Southern Sumatra Feb 2013 (1 Viewer)

SOUTHERN SUMATRA FEBRUARY 2013

Introduction
Christmas Eve 2012 and I received an email from Martin Gottschling regarding a trip he was putting together in February to look for a few of Sumatra’s montane forest endemics, but notably the two Pittas; Graceful Pitta and Schneider’s Pitta. Given the most prolific recent location for the latter has been at Danau Ranau in the southern national park of Bukit Barisan Selatan, it also seemed sensible to allocate part of the trip to make the pilgrimage to the relatively recently discovered Sumatran Ground Cuckoo site at Way Titias that is also part of the National Park. It would have been rude not to.

Martin had already convinced his birding pal in Germany Holger Lauruschkus to join him and was after another Pitta ‘enthusiast’ to make a team of three for the trip to share logistical costs and birding experiences. I had first met Martin on the Azores a couple of years previous, so he was well aware of my fondness for the world’s Pittas; and Holger too has birded around parts of SE Asia with Martin, so the writing was on the wall for a potentially exciting whistle stop tour of some of Southern Sumatra’s highlights.

Logistics
Martin sorted all logistics with a friend and contact he has in Jakarta, an Indonesian birder named Ari, who he first met whilst working at the bird observatory on Heligoland a few years previous. The logistics basically followed that prescribed by recent trip reports notably the one by Ashley Banwell and John Gregory – using a middleman to contact the ground agents for two sites; Way Titias and Danau Ranau, who then set up the itinerary at these sites. They used a different fixer to us, but the details are otherwise roughly the same:

• Ashley Banwell & John Gregory (2007) “Little Known Southern Sumatra” – this report distils detailed information on who, how, where and what to expect, and covers everything in as much detail as is necessary to follow in their footsteps so is recommended as the starting point for any future visitors to this area of Bukit Barisan Selatan NP.

A growing number of people have now braved the rediscovered Sumatran Ground Cuckoo site at Way Titias in Bukit Barisan Selatan NP and have shared their experiences, and these formed background and pre-trip preparation. The following were consulted on top of the report mentioned above:

• Chris Gooddie (2010) “The Jewel Hunter” Wildguides (recommended reading - there is whole chapter on Sumatra – ‘The Toktor will see you now’ […but not necessarily you it!]. I re-read this chapter a number of times prior to the trip, a nice introduction on what to expect, to compliment the logistical details in the Ashley Banwell & John Gregory report. Toktor by the way is the Indonesian name for the Ground-cuckoo;
• Wendy Newman (2009) Sumatra 1-22 September 2009 another detailed account;
• Reports and general site information on the Birding Indonesia website: http://burung-nusantara.org/ (including links here directly to the ground team contacts in Bukit Barisan Selatan if your Indonesian communication skills are upto the job of cutting out the middle man and organising with them directly over the phone - they speak no English);
• Martin also had information from various email exchanges on the Oriental Birding email group, primarily about the Ground Cuckoo site ‘Way Titias’, but also the nearby site ‘Danau Ranau’ where Schneider’s Pitta was becoming a regular fixture. This included emails from Nick Brickle (who originally went with the local hunter Gamal to locate the Ground Cuckoo and become the first non-local to see one in the wild), birdforum's DMW, Chris Gooddie and others.

As well as visiting Bukit Barisan Selatan National Park we had a few nights in the Sumatran lowland site at Way Kambas National Park. There is a lot of information on this site, and the following accounts amongst others were read in preparation:

• János Oláh & Attila Simay “Way Kambas National Park, Sumatra: The Best Asian Night-birding” BirdingAsia 8 (2007):39-44
• Paul Jepson ed. (2004) “Birding Indonesia: A Birdwatchers Guide to the Worlds Largest Archipelago” Periplus Action Guides
• Oscar Campbell (2012)” Sumatra 2012” Surfbirds Trip Reports
• Richard Webb (2012) “Sumatra: Way Kambas National Park 27 May – 4 June 2012” Mammalwatching.com
• A number of older trip reports were useful, including for Gunung Kerinci and Tapan Road as to the montane endemics generally.

The only field guide we took were copies of Mackinnon & Phillipps (1993) A Field Guide to the Birds of Borneo, Sumatra, Java and Bali. This book is now getting quite out of date with the many splits and proposed splits of recent years – particularly of endemic forms. The gradual increase in birding in the region is providing more knowledge of avifauna, with for example, the well documented rediscovery of the Ground Cuckoo, plus other interesting snippets on target species like Graceful Pitta known from more recent times than 1918, and Sumatran Cochoa now known from more than the “…four specimens, all males, collected on Singgalang & Kerinci…” as stated in the book. There is also the odd mistake and the altitudinal ranges for a number of species are out of date. Having said all that it is however still a usable and useful guide, with lots of information present, and will continue to be the staple field guide until updated. It is also quite interesting to see what has changed and the advances in collective knowledge over just the last 20 years.

A Note on Timing
Most birders take the more sensible option of visiting Sumatra during the main dry season period of late summer. A few have selected peak rainy season for the south (Noc/Dec-Jan/Feb), and others have visited towards the end of the peak rains in April. It is said that the climate is not particularly stable here and rain can be expected during any season, especially in the mountains. We encountered rain virtually daily, mostly in the afternoon and on a couple of occasions it curtailed all birding activities in the afternoon period and into the evening period. Even if not raining the threat of rain in the afternoons seemed enough to ensure the forests remained fairly quiet and bird activity low at that time of day. On a couple of days in Danau Ranau relatively strong and cold winds from the west were also a feature and this affected key morning birding periods; particularly the frequency of encounters with bird waves.

We selected February as a birding friend of Martin’s had visited Danau Ranau in Feb 2012 and his experience was that both endemic Pitta species were actively defending territories during this period (and are thus more likely to be encountered). Although it would be nice to travel peak birding season, it is not a good option work wise for the three of us, so a favourable report from winter time was all that was needed for us to attempt the trip during the rains.


Locations
The Map attached below is an illustrative map showing the general locations of National Parks and locations visited within them. The two main areas we visited were Bukit Barisan Selatan National Park and Way Kambas National Park.


Itinerary
The second attachment below is a table outlining the itinerary for the trip.


Costs
The currency in Indonesia is the Indonesian Rupiah (IDR) at the time of visit the exchange rate was roughly £1 = IDR15,000, and my credit card charged me £66.32 for IDR1,000,000

I booked my air tickets a couple of weeks prior to departure. The long haul was with Qatar Airways and cost £582 return Heathrow to Jakarta with a layover in Doha. The internal flight was booked on the Garuda Indonesia website and cost £134 return Jakarta to Bandar Lampung (note current UK FCO advice on the various Indonesian airlines). A Visa is necessary in Indonesia for UK citizens, which can be obtained on arrival and is valid for 30 days ($25 US). An airport tax of IDR150,000 is payable on leaving the country.

