Salawati and Batanta (1 Viewer)

[Papuan birder]

Iam back in Sorong after have spent two and a half fantastic weeks (17 days) on Salawati and Batanta, two quite large Islands located west of Irian Jaya. I become very surprised over the large bird fauna that these Islands harbour. This was the first time I visited this region and the closest I had come before was Sorong, despite that both Islands have been cleared from most naturally forest I think the bird densities and the number of species which are easy to find is surprising. I spend 11 superb days on Salawati, while the last 6 days I choosed to head for Batanta for its fantastic paradise birds.

Many birds which are common on either of this island usually are rare on the PNG mainland. This region holds a few endemics (including two birds of paradise), but the number of endemic subspecies is large, considering the size. And as most of these subspecies endemic to this region differs pretty much from those on the mainland, seeing an endemic subspecies on any of these Islands is just about as fun and interesting as seeing a lifer.

My main purpose of this visit was to try to find a temporary job but the birding maybe took overhand sometimes and I probably birded more than I tried to find a job.

The northern regions of these Islands suits best for birding as they are remains largely unexplored and the rainforest here is still in quite good condition which is a must to see some of the rarer species confined to these Islands.

My trip list for each Island

Salawati

1. Northern cassowary (rare)
2. Streaked shearwater
3. Red-tailed tropicbird
4. Brown booby
5. Red-footed booby
6. Greater frigate bird
7. Lesser frigate bird
8. Wilson storm-petrel
9. Matsudaira storm-petrel LIFER (fourth record from Salawati)
10. Little grebe
11. Pied heron
12. Great white egret
13. Little pied cormorant
14. Australian darter
15. White-faced heron (very rare)
16. Eastern reef-egret (white and black morph)
17. Little egret (common)
18. Green-backed heron
19. Rufous night-heron
20. New Guinea Tiger-heron
21. Cinnamon bittern LIFER (recently discovered in the region)
22. Black bittern
23. Australian white ibis
24. Royal spoonbill (a possibly juvenile?)
25. Wandering whistling-duck
26. Grey teal
27. Black duck
28. Osprey
29. Long-tailed buzzard
30. Brahminy kite
31. Variable Goshawk
32. Grey-headed Goshawk
33. Peregrine falcon
34. Red-billed brush-turkey (only heard)
35. Blue quail
36. Brown quail
37. Red-necked crake
38. Buff-banded rail
39. Baillon crake
40. Spotless crake
41. Purple swamphen
42. Comb-crested Jacana
43. Beach thick-knee
44. Metallic pigeon
45. Slender-billed cuckoo-dove
46. Great cuckoo-dove
47. Emerald dove
48. Stephans dove
49. New Guinea bronze wing
50. Cinnamon Ground-dove
51. Western Crowned-Pigeon
52. Orange-fronted Fruit-dove
53. Superb fruit-dove
54. Beautiful Fruit-dove
55. Claret-breasted Fruit-dove
56. Orange-bellied Fruit-dove
57. Dwarf Fruit-dove (Best dove of the trip)
58. Pinon Imperial-pigeon
59. Pied Imperial-pigeon LIFER
60. Spice Imperial-pigeon LIFER
61. Palm Cockatoo
62. Black lory
63. Violet-necked Lory LIFER
64. Rainbow lorikeet
65. Red-flanked lorikeet
66. Double-eyed fig-parrot
67. Large fig-parrot
68. Pallid cuckoo (Among the first record from Salawati)
69. Brush cuckoo
70. Chestnut-eared cuckoo
71. Little bronze cuckoo
72. Long-billed cuckoo LIFER
73. White-crowned Koel
74. Common Koel
75. Greater Black Coucal
76. Marbled Frogmouth
77. Large-tailed Nightjar
78. Glossy swiftlet
79. Moustached Treeswift
80. Common paradise-kingfisher
81. Rufous-bellied Kookaburra
82. Blue and Black Kingfisher
83. Beach Kingfisher
84. Variable Dwarf-kingfisher
85. Azure Kingfisher
86. Little Kingfisher
87. Common Kingfisher
88. Rainbow Bee-eater
89. Dollarbird
90. Papuan hornbill
91. Hooded pitta
92. Boyer cuckoo-shrike
93. White-bellied cuckoo-shrike
94. Black-browed Triller
95. Zitting Cisticola
96. Golden-headed Cisticola
97. Black sunbird
98. Olive-backed sunbird
99. Glossy-mantled Manucode
100. Magnificent bird of Paradise
101. King bird of Paradise
102. Clamorous Reed-warbler
103. Island Leaf-warbler
104. Tawny Grassbird
105. Northern Fantail
106. Willie Fantail
107. Sooty Thicket- Fantail LIFER
108. Black Thicket-Fantail
109. Rufous Fantail
110. Island Monarch
111. Spectacled Monarch
112. Golden Monarch
113. Frilled Monarch
114. Shining flycatcher
115. Yellow-breasted boatbill
116. Olive Flyrobin
117. Black-sided Robin
118. Golden Whistler
119 Rusty Pitohui
120. Emperor Fairywren
121. Wallace Fairywren LIFER
122. Rusty Mouse-warbler
123. Green-backed Gerygone
124. Fairy Gerygone
125. Large-billed Gerygone
126. Black Berrypecker
127. Green-crowned Longbill
128. Long-billed Honeyeater LIFER
129. Green-backed Honeyeater
130. Red-throated myzomela
131. Varied honeyeater
132. Spotted honeyeater
133. Tawny-breasted honeyeater
134. Streak-headed honeyeater
135. Brown oriole
136. Green oriole
137. Long-tailed shrike
138. Spangled drongo
139. Lowland Peltops
140. Black butcherbird
141. Grey crow
142. Torresian crow
143. Metallic starling
144. Singing starling
145. Yellow-faced myna
146. Golden myna
147. Blue-faced parrot-finch
148. Eurasian tree sparrow (introduced)
149. Eclectus parrot
150. Moluccan King-parrot
151. Gurney eagle


