Lesser Sundas Scheduled tour
Systematic Bird List
8th - 25th June 2009
Leader: James Eaton
Citron-crested Cockatoo, Sumba © James Eaton / Birdtour Asia
The seldom-visited islands of the Lesser Sundas produced a relatively small trip list of 227 species inside three weeks but this includes an impressive 70 endemics by exploring just four islands. Kicking off on Sumba we found all 12 island endemics in two days, including Sumba Hornbill, outrageous views of Citron-crested Cockatoo and the bird of the trip; Red-naped Fruit Dove. Though many of Timor's endemics aren't quite so gaudy, Black-banded Flycatcher, Iris Lorikeet, Timor Black Pigeon and Timor Sparrow were all greatly admired. The long island of Flores proved the most exciting as Flores Monarch, Bare-throated Whistler, White-rumped Kingfisher and especially Flores Hawk Eagle showed exceptionally. The finale, a day trip to Komodo lived up to expectations with a huge dragon bounding towards us while Yellow-crested Cockatoo's screeched overhead. Elegant Pitta, Cinnamon-banded Kingfisher, Chestnut-backed Thrush and Black-backed Fruit Dove were just some of the other headliners. On top of all this, fine weather, tasty food and some interesting cultural diversions all added this to wonderful tour.
Prior to a lunchtime flight to Sumba we spent the early morning at Ulu Watu, a temple situated at the southernmost point of Bali. Arriving for dawn a Javan Kingfisher announced its presence calling from a nearby scrubby hillside, and we saw as many as three of these striking birds over the next hour, sharing the same hillside with several endangered Black-winged Myna, here at one of its few remaining sites. A White-breasted Waterhen running across the open field made us take notice of a foraging chicken which turned out to be a wild Green Junglefowl, we were already whittling down the tour targets! Scanning the open sea revealed plenty of interest, on a glassy-calm water a small group of Wilson's Storm Petrels fed close inshore while Brown Booby's and Streaked Shearwater passed-by a little further out. As the sun began to rise so did the frigatebirds; 5 Lesser and a female Christmas Island Frigatebird circled up together. A few other species made their way onto the checklist including Javan Munia, Bar-winged Prinia and Javan Myna, all west Indonesian endemics.
Sumba Hornbill and Marigold Lorikeet, Sumba © James Eaton / Birdtour Asia
As expected our Merpati flight to Sumba was delayed for a while but we eventually reached Waingapu for a late afternoon scramble through the grasslands. A few Spotted Kestrels and plenty of Australasian Bushlarks were our only rewards although the nearby mangroves held a pair of Broad-billed Flycatcher, vocal Indonesian Honeyeaters and Barred Dove, the latter two near Lesser Sunda endemics. The next mornings walk through the grasslands proved much more rewarding, firstly a Brown Quail flushed at close range, followed by a male White-shouldered Triller perched up. Eventually we flushed our first Sumba Buttonquail though with unsatisfactory views until James randomly came across one running away while searching for a tripod in the grassland (not much less difficult than a needle in a haystack!). It didn't take more than few seconds before we had excellent, close flight views as the bird banked away from us revealing its rufous flanks, streaked black mantle and dark face. A further walk flushed one more bird before we moved onto the a nearby lake containing an array of water-birds including large numbers of Wandering Whistling Duck and Pacific Black Duck with three Sunda Teal hiding amongst the latter. For the second successive year we found Javan Plovers breeding here, previously unknown on Sumba. Javan Pond Heron, Little Black and Little Pied Cormorant, breeding White-headed Stilts and three tern species; Caspian, Gull-billed and Whiskered while the surrounding scrub held hundreds of Zebra Finch and a lone Gould's Bronze Cuckoo.
