Bali August 2014, Ubud

To extend our tourist visas we had to stay quite a while in Ubud. This gave us the chance to search for some rare Munias in rice fields around this bustling town. Getting to this town should pose no problem using public transport. To find the large groups of Munias we used the method suggested by Burung Nusantara: just walk into rice fields and search for ripe rice. These can be found easily as people put up flags to scare away birds. This method worked brilliantly!

On our first try we walked to the East on Jalan Raya Ubud and went further East on the Jalan Gunung Sari. Here we entered the rice fields South from this street. At first they seemed rather empty as all paddies were still young. A lone Sacred Kingfisher and some Zitting Cisticolas were the only birds observed. However we noticed that just to the West of our paddies some ripe ones were attracting a considerable amount of Munias. So we headed back to the Jalan Gunung Sari and walked a bit to the West and entered the rice fields again. Soon we were at the site were we had spotted the ripe/recently cut rice. As soon as we were close to these paddies we were surrounded by an estimated 2.000 Munias! The mass of them were Scaly-breasted Munias (of which at least 50% were juveniles!), with quite a lot of Javan Munias and some White-headed Munias mixed in as well. After a while we managed to locate three White-capped Munias! What a delight as this rare species is nowadays only observed from Pondok Bali in Java! I tried hard to find a site for this seldom-seen species in Bali on the internet and failed. What luck that we found a site ourselves! Even though we found this critter, we were not finished yet, as we hoped to locate some Java Sparrows as well. We scanned the flocks over and over again and in the end three juveniles were flying around us! Success again! After a while the juveniles rejoined with their parents and we counted up to eight individuals. What a great sighting and what a successful first attempt!

One of the estimated 1.500 Scaly-breasted Munias (Lonchura punctulata) in some rice paddies close to Ubud

A short video that shows the setting of the Ubud rice fields including hundreds of Munias (made by Anna van der Kaaden)

After this success we still wanted to try another site. We chose to walk the Campuhan Ridge Walk. Directions to this walk can be easily found on the internet, as it is popular with tourists. The walk lead you along many rice fields, but unfortunately all these paddies were still young, so Munias were very low in numbers and we only saw Scaly-breasted and Javan Munias. We saw some good birds anyway like Javan Kingfisher, Wood Sandpiper, Bar-winged Prinia and Golden-headed Cisticola. This area might be a good spot for rare Munias if the rice is ripe.

A record shot of a Javan Kingfisher (Halcyon cyanoventris), taken with a 50 mm lens...

I can highly recommend trying to find White-capped Munia or Java Sparrow around Ubud, for our searches have proven to be successful and both species are obviously declining and views of them are becoming rarer and rarer. Furthermore, if you are travelling independently through Bali, chances are big you pass through Ubud anyway, so why not check some rice fields here!

Bali August 2014, Bedugul (Gunung Mangu)

We wanted to do some birding outside the Botanical Gardens (Kebun Raya) of Bedugul, mostly in search for better forest, we started to walk the road leading East from the Strawberry Hill Hotel (which is located just South of lake Beratan). This road is part of the lake Beratan pariwisata site and so we had to pay 15.000 IDR entrance fee. We kept following this road and kept taking the left turns, making sure we were walking the ridge along side the lake. Eventually this road led us up to Gunung Mangu and into very good forest.

Along this road we saw a lot of birds that can also be seen within Kebun Raya, but we found some things that we did not find there. At the beginning the road is surrounded by agriculture, where Striated Grassbirds are common and fly-by Yellow-throated Hanging-parrots were a nice addition. when scrubby forest appeared the road divided and we kept to the left and entered reasonable secondary forest where Javan Grey-throated White-eyes, Sunda Warblers,Crescent-chested Babblers, Indonesian Honey-eaters, Chestnut-backed Scimitar-babblers and Blood-breasted Flowerpeckers were common. 

Male Blood-breasted Flowerpecker (Dicaeum sanguinolentum), taken with a 50 mm lens. Yes, we were close!

