Rarest etc in 'Name a Bird You've Seen 2' (1 Viewer)

[Larry Sweetland]

Rookie numbers, mate 😁. No Sumatran?!

I didn't even know it had been rediscovered until I arrived at the guest house 5k from Mt kerinci in 1997, and saw it in a copy of the OBC magazine on their coffee table! It had a pic of the female on the front, which wasn't in my field guide because no-one had ever seen a female until it was rediscovered. Didn't have any luck with the cochoa, and missed some other things on the mountain, but did see Schneider's Pitta, the Peacock-Pheasant etc.

 

[Andy Adcock]

I didn't even know it had been rediscovered until I arrived at the guest house 5k from Mt kerinci in 1997, and saw it in a copy of the OBC magazine on their coffee table! It had a pic of the female on the front, which wasn't in my field guide because no-one had ever seen a female until it was rediscovered. Didn't have any luck with the cochoa, and missed some other things on the mountain, but did see Schneider's Pitta, the Peacock-Pheasant etc.

It was my mate that found it and illustrated the female for the first time.

 

[Larry Sweetland]

It was my mate that found it and illustrated the female for the first time.

I remember sitting there in the guesthouse reading the incredible finder's account, thinking 'this is beyond the stuff of legend!' what a story.

 

[DMW]

Dipped it, and the Pitta and the Trogon, spent nine days there on my own.

In the last few years, Subandi's son in law Dwi has operated a couple of feeding stations in front of hides in the lower section of forest at Kerinci. When I was last there 2 years ago, Schneider's Pitta was easy from these. I saw 5 different individuals. Missing the Trogon must just have been bad luck, as it's not too uncommon. The Cochoa is hit or miss, although with recordings, it's not as tough as it used to be.
Very little chance of having 9 days on your own on Mt Doom these days, well pre covid anyway.

 

[Larry Sweetland]

Very little chance of having 9 days on your own on Mt Doom these days, well pre covid anyway.

I wonder how much things have changed then since I was there on '97. Back then I just walked the 5k to the start of the forest before dawn each morning, and didn't see a soul while birding all day

 

[Andy Adcock]

In the last few years, Subandi's son in law Dwi has operated a couple of feeding stations in front of hides in the lower section of forest at Kerinci. When I was last there 2 years ago, Schneider's Pitta was easy from these. I saw 5 different individuals. Missing the Trogon must just have been bad luck, as it's not too uncommon. The Cochoa is hit or miss, although with recordings, it's not as tough as it used to be.
Very little chance of having 9 days on your own on Mt Doom these days, well pre covid anyway.

Actually, I 'mis-remembered', it was 20 years ago. I saw the Trogon there but missed it in Java on the same trip. Kerinci was very hard work in terms of seeing stuff, then, heard the Pitta just once. Do they still get Giant / Waterfall Swiftel at the 'Letter W eaterfall'?

The good old days before tour groups, screwed up the pricing system and locals were just glad of any extra income. my bill for a bed, two sometimes three meals a day, a couple of beers each night and daily transport up the hill to the base of the mountain, was about £60 for nine days!

 

[Andy Adcock]

I wonder how much things have changed then since I was there on '97. Back then I just walked the 5k to the start of the forest before dawn each morning, and didn't see a soul while birding all day

I got a motorbike up that 5K most days, you don't mis anything, it's just tea plantation. Very eerie, walking back down in the dark when you know that Tigers have actually killed plantation workers here.

 

[DMW]

If you go to Kerinci "in season", you will almost certainly have at least one of the major tour companies in situ, plus any independent birders or photographers (most of whom hire Dwi to organise and guide), plus local trekkers (it's now quite popular with Indonesian Peak baggers). It's nothing like Gunung Gede levels of insanity, but it can be annoying since you are all sharing the same trail.

The walk-in hasn't changed much, other than the forest edge retreating uphill. Most birders pay for an ojek up through the tea plantation to save an hour's pre-dawn slog.

Otherwise, not so many obvious changes apart from most birds being trapped-out and almost nothing being tape-responsive! Dwi's hides are in fact a godsend under the circumstances, and with a bit of luck you can get fantastic views of the peacock-pheasant and Red-billed Partridge as well as the Pitta.

The fashionable place in Sumatra these days is Gunung Leuser in Aceh, which is once again accessible and has a huge amount of good forest left, and hasn't been trapped or taped-out... yet. It's a fantastic island for birds, but I think it's some of the toughest birding there is.

 

[johnallcock]

Unless things have changed, another one that's on the list that's going to get tough after the death of one individual is Palawan Peacock-Pheasant. I'm willing to bet that more than 99% of birders that have seen it, have all seen the same individual bird.

I've seen that one, but I've also bumped into a nice male while walking along one of the trails - which was a much more exciting encounter than the habituated one!