As exciting as that all was it was the forest birding that we were all looking forward to. 2½ days of superb birding were spent in two different patches of forest in search of Sumba's 11 endemics (plus buttonquail). Typically Apricot-breasted Sunbird was first to oblige then two of the finest as the night crawled in, a pair of the recently described Little Sumba Boobook were quickly found in the spotlight, one replacing the other on the same perch after chasing each other. Moving to a different area and a short walk through the dense forest found us directly below a pair of agitated Sumba Boobook staring down at us, wings flicking as they continued remonstrating with us. The recently described Mees's Nightjar completed our night-time excursions, posing in our beam as he called from a favoured perch. Our first full day in the forest was great; just as the sun began to rise so did the Sumba Hornbills, as first a lone male flew across a valley landing atop of a huge tree and calling over his companions, comprising a further four males, surrounding us at one point. Just as we had our fill of these an Elegant Pitta called close-by and surprisingly he wasted little time jumping around some nearby perches, even fly-catching at one point for us as we admired this splendid pitta from the roadside. Loud rustling in the leaf-litter drew us to three Orange-footed Scrubfowl, a striking Chestnut-backed Thrush flew into the middle of the road, picked up a juicy worm, before jumping back into the forest. Although we failed to find suitable fruiting trees we still found pigeons in good numbers. The most spectacular sighting being the bird-of-the-trip Red-naped Fruit Dove sat in full view, calling and then flying overhead. Metallic Pigeon perched out once and a good size flock of Sumba Green Pigeon miraculously escaped our attention before circling round and perching close-by. Parrot numbers were well down from last year, especially the Marigold Lorikeets, though with persistence we had wonderful views of a pair apparently inspecting a roadside tree-hole as a suitable nesting site. Amazingly just 30 minutes before watching this pair the unmistakable loud noises of cockatoo's had led us to this tree where a pair of Citron-crested Cockatoo also seemed to be inspecting the same hole! We had these birds on both days with some wonderful close encounters. This cockatoo is a split from Yellow-crested and endemic to this small island with much less than 500 birds remaining. Cinnamon-banded Kingfisher – always a favourite – sat out on exposed roadside snags on three occasions; Lesser Wallacean Drongo was a common sight, while Sumba Jungle Flycatcher (a split of Russet-backed) appeared on a couple of occasions. It wasn't until the second day that we completed an endemic clean-up by locating a pair of canopy-loving Sumba Brown Flycatchers, giving extended views. With smiles all around we decided to try our luck inside the forest where after a patient wait a fully-fledged Chestnut-backed Thrush flew straight in, landing on an exposed perch for a prolonged view. Thinking that was a satisfying way to end the day we jumped back to the roadside only to find a Pale-shouldered Cicadabird – a near-endemic – sat in distant tree – now this was the perfect end to the day!
Olive-headed Lorikeet and Cinnamon-banded Kingfisher, Timor © James Eaton
Driving further afield to the larger forest patch at Watumbelar required a pre-dawn walk to see us at a strategic vantage point. Though parrots are here in smaller numbers year-by-year we still saw the full collection. As we waited for each parrot species to show a number of other attractive endemics appeared, Sumba Hornbill called from his perch in beautiful sunlight, several Red-naped Fruit Doves and Sumba Green Pigeon sat out on equally exposed perches. After we had seen several Marigold Lorikeet, Red-cheeked Parrot, Great-billed Parrot and even three Eclectus Parrots, the distant calls of a cockatoo could be heard, a mad dash across the boulders was just in the nick of time as our first Citron-crested Cockatoo of the day flew-by and even landing on the highest snag of the forest, unfortunately directly under the sun, before disappearing back into the forest. Spending some time inside the forest eventually proved rewarding as a pesky Sumba Flycatcher finally stop running (flying!) circles around us, perching in the dark understorey for several minutes in the end. Short-toed Eagle and Oriental Honey Buzzard were both noted overhead. During our lunch break a family of Pale-headed Munia were also present, preening and feeding just by our lunch table. Other species during our stay in this area included Spectacled Monarch, Arafura Fantail, several gorgeous male Asian Paradise Flycatcher, Short-tailed Starling, Black-naped Fruit Dove, Rusty-breasted Cuckoo, Ashy-bellied and Yellow-spectacled White-eyes, striking Sumba Myzomela, and the common Blood-breasted Flowerpecker. which with its different song, striking underpart pattern (dusky flanks, thick black markings, large red breast and throat patch) might well prove to be a full species in the future.