The trip to the Bukit Barisan Selatan NP sites (Way Titias and Danau Ranau) was a fixed charge that covered all overheads (from pick up in Way Kambas to drop off at airport in Bandar Lampung). This is probably not the cheapest way of doing it, but left no uncertainties, which was helpful on such a tight trip time wise. The cost for three people for 10 days was IDR27,734,000 (just over £600 pp) –This covered the following:

• All food and accommodation (including hotel in Liwa (Permata Hotel) but not in Bandar Lampung);
• Use of two field assistants, Gamal* (Mr Toktor himself) – ex-hunter turned bird guide who has an excellent knowledge of the two sites and superb hearing and eyesight for the key species at least, and Toni – the Chef and overall general logistics man;
• Porters for our food, tents and overnight bags (they left us once set up in the forest);
• Charges for NP fees (we had a NP ranger accompany us for the duration on both trips, although they both mostly stayed at camp with Toni);
• Minibus from Way Kambas to Way Titias (c7hrs), Way Titias to Danau Ranau (c1.5hrs) and Danau Ranau to Bandar Lampung (c5hrs)

[*We called Gamal ‘Kamal’ as that is how he pronounced his name, but from correspondence with Nick Brickle he mentions that it is spelt with a ‘G’ and the pronunciation is guttural hence the inflection.]


We managed to empty the ATM of cash at Bandar Lampung airport (be aware it’s a very small airport!), as Toni met us from our flight and wanted full upfront payment in IDR, and that was after maxing the daily limit of our credit cards in Jakarta the night before, so we only needed half the cash from the BL ATM! Didn’t notice any cash converters here, but there were plenty at Jakarta airport.

It may also be useful to future visitors if I also outline the other main charges we encountered in Way Kambas, which is not the cheapest park in this part of the world as official rules state you must be accompanied by a guard/ranger on all visits into the field. The charges between three people were however acceptable and it is good to know you are helping local jobs in conservation to some extent. The costs below are per group/activity and not individual costs:

• Half day trip into park per group with ranger/guide = IDR300,000
• Boat Trip to Rawa Gajah Swamp IDR500,000
• Overnight basic accommodation at Way Kanan Station 3nights = IDR900,000 for room
• Food, all meals and drinks (tea, coffee, mineral water) three days three people = IDR480,000. Despite offering to go shopping for us, we elected to survive on what the rangers had in stock (Mie (Noodles) & Nasi (Rice) Goreng (fried)). It is usually recommended you bring your own food with you if staying at Way Kanan field station and the rangers will cook it for you;
• We were recommended to pay the rangers a tip for any night birding excursions beyond what would be considered reasonable for a standard half day outing;
• Taxi from BL airport to Way Kambas = IDR660,000

Hotel in Bandar Lampung opposite the Airport (Hotel Modjopahet) – IDR125,000 per twin room economy (and my room was pretty ropey). The AC rooms were full, maybe they were of a better standard.

Hotel in Jakarta – Amaris – cIDR200,000 twin room, aircon, free shuttle to airport, and Man United vs Soton on the tv, but I only got to enjoy the room for c5hrs.


Remainder of Trip Report
Highlights of the trip from each location to follow in the form of an introduction to each area visited and our highlights, followed by a few annotated photos of some of these highlights.

WAY KAMBAS


One of the most well-known Sumatran National Parks, this is lowland forest that has been selectively logged but still retains the majority of bird and mammal interest. As well as degraded lowland Diptocarp forest with secondary mature scrub growth, there are large areas of swamp forest and sandy heath swamp. The main areas of accessibility for birding are along the main access track to a forest clearing with Ranger station along the River Kanan about 15km into the forest ‘Way Kanan’, a short loop trail from Way Kanan to the access road, boat trips along the River Kanan with access to Rawa Gajah swamp forest, and a further access road to the ‘Elephant Training Centre’ on the southern side of the Park.

For our visit we were without vehicular access and were dropped off at Way Kanan, staying here for three nights. This gave us 3 afternoon/eve birding and 3 mornings birding trips. In this time we navigated the loop trail on two mornings and the third was used for a boat trip to the Rawa Gajah area to look primarily for the endangered White-winged Duck. Our evening excursions were along the main access track and involved (when the weather allowed) night walks for the various nightbirds, the main two being Bonaparte’s Nightjar and Large Frogmouth. During the heat of the day I pottered around the clearing at Way Kanan and also walked part of the loop trail. Although you are supposed to have a guard/ranger for every venture into the forest, I think so long as they like the look of you and you pass custom their way they are more relaxed about your every activity! For our main ventures into the forest we used the rangers every time.

The highlights of the time spent in Way Kambas included the following:

White-winged Duck – Seen well in flight on three occasions. The first time early morning from the boat on the River Kanan, a pair appeared to be roosting in a large riverine tree and took flight as our boat rounded the corner. Good but brief views were had as they veered off deeper into the swamp. A second encounter was along the swamp forest after disembarking in about two foot of water and wading through the forest to lakes hidden within the swamp. Here we stood viewing the open waterbodies for about 2hrs. Mid-morning a male White-winged Duck alerted us to his incoming via the characteristic farmyard honk. The bird was probably coming to land on the lake but as it flew directly over our heads veered off and over the clearing to a further lake. The final encounter was bizarrely, on the loop trail, where another male flew directly over our heads allowing brief views through the canopy on the last morning. It pays to learn the call of White-winged Duck as it is useful for alerting you of an incoming bird. The ranger we had with us, ‘Apri’ (the spelling may be incorrect) knew the calls.

Bonaparte’s Nightjar – The usual clearing it seems for this species is the first larger clearing along the main track from Way Kanan. We arrived around dusk, which is likely to be the most productive time and almost immediately picked up a calling bird deep in the forest. I made some poor recordings of its bizarre call and we managed to tape it whereby it came into its regular clearing calling some more on an exposed branch briefly before flying around the clearing and off into the forest again.

Large Frogmouth – About 2km along from Way Kanan we were at another clearing on the second night (past the ‘Stork pond’) and were watching Malaysian Eared Nightjar when a bird flew along the access track and landed directly above our heads on a large bare branch. Putting bins to the bird we were all amazed to see it was a Large Frogmouth, which had come to check us out! At this point unfortunately it started raining heavily and the bird took cover back into the forest.

Oriental Bay Owl and other Night birds – Exceedingly lucky with the above two night birds our luck had clearly run out as we heard and tried to locate Oriental Bay Owl – moving through the jungle in the pitch black (as carefully as we could ofcourse) we got to where it was calling, but it was high up in the canopy of some large trees and we couldn’t locate it! Reddish Scops Owl, Brown Wood Owl and Brown Hawk Owl all were heard onlys as were Gould’s and Javan Frogmouths. The only other nightbird we saw was another nightjar, Large-tailed Nightjar, which is very common around Way Kanan camp. We didn’t do any pre-dawn walks and one of our evening walks was unfortunately mostly rained off.

Great Argus – a very lucky encounter mid-day on the way into the park half way along the access track a bird crosses the road and watches us from the edge of the road for a couple of mins. I hadn’t even unpacked the camera, although Martin quick as a flash scrambled for his bag and managed a record shot !

Malayan Banded Pitta – The species appeared to be at a high density from the number of calling birds we heard. Seen well a couple of times on the loop trail and main access road.