A bit further into the forest the road divides again and we kept to the left again. The road becomes a small track leading up to the mountain. The further we followed the road, the better the forest got and consequently different birds appeared as well. We enjoyed good views of Snowy-browed Flycatchers, Lesser Shortwing was very common and a Sunda Thrush which we flushed from the track was a most pleasant finding. Further up the mountain it became very misty and sightings of birds became scarce. However Collumbids were very common here and we heard Dark-backed Imperial Pigeons, Banded Fruit Doves and Ruddy Cuckoo-doves everywhere. We also managed one sighting of a Banded Fruit Dove. A calling Javan Owlet, was harassed by small Passerines, but this little owl managed to stay out of sight again... We followed the track almost to the top, but in the end we did not reach the summit as it started to rain heavily.

Male Snowy-browed Flycatcher (Ficedula hypererythra)

We enjoyed this walk/hike a lot and we can recommend it to everyone that is reasonably fit and interested to do some birding in Bedugul outside of the Kebun Raya. You don't need a guide for this track in our opinion, but you can take on anyway if you are afraid of getting lost. A guide might also show you some of the temples along the way, which we missed. 

Bali August 2014, Bedugul (Kebun Raya)

Kebun Raya, or botanical gardens, is the easiest place to see some montane species, some of which are Sundaic specialities, in Bali. It is located in Bedugul and can be easily reached by public transport from Singaraja, Ubud or Denpasar with one or two hours driving, so most people visit this site as a day trip. However when staying in Bedugul, the park can be visited earlier in the morning (the park still only opens around 8:00) and the area can be birded more thoroughly. This village can easily be reached from Singaraja or Ubud by bemo. Just state that you want to get out in Bedugul. The town offers few places to stay and we stayed in the Strawberry Hill Hotel, which we can highly recommend, but has one drawback. It is completely surrounded by a very busy road, making walking to the (rather close) botanical gardens quite difficult. In the end we paid 20.000 IDR for transport to the gardens and 15.000. IDR to get back.

 The entrance fee is 18.000 IDR, which is fair as the gardens are well maintained and they provide many toilets (2.000 IDR), rain shelters and a warung at the office as well as a restaurant at the Bali Treetop Adventure Park (for those who have kids...). Apparently there is a guesthouse that provides accommodation within the gardens, but it seemed closed, just like the cafe within the Medicine Garden. We birded the area for two mornings and we enjoyed our time here a lot. The gardens are rather open but still many forest birds do occur here, especially in the pockets where the forest gets a bit better. In the end we saw close to 60 species just within the gardens. A guide is definitely not necessary for this area.

Map of Kebun Raya including our bird sightings. 

A: Javan Owlet, 

B: Dark-backed Imperial Pigeon,
C: Yellow-throated Hanging-parrot
D: Sunda Bush-warbler
E: Javan Bush-warbler
F: Sunda Warbler
G: Javan Whistling-thrush
H: Possible Sunda Thrush
I: Indonesian Honeyeater

J: Crescent-chested Babbler

K: Chestnut-backed Scimitar-babbler

The first day we birded just within the main gardens and immediately after entering the park the first feeding flocks of Javan Grey-throated White-eyes, Mountain Leaf-warblers, Little Pied Flycatchers, Scarlet Minivets and Javan Treeshrews (surprisingly) appeared and Flame-fronted Barbets were heard. All these proved to (very) common within the gardens. We headed North up to a gully (just south of the fern garden) and enjoyed good views of Crescent-chested Babblers in this gully as well as fly-by Grey-cheeked Green-pigeons and Yellow-throated Hanging-parrots. Here a Javan Owlet was heard calling but remained out of sight as well. A bit further to the East an Indonesian Honeyeater was much appreciated as well. Unfortunately it started raining and we sheltered for a while. After the rain it became very foggy and that made birding rather difficult, but we still managed to get some views of a Dark-backed Imperial Pigeon in the Northern part of the main gardens. Later we want to the "Hutan Tropis" trail where many good species were observed, including Sunda Bush Warbler, Sunda Warbler, Chestnut-backed Scimitar-babbler, Fulvous-chested Jungle-flycatcher and Mountain White-eye. The fog and rain became worse so we called it a day after this area.