Departing Sumba, Australian Pratincoles welcomed us onto the Kupang Airfield in westernmost Timor. Our first birding destination was to be Bipolo and it took us just six minutes from arriving for Timor Boobook to appear in the spotlight. This taxon sounds and looks radically different from the Southern Boobook of Australia, highlighting it as a good split. As the sun began to rise the birds appeared in this small, open but very birdy patch of coastal monsoon forest. Timor Figbirds were out in numbers, surprising as we failed to locate any fruiting trees. Fortunately the lack of fruits did not matter so much as a single Pink-headed Imperial Pigeon flew overhead landing in a nearby tall tree. Hunting is a big problem here so it was welcome relief seeing this 'easy' target. Endemic Black-chested Myzomela preened in the early morning sun, our first of many of these over the next four days, though only female Flame-breasted Sunbird showed herself to everyone, the gaudy males would have to wait a while. The pleasant chorus of an Orange-banded Thrush had us dash into the forest to find this gorgeous zoothera perched up. Back on the road one particular perch was used by several different birds, first of all Five-coloured Munia, then Rainbow Bee-eaters and finally a Rose-crowned Fruit Dove just as the much-wanted Timor Sparrow suddenly appeared in a roadside tree stump. The endemics kept on coming; Fawn-breasted Whistler was a common sight, as were Plain Gerygone and a singing male Timor Oriole. Moving back into the forest a Timor Stubtail showed itself superbly as it crept along the forest floor, seemingly chasing the laser pointer at times! With the heat now intensifying a family of Brown Goshawks chased off a Pacific Baza and a Yellow-crested Cockatoo greeted us by flying overhead – this bird being present for nearly two years now and presumed to be an escape judging by its behaviour – flying in to the sound of our voices!
Moving to the paddy fields Short-toed Eagle soared up, as did more Spotted Kestrel and hovering Black-shouldered Kites. Black-faced Woodswallows displayed to each other with the male whirring his tail and performing a balancing act on a fencepost. Munia flocks feeding at the trackside were predominately Five-coloured but also included Pale-headed and Scaly-breasted along with Red Avadavat and Zebra Finches. The nearby salt-pans hosted several Red-capped Plover, White-faced Heron and good numbers of Sunda Teal, providing much better views than on Sumba.
Tawny-breasted Parrotfinch and Mees’s Nightjar, Flores © James Eaton
Inland we spent two sessions birding at Camplong, a large mosaic of dry, relatively intact forest. Several of the endemics encountered at Bipolo were repeated here including Timor Oriole, Plain Gerygone and Fawn-breasted Whistler but with a few notable attractions. Buff-banded Bushbird, usually such an elusive, unresponsive bird showed quite easily with a couple of cooperative birds perched high up calling, Red-chested Flowerpecker, a regional endemic was quite common here as were Rose-crowned Fruit Dove, Timor Leaf Warbler and both Streak-chested and Yellow-eared Honeyeaters. The forest dwelling Timor Bushchat gave its presence away with its sweet song and the often tricky Spot-breasted Dark-eye proved sluggish and easy as a pair chatted away perched next to each other. The endemics were falling fast though one took a bit of time as the rare Timor Black Pigeon would only provide us with several flight views until we eventually flushed one up onto an open perch, allowing us to admire this sultry pigeon towards the end of the morning. The large-billed, black-mantled Greater Wallacean Drongo perched up just once, this species being surprisingly elusive and scarce compared to its lesser relative. Other species at this site included a few Gould's Bronze Cuckoo's, Green-winged Pigeon (split from Emerald Dove), Spectacled Monarch and Ashy-bellied White-eye.
As we made our way to and from Gunung Mutis, Timor's highest peak, we made a couple of stops en-route at another forested area. Though the first birding session produced little more than a pair of posing Cinnamon-banded Kingfisher and Oriental honey Buzzard it promised much more so we returned for our final morning. One of the first birds of the morning proved to be perhaps the best of Timor's endemics. Following up a quiet, high pitched sweet melody we were soon admiring a gorgeous pair of Black-banded Flycatchers, the male even perching above the trail at one point before we crept into the forest and waited as he then sang from several perches around us. A manic 10 minutes then followed for as we walked out of the forest a screeching pair of Olive-shouldered Parrots flew-by although views could only be described as brief for some of us. Then, as we walked to a vantage point to look for the parrots James flushed a Black-backed Fruit Dove which then vanished, will some consolation from a Timor Black Pigeon gaving nice fly-by as we agonised. Talk about the highs and lows of birding! Fortunately it didn't take long for the Black-backed Fruit Doves to be teased into view again as a pair soon flew up for us, shortly followed by three more perched up on open snags! Walking through low forest and clearings a few nice species popped up now and again, Timor Sparrow, Timor Oriole, Long-tailed Shrike and a brief Timor Friarbird, though the star bird would have been the Bar-necked Cuckoo-dove had it flown past all of us and not just Denzil!