? Giant Pitta ? – Bit of a weird one this. We were walking along the loop trail, with our ranger Apri and I hear a bird off to the left which doesn’t compute, nothing new there, but it sounds interesting. The other two to listen, and they aren’t sure about the sound either. We turn to Apri and ask him if he knows what it is. In a ridiculously casual way he says it’s a Giant Pitta. We wait around for about 45mins but all is stubbornly quiet. On quizzing Apri further about Giant Pitta he mentions where we were on the loop trail (by a meander of the stream) he has seen the species four times. To put this in context he has seen Sumatran Tiger eight times. Anyway it came to nothing for us, and I cant even say it was a Pitta, but I thought worth recounting the strange tale incase someone else is luckier. I took a GPS reading (S 05.03270; E 105.77877), but it’s roughly half along the loop trail.


Blue-winged Leafbird ssp. icterocephala - The subspecies of Blue-winged Leafbird on Sumatra is one with a nice yellowish wash over the face and head and was seen on a couple of occasions along the access track and at the Way Kanan station.

Other species noted included: Green, Banded, Dusky, Black & Yellow Broadbills; Red Bearded Bee-eater; Hooded Pitta; Red-naped, Diard’s and Scarlet-rumped Trogons; Blue-eared Kingfisher, Rhinoceros & Bar-pouched Wreathed Hornbills; Red-crowned, Red-throated, Yellow-crowned, Blue-eared & Brown Barbets; White-crowned Forktail, Crested Wood Partridge, Crested Fireback, Velvet-fronted Nuthatch, Little Green Pigeon, Green Imperial Pigeon, Red-billed & Raffles Malkohas, Scaly-crowned, Rufous-crowned, Chestnut-winged, Chestnut-rumped, Black-throated, Black-capped and Pin-striped Tit-Babblers. Woodpeckers were not as prevalent for us as some trip reports note, but we had good views of five species including Orange-backed Woodpecker on a number of occasions.

Other interest – We were rather restricted to the Way Kanan area so could not repeat the night drives as described by Richard Webb in his trip report from 2012, which did sound fairly productive. We saw a few species of interest though, including Leopard Cat, Malay Civet, Sunda Colugo, Slow Loris, Sambar Deer, Red Muntjac, Wild Boar, Siamang (commonly heard) and Long-tailed Macaque. A number of the smaller squirrels were left unidentified as were some pale rats along the loop trail at night, and one large squirrel looked to be Prevost’s Squirrel. Roosting bats were noted at one location, appearing to be a one of the Short-nosed Fruit Bats Cynopterus sp. This attractive genus of small fruit bats contains a number of similar cryptic species some appear yet to be formally described. Evidence of Elephant and Sumatran Rhino was also noted. A large Monitor Lizard was seen at Rawa Gajah swamps.


The Map below shows the main areas visited:

Entrance Gate S 05.07917; E 105.70351 Elevation 38m
Way Kanan Field Station S 05.02787; E 105.77621 Elevation 26m
Old Storms Stork Pool S 05.03598; E 105.76318 Elevation 40m
Rawa Gajah Swamp Pool S 05.01821; E 105.76738 Elevation 18m

The Farmyard One

One of the principal species at Way Kambas is the endangered White-winged Wood Duck, Sumatra being one of the more accessible places to see this species, which historically was spread across Asia from eastern India through Tropical East Asia to Sumatra and Java. Now its range is highly fragmented and the Birdlife data sheet suggests only about 1000 of these quackers remain. 150 of these are said to occur in Sumatra, with Way Kambas being the best place at present to see them. We decided to allocate one of our mornings in the Park to search for this species, and to do this you generally need to enter the wet swamp forest with natural lakes dotted through it, which the birds call home.

Birding such habitat is not easy when even small boats cannot access the pools that the ducks prefer. Pre-trip reading suggested that in order to have a good chance of seeing the species you need to get into the swamp forest and wade to the clearings. In the summer you may get away with wellies, but during the winter the options are limited to either getting wet feet or not going. We opted for a dawn departure and had to wipe dry or just put up with the residue of the previous evening’s downpour on the seats and sides of the boat. The sun was just rising as we set off along the forested river away from the field station.

There was a bit of apprehension that because the forest was so wet we may struggle to see the ducks as they would be more spread out and not congregating in known stakeout pools. We needn’t have worried however, we were off to a running start, on rounding the first bend in the river we disturbed a roosting pair of White-winged Wood Duck in a large riverside tree, which quickly exited right, over the river and off deeper into the swamp forest. Nice views and we hadn’t even got our feet wet, we could have quit there, but decided to go onward to try and get more prolonged views.

Not far along the river our boat stopped, we had reached our destination. The lack of a bank to step out on did not worry our Ranger Apri who jumped into the edge of the flooded forest. We dutifully followed as he led us through thick wet to dryer swamp forest along various animal tracks to a couple of wide forest clearings. Photos 1-2 below show one of the forest clearing pools of Rawa Gajah Swamp after the sun had burnt off early morning mists over the lake. We waited in knee deep waters for a couple of hours for the forest to reveal a few of its gems. This included Bar-pouched Wreathed Hornbill, with calling Rhinoceros Hornbills which refused to show, and other interest in the form of Rufous Woodpecker, Stork-billed and White-throated Kingfishers, and Dollarbird. As we were about to give up our vigil a honking noise from behind us gave enough time to turn and see a male White-winged Wood Duck fly low over our heads and head for the open lake, at the last second however it noticed us and continued deeper into the forest (Photo 3).

We slowly ambled back to the boat pick up point again along animal tracks, hearing Red Junglefowl and disturbing a large Monitor Lizard. A second forest pool was empty of bird life, but a drier part of the forest with an eroded stream bank provided evidence of the ultra rare Sumatran Rhino with a couple of wallows (photo 4).

Nightlife

Way Kambas has built a reputation as being a very good place to see some of Asia’s best lowland forest fauna. The long access track cuts through 15km of logged forest, with a number of river crossings and clearings with thick scrub, and the occasional remnant patch of large Diptocarps. The Richard Webb report highlighted in the above introduction post shows how to do it well cruising up and down the track for mammals and night birds. People have this way seen some of the principal goodies such as Malayan Tapir, Forest Elephant, and even Sumatran Tiger and Rhino. We were only on foot so were restricted to the Way Kanan area and as far as we could walk along the access track (maybe 3-4km on the longest evening), but this area is a good spot for two key species we were after, the strange sounding Bonaparte’s Nightjar and the daddy of the Asian frogmouths, Large Frogmouth .

We had about five to ten minutes of calling Bonaparte’s Nightjar on the first evening with it hawking around a clearing just after watching a Sunda Colugo wake up and ascend higher on a near tree before gliding deep into the forest (Photo 1). Large Frogmouth was being quiet, infact we didn’t hear one on our three nightwalks, so it was all the more fortuitous that whilst watching a Malaysian Eared Nightjar hawking on the second evening that one flew onto a branch above our heads to check us out (Photo 2). It stayed long enough for us to admire it and grab a few photos before the heavens opened and it vanished back into the forest.