Batanta

1. Streaked shearwater
2. Little pied cormorant
3. Little black cormorant
4. Red-footed booby
5. Lesser frigate bird
6. Great-billed heron (possibly the first record)
7. Great white egret
8. Eastern reef-egret (white morph)
9. Cattle egret
10. Rufous night-heron
11. Spotted whistling-duck
12. Grey teal
13. Black duck
14. Pacific baza
15. Brahminy kite
16. White-bellied sea-eagle
17. Oriental hobby
18. Dusky scrubfowl LIFER
19. Blue quail
20. Rufous-tailed bush-hen
21. White-browed crake
22. Black-winged stilt
23. Metallic pigeon
24. Slender-billed cuckoo-dove
25. Emerald dove
26. Nicobar pigeon
27. Pink-spotted Fruit-dove
28. Superb fruit-dove
29. White-bibbed Fruit-dove
30. Sulphur-crested Cockatoo
40. Black lory
41. Rainbow lorikeet
41. Yellow-capped Pygmy-parrot (best parrot of the trip)
42. Double-eyed fig-parrot
43. Brush cuckoo
44. Common Koel
45. Rufous Owl
46. Marbled Frogmouth
47. Papuan Frogmouth
48. Glossy swiftlet
49. Uniform swiftlet
50. Moustached Treeswift
51. Collared Kingfisher
52. Beach Kingfisher
53. Yellow-billed Kingfisher
54. Little Kingfisher
55. Rainbow Bee-eater
56. Papuan hornbill
57. White-bellied Cuckoo-shrike
58. Black-shouldered Cicadabird
59. New Guinea Cuckoo-shrike
60. Golden-headed Cisticola
61. Olive-crowned flowerpecker
62. Black sunbird
63. Olive-backed sunbird
64. Wilson bird of Paradise LIFER
65. Red bird of Paradise LIFER (The best bird of the trip)
66. Island Leaf-warbler
67. Northern Fantail
68. Willie Fantail
69. Rufous Fantail
70. Spot-winged Monarch
71. Spectacled Monarch
72. Frilled Monarch
73. Shining Flycatcher
74. Olive Flyrobin
75. Olive-yellow Robin
76. Grey-headed Whistler
77. Golden Whistler
78. Chestnut-backed Jewel-babbler LIFER
79. Broad-billed Fairywren
80. Pale-billed scubwren
81. Yellow-bellied Gerygone
82. Green-crowned Longbill
83. Black myzomela
84. Forest honeyeater
85. Puff-backed honeyeater
86. Mimic honeyeater
87. Brown oriole
88. White-breasted woodswallow
89. Lowland Peltops
90. White-eared catbird
91. Grey crow
92. Torresian crow
93. Metallic starling
94. Yellow-faced myna
95. Blue-faced parrot-finch
96. House sparrow (introduced)
97. Eurasian tree sparrow (introduced)
98. Eclectus parrot

