ground-roller
Well-known member
Armed with the knowledge that Pak Subandais homestay at Kersik Tua would be showing the World Cup (no more Bengal Florican for Bird Tour Asia if this gen had been wrong) I took advantage of some ridiculously cheap Air Asia flights ('now everyone can pollute') for a ten day visit to Kerinici National Park in west Sumatra.
After a year in Cambodia the first thing noticeable were differences between the two countries (less motorbikes; more motorbike helmets; less monks more head-scarves; less beer more clove cigarettes). The people of Padang were also almost obscenely friendly but no where near as beautiful as the sublime Khmer (some kind of Island Biogeography that elluded MacArthur & Wilson - in-breeding?).
Following excellent advise from Mr Eaton I took a share taxi (70,000 rupiah) from Padang to Kersik Tua and the Subandai homestay. Here I meet a Dutch birder who had spent the last week or so in the area and give me the latest gen (Cochoa doesn't exist; Schneider's Pitta is piss easy). And so it was.
The next morning at 06:00 the first bird I saw was a Pitta on the track. Every subsequent morning it was there jumping up and down in excitement to see me and had to be shooed off the track to allow me to continue up the mountain. Probably the easiest Pitta in the world.
Subsequently however things went down hill. As everyone says there are no birds on Kerinci (apart from Snowy-browed Flycatcher and Eye-browed Wren Babbler) most Laughing Thrushes, Mesias, Bulbuls have apparently been trapped out. Bird Flocks were very infrequent; rain was very frequent. Eventually most of the 'easy' specialists gave them selves up (the superb Sumatran Trogon; the relatively common Rusty-breasted Wren Babbler, the two endemic Whistling Thrushes). On the final day I barely saw a single bird! And my Cambodian bought 'walking boots' broke. It was then (in the rain) I saw a female Salvadoris Pheasant run up the track I pursued her but surprisingly a montane pheasant can move quicker up a wet mountain than me. With no shoes.
Through all this Pak Subandai was an excellent - if slightly optimistic ("it’s the dry season; today you will see Cochoa, don’t worry you will find a Frogmouth during the day") host with an excellent knowledge of the areas birdlife (even if he did claim that White-breasted Moorhen was a type of Pitta). Every evening he enthusiastically watched the world cup with us and together we saw the excellent Argentinians (I though they would it in – preditable Germans) destroy the Yugoslavs (only one goal conceded in EURO qualfiying??); Japan and Croatia play each other out of the world cup; Portugal (bah humburg) beat Iran.
However we decided that looking for Pale-headed Frogmouth was more interesting than Togo v Switzerland and (accompanied by a random Dutch tourist who wanted to know why people were going into the forest at night but not unfortunately his sexy girlfriend - Holland not an Island you see) we dipped. The next day we tried again with success. My first Frogmouth and a crazy looking creature - all head and no body. The next morning I set off for Sungai Penuh and the lowland(er) forest of Bukit Tapan.
The best way to do this site (thanks again James) is to stay in Sungai Penuh and get a moto Ojek each morning up the road and then hitch back in the afternoon. Unfortunately moto ojek drivers are either hyperactive (we crashed slightly knackering both me and my bins) or comatose (we missed dawn). With apparently no happy medium. In addition the area where both James and Dutch guy saw Graceful Pitta had people camping by the road who were stopping cars to get 1,000 rupiah and eating Green-billed Malkoha. Bukit Tapan is however an improvement on Kerinci as you can actually see birds. I spent three days and an afternoon here and despite dipping the Pitta (didn't even here it) saw the other endemics (in decreasing order of commoness: Sumatran Treepie; Sumatran Green Pigeon; Sumatran Drongo; Bulbul x 2; Blue-masked Leafbird). I also saw (the recently split?) Sumatran form of Golden-fronted Leafbird. Sunda Forktail, Black and Chesnut-bellied Eagles, Sunda Bulbul, Black & Crimson Oriole (is there a more slow-moving lethargic bird?) and my two favourite large green long-tailed birds (Long-tailed Broadbill and Fire-fufted Barbet) were other highlights. A Greater Mouse Deer feeding during the day was also quite smart.
Unfortunately despite paying more for a room with a TV (Matahari Hotel on the road to Bukit Tapan) it cut out every time the world cup was about to start whilst the hotel was staffed by some of the most grotesque looking people I have ever seen. Therefore I fled early back to Padang to catch the first second round matches (Germany and Argentina set them selves up for what should have been an epic encounter). A visit to Sungai Penuh market did however produce my best views of Blue-masked Leafbird plus Orange-spotted Bulbul (a species I missed at Kerinci) and four Chesnut-capped Laughingthrush. All in a stationary shop.