Mammal wise on our various evening excursions we also notched up a number of Slow Loris, but always high up in the tallest trees. Around the field station clearing we were able to watch foraging and hunting Malayan Civets (Photo 3 - foraging under an outdoor building on low stilts) and a rather fine Leopard Cat (Photo 4). The clearing here also had good numbers of Large-tailed Nightjar, which also remained surprisingly silent (Photo 5).

The Loop Trail

If you aren’t birding along the access road, or within the vast swamps of Way Kambas the other main option is to navigate the simple stepping stone arc of the loop trail, which runs from the field station at Way Kanan to a little way down the access road. The trail is not long at all, infact it could probably be quite easily walked in an hour at pace, but a slow stroll through the forest here can easily waste away a morning or afternoon. We birded the trail twice and saw some interesting species, one of the highlights being the numerous calling Malayan Banded Pittas, with a few territories noted on the trail itself and also along the access road past the trail, and past the Stork Pool. Photo 1 was taken with the loud calls of Siamang Gibbons in the background and occasional bursts from Diard’s and Red Naped Trogons, and whilst a White-crowned Forktail flitted in and out of view along a narrow stream.

Of the three common lowland trogons of the greater Sundas, Diard’s remained the most elusive to catch a glimpse of, but good views were had of Red-naped and Scarlet-rumped Trogons. Photo 2 shows a colourful male Red-naped Trogon. This was one of a pair with the female also very close, but much more secretive and quiet than the noisy calling male.

Other typical lowland forest species were notched up including good views of Crested Hill Partridges with a calling Red-bearded Bee-eater somewhere deep in the forest behind them; more good views of the arboreal Red-crowned Barbet (photo 3) as well as a few woodpeckers including multiple Crimson-winged and Orange-backed Woodpecker sightings (photo 4 left and right respectively), and numerous babblers which rather bizarrely included a high up calling Chestnut-rumped Babbler that we recorded and taped into view to be sure given its atypical high canopy behaviour - later in the trip we also encountered the closely related Spot-necked Babbler canopy bound in a bird wave so maybe this is something these large Stachyris babblers are occasionally prone to? The rather fetching looking Black-throated Babbler was more true to form, skulking in some thicket by a stream and refusing to come into view.

Perhaps my favourite family of birds are the broadbills, and we had good views of Green, Black & Yellow and a high up Dusky Broadbill (Photo 5) along the trail and the access road close to the trail exit. One evening just past the exit to the loop trail, adjacent to the Bonaparte’s Nightjar clearing we had a small flurry of activity with presumably a fruiting tree somewhere in the deeper forest as Little Green Pigeons and Green Imperial Pigeons hurtled by, with calling Hornbills in the distance and a group of five or so Green Broadbills appearing to get ready to roost, with a loud calling Black & Yellow seeming to get more excited as the Green Broadbills arrived.

Some Misc Photos Way Kambas

A final few photos from Way Kambas, the Field Station and accommodation area (Photo 1) is an open clearing in the forest, although it seemed to be short of a lot of action during the day time. We were invited into the rangers area during feeding time (our feeding time that is), with Photo 2 a pic of the rustic kitchen area. A generator powered lights in the accommodation (and also gave electricity to recharge batteries), the lights provided attractants for invertebrates with this unusual leaf-mimic Katylid attracted on one night (Photo 3), and the relatively infrequently used buildings themselves also had other residents in the shape of a family group of Short-nosed Fruit Bats (Photo 4 of a mother and young, and Photo 5 of a presumed male with bright orange fur). The number of species in this genus is not fully understood at present, although according to the mammals of SE Asia (Francis et al) the genus is spread through the Greater Sundas and SE Asia and may include a number of cryptic species.

Looking forward to the rest of this trip report! Thanks for sharing.

Excellent reading, thanks
Tony

Cheers guys, part two along soon, although maybe the bank holiday will get in the way... First a travelling interlude:


Travelling
With our short time at Way Kambas over we were heading off west by 11am for the long journey to Liwa to meet with our ground crew for the hike into the rainforests at Way Titias. Toni, the logistics man and Chef met us with a driver at Kambas, I think perhaps his brother – but with my lack of understanding Bahasa Indonesian and his lack of English speaking I wasn’t quite sure! The trip from the lowlands saw us speeding past acres of Cassava fields, interspersed with Palm plantations and other miscellaneous farmed land. The landscape of southern Sumatra is green and lush, the lowland rivers are fast flowing, brown and smelly, and the townships appear relatively neat and tidy. The road etiquette is not too bad either, and rather surprisingly to me at least, a lot of motorcylists appear to wear safety helmets.

As we headed westwards we moved out of the lowlands and into the lower hills. Here rice production is more prolific (Photo 1). This photo also shows the desire to spray rice paddies with what I presume are pesticides of some sort, perhaps a reason why there was little bird life of note as we sped along. Actually that is not entirely true, sadly the Indonesian desire for caged song birds in front of their homes and shops forces the travelling birder into a rather depressing game of spot the wild birds in the cages. As an example Photo’s 2 & 3 show the endemic Sumatran Treepie outside of a house, one of many caged species noted as we sped along. In order to keep this bird in its small cage it has had its tail removed – who takes the tail off a Treepie?!? Birding in Sumatran rainforests is a tough affair, the birds are shy and thinly spread, and this is evidence for at least one reason why. What is needed is a widespread education of the children in Indonesia that caging a bird is not only not good – it should be seen as socially unacceptable, change takes time though, and these things are easier said than done of course.

Another sign of pilfering of the forest’s natural features sped graphically past us on another part of our journeys on Sumatra’s highways when two motorcyclists overtook with live Wild Boar tied to the back of their bikes – I just about had time to grab a photo through the windscreen, Photo 4. It was almost like a modern day interpretation of a scene out of 'Travels with Asterix' from my childhood!

Moving west we passed patches of degraded forest more frequently, usually in areas where agriculture was more difficult to establish. It wasn’t until we were in the Barisan range proper where the hills rise towards and above 1000m that we started seeing larger fragments of forest and here away from the rice paddies of the lower valleys there appeared to be patches of market garden style agriculture with many small patches of different herbs and veg. Photo 5 shows some market gardening plots with a partially deforested hillside in the background. Where the hills do not support market gardening the major crop appears to be Coffee.

This post is focussing on the woes of modern life for the natural habitats of the tropics (played out the world over), and Sumatra is no exception. However not all is lost and it is home to areas of submontane and montane forests – clinging onto existence for now through the higher reaches of the hills along the c45-100km wide stretch of the Barisan mountains. These mountains stretch from the south to the north of the island along its west coast and are the green montane spine of Sumatra. It is here where the majority of endemic and range restricted bird species occur. They are part of an Endemic Bird Area identified by Birdlife International: the montane and hill diptocarp forests of Peninsular Malaysia and Sumatra. It is also where some of the most enigmatic of the wildlife of the Greater Sundas occurs, with populations of Sumatran Tiger and Sumatran Rhino spread thinly along its length, and the ‘other’ population of Asia’s only great Apes, the Sumatran Orang Utan. The latter only occurs in the north of the island past a major geographical feature (Lake Toba – formally Gunung Toba!) the history of which is said to provide some explanation to geographical separation of a number ecological features of the Barisan range in north on one side, and central to south Sumatra on the other.