Spending a full day birding the slopes of Timor's highest peak, Gunung Mutis, was rather windswept but still most enjoyable as we walked through the park-like landscape of huge Casurina forest. Jumping out of the vehicles we were met by screeching parties of Olive-headed Lorikeets, numbering in the hundreds, and after several excellent views in the early morning sunlight we eventually picked out the harsher notes of the much rarer Iris Lorikeet. After several agonising minutes we located a flock of this much-sought species feeding quietly in a huge flowering tree, offering several good looks over the next 30 minutes. Wandering deeper into the forest was a slight anti-climax after two new parrots so quickly. Timorensis Pygmy Wren Babbler performed impeccably, singing its distinct four-note call above the dense vegetation, Yellow-eared Honeyeater, and Timor Leaf Warbler was common while Timor Friarbird put in an appearance. Metallic Pigeon, so often common here was only seen once, with just 3 other fly-bys. Timor Swiftlets with their matte-backed, white-bodied appearance hawked busily around us in the clearings as plenty of Island Thrushes played hide-and-seek for much of the day. Deciding to bird lower down the mountain a real bonus came whizzing by as a Timor Imperial Pigeon with its full-suite of characters flew past both of the vehicles, sometimes you deserve that bit of luck!
Flores Hawk Eagle and Bare-throated Whistler, Flores © James Eaton
As our flight schedule had been altered at late notice, not once, but twice, we had one day less on Timor than expected. Fortunately this wasn't a huge problem given our success and near clean-up of the island so we spent our final afternoon birding the very enjoyable Bipolo forest once more. The resident Yellow-crested Cockatoo once again flew over at the sound of our voices and much of the same as previous days put in final appearances including the Timor Friarbird which had somehow eluded good views up until this point.
With the cancellation of our convenient flight to Ruteng in western Flores (announced just one day before!) we would now fly into Maumere in east Flores and would have to make a 12 hour drive across the country! Taken in good spirits, we winded our way through the central lowlands and least made sure it wasn't a tick-free day by finding both Golden-rumped and Black-fronted Flowerpeckers along the roadside. Our first port of call was Kisol, residing for two nights at a seminary well situated for birding the nearby lowland patch of forest. Dawn was eagerly anticipated but proved initially frustrating, first a Wallace's Scops Owl only revealed itself to James in the spotlight before disappearing, a White-rumped Kingfisher was then an all to brief encounter, Elegant Pitta flew off its perch and Flores Crow whooshed overhead. Deciding to clear our heads for a while it took an hour before the huge silhouette of a female Flores Hawk Eagle appeared over the ridge, giving us great views for the next 15 minutes of this huge, distinctive species, quite amazing that it was ever considered just a subspecies of the Changeable Hawk Eagle. With spirits raised the rest of the day and the following morning eased nicely into place. Elegant Pittas twice performed from their calling perches, White-rumped Kingfisher was pulled into view, staring straight at us, a family of the surprisingly addictive Flores Crow played a comical game of hide-and-seek and but did ultimately show when perched, The most unexpected event was a Wallace's Scops Owl that landed in front of James while he was chatting with a local, and the bird remaining on view for all of us for some time. A pair of Chestnut-capped Thrush, a bird being driven to local extinction by capture for the bird-trade, was located close to the track and during the next hour produced views for everyone ranging from open views on sunlit branches to plenty of fly-pasts and brief perched views. Other species present during our visit included endemic Brown-capped Fantail, the babbler-like Thick-billed Dark-eye, bouncing Russet-capped Tesia, yet another vocally distinct race of Golden Whistler, Variable Goshawk, Black-naped Fruit Dove, and several Black-fronted Flowerpecker and Flame-breasted Sunbird.
The highlands of western Flores host most of the remaining Flores endemics. We visited three different sites and found all of them in good time. Dawn at Golo Lusang was as impressive as ever with the chorus of the Bare-throated Whistlers echoing up towards us. Two sessions birding this road were most enjoyable with great looks at the whistler as the main highlight along with several Dark-backed Imperial Pigeons making themselves a little too conspicuous for their own good. Fruiting trees must have been plentiful as we also found Black-backed Fruit Doves and Barred Cuckoo-doves and even scope views of the usually wary and flighty Flores Lorikeet. Passerines were in good numbers in the densely vegitated undergrowth, endemic Yellow-browed Dark-eye were plentiful, as were Flores Leaf Warbler (split from Timor Leaf Warbler), Yellow-breasted Warbler, Pale-shouldered Cicadabird, Scaly-crowned Honeyeater, Mountain and Yellow-spectacled White-eye, Blood-breasted Flowerpecker - a nice comparsion compared to the very different looking Sumba birds. Other species included Flores Jungle Flycatcher, attractive Flores Minivet, Sunda Cuckoo and most surprising was the male Tawny-breasted Parrotfinch located 20 metres up a tree, sitting motionless for 5 minutes in the scopes before seemingly disappearing into a hole in the moss – presumably a nest. A pair of Rufous-bellied Eagle and youngster circled up in the deep blue morning sky.