After a year in Cambodia the first thing noticeable were differences between the two countries (less motorbikes; more motorbike helmets; less monks more head-scarves; less beer more clove cigarettes). The people of Padang were also almost obscenely friendly but no where near as beautiful as the sublime Khmer (some kind of Island Biogeography that elluded MacArthur & Wilson - in-breeding?).
Following excellent advise from Mr Eaton I took a share taxi (70,000 rupiah) from Padang to Kersik Tua and the Subandai homestay. Here I meet a Dutch birder who had spent the last week or so in the area and give me the latest gen (Cochoa doesn't exist; Schneider's Pitta is piss easy). And so it was.
The next morning at 06:00 the first bird I saw was a Pitta on the track. Every subsequent morning it was there jumping up and down in excitement to see me and had to be shooed off the track to allow me to continue up the mountain. Probably the easiest Pitta in the world.
Subsequently however things went down hill. As everyone says there are no birds on Kerinci (apart from Snowy-browed Flycatcher and Eye-browed Wren Babbler) most Laughing Thrushes, Mesias, Bulbuls have apparently been trapped out. Bird Flocks were very infrequent; rain was very frequent. Eventually most of the 'easy' specialists gave them selves up (the superb Sumatran Trogon; the relatively common Rusty-breasted Wren Babbler, the two endemic Whistling Thrushes). On the final day I barely saw a single bird! And my Cambodian bought 'walking boots' broke. It was then (in the rain) I saw a female Salvadoris Pheasant run up the track I pursued her but surprisingly a montane pheasant can move quicker up a wet mountain than me. With no shoes.
Through all this Pak Subandai was an excellent - if slightly optimistic ("it’s the dry season; today you will see Cochoa, don’t worry you will find a Frogmouth during the day") host with an excellent knowledge of the areas birdlife (even if he did claim that White-breasted Moorhen was a type of Pitta). Every evening he enthusiastically watched the world cup with us and together we saw the excellent Argentinians (I though they would it in – preditable Germans) destroy the Yugoslavs (only one goal conceded in EURO qualfiying??); Japan and Croatia play each other out of the world cup; Portugal (bah humburg) beat Iran.
However we decided that looking for Pale-headed Frogmouth was more interesting than Togo v Switzerland and (accompanied by a random Dutch tourist who wanted to know why people were going into the forest at night but not unfortunately his sexy girlfriend - Holland not an Island you see) we dipped. The next day we tried again with success. My first Frogmouth and a crazy looking creature - all head and no body. The next morning I set off for Sungai Penuh and the lowland(er) forest of Bukit Tapan.
The best way to do this site (thanks again James) is to stay in Sungai Penuh and get a moto Ojek each morning up the road and then hitch back in the afternoon. Unfortunately moto ojek drivers are either hyperactive (we crashed slightly knackering both me and my bins) or comatose (we missed dawn). With apparently no happy medium. In addition the area where both James and Dutch guy saw Graceful Pitta had people camping by the road who were stopping cars to get 1,000 rupiah and eating Green-billed Malkoha. Bukit Tapan is however an improvement on Kerinci as you can actually see birds. I spent three days and an afternoon here and despite dipping the Pitta (didn't even here it) saw the other endemics (in decreasing order of commoness: Sumatran Treepie; Sumatran Green Pigeon; Sumatran Drongo; Bulbul x 2; Blue-masked Leafbird). I also saw (the recently split?) Sumatran form of Golden-fronted Leafbird. Sunda Forktail, Black and Chesnut-bellied Eagles, Sunda Bulbul, Black & Crimson Oriole (is there a more slow-moving lethargic bird?) and my two favourite large green long-tailed birds (Long-tailed Broadbill and Fire-fufted Barbet) were other highlights. A Greater Mouse Deer feeding during the day was also quite smart.
Unfortunately despite paying more for a room with a TV (Matahari Hotel on the road to Bukit Tapan) it cut out every time the world cup was about to start whilst the hotel was staffed by some of the most grotesque looking people I have ever seen. Therefore I fled early back to Padang to catch the first second round matches (Germany and Argentina set them selves up for what should have been an epic encounter). A visit to Sungai Penuh market did however produce my best views of Blue-masked Leafbird plus Orange-spotted Bulbul (a species I missed at Kerinci) and four Chesnut-capped Laughingthrush. All in a stationary shop.
