Bali August 2014, Bali Barat National Park

The only national park of this Indonesian island needs no introduction, as it is world famous for being the last place on earth to see the absolutely stunning and critically endangered Bali Myna, which also is Bali's only endemic. So we paid this national park a visit. We based ourselves in Pemuteran to the East of the national park. This town offers a vast array of accommodation and food choices but has the disadvantage that it is around 30 km away from the national park. Another possibility is to stay in Gilimanuk, which is closer to the national park as well as to Gilimanuk Bay. Pemuteran and Gilimanuk can both be reached from Singaraja by bemo, which can be reached by bemo from Ubud or Denpasar. However getting to the national park is just half of the preparations needed, as guides are required for foreigners to enter the National Park and you will definitely need one to see the Bali Myna. The Burung Nasuntara website provides good information about this national park and on this website we found the phone-number of Pak Yudi. He is a well-known bird guide for the area and knows how and where to find the Bali Myna. His phone-number is +628164706265 or +6281236279090, but I am not sure if it works properly with a phone that is not Indonesian. He can also be reached through this email address: kt.yudi@yahoo.co.id. To be fair, he is rather expensive (900.000 IDR for a half day birding and 1.500.000 IDR for a full day birding), but it includes all transportation and lunch, he really knows the area and the birds, speaks decent English, is very professional and well organised and it seems that he is more or less the only choice at the moment if you want to see more than just the Bali Myna.

We initially booked Pak Yudi for a half day trip and started at 6:20 from our hotel. First we went to the office of the national park to arrange the paperwork and we managed to get some views of Javan Mynas as well. After that we went out birding to a site just East of the national park for Javan Banded Pitta and within ten minutes we could enjoy decent views of a calling male, while a further individual was calling in the background. After this stunner was observed well we went to a flowering tree that was apparently a good site to see Yellow-throated Hanging-parrot and after 20 minutes a bird came indeed. Other birds observed in this area were Racket-tailed Treepie, Chestnut-headed Bee-eater, Lineated Barbet, Asian Glossy-starling and a surprise escapee (?) in the form of a Finch-billed Myna.

Male Javan Banded Pitta (Hydrornis guajana). This picture doesn't quite do the bird justice

A record shot of a Yellow-throated Hanging-parrot (Loriculus pusillus)

After this successful morning we went to a site just south of the office with a lot of palms to search for Javan Flameback. This recently split endemic has been classified as vulnerable and is rarely seen both in Bali and Java, so we were keen to connect with this one. We spent an hour in the area but this big woodpecker managed to stay out of sight and remained heard only, or so we thought, as it turns out now that the sound recording (see below) might be of a Laced Woodpecker, that strangely reacted to Greater Flameback playback... Meaning that we did not even got close to ticking off Javan Flameback. What do you think? We also heard some Green Junglefowl in this area and enjoyed views of displaying Common Flying Dragons here.

Common Flying Dragon (Draco volans)

After this we went to Gilimanuk Bay to scan the area for waders and Lesser Adjutants, but as it was high-tide it was rather fruitless. However we got lucky with a fly-by Far-eastern Curlew next to some Black-naped terns and loads of White-shouldered Trillers. After this site we went inside the Menjangan Resort area to find the famous Bali Mynas. On the way we saw another Javan Banded Pitta as well as several Javan Rusas. We arrived at the guarded nesting site of the Bali Myna and we had a small chat with the guard until two little, white ghosts flew in and set down in their nesting tree, allowing brilliant views from the secluded guard post. It is indeed necessary that these birds are guarded, as their numbers are just above 30 and a couple of years ago the captive breeding center even suffered from an armed robbery as these birds still fetch a very high price on the bird markets. The birds used to be seen mostly on the peninsula of the national park, but they suffered from heavy predation here (up to 80% of the releases were unsuccessful) and so the releases are now taking place within the heavily guarded Menjangan Resort area.

Bali Myna (Leucopsar rothschildi)

As our half day of birding with Pak Yudi was now finished, but I still wanted to see some birds, especially shorebirds, we decided to extend our trip. While waiting for the low tide, we made a stroll into the monsoon forest just South of the main road, mainly to see Ebony Leaf Monkeys, which allowed good views, but also observed some nice birds like Fulvous-breasted Jungle-flycatcher and Rufous-backed Kingfisher. After this the tide was still low so we waited some more in the mangroves where four Lemon-bellied White-eyes as well as two Small Blue Kingfishers were much appreciated.

Ebony Leaf Monkey (Tachypithecus auratus)

Then the tide was finally receding and we took a small boat to enter Gilimanuk Bay. It took some time but eventually we connected with Large-billed Heron and two Lesser Adjutants, but we could not find Beach Thick-knee unfortunately even though we found very fresh footprints most likely belonging to this bird. Other shorebirds were still in low numbers as we only observed some Whimbrels, Eurasian Curlews, a single Far-eastern Curlew and Common Sandpipers, next to some terns. Afterwards we tried one more time to see the Javan Flameback but without success. On the way back to Pemuteran we our last stop at the salt pans just behind the Mimpi Resort where we managed to find three Javan Plovers as well as some Sunda Teals and Red-necked Stints.

Two Lesser Adjutants (Leptoptilos javanicus)

We enjoyed our time in and around the national park a lot and we would definitely recommend Pak Yudi as a day with him is not just a Bali Myna twitch but a full day enjoying the birds and mammals of the Balinese lowlands and monsoon forests.