The Tiger and Rhino are rarely sighted; our main Ground Cuckoo man, Gamal, has seen Sumatran Rhino, but from what I could gather, only once, deep in the forest at Way Titias. We had about eight days along the southern end of the range to explore and see a small portion of some of Sumatra’s more likely montane goodies, spread equally between the Sumatran Ground Cuckoo site at Way Titias, and a higher site adjacent to a local tourist destination Danau Ranau.

Excellent report so far and looking forward to the rest.

Excellent report so far - Gareth

Hope the rest of the trip went well and you got the target birds

David and Sarah

Thanks Mike and D&S. David, not all targets for me, read on...


Part two = Way Titias


This part of Bukit Barisan Selatan National Park is primary hill forest to lower montane along a river with steep sided forested valleys and numerous streams cutting through the landscape. The access is via a c5km walk into the forest along the main river with numerous river crossings to just over knee height during our visit. The area has a number of small trails predominantly along ridge lines made by hunters and locals and is mostly closed forest. Gamal has a number of what can loosely be termed trails that he has cut into the area around the camp, and the local Ground Cuckoo territories, but they are probably barely discernible to anyone else.

We camped in the forest for four nights, under tarps and three tents (two new, one old). The tents were supplied by Toni and Gamal. Campsite was adjacent to a hillside stream cutting through a steep valley, part of the territory for a pair/family of Sumatran Ground Cuckoos. It took us 6 hours to reach campsite on the first morning, starting from Gamal’s house (the start point on the map below), wading through the river and birding whilst we went. On arrival the rains started and didn’t stop until pre-dawn the next morning! The first day from camp was spent heading south west in the morning and then north east in the afternoon. The next couple of days were spent in forest east of the camp and stream in the heart of the closest Ground Cuckoo territory. The final morning was a brief bit of birding and then the walk out which took only 4 hours to reach Gamal’s house, whereby the heavens opened and we had a 45min walk through the open rice paddies and farmed land at Landos back to the road and Toni’s house – the umbrella was mostly useless to such an onslaught, but luckily the waterproofing over my camera bag stood up to the test.

The camp and food provided by Toni at Way Titias was basic but friendly. Toni did a good job of repackaging the same meal, although if you aren’t fond of rice or noodles then you may struggle. The rain was mostly manageable at camp and the tarps held it back well. The worst issue for me as someone with a camera was the additional humidity of sleeping and living right next to a stream, in what was probably 100% humidity in the forest during rainy season in any event. This more or less stuffed my camera in. It didn’t stop working completely, but all the buttons on it did apart from the shutter. I had silica gel so sealed it in an air tight bag overnight, which would provide a temporary fix for the first hour or two of the morning, but by the time we came out of the forest I had to revert to a second camera body lent to me by my mate. Make sure you are well prepared if taking electronic equipment into the forest here.

Highlights from Way Titias:

Sumatran Ground Cuckoo – A tricky species to see and in the event only one of the group, Martin, had a good view of one. We heard them on three of the four days we were there, mostly the same territory, although distant birds to the north east were heard on a couple of occasions too. The sighting came on our first encounter, and this was the only time the birds were properly responsive to tape, whereby we managed to tempt one of the pair to leave the thick understorey vegetation of the lower valley sides and up onto a minor ridge through playback of that individual’s call. Unfortunately the viewing opportunities were still limited and it probably saw us before we it. As it mooched back down to join its mate we circled round to get a view of the slope it was heading down and here Martin used his skills to turned a half chance into his sighting. The other mornings we concentrated on tracking the bird, which was how Gamal preferred to approach it, but with the thick valley side understorey and four of us crashing along, with Gamal cutting new trails through it all, the Ground Cuckoos were always a few steps ahead – although Gamal did glimpse them a couple of times. On the final morning we very nearly got a sighting using this technique as two Cuckoos converged onto the area we had climbed upto from the stream, but again they backed away at the last second.

Graceful Pitta – On the walk in we had a pair of Pittas on the narrow trial on the edge of cultivation in secondary scrub. They hopped onto the trail a number of times allowing views of all the features, especially the fine blue browline, which seems impossibly delicate against the solid black head. On the final morning we also saw a young Pitta whilst cutting through understorey tracking the Ground Cuckoos. From literature describing pre-adult plumages I assume the bird was an immature rather than very young juvenile as its brow line had turned a pale blue (not near as obvious as the adult), although the body was mottled rufous to dark brown scaled (no obvious hint of the red belly coming through) and with dark looking wings and back. There was virtually no calling activity at this site.

Galliformes - Bronze-tailed Peacock Pheasant was heard only on a couple of occasions, one close to the walk in, and then around the camp area. The only other galliforme noted was distant calling Ferruginous Partridge on a couple of mornings. This was well below par for other trip reports which recorded various partridges and Salvadori’s Pheasant. I hope they haven’t been trapped out along with the Laughingthrushes which were also completely absent during our visit.

Sumatran Green Pigeon – A near endemic being also found in the hills of West Java. This was the only green pigeon noted at Way Titias. It was seen on the walk in in a bare tree, and then heard on a couple of the mornings east of camp delivering its rather nice yodel of a call.

Cream-striped Bulbul – Seen a few times on a couple of the days, it seemed to be one of the more frequent Bulbul species at this site.

Sumatran Trogon – Seen a few times, including a couple of close views. It was heard calling, but only quietly after we had located one. Im not sure whether they are always quiet in calling, or whether they weren’t calling properly during the season we were there?

Sumatran Drongo – Seemed common at this site and the most numerous Drongo during our visit here.

Buettikofer’s (Sumatran) Babbler – Was hoping to spend some time in the cultivated and secondary habitat on the edge of the forest, but our walk to Gamal’s house was done in the dark, and any thoughts of birding during our walk out of the forest was curtailed by torrential rain, so in the end we only had the short time we were having breakfast at Gamal’s house at dawn on the first morning here. This was enough though as there were birds calling in the scrub behind Gamal’s house. During breakfast we had some reasonable views of this, until recently, little seen endemic.

Sunda Forktail – Not endemic but restricted to the hills of Sumatra and Java. This species was seen on the main river on the walk in and also around camp. All sightings I had appeared to be males as I failed to note any chestnut crowned individuals.

Other species recorded included Black Eagle; Green-billed Malkoha; Helmeted, Rhinoceros & Bushy-crested Hornbills, Malaysian Eared Nightjar, Orange-backed & Maroon Woodpeckers; Banded & Long-tailed Broadbills; Spotted Fantail; Chestnut-backed Scimitar Babbler; Grey-throated, Spot-necked, Rufous-fronted, Golden, Horsfield’s & Moustached Babblers; Eye-browed & Pygmy wren Babblers, Blue Nuthatch; Fulvous-chested Jungle Flycatcher; Ferruginous, Rufous-browed & Rufous-chested Flycatchers and Blue-winged Leafbird.