Javan Grey-throated (or Mees's) White-eye (Lophozosterops javanicus)

Mountain Leaf-warbler (Phylloscopus trivirgatus)

2nd kj male Little Pied Flycatcher (Ficedula westermanni)

Javan (or Horsfield's) Treeshrew (Tupaia javanica)

Two days later we returned to the park to focus on the North-western part of the park, which seems to consist of better forest than the main gardens. On the way to this area we enjoyed views of several perched Grey-cheeked Green Pigeons, a single Wedge-tailed Green-pigeon, two Javan Whistling-thrushes and a group of Chestnut-backed Scimitar-babblers as well as another calling Javan Owlet that managed to stay out of sight again. Once inside the North-western area it appeared rather quiet, but with a little work we still managed to see good birds, most notably two Javan Bush-warblers, a species that has only recently been discovered on Bali and was previously thought to be an Javan endemic, and a flushed thrush that could have been a Sunda thrush. Other species observed here were Rusty-breasted Whistler (much more common here), Sunda Cuckoo,Snowy-browed Flycatcher, Crescent-chested Babbler, Sunda Warbler and Lesser Shortwing. Species that are common in the main gardens appeared equally common here. It has been suggested that this site is better visited during week days and should be avoided on public holidays and weekends, for it can get very busy. This is definitely true for the main gardens, but not for the North-west loop, as we visited this area on the Indonesian Independence Day and hardly saw anybody.

Javan Whistling Thrush (Myophonus glaucinus)

Grey-cheeked Green-pigeon (Treron griseicauda)

Fulvous-chested Jungle-flycatcher (Rhinomyias olivaceus) in flight

We can highly recommend this area as it offers easy, but still very entertaining birding in pleasant surroundings. We suggest to bird the area for two days as new birds kept turning up. We even considered visiting the area for a third day...

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.

Java July 2014, Muara Angke

Due to our two-monthly visa trips we ended up staying a couple of days in Jakarta, which provided us with a great opportunity to visit Muara Angke. This site is well-known as a reliable site for Sunda Coucal and Black-winged Starling. It is easily reached from any of the Airport Hotels and takes around 30 minutes and costs between 50.000 and 100.000 IDR to get there. However not all taxi drivers are familiar with the site, so make sure you state that you want to go to "Muara Angke, taman Bakau di Jalan Pantai Indah Utura". This worked out for us. There are some posts on the internet stating that you need to pay an unofficial "entrance fee", but for us this was not the case. We visited the site twice and the first time there was nobody at the gate house and the second time they just let us in without any hassle.

The site is great for being within Jakarta, but the board walks are in terrible disrepair and stop somewhere in the middle of the area. Apparently there used to be a path west to the area as well, but we only saw the huge Boulevard Mediterana, so we didn't even try birding from that site. Muara Angke is also known as a good site for Javan Plover and Painted Stork, but for those you probably need to get closer to the coast, which we didn't as the boardwalk was broken. Perhaps it is better for these species to try to get to the coast from the west side (Boulevard Mediterana).

We tried twice to locate a Sunda Coucal, the first visit was in the morning (8:00-12:00) and the second in the afternoon (15:00-18:00), but we failed on both occasions. Perhaps early morning is a better time for this species... However we saw two Black-winged Starlings of the nominate subspecies on the first morning. Obviously we were thrilled to enjoy good views of this critically endangered species.

Black-winged Starling (Acridotheres melanopterus)

We also enjoyed several Small Blue Kingfishers, Bar-winged Prinias, Olive-backed Tailorbirds, Small Minivets, Indian Reed-warblers and Scarlet-headed Flowerpeckers in the woody areas. While the small lake (that is currently completely covered with water hyacint) proved good for Purple Swamphen (of the (sub)species indicus), White-browed Crake, Ruddy-breasted Crake, Oriental Darter and Black Bittern amongst others. Some migrants from the Austral region like Horsfield's Bronzed Cuckoo and Sacred Kingfisher were also much appreciated as was a Savannah Nightjar flying over the highway on the way back.

Scarlet-headed Flowerpecker (Dicaeum trochileum)

Bar-winged Prinia (Prinia familiaris)

Oriental Darter (Anhinga melanogaster)

Black Bittern (Dupetor flavicollis)

Sacred Kingfisher (Todiramphus sanctus)

For mammal-enthusiasts this area does not have much to offer. The only mammals we observed in this area were Plaintain Squirrels and some tame (and occasionally aggressive) Long-tailed Macaques.

Male Long-tailed Macaque (Macaca fascicularis)

Kalimantan May - July 2014, Ulu Barito

In the previous post about this area, I announced that I would return and so I did for another seven wonderful weeks. Again the results were fruitful, but not to many new species were added to the site list. I guess the curve is flattening. New additions were mostly birds I've been expecting to find in the area, but which kept eluding me like Scarlet-breasted Flowerpecker, Red-throated Sunbird, Puff-backed Bulbul and Little Green Pigeon. However I managed to add another endemic to the list as well: Bornean Whistler. With these additions the current Batikap total exceeds 240!

Just like during the first and the second visit, I spend a lot of time searching for rare Galliformes. Unfortunately I was not lucky enough to get better looks at Black Partridges nor Bornean Peacock-pheasants, although the latter was calling fanatically on some days! Nor allowed the Orang-utan schedule another visit to the Bulwer's Pheasant lek. However I was lucky enough to get good views on a male (and female) Bulwer's Pheasant foraging on the riverbanks. Finally! The more common Galliformes, Crested Partridge and Crested Fireback, were observed much more often and the latter was observed virtually daily! I guess this was due to the fact that the masting (mass fruiting) of the forest has started now. Unfortunately I still did not get the chance to make any photographs of any of the rare Galliformes, but in the end I found a different way to remember my sightings. This way can be viewed in a video here.

Even though the masting has started, I must admit that I miss the migrants. They certainly add something like a surprise factor to the Bornean avifauna. So I focussed more on uncommon resident species that I had not seen well during the previous visits. Consequently I enjoyed brilliant views of Wallace's Hawk-eagle, Rufous-bellied Eagle, Great Slaty Woodpecker, Green Broadbill, Malaysian Honeyguide, Moustached and Malaysian Hawk-cuckoo, next to the more familiar goodies like Blue-headed Pitta, Short-toed Coucal, Blue-banded Kingfisher and Large Green Pigeon.

Rufous-bellied Eagle (Lophotriorchis kienerii)

Great Slaty Woodpecker (Mulleripicus pulverulentus)

Moustached Hawk-cuckoo (Hierococcyx vagans)

Juvenile Malaysian Hawk-cuckoo (Hierococcyx fugax)

Green Broadbill (Calyptomena viridis), such a brilliant bird!

Female Blue-banded Kingfisher (Alcedo euryzona)

Again the mammals were a highlight too. Especially the amount of Bearded Pigs, attracted by the Dipterocarp seeds is incredible. The numbers of Sambar and both Muntjacs and Mouse-deer have also increased due to the masting. The Bornean Orang-utans and Bornean White-bearded Gibbons seemed to enjoy plentiful food as well. Other highlights were another Bornean Slow Loris and a Tree-striped Ground Squirrel.

Greater Mouse-deer (Tragulus napu)

Unfortunately this was the last time in the near future that we stayed in this wonderful area. We will not soon forget our times here. I mean there are not many places where Bornean Peacock-pheasant, Bornean Ground-cuckoo, Great Slaty Woodpecker, Large-green Pigeon and Large Frogmouth can alll be heard just from your bed or where Blue-banded Kingfishers and Malaysian Hawk-cuckoos watch you while you take a bath in the river...

Kalimantan May - July 2014, Sabangau National Park

Before heading back to the dipterocarp forests of Batikap we spent two days in the peatswamp forests of Sabangau National Park. It was very interesting to note the differences between the two forest  types. Peatswamps are definitely the harder environment, but the diversity is lower. Although several species are confined to this forest type or are easier to see here than in other forest types. Again our stay was aided by a conservation organisation and this time it was the Orangutan Tropical Peatland Project (OuTrop). Besides doing some birding just for fun, one day was also "work" as I was helping with the Rainforest: Live project.

My main targets of this forest were Crestless Fireback, Storm's Stork, Lesser Adjutant, Bonaparte's Nightjar and Hook-billed Bulbul. Obviously I did not see all of these rareties, in fact I only saw Hook-billed Bulbul. I was surprised how hard to find this species was and how skittish and shy they were, but eventually they showed reasonably. Surprisingly another team that went out searching for wildlife for Rainforest: Live stumbled upon a female Crestless Fireback! I guess it is just a matter of luck and walking stealthily whether or not you manage to see them.

Hook-billed Bulbul (Setornis criniger)

We also tried on during one morning and one night for the Nightjar, but without success. However we heard two different Blyth's Frogmouths, several Sunda Scops-owls and a Brown Wood-owl. We also spent a morning on a 35 meter high research tower in the hope to see Storm's Storks or Lesser Adjutant, but without success. We still got some nice views of other species like Greater Green Leafbird, White-bellied Woodpecker, Black-and-yellow Broadbill, Thick-billed Green-pigeon and Chestnut-bellied Malkoha and it was amazing to see the sun rise above the forest as well.

White-bellied Woodpecker (Dryocopus javensis)

Thick-billed Green-pigeon (Treron curvirostra)

Surprisingly many mammals were recorded as well including the well studied Orangutans, Bornean White-bearded Gibbon and Maroon Langurs, next to Lesser Mouse Deer, Slender Squirrel, Plaintain Squirrel, Painted, Slender and Long-footed Treeshrew. A nice Malaysian Brown Snake was also observed. As with Batikap Protection forest, this site is of the regular tourist radar and might be difficult to visit for "normal birders". I would recommend Tanjung Puting as an alternative, as they have most key species (exept the Bonapartes Nightjar) there as well.

Bornean White-bearded Gibbon (Hylobates albibarbis)

Singapore May 2014, Botanic Gardens

During our last visit, we birded the Botanic Gardens once, but failed to find the very tame Mangrove Pitta, which resided during that time in the Healing Gardens. Now we visited these gardens four times, but with a different target species.

This time we were searching for the Red-legged Crakes that inhabit the gardens. Apparently these gardens are one of the best places in the world to see this shy species. We searched several sites within the Botanic Gardens thoroughly, like the Eco Lake, the Foliage Garden, the Fern Garden, the Healing Garden and the area around the visitors centre, but in the end we saw only White-breasted Waterhens and no Red-legged Crakes. We saw lots of more common species though, of which Grey-headed Fish-eagle, van Hasselt's Sunbird and Large-tailed Nightjar are probably the most notable. Like in Sungei Buloh, the migrants were definitely missed. We also recorded Common Treeshrew and Plaintain Squirrel, like the last time, but this time also found a Slender Squirrel.

Pink-necked Green Pigeon (Treron vernans) (male) are very common in the Botanic Gardens

Laced Woodpecker (Picus vittatus), another common species (video made by Anna van der Kaaden)

Singapore May 2014, Sungei Buloh

After two months in Kalimantan it was time to arrange a new visa for Indonesia again ans so we spent another week in Singapore. I wanted to give the Mangrove Pitta another try, so we visited Sungei Buloh again. For information how to reach this lovely mangrove forest see this post about our first visit to this site.

Unfortunately we did not find the pitta, nor many other interesting species. I think that Singapore is indeed generally boring outside the migratory season. We did find one migrant, a Pacific Golden Plover, that was still sticking around, but not the interesting migrants that can be seen here in other times of the year. Other interesting birds observed here included Oriental Pied Hornbill, Copper-throated Sunbird and Sunda Pygmy Woodpecker. We also saw a Saltwater Crocodile here, but dipped the Smooth Otters again...

Male Copper-throated Sunbird (Nectarinia calcostetha)

Male Oriental Pied-hornbill (Anthracoceros albirostris) chewing on a stick

I would advice against visiting this site (or entire Singapore) outside of the migratory season, for it is not the resident species that make this place (or country) interesting, but its migrants. Without them the birding is rather slow and boring.

Kalimantan March - May 2014, Ulu Barito

As announced in the previous post about this area we returned to Batikap for another amazing six weeks in this pristine forest. The results were again very fruitful birdwise. During the first visit we observed more than 190 species and were able to add another 40 species to the list during our second stay. This made our list of this site longer than most survey lists including the Heart of Borneo expedition lead by Martin Holland and the very good Barito Ulu expedition from 1989!

 Species that were newly found in the Batikap protection forest that deserve mentioning are Bornean Ground-cuckoo, Bornean Banded Pitta, Fulvous-breasted Jungle-flycatcher, Malaysian Honey-guide, Rail-babbler (which might be the first record of this species in Kalimantan since 2006), Wallace´s Hawk-eagle, Grey-breasted Babbler and Sunda Frogmouth. We also found the first Crow-billed Drongo for Central Kalimantan during our second stay, but unfortunately there is no proof of this record, as it was observed from a cis, however bill-size and tail-shape were very conclusive for this species. Another major discovery that made me very happy was the second Fairy Pitta for Batikap. The first was found by Adhy Maruly in the arctic winter of 2013 and this individual stayed around the camp for months. The individual found in 2014 is the fourth individual for Central Kalimantan and the fifth for entire Kalimantan (and with that, quite possibly for entire Indonesia!).

