Birding North Sulawesi, Indonesia - November 2021

Following on from my previous post on Central Sulawesi, which you can read all about here (feat. Purple-bearded Bee-eater, Sulawesi Woodcock, Hylocitrea etc.), this post covers my couple of days birding in North Sulawesi, or more specifically, at the incredible Tangkoko National Park. I'd covered this site last year, but since I was so close with my trip to Palu and Lore Lindu National Park in Central Sulawesi I couldn't resist another trip north...

The always spectacular Knobbed Hornbill put on a great show, as too did their smaller cousins, the Sulawesi Hornbill. Parrots were very obvious with Yellow-breasted (Minahassa) Racket-tail, Blue-backed (Azure-rumped) Parrot, Ornate Lorikeet, and Pygmy (Small Sulawesi) Hanging Parrot all seen. The area is full of kingfishers and I enjoyed close views of Green-backed Kingfisher, (Sulawesi) Lilac Kingfisher, and Ruddy Kingfisher, along with excellent looks at Purple-winged (Sulawesi) Roller, Ashy Woodpecker, and Sulawesi Pitta, (Sulawesi) Crimson Sunbird, and excellent Spot-tailed Sparrowhawk.

Philippine Megapode (Tabon Scrubfowl), Bay Coucal, Hair-crested (White-eyed Spangled) Drongo, Slender-billed (Sulawesi) Crow, Red-backed Thrush, Yellow-billed (Sulawesi) Malkoha, Black-billed Koel, and Grosbeak Starling (Finch-billed Myna) were all seen too, as were a pair of Pied Cuckooshrike. Doves and pigeons are always plentiful here and I enjoyed watching Sultan's (Sulawesi) Cuckoo-Dove, White-faced Cuckoo-Dove (Sulawesi Black Pigeon), Black-naped Fruit Dove, Green (Paulina's) Imperial Pigeon, and Silver-tipped Imperial Pigeon. One of the highlights was how well Isabelline (Sulawesi) Bush-hen showed as it called out in the open.

A bit of birding at night yielded Minahassa Masked Owl, Sulaswesi Scops Owl, and Great Eared Nightjar, while during the day Ochre-bellied Boobook and Sulawesi Nightjar were both seen.

Interestingly while driving in towards Tangkoko from Manado in the evening, a random stop for a bakery resulted in the finding of a roost or probably 5,000 Barn Swallows right in a town center along the main road, all on the power lines, a pretty spectacular sight!

You can see more specifics about this trip on my eBird account where I've used the new "Trip Report" tool to put some details together,  see that here. 

Knobbed Hornbill

Knobbed Hornbill

Ashy Woodpecker

Green-backed Kingfisher

Hair-crested (White-eyed Spangled) Drongo

Isabelline (Sulawesi) Bush-hen

(Sulawesi) Lilac Kingfisher

Ochre-bellied Boobook

Pied Cuckooshrike

Purple-winged (Sulawesi) Roller

Spot-tailed Sparrowhawk

Spot-tailed Sparrowhawk

Sulawesi Hornbill (male)

Sulawesi Hornbill (female)

(Sulawesi) Crimson Sunbird

Birding Central Sulawesi, Indonesia - November 2021

My final birding trip away from Bali in 2021 was to Sulawesi. Over late 2021 I enjoyed several excellent Indonesian birdwatching trips, to Lombok, Flores, Timor, Rote, Sumba, and of course a fair bit of birding from my garden in Ubud, Bali. I had a bit of free time so decided to spend just over a week in Central and Northern Sulawesi. I'd had two great trips to Sulawesi in 2020, which included birding time on Peleng Island, Tangkoko National Park, and into the North Moluccas where I covered Halmahera too, so I was looking forward to getting back. I firmly believe Sulawesi offers some of the best birds and birding in Indonesia. This blog covers the Central Sulawesi portion of my trip. 

I flew in to Palu, in Central Sulawesi and headed across to Lore Lindu. I enjoyed a couple of days birding here. Unfortunately it wasn't possible to get up the famed Anaso Track during my visit, but I still saw plenty of excellent birds, including Sulawesi Woodcock. I love birding at 1,000 - 1,800m (3,300 - 6,000ft) anywhere in the world, there's always something special about the habitats found there that always results in amazing birds and beautiful plants.