Other interest - Siamang and Agile Gibbons were frequently heard and blonde pelage Agile Gibbons were noted on the first morning from camp. Mitred Leaf Monkey were also seen on one date (presumed to be Southern Mitred Leaf Monkey). Sumatran Long-nosed Horned Frog was also recorded not far from camp.

Forest edge/Walk in

The walk in to Way Titias is not a particularly straightforward one. We were dropped off early evening at Toni’s house (Photo 1) at the end of the metalled road, a rural suburb called Landos. A couple hot drinks and a session repacking our bags for just the essentials, and we were ready to get going to our overnight stop at Gamal’s house. This is across rice paddies and up a partially deforested slope, not that we could see much, as by the time we got going it was dark.

Gamal’s house is a 45min walk from Landos and we eventually got there ready for our next cup of tea. Thankfully this was quick in coming and his mother was already preparing a fried rice dinner for us. Photo 2 is a pic of the two main men of Landos – Toni (blurred) and Gamal (focused with the stillness of a hunter), lit by candlelight awaiting dinner. We ended up sleeping on the floor of the main room. I was too lazy to unpack my sleeping bag and froze for the second half of the night (I suppose we had climbed to about 1000m). The evening was quiet apart from the obligatory Banded Bay Cuckoo, who never seem to shut up.

Next morning dawn started to the sounds of Gibbons and distant Hornbills. Whilst having breakfast and waiting for our porters we stood around outside the house Photo 3, surveying for the first time the forested slopes at Way Titias. A babbler was calling in the thickest vegetation adjacent to the house and whilst it didn’t sound exactly like the pre-recordings we had of the endemic Buettikofer’s (Sumatran) Babbler, it also didn’t sound like any other. I recorded the call, played it back and the bird hopped into view low down on a shaded branch. It was calling more or less continuously for about an hour and came in and out of view a number of times (if never sitting still!) allowing us to get a good look at it and get some photos (Photo 4 – with flash, and Photo 5 - without). A recording of the call is uploaded on this thread.

Having read up on the trip into Way Titias camp we knew it was going to be a bit of an ordeal, and we had decided to pay for porters to take our overnight bags, lighten the load a tad. Unfortunately the porters thought my overnight bag was a day pack so left it for me to carry. That meant I had an equipment bag and an overnight bag to haul in, which was hard work. We set off slipping down the trail to the first stream that lead to the main river and then crossed the river numerous times, wading through it. This was a slowish walk in with a few cigarette stops for the guys, and also a bit of birding. Infact the birding was quite good with a pair of Graceful Pitta on the trail just below Gamal’s house giving us all our first endemic pitta of the trip straight away with a Bronze-tailed Peacock Pheasant calling in the background. A short way further on another range restricted species in the form of Sumatran Green Pigeon was high in an open canopy. The main river held couple of Sunda Forktail territories, and as we got into thicker forest a few more forest species appeared, including our best views of the trip of the smart Rufous-chested Flycatcher. The walk in took about six hours.

Hunting for the Ground Cuckoo

The forest at Way Titias is on steep sided ravines with small streams and thick understorey vegetation away from the ridges. Just east of camp is the location where the Sumatran Ground Cuckoo was rediscovered via Gamal trapping one for the wild bird trade. Luckily now he has turned his attentions from poacher to gamekeeper.

As can be imagined we spent many an hour with Gamal wandering around up and down slope and over stream to search out Ground Cuckoos. After the first day, when we drew a complete blank (no hearing let alone sighting) we concentrated fairly close to camp for the remaining two full days. Here at about 9am on the second day we heard our first Ground Cuckoo, what sounded like a duetting pair to me – but who knows – definitely two birds. We edged closer to the birds, they were in a deep valley covered in spiny rattan understorey and various other seemingly impenetrable mass of vegetation and rotting dead wood. We remained on the ridge, slightly more open in understorey vegetation and played a section of call taken from Xeno Canto, I think Fabian Ducry & David Marques’s recording (thanks if you ever read this). This pulled one of the birds closer so we recorded it and then played it back, which brought it closer still – it was definitely coming in. A repeat of the second process gave a clearer recording of the bird and it kept coming closer, with a slightly more excited call. Unfortunately we were not in a great position near the top of the valley and the bird, although only probably a few metres away at its closest presumably clocked us before we it. Things went quiet, followed by the slow dawning we may have not succeeded, then it called again with another still deep in the valley answering back. The bird had made an arc around us and was heading down the slope the other side of the ridge. We quickly moved round to view the slope and all four of us were scanning quite a good area of sloping ground down to the stream with various small open patches where you prayed that a Ground Cuckoo would shuffle into view. Martin who was at the left hand end picked up the Cuckoo about 40-50m away, but as soon as he shouted out he had it in one of the gaps, it walked right and vanished.

In the remaining time we tried to repeat this initial partial success, the birds would call infrequently in the early morning and again sometimes in the mid-late afternoon but would go quiet after a burst of calling. We got close again to the birds via Gamal’s old tracking techniques, but the thickness of the vegetation in the valleys always made a stealthy approach difficult. The final couple of hours on the last morning had two birds close by, and I thought we were going to get views at the last gasp, but for some reason they clocked us again. A recording of the Ground Cuckoo from the first morning is uploaded here.

Spending time walking through the forest allowed us to see other good species. We had a young Graceful Pitta within 5m on one morning. Another special endemic is the Sumatran Trogon and we had good views of a few birds, the closest this female (Photo 1) late one afternoon that Holger picked up sitting quietly in the canopy surveying our presence, just as we were debating how to next look for a Ground Cuckoo.

One of the commoner sounds of the forest bird wise appeared to be the tiny Rufous-browed Flycatcher, Photo 2 showing its bright white throat. Other sounds, usually distant, were of Helmeted Hornbill, often forming the loud-distant aural backdrop to the forest with Agile and Siamang Gibbons. On the first morning quite far South West of the camp we disturbed a small group of Agile Gibbon, I was surprised to see the one or two that shifted off deeper into the forest were actually blonde pelage individuals. As we stood around this area mid-morning the Gibbons started calling and I made some brief sound recordings of what is one of my favourite sounds in nature – the small Asian Gibbons. Siamangs make some wacky sounds, but the smaller Gibbons just have a clarity and quality of voice (especially at dawn) that sends a shiver down my spine every time. I missed recording their more voracious calls after being disturbed by us, but it was still good to get them very close by. A short unedited sound recording is uploaded here.

Another vocal species in the forest was Banded Broadbill. This one at Photo 3 was sat around catching Cicadas in a patch of sunlight whilst we were battling through freshly cut ‘trails’ deep in some valley. A couple of other forest birds included the always good to see Chestnut-backed Scimitar Babbler (Photo 4) that was relatively numerous and the endemic Sumatran Green Pigeon (Photo 5) the only Green Pigeon we recorded here.

Ground Cuckoo Ground Zero

The main camp area for Way Titias is along a small stream cutting into steep forested hills and comprises a tarpaulin sheet stretched over a wooden support, over another tarpaulin sheet padded out with rattan and other palm leaves. A true poachers camp. Three tents were also brought in by the porters and I drew the short straw of the old one with a broken door zip furthest away along the river. The tents were also under tarps. They needed to be as the rain had a habit of coming down torrentially at times. The first afternoon we arrived at camp it rained solidly until early into the next day.