Lake Ranamese is surrounded by beautiful moss forest where a pair of Flores Jungle Flycatcher sang their sweet song, a Sunda Cuckoo flew back-and-forth over the road and a regular feeding flock contained yet more Flores Minivet, Russet-capped Tesia, Sunda Woodpecker, Scaly-crowned Honeyeater, Grey Tit, Brown-capped Fantail and Black-backed Fruit Dove on two occasions. The main event here came after dusk and it didn't take long to hear the Flores Scops Owls, a species whose vocalisations were unknown until Birdtour Asia solved the mystery in 2005, although seeing them was typically tricky. Despite putting in five attempts for these pesky owls we could only manage to locate them once in our beam, as one flew across the length of the wide road in the spotlight as we were expecting it too.
Yellow-crested Cockatoo, Komodo and Flores Crow, Flores © James Eaton
Birding a large forest patch to the north of Ruteng at a slightly lower elevation produced the third endemic dark-eye – Crested Dark-eye, sometimes even feeding alongside Thick-billed Dark-eye. Birding was pleasant here well into the late morning. The target Wallace's Hanging Parrot was seen whizzing past twice, although sadly not by everyone. Flores Lorikeets gave us all a slightly better chance with their marginally slower flight and racous calls. Once again Flores Minivet shone under the sunlight, as did the very common Flame-breasted Sunbird. After just five minutes of waiting a Bonelli's Eagle hugged the ridge opposite us as a pair of Pale-shouldered Cicadabird fed below us. Black-faced Munia were common here, as were Black-fronted and Golden-rumped Flowerpeckers.
Heading west to the picturesque port of Labuanbajo we made a short mid-morning stop at Puarlolo, a mid-altitude area of forest and home to one of Flores most desired endemics, Flores Monarch. The monarch was new to science in 1971 and is still only known from a handful of localities. Not long after walking along the road a magnificent female Flores Hawk Eagle was circling overhead, displaying impressive bulk and wingspan. This or another then reappeared in the distance chasing and circling the much smaller male and almost as surprising the sight of seven Short-toed Eagles circling together. With our minds refocussed to the forest the shrill sounds of the monarch soon grabbed our attention and over the next 20 minutes we were treated to several excellent views of at least one circling us.
We saved the best till last with our final full day dedicated to the trip to Komodo island, home of the Komodo Dragon. We were taken briskly across the Flores Sea in under an hour by our rather posh speedboat, arriving at the jetty on Komodo full of anticipation. Surprisingly the park had decided to hang a dead goat to entice the dragons closer to the headquarters as they had become too unpredictable, though this took little away from the excitement when we came across a huge 20-year old male walking towards us, tongue slivering in and out of his gape, giving plenty of poses for the constantly clicking cameras. In total we saw 4 dragons of varying sizes. Birding was good, Yellow-crested Cockatoo, here at only one of two sizeable populations (the other being in Timor-Leste) showed nicely though the numbers do seem to be dropping considerably year-on-year. Lemon-bellied White-eye, Indonesian Collared Dove, Barred Dove, Green Junglefowl and last but certainly not least, Wallacean Cuckooshrike, a bird that we had been looking for every single day of the tour and had eluded us up until this point! The boat trip back produced fishing Black-naped Terns surrounding the boat and a pod of Indo-Pacific Dolphins.
Indonesian Air Transport surprised us with an on-schedule flight back to Bali to enjoy a relaxing afternoon after one final twitch, this time to see the endangered Java Sparrows at a nearby hotel with several seen, including many young birds, feeding on the lawns with White-headed Munia; a nice way to finish off such a successful and wonderful tour.
Java Sparrow and Black-winged Myna, Bali © James Eaton / Birdtour Asia
Click here to view the Systematic List
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Komodo Dragon, Komodo Island © James Eaton / Birdtour Asia