Large numbers of Plovers, sandpipers and terns was observed on both Islands, but as my interest in these kind of birds isn’t that big, no effort was put down to try id them. But sea birds were very abdunt around Batana, especially plovers which was seen in dozens in open grasslands and on shores. There were more terns around Salawati, especially along the north-western coastal parts where a few hundred individuals were observed.


Salawati probably holds twice as many species as Batanta do and Salawati is generally considered to be much richer when it comes to fauna and flora, during my visit I noticed how unexplored Salawati really is, I saw some species which probably are among the first records ever made on Salawati, few people ever comes here and those few which after all do often stay just a few days. Salawati could well harbour around 200 species of birds which is truly amazing for an Island of this size. Salawati was a place which is hard to birding on, I rented a car which almost is a must if you are going to bird in more than one locality.

While Batanta probably holds more special for these Islands, Iam thinking of the two near-endemic paradise birds which are being found on this Island, both was very easy to find, if you only manage to find suitable habitat these both species should be rather easy to find, although the best chance of seeing them is on the northern coast of the Island, I only found the red bird of paradise on one occasion while birding in the East and it might be scarce on the rest of the Island. Batanta do also have more Islands specialist, especially passerines is easier to find here, I didn’t manage to found a few honeyeaters on Salawati, but those was fairly easy to spot on Batanta, Island Monarch seemed almost absent on Salawati while it was among the most common birds sighted on Batanta, White-eared catbird was never sighted on Salawati despite efforts but they seemed locally common on Batanta. I recommend a visit to both these Islands (try to visit Waigeo to if you have the opportunity) for an ultimate trip in this region.

Among the best trips I have ever made and I still don’t realize how large the variety these Islands harbours, I went for a boring “job-searching” trip but ended up with a truly remarkable adventure and a memory of a life time.

 

[martinf]

Just reading thoses lists I am so jealous. Wilson's BoP is the one bird I would like to see before I die!!

 

[tapaculo]

Logistics?

That is just a breath-taking list of birds.

Tell us how one gets to the island, and how does one stay and travel around there? What are the towns and villages like, and the roads?

(And what work were you hoping for? Are they hiring?)

 

[Papuan birder]

That is just a breath-taking list of birds.

Tell us how one gets to the island, and how does one stay and travel around there? What are the towns and villages like, and the roads?

(And what work were you hoping for? Are they hiring?)

Hi tapaculo

Its easy to get to Salawati from the PNG mainland, ferrie-like boats departs from Sorong a couple times a day. Beacuse of "sea pirates" which attacks the ferries they just go during the day now, so if you just want to spend a single day on Salawati you must look up when the last boat heads back to the mainland again, there is no real cities on Salawati, they have somekind of a "capital" but its more lika a small community called waimo, located not far away from were the ferry terminal is. As I said Salawati is tricky to get around and its a rather remote Island, bad infrastructure and there is hardly any of the native people that speak or understand english, So I would suggest that renting a guide or a local in Sorong for a single day, a few days or whatever is a good advice.

Then from Salawati to Batanta is easy, you head up to the northern coast of Salawati and there should be plenty of people which is happy go give you a lift over to Batanta, I departed from Tipin which is a small village on northern Salawati. Batanta has a much better infrastructure and there is small cities and villages spread around the Island, altough the Eastern parts is more populated, there is plenty of world class diving spots off the northern coast of Batanta. Jodlo on eastern Batanta also got ferries which heads to Sorong daily.

I had hopped to get some job as a tourist guide or bird guide on Batanta, not plenty of job in this part of the world and you maybe never get one either, you have to travel around a lot in search for a job.

 

[grapevine]

king

King bird of Paradise, I am just plain jeaulous! :C Papua is on my once-to-do-list but it seemes that you need at least about 6 or 8 weeks to do it properly. Hope you'll find a job though.