Whilst around camp one lunchtime I spent a few minutes grabbing some slow speed photos of the camp and stream (Photos 1 & 2). Photo 3 is a pic of Toni cooking up something special such as rice, or maybe noodles. Here you can also see some wellies drying (not getting any wetter) on sticks. This environment, as mentioned above, screwed up my camera via the humidity, it’s working again now though.

The last two photos from this part of the trip are of the best frog of the trip Sumatran Long-nosed Horned Frog. Having missed the Bornean Horned Frog on two trips there, I was very pleased to unexpectedly see a Horned Frog here, made up a bit for the lack of Ground Cuckoo sightings. Note also on the second photo that the frog has a leech attached, everything at Way Titias gets done by leeches at some point or other

Great report Gareth - and terrific photos!

Cheers Duncan, and thanks for putting out a few notes from your visit to the Ground Cuckoo + recordings, which I also used along with all the others on XC at some point or other.


PART 3 - DANAU RANAU


This site is another access to the forests within Bukit Barisan Selatan NP, just over an hour from Liwa on the south western shores of Lake Ranau. The lake is the second largest in Sumatra formed by earthquake and volcanic action, with the Barisan range passing along its western flank, cutting it off from the west coast of Sumatra. The lake itself lies at an altitude of around 500m asl. The nearby peaks of the Barisan range go up to over 1940m at their highest point, but most peaks are lower than 1500m. The accessible trail we visited, known simply as Danau Ranau or the Puncak Trail (trail to the top) in previous trip reports, went to a height of just over 1300m, with the forest starting at just over c1000m on the eastern flank overlooking the lake and down to just under 1200m on the western flank (although elsewhere along the ridge forest does come to lower elevations). The terrain Map below shows the route of the trail, with a GPS plot of the ascent and decent on the other side also provided.

The trail itself is steep in places, but generally more straightforward access than the Ground Cuckoo site at Way Titias. After a night in Liwa we were driven to the start of the trail, the last section of the drive along the lake shore being along a non-metaled road. It took a few hours to climb the trail, birding along the way. For accommodation we were expecting to be camping again within the forest itself, but the guys had commandeered a wooden workers house within the edge of the Coffee plantation on the west side of the hill (the Coffee House). This had advantages and disadvantages. The main drawbacks were we were not in the forest and had a 10min walk through Coffee trees to get there so during down time at the middle of the day or during the rainy periods we were less likely to see target forest birds from camp. The walk through the plantation also usually involved getting a soaking from the Coffee trees as negotiating them necessitated brushing past wet branches. The advantages were we could spread out and not worry about rain within the dwelling, and it was going to be more comfortable than tents. Also there was the potential for seeing species over the forest canopy from the location (Hornbills, Raptors, and although we didn’t maybe also the Woodcock).

Once at Danau Ranau we birded the main trail mornings and afternoons, sometimes deviating off trail, with Gamal cutting temporary trails for us. We only had one really birdy day here, where bird waves were frequent until it started raining at c3pm. The other two days were quite windy and misty and this reduced bird activity considerably. I don’t know whether this is normal, due to time of year, or whether we were just unlucky, but even on the quiet days there was some action to keep us going.

Highlights from Danau Ranau:

Schneider’s Pitta – Despite the previous information about Pitta activity in Feb at this site, we found out that in Feb 2013 at least this species was only marginally territorial. This was a bit of a major blow as it was the main target for all three of us! However a lot of hard work produced a couple of sightings. One was a brief sight only view of a bird by Gamal and Martin; Holger clocked some movement, and I saw nothing at all! The other sighting thankfully fell to me where I had a few seconds of a female through the binos at point blank range one afternoon (!!!). This bird was below the old camp area and stream. At this point the next morning we managed to coax two birds into song, but they were not interested in defending their territory and tactics of going in and staying patient both failed on successive mornings. The only calling birds heard were after playback and only in the first half hour of light and last half our before darkness.

Graceful Pitta – This Pitta was much more active and could be heard singing throughout the day. We taped and whistled in one individual which we saw well and then left them alone after that with no further views but regular calling along various points from the viewpoint on the east side of the hill right down to below the old camp.

Sumatran Hill Partridge – Heard only. This was frequently calling and we got close to seeing it a couple of times, but luck and judgement failed us.

Bronze-tailed Peacock Pheasant – A bird calling right by the trail on the walk up was glimpsed by Martin only otherwise this was also heard only. It is, judging by its call, relatively frequent here.

Sumatran Cochoa – Without a doubt this was the bird of the trip for all three of us. We had cracking views of a presumed male sat around watching us watching it for roughly three hours, in a stretch of forest dominated by Bamboo between the trail summit and the main viewpoint. The only other similar encounter of such a mega bird as this I can recall before was three hour views of Whitehead’s Broadbill on Mount Kinabalu in 2005. Both birds basically sat tight in one location for three solid hours doing nothing! No wonder they can be hard to find. The Cochoa was even briefly in the same area on the next and final day, and then called for 45minutes as we headed back down to civilisation.

Sumatran Wren Babbler – An unexpected encounter, but great views of a single bird, and probably a second (ie pair) calling in the background. This bird was seen below the old camp area and stream crossing. Initially heard calling, with contact calls similar to Eye-browed Wren Babbler, which is probably the most frequent Wren Babbler here. Then briefly seen, and on playing a brief snatch of Long-billed Wren Babbler call the bird responded by singing and allowing prolonged on and off views. Another trip highlight.

Rusty-breasted Wren Babbler – Heard at dawn in two areas along the trail on a few occasions, but only singing briefly each time. The bird being most vocal was by the first shelter/bench down from the summit west side (Chris Gooddie’s ‘Graceland’), the other bird was just above the old camp/stream crossing. The bird around the first shelter down from the summit was briefly sighted in the gloom of dawn, but other than a plump silhouette I couldn’t make any plumage details on it.

Marbled Wren Babbler – Heard only on the final morning, between the first shelter/bench and second down from the summit west side. This involved two territories, although both birds were only calling early morning, and were not particularly territorial.

Sumatran Treepie – Seen and heard daily.

Sumatran/Sunda Collared Owlet – Commonly heard, we saw a single bird around the summit area on the walk in.

Blue-masked Leafbird – Holger had a single in a bird wave on one day, and then the next day with much more bird activity we all recorded two pairs and a single bird during the morning in various mixed species flocks, , and Martin and Holger had another bird low down whilst I was off recording Siamang calls.

Sumatran Trogon – Seen more or less daily at this site. One encounter off trail involved five birds together!

Sumatran Green Pigeon – Heard regularly a single was seen on one date.

Sumatran (Sunda) Bulbul – The commonest Bulbul here.