I'm not going to lie, I was majorly gutted to not be able to get up the Anaso Track but finding a feeding Sulawesi Woodcock on the side of a trail was one great sighting, as were a pair of Purple-bearded Bee-eaters (one of my major targets), along with Hylocitrea, Sulawesi Thrush, Great Shortwing (Heinrichia), Malia, Maroon-backed Whistler, Blue-fronted Blue Flycatcher (Hoevell's Warbling-flycatcher), Red-eared Fruit Dove, Grey-headed Imperial Pigeon, White-bellied Imperial Pigeon, Sulawesi Hawk-Eagle, Cinnabar Boobook, Speckled Boobook, Sulawesi Pygmy Woodpecker, Yellow-cheeked Lorikeet, Dark-eared (Lesser) Myza, Sulawesi Myzomela, Ivory-backed Woodswallow, Cerulean Cuckooshrike, Pygmy Cuckooshrike, Sulawesi Cicadabird, Sulawesi Drongo, Sulawesi Fantail, Sulawesi Leaf Warbler, Sulawesi (Short-crested) Myna, Fiery-browed Starling (Flame-browed Myna), Citrine Canary-flycatcher, Crimson-crowned Flowerpecker, and plenty more! Pictures of many of these below.

As I got one less day up in the mountains than I expected I decided to have a morning birding in some lowland forest near Palu, this proved to be a good choice and I enjoyed seeing Sulawesi Pitta, Sulawesi Pygmy Kingfisher, Spotted Harrier, Great (Sulawesi) Hanging Parrot, Long-tailed Shrike (either a recent arrival into the country or an escaped cage bird), Bay Coucal, Pale-headed Munia, and Sulawesi Streaked (Sulawesi Brown) Flycatcher. 

You can see more specifics about this trip on my eBird account where I've used the new "Trip Report" tool to put some details together, you can see that (and get a sneak early peak at what I saw in Northern Sulawesi), here. 

Purple-bearded Bee-eater

Great Shortwing (Heinrichia)

Sulawesi Thrush

Blue-fronted Blue Flycatcher (Hoevell's Warbling-flycatcher)

Cerulean Cuckooshrike

Citrine Canary-flycatcher

Crimson-crowned Flowerpecker

Fiery-browed Starling (Flame-browed Myna)

Ivory-backed Woodswallow

Red-eared Fruit Dove

Sulawesi Fantail

Sulawesi (Short-crested) Myna

Sulawesi Hawk-Eagle

Sulawesi Myzomela

Sulawesi Pygmy Woodpecker

Spotted Harrier

Sulawesi Dwarf Woodpecker

Sulawesi Streaked (Sulawesi Brown) Flycatcher

Sulawesi Pitta 

Birding Sumba, Indonesia - October 2021

The third leg of my October 2021 Lesser Sunda Islands trip was to Sumba, located south of the island of Flores (where I'd been birding in September 2021 - trip report here) and followed straight on from my birding in Timor and Rote. 

Sumba has almost a dozen IOC recognized endemics and these were my targets, along with any interesting local subspecies on offer. It was a great visit and not only did I find all my endemic targets I got a great selection of the endemic subspecies and even ended up finding an Indonesian rarity...

I started off in Waingapu in the east of the island, did some birding around there, birded mainly at the excellent Billa Forest and then headed west to Tambolaka where I flew back home to Bali. 

Birding in Billa Forest gave most of the endemics, and included Sumba Hornbill, Red-naped Fruit Dove, Sumba Green Pigeon, (Great) Sumba Boobook, Little Sumba (Boobook) Hawk-Owl, Sumba Brown Flycatcher, Sumba Jungle Flycatcher (Sumba Warbling-flycatcher), and Sumba Flycatcher, along with other targets such as Yellow-crested (Orange-crested) Cockatoo, Cinnamon-banded Kingfisher, Marigold Lorikeet, Elegant Pitta, Little (Eucalypt) Cuckoo-Dove, Brown Goshawk, Oriental Dwarf Kingfisher, Rusty-breasted (Tenggara/Sumba) Whistler, Wallacean (Sumba Spangled) Drongo, Tenggara Paradise Flycatcher, Blood-breasted (Sumba) Flowerpecker, Eclectus Parrot, and Great-billed Parrot.   

Birding around Waingapu was great and not only did I get some good views (but not photos!) of Sumba Buttonquail, but a wetland near the coast was packed full of shorebirds and included Australian Pratincole and Oriental Plover, but the pick of the lot was a Pectoral Sandpiper!!! This appears to be the first record for Sumba, and possible something like the 6th-8th record for Indonesia! Photos below...   

The drive across the island included a few stops where I got excellent looks at Elegant Pitta, Sumba Myzomela, Apricot-breasted Sunbird, and Spotted Harrier. I really enjoyed the birding in Sumba, and can't wait to get back for more in 2022.  

Sumba Hornbill

Red-naped Fruit Dove

Sumba Brown Flycatcher

Sumba Flycatcher

Sumba Green Pigeon

Sumba Myzomela

Yellow-crested (Orange-crested) Cockatoo

Cinnamon-banded Kingfisher

Elegant Pitta

Marigold Lorikeet

Wallacean (Sumba Spangled) Drongo

Oriental Dwarf Kingfisher

Spotted Harrier

Pectoral Sandpiper

Pectoral Sandpiper

Birding Timