Hong Kong and Bali April 2017 (1 Viewer)

Thanks Mike,

Hopefully I will have the time to pull together a more comprehensive trip report for Bali (and HK), to help others thinking of birding there in the future. It felt like I had a pretty successful trip, I ended up seeing 130 odd species in Bali, which was more than I expected and I reckon is a decent total for 3 full days birding and 3 casual days.

The numbers only tell half the story though, they don't really convey how well I did in seeing the birds that I really wanted to see - those endemic to Java and Bali, or harder to see elsewhere. On that front I was pretty happy too, though if I had seen even half of such birds that were heard only I would have been really delighted. This was partly a function of going so soon after the end of the rainy season, with so much verdant vegetation. There were also some birds that we simply didn't try for - a function of time and timing.

Anyway one more day of proper birding and two days of casual sightings to still describe. And if I sort out getting some photos off of my phone I will post a few from HK in the ID forum (greenshanks and sand-plovers from Mai Po) which you might be able to help with.

All the best, Paul

Day 14 – Bedugul area
Thursday 20 April 2017

Back to an early start, this time an unearthly 4.30am wake up for the 2 hour drive over to Bedugul back in the highlands of Bali. After a brief stop overlooking the scenic ‘twin lakes’ (Tamblingan and Buyan), with flyby Scarlet Minivet we reached Bedugul Botanic Gardens (Kebun Raya Eka Karya) at 7.30am. Unfortunately these have been seriously affected by flash flooding, erosion and landslides that occurred some three months ago, this has taken out road bridges for some key tracks within the gardens, and caused a lot of noisy construction work, which undoubtedly made birding harder.

Nonetheless the attractive gardens are in a beautiful location, at a cool refreshing elevation, and me and my wife would both have liked longer there, exploring it more thoroughly, rather than moving from stake-out to stake-out. However that was to be the general approach to the day, a bit of a product of the short time we had, and with hindsight we should have been clearer about what we would have liked to do.

Anyway, we started off walking up a slippery paved track to a small temple, where we successfully targeted Mountain Warbler, Sunda Warbler and the rather smart Rusty-breasted Whistler. Other birds in this area included Grey-cheeked Green Pigeon, Flame-breasted Barbet, Javan Grey-throated White-eye and a Fulvous-breasted Jungle-Flycatcher. A short distance from here patient waiting and playback produced a pretty Snowy-browed Flycatcher which eventually showed well.

As the day started to warm up we moved into a more open area and quickly found Indonesian Honeyeater, a few Short-tailed Starling and whilst searching for an unseen calling Sunda Cuckoo (eventually seen in flight), nice views of a Brush Cuckoo. This area was adjacent to a steep downward slope with plenty of scrub and bamboo, in which we searched successfully for Mountain Tailorbird.

We then walked the road as it descended steeply, checking the adjacent trees and scrub. This produced Black-winged Flycatcher Shrike, Ashy Drongo and what we identified at the time as a Lesser Racket-tailed Drongo. I remain reasonably confident of this ID, though as far as I am aware it should not be present in Bali.

Next we visited the Pura Teratai Bang area within the gardens, but this temple had been more or less completely swept away by flooding, and significant construction work was underway in the valley. Despite the noise we had good views of Ruddy Cuckoo-Dove, but only inadequate (for me) views of fly-by Black-backed Fruit Doves. After one more stop within the gardens that added little new we moved on.

Our next stop was a road behind the Handara Golf & Resort, which runs alongside a steep forested hillside. Here we heard far more than we saw – seen highlights included a Rusty-breasted Whistler and White-bellied Sea-Eagle overhead. Unfortunately Javan Bush Warbler, Lesser Shortwing and Orange-spotted Bulbul were all ‘heard only’. After 45 minutes here it was time for lunch at a touristy restaurant overlooking Beratan Lake.

After lunch we drove up to an area with a geothermal installation which provided access to some jungle near to the botanical garden, here we had good views of a couple more Ruddy Cuckoo Doves, but frustratingly the Javan Bush Warbler remained heard only despite significant effort, and both Dark-backed Imperial Pigeon and Black-backed Fruit Doves called distantly. On our drive back down the hill we heard Pied Bushchat at one point too, but again this remained unseen.

Our final stop with Hery, who had to get over to Ubud for his next client, was on the shore of Lake Buyan. With some effort this produced the hoped for Striated Grassbird, White-browed Crake and Yellow Bittern, and a bird that Hery was much more interested in than me, a Moorhen with young chick. Finishing here about 3pm we then started the 2 hour drive back to the Menjangan.

Cheers, Paul

Day 15 - Menjangan Resort
Friday 21 April 2017

My wonderful, incredibly patient and tolerant wife definitely deserved a break from birding, so this was a quiet relaxing day around the resort, featuring a lie in, a snorkel and then kayak from the jetty and a massage in the afternoon. Any birding was purely incidental, and I did not add any new species for the trip.