Sumatran Drongo – Noted but not as common as at Way Titias

Other birds included: Black, Sunda, & Chestnut-capped Laughingthrushes; Blue Nuthatch; Black-browed & Fire-tufted Barbets; Lesser Shortwing; Pygmy & Eye-browed Wren Babblers; Black Eagle; Bushy-crested, White-crowned & Rhinoceros Hornbills; Long-tailed Broadbill; Maroon-breasted Philentoma; Grey-chinned Minivet, Blyth’s Shrike Babbler, Black & Crimson Oriole; White-throated Fantail; Ashy Drongo; Green Magpie; Cinereous Tit; Ruby-throated & Cinereous Bulbuls; Yellow-bellied Warbler; Bar-winged Prinia; Grey-throated, Spot-necked, Golden & Pin-striped Tit Babblers; Long-tailed Sibia; Verditer, Rufous-browed & Pygmy Blue Flycatchers and Temminck’s Sunbird.

Misses:.Dusky Woodcock, both endemic Whistling-thrushes, Red-billed Partridge (if occurs here?), and the endemic nightbirds (the latter due to our inertia and partly bad weather). Sumatran Laughingthrush was not tried for and we got the impression Gamal seems to think the chances are slim at best now (maybe that was because we didn’t have ‘hacking billy’ with us!).

Other interest: Yellow-throated Martin was seen well but briefly during a mid-afternoon in the forest; Siamang & Agile Gibbons were both very vocal with the former seen well; Mitred Leaf Monkey was seen well including what appeared to be association with the Siamang; a large dark unidentified Angle-headed or Forest type Dragon with white eyes and lance shaped nuchal and dorsal spines was noted but doesn’t seem to fit descriptions of existing Lizards that I can find; a Draco Lizard; and the terrestrial bog orchid Habenaria medusa, which we were lucky to catch in full flower on the forest edge during the walk up, probably at the highest point of its altitudinal range.

Lake Ranau

To access the trail into the Barisans at Lake Ranau you skirt along the southern edge of the lake on a dirt track at the end of the metalled road. This gives views of the lake itself and the dormant volcano of Gunung Seminung, which dominates the skyline locally (Photo 1). The lake itself is a local’s tourist beauty spot, and is also no doubt used to support the local communities along the lakeside in various agricultural operations (Photos 2 & 3 more of the lakeside). The lake shore at around 500m asl is a mixture of secondary scrub and farming, with more intensive Coffee plantation as you continue up the slopes away from the lake. A common bird of the secondary scrub and arable edge is Bar-winged Prinia a species endemic to Sumatra, Java & Bali, here at Photo 4, a rare photo from this trip without either high levels of ISO or fill flash, or as usual, both. Photo 5 is from the forest, a view of Danau Ranau from the main view point on the trail.

Pittas

Unfortunately I didn’t get any photos of Schneider’s Pitta, infact I feel mightily lucky to have seen one at all. It was a great, if brief, sighting. It came about as we were wandering down the main trail at Danau Ranau late one afternoon with the forest dark and quiet through the threat of a thunder storm. I was at the back of the group, and Gamal up front. Next to a drop in the trail round a tree he stopped momentarily, and looked left and right. Then he started on again. It was during this briefest of stopping that I decided to have a quick scan of the ground with my binos - and the first thing I put my binoculars on, through the tiniest of gaps in the ground vegetation, was the Pitta - only about 10m or so away!! I couldn’t quite believe it and stared at it for a second or two, the bird was completely face on and looking slightly downward. It then turned its head sideways, knowing it had been spotted, it was eyeing me - eyeing it up. I traced the relatively fine dark eye line from the bill back through the eye to the back of the head, and noted a dark but rich-russet brown belly and breast. The bird then turned its whole body sidewards in the movement of hopping off to the right, and I had the ever so briefest glimpses side on to note the continuation of the brown theme from the nape down and a lack of blue on its back, and that was it, gone, for good – it was a female.

I whispered ‘Pitta!’ to the guys who had by now moved off down the trail and didn’t hear so I had to shout a bit louder. They came back but the chance had passed, the bird knew it was spotted and had scarpered. To make matters worse the drops of rain started to become persistent rain and after a short while we were forced to called off the search until the next morning. Because of the language barrier with Gamal I will never be 100% sure, but I think he stopped because the bird had been foraging on or next to the path, and he had picked up a movement with his sixth sense as it was disturbed. Not knowing it was a pitta, or being at able to see it, he moved on. Fortunately I had the luck of being at the right angle, and the right moment of the bird sitting in the open. And on top of that I made the fortunate decision to put my binos up for a scan of the hidden understorey – I almost didn’t bother. Even though it was close, its stillness, the darkness of the understorey and ground level, and its subdued plumage, would Im sure render it invisible without optical aid. That evening I tried not to look as excited as I felt, given the other guys were still after more satisfactory views. We still had a chance to claw it back with another two mornings left, so all was still partially optimistic.

The other endemic pitta, Graceful Pitta was much more straightforward. We had already seen them at Way Titias and here they were calling on and off throughout the day, with at least 3-4 territories, probably more, along the main trail within the primary forest. The one bird we spent some time getting good views of was whistled and called in relatively easily, although in true pitta fashion it liked to skulk between bits of vegetation most of the time. Photos 1 & 2 are pics of this bird in the dark of early morning.

Other endemics that showed well were the seemingly numerous Sumatran Trogons. Not that you could ever get tired of seeing these beauts. Pics 3 & 4 are of a male and female showing the difference in plumage in the wing coverts and rump colour. The final Photo 5 is of a wild and free Sumatran Treepie. This bird was interesting to watch calling. He would lift his whole body upwards as he was expelling his series of crow like notes, but with the lift centred on his feet – as if standing on tiptoes - and the head and tail drooping downwards. A section of call is uploaded here.

Sumatran Cochoa

As mentioned above without a doubt the highlight of the trip, not just because of the amazing views we had of this bird, but also the fact all three of us had walk away views, not that we chose to walk away. The sighting came about on the penultimate day. The day before had been quiet and windy, and we had seen some great birds, including my Pitta sighting, but the birding was tough. Late afternoon we had heard a Cochoa calling along the ridgeline, its call driven by the wind towards us, but it would not respond to the few short bursts of tape we tried. I think we all wondered whether that was going to be our chance on this mega bird.

By contrast to the quiet, windy day, the next day was excellent. We hit a number of bird waves and notched up many species, including goodies such as three species of laughingthrush, Chestnut-capped, Sunda and Black Laughingthrushes (photo 1), and good views of the endemic Blue-masked Leafbird whilst sifting through the commoner constituents of the bird waves. These included the two common Barbets, Fire-tufted Barbet (Photo 2 showing off the fire tufts at an unusual angle), and Black-browed Barbet (Photo 3 – a calling bird high in the canopy) which more or less occupies the constant backdrop birdsound in the hills; as well as favourites such as Blue Nuthatch & Temminck’s Sunbird; Greater Yellownape, Black & Crimson Oriole (photo 4), Grey-chinned Minivets, Sumatran (Sunda) Bulbul (Photo 5), and great views of the tiny Pygmy Blue Flycatcher. We didn’t totally ignore the ground dwellers either with good views of Pygmy Wren Babbler (scaly form) and Eye-browed Wren Babbler. It was turning out to be the best birding day of the trip.