now very rare & localised Javan Coucal. This was the end of our western Java leg of the tour & it was time to had back to Sumatra!
Arrived mid afternoon at Cibodes & birded the Botanical Gardens. Imagine my surprise when we turned up at the same homestay that I had stayed with Carol & the girls in 1994! It was also a pleasant journey into the past, walking around the gardens remembering what we did as a family in 1994.
The view from our homestay
Amazing!
Birding in the botanical gardens
Javan Hanging Parrot
Orange Spotted Bulbul
Javan Munia
c 30 birds seen.
Best birds:
Gunung Gede
Our camp on the mountain.
Me at the Hot Springs!
it really was very hot!
Me!
Javan Gibbon
What a show!
Salvadori's Nightjar
Chestnut bellied Partridge
Javan Trogon
What a bird!
Javan Whistling Thrush
Sunda Thrush
A bit of a surprise finding this on the trail!
Horsfield's Thrush
It is not very often you get views
of this species like this!
Javan Blue Robin
Javan (White browed) Shortwing.
Javan Tesia
Mountain Leaf Warbler
Sunda Bush Warbler
Best birds included:
The Ranger Centre.
Malayan Civet
Reddish Scops Owl
This bird was thought to be
Collared Scops Owl at first.
Comments welcome.
Javan Frogmouth
Best birds:
Parzudaki's Cuckoo Dove; Little Cuckoo Dove; Dark backed Imperial Pigeon; Grey rumped Treeswift; Giant Swiftlet; Brown backed Needletail; Oriental Honey Buzzard; Javan Hawk Eagle; Black Eagle; Reddish Scops Owl; Brown throated Barbet; Flame fronted Barbet; Sunda Minivet; Javan (White breasted) Babbler; Temminck's Babbler; Eye browed Wren-Babbler; Striated Grassbird; Brown Prinia; Javan Leafbird; Crimson breasted Flowerpecker; Orange bellied Flowerpecker; Ruby cheeked Sunbird & Javan Sunbird.
Our hotel for the night.
The lowland forest patch.
Best birds:
Javan Owlet; Javan Banded Pitta; Black naped Monarch; Javan Tit-babbler; Black capped Babbler; Chestnut crowned Warbler & Javan Flowerpecker.
This is a very isolated patch of wetland habitat.
Birding caused a bit of interest among the locals.
Long tailed Macaques
Grey Heron
Pink necked Green Pigeon
Javan Coucal
Javan Myna