The fifth record for Fairy Pitta (pitta nympha)

Another crappy record shot, this time of a Grey-breasted Babbler (Ophrydornis albogularis)

Other interesting observations were the amount of migratory birds, which passed through Batikap on their way up North. Migrants observed included the Fairy Pitta I mentioned above, Siberian Blue Robin, Zappey's Flycatcher, Eastern Yellow Wagtail, Common Kingfisher, Blue-winged Pitta, Pin-tailed Snipe and Swinhoe´s Snipe. The former two species are always a pain to separate (see this post) but this time I managed to record the flight calls of 2 different individuals (out of 32 individuals found) of which one recording points towards Pin-tailed snipe (around 2 kHz) while the other recording points towards Swinhoe´s snipe (around 3 kHz). However, it appears very little is known about the exact vocalisations of the two species and my identification might well be proven wrong, but for now they match with the recordings on xeno-canto.org. (note that Myers states in “the Birds of Borneo” that Pin-tailed Snipe calls around 4 kHz which is possibly wrong)


Of course my searches for the three difficult ayam hutans continued as well. After countless attempts to see them on foot, it turned out that the rivers were my best allies. A male and female Black Partridge got flushed by our cis/klotok/prahu next to Joloi River and were forced to cross a small stream allowing reasonable views. Unfortunately I never figured out the actual vocalisations of this species… A female Bulwer´s Pheasant flew over Posu River and allowed short views and in a similar fashion a male Bornean Peacock-pheasant crossed Joloi River. Therefore and due to a very busy schedule with another Orang-utan release I never tried again at the Bulwer´s Pheasant lekking site and was it even more impossible to visit the saltpan (see last post about this site). Other species I managed to get (much) better looks at included Large-billed Blue-flycatcher, Great Slaty Woodpecker and Short-toed Coucal.

Large-billed Blue-flycatcher (cyornis caerulatus)

Short-toed Coucal (Centropus rectungius)

Another interesting thing going on in Batikap at the moment is the flowering of most tree species (including most of the dipterocarps), pointing out that a masting is about to happen (and pointing out that it will be an El Nino year). During the week we were leaving most of the smaller dipterocarps were already covered with their helicopter fruits, but these were still small. I am so excited that we will experience a masting of a Bornean lowland dipterocarp forest, for it means that many animals from surrounding areas will gather to feast on the massive amount of fruits. We already noted that the amount of Bearded Pigs increased a lot. Also the bird compositions seems changed with large amounts of Green Imperial Pigeons and different species of Bulbuls (mostly Black-headed and Black-and-White) present compared to our earlier visit. The bird activity was also a lot higher than last time, with a lot of birds starting to breed and many species (like Garnet Pitta and Bornean Ground-cuckoo) were calling now, that were not calling or were calling a lot less during our first visit. We also noted that the amount of nest-swiftlets decreased a lot, but I have no explanation for this.

A bad picture of Garnet Pitta (Erythropitta granatina)

What also was a different experience was the opportunity to venture deep into the forest at night with the company of four students from Bogor, Java, who were surveying frogs. This enabled me to find a lot of nightbirds like Sunda Frogmouth, Oriental Bay Owl, Brown Boobook, Barred Eagle-owl and Reddish Scops Owl. We also found several sleeping birds, including White-crowned Forktail. The close-up sightings of this species enabled me to get decent looks at the crest-length and tail-spotting distinguishing this species from the “Bornean” Forktail. A blogpost about the best features distinguishing the both (sub)species can be found here. Of course we also got great looks at a lot of frogs of which the Bornean Horned Frog was by far the most breath-taking.

Male Bornean Horned Frog (Megophrys nasuta) (picture made by Anna van der Kaaden)

During the nightly searches for frogs we also found some mammals like the amazing Sunda Tarsier, Bornean Slow Loris, which truly is a slow animal, Muller´s Rat and Dark-tailed Tree-rat. Other cool mammals observed (next to the dozens of Bearded Pigs, who can actually be quite scary when met alone on foot in the forest) were Smooth Otter, Binturong, Long-footed Treeshrew, Large Treeshrew, Lesser Mousedeer and Bornean Yellow Muntjac. Looking back at our second stay I am (again) very content with the results and looking forward to return to this lovely place.

Bornean Slow Loris (Nycticebus menagensis)

Sunda Tarsier (Tarsius bancanus)