Highlights from the 18 species seen around the resort included a Little Tern from the beach restaurant whilst having breakfast, Small Blue Kingfisher, Sacred Kingfisher, Chestnut -headed Bee-eater and Malaysian Pied Fantail during our kayak around the mangroves, and only the second sighting of Bar-winged Prinia of our trip, near the restaurant after lunch.

Cheers, Paul

Day 16 - Menjangan Resort and Island
Saturday 22 April

Our last full day on Bali, and again another relaxing day with mostly only incidental birding. The largest part of the day was spent on a half day snorkelling trip to Menjangan Island - not to be missed if you are in the area. We left the jetty for the island just after 9am, and spent 3 1/2 hours on and snorkelling from our small boat.

On the 20-30 minute trip over to the island I saw a Great Crested Tern, and once there added nice views of three Black-naped Terns in flight and perched on a little used jetty. The bird highlight of the trip was a single Great-billed Heron, initially seen flying along the shore of the island, and then perched a couple of times on a rocky beach and floating vegetation. Unfortunately we didn't land on the island, and whilst I could hear range-restricted Lemon-bellied White-eyes, I couldn't see one.

Later in the afternoon we visited the Bali tower restaurant and bar - the first time we had done so in daylight, for happy-hour cocktails, and so that I could bird from the top of the tower until sunset. Perfect compromise! On the drive over to the tower we flushed two buttonquail which at the time I reckoned were Small Buttonquail, but with hindsight my views weren't good enough to be sure.

From the tower I enjoyed great views of eye-level Coppersmith Barbets, Little Minivets and White-shouldered Triller. Then I started to pick out some new birds for the trip - single Black-thighed Falconet, distant Racket-tailed Treepie and a Chestnut-breasted Malkoha. I was a bit too slow to get onto a passing flock of presumably Blue-tailed Bee-eaters. The downside of cocktails... but still a nice end to the day.

Cheers, Paul

Day 17 - Menjangan Resort
Sunday 23 April 2017

Our last day, and I had arranged (at my wife's suggestion) 2 hours birding with the resort's bird guide Putu. As I left our room just before 6am I could hear Sunda Scops Owl calling, but unfortunately couldn't pick it out. Later, searching nearby roost sites failed to reveal one too.

Highlights over the next two hours walking included better views of Black-winged Starling (one of 3 seen), another pair of Bali Myna, at least one of which was a ringed bird, and better views of 3 Racket-tailed Treepie. New birds for my trip to Bali were a Black Drongo and Large-tailed Nightjar picked out as it roosted by Putu.

All too soon the two hours were up, it was time to finish packing and start the long journey home. We had a fantastic time in Bali, and would have loved to stay longer, and see other areas of the island.

I'll try to add a few photos now. These were all taken with my phone and Opticron MM3 - 60 scope, with a Solomark universal adapter, and are only record shots. Happy to have any of my identifications corrected.

Alll the best, Paul

A nice read Paul, bringing back fond memories from my own very similar trip to Hong Kong http://www.birdforum.net/showthread.php?t=227285 . I didn't have as much luck as you did with Mai Po waders though. Next time you should visit Tai Po Kau, although Bali seems to have covered a decent haul of rainforest birds. Best, Paul

Thank you for reading it Paul, I'm glad you enjoyed it. I thought about Tai Po Kau for this trip, and if I could have squeezed in another day of birding it would have been there. Next time. I enjoyed your report too.

Best wishes, Paul

Some photos from Mai Po, 11 April 2017

These photos were taken with my mobile phone, Solomark universal adapter and mm3 - 60 opticron travel scope. They are 'record shots' to help my identification improve and remind me what I saw, so I apologise for the quality they don't compare to some of the other photos you will see in trip reports on this site.

I'm happy for my IDs to be corrected, I am no expert and and always willing to learn and get better.

Photo 1: A selection of waders - I reckon there are 7 species you could identify in this picture...

Photo 2: Another selection of waders - same pool, different composition, again 7 species, 3 different to picture 1... (I will post both these pictures separately with some others in the ID section in a post asking for some help with Sandplover IDs)

Photo 3: Sharp-tailed Sandpipers

Photo 4: Red-necked Stint

Photo 5: Great Knot and... (this picture I will also post in the ID section with some others re Greenshank ID)

Happy birding, Paul

More photos from Mai Po 11 April 2017

Picture 6: Common Greenshank coming into summer plumage (note two tone bill)

Picture 7: Terek Sandpiper

Picture 8: Avocets (note leucistic bird)

Picture 9: Red-necked Stints and a Little Stint

Picture 10: Little Stint

Happy birding, Paul

Final set of photos from Mai Po 11 April 2017

Photo 11: Broad-billed Sandpiper

Photo 12: Mongolian Sandplover?

Photo 13: Saunders Gull

Photo 14: Caspian and Gull-billed Terns

Cheers, Paul

And finally...

Please see attached trip report. I have included details about how to access Mai Po and my recommended approach to walking around the reserve at the end of the section on Hong Kong. I have also uploaded this to cloudbirders.

All the best, Paul