[Hanno]

I know, it is kind of last minute:

I am going to Bali for three days this Sunday. It is mostly business, but I will have a little free time early in the morning and late afternoons. Any tips on the above two locations: what birds? where?

Much obliged,

Hanno

[James Lowther]

Hi Hanno,
monkey forest at the south end of the main street in ubud is quite birdy, there are also some nice rice-fields out the back of the forest. However, as you are a south-east asian resident i'm not sure whether there was anything that you would find particularly thrilling?..... javan kingfisher maybe?
the food in ubud is great btw!
cheers,
James

[Chris Galvin]

Hanno,

I am going to both Ubud & Kuta in Feb 2009, whilst I can't help you with your request for info I would appreciate any info you gather on your trip to help me plan mine.

Good Luck

[James Eaton]

Hanno,

Ulu Watu Temple on the south coast is great for breeding White-tailed Tropicbird, White-shouldered Triller and Black-winged Myna. Beware of the evil Long-tailed Macaque's though - use big stones early on and they usually back away. 30 minutes from Kuta.

Definitely worth getting upto Bedugul botanical Gardens (Kebun Raya Bedugul, 1 1/2 hours from Kuta) - superb place in the early mornings - just stand by the front gates. Indonesian Honeyeaters, Short-tailed Starlings, Grey-cheeked Green Pigeon always in the car park at dawn, Fulvous-chested Jungle Fly and generally just a lot of bird.

Ubud is good for Javan Kingfisher - hard bird on Java, especially if you stick to the usual birding sites. Keep an eye out along the roadside in the centre of the island for the kingfisher.

I assume you haven't got time to visit Bali Barat (3 hours from Kuta). Great place with loads of birds.... worth a morning and afternoon. Especially as they have thrown some more Bali Myna into the wild from the cages so you have a chance with those again. (3 breeding pairs this year).

Cheers,

James

[Hanno]

Thank you all.

No time to go to Bali Barat, but I'll certainly keep an eye out for Javan Kingfisher and all the other goodies.

as you are a south-east asian resident i'm not sure whether there

There are actually a number of potential lifers for me as i have never been that way:-)

I'll let you know when I get back.

[Chris D]

Or use one of the stout sticks provided at the entrance of Ulu Watu. Evil deranged things. Kind of a cross between a thuggish teen and a rabid coyote.

[James Lowther]

Hi Hanno,
in addition to monkey forest you could try the museum on the main east-west road running along the north end of ubud village, which has nice tree-ey/bushy grounds as far as i remember. You can also do a walk into the rice fields to the north of the village from just alongside the museum.
I've had a look at which common balinese birds are sundanese (is that a word?) endemics and can tell you that bar-winged prinia, scarlet-headed flowerpecker and javan munia are all fairly common around ubud - javan sparrow supposedly also relatively common although i didn't see it (wasn't looking v. hard though).
there's also a spectacular heron/egret roost (4 species incl. javan pond-heron) at petulu a few miles north-east of ubud, there is/was a little warung where you can buy a drink and watch the herons flying in
good luck
cheers
james

[Hanno]

Well, thought I'd let you know how it went:

Generally, I had little time as this was a business trip. We were checking out a number of resorts but I did see some pretty good birds.

After arriving very late the previous night, immigration was a nightmare, I struggled out of bed and onto the very nice veranda of the Ulma Ubud where we were staying. The place was heaving with Spotted Doves and Yellow-vented Bulbuls, surely the most common species by far on Bali. The trees were also full of what looked like Plantain Squirrels(?), whilst overhead were plenty of Cave Swiftlets. Whilst not a lifer, good views of Chestnut-breasted Malkoha were nice whilst the ubiquitous Olive-backed Sunbirds and Common Ioras were well known from my home turf.

Right at the entrance to the first resort we visited were a flock of my first endemic lifer, Javan Munias. These are much smarter looking than the local Munias and appeared to be very common, but even the Scaly-breasted Munias looked smarter than they do here in Vietnam.

Lunch was at an organic restaurant in the middle of some rice paddies (called the Sari Organic, this restaurant alone would make me consider returning to Bali), a lengthy Siesta produced both Zitting and Bright-headed Cisticolas as well as Javan Pond Heron.

Visiting another resort in the afternoon, my colleagues went for Spa treatments whilst I went for a walk. Good thing, too as it produced the first bird on my personal wish list, a Javan Kingfisher. This bird is amazingly beautiful and would also be the only one seen on the trip. I also saw a Needletail but views were to short to clinch it 100%.

The next day had nothing new at all, but a visit early on the last morning to Ulu Watu was very profitable indeed. I was very apprehensive about the Macaques but they did not even deem me fit to look at, much to my relief.

The first bird heard, but not seen, was a Drongo Cuckoo. A very restless bird turned out to be another lifer, a Bar-winged Prinia, followed shortly by another addition to my list, an Olive-backed Tailorbird.

I failed to locate a bird I really wanted to see, Tropicbird, but a couple of Brown Boobies almost made up for that. My only Mynas of the trip were a pair of Javan Mynas. Here I also saw the only Woodpecker of the trip, a Fulvous-breasted Woodpecker. Three Collared Kingfishers were eying the ever-present Macaques and as I was leaving, I spotted a single Pink-necked Green Pigeon and finished the excursion with another lifer, a Green Junglefowl.

All in all a pretty good trip and I do hope to go back one day.

[Chris Galvin]

Hanno,

thanks for the PM and the update. Some great info there for me.

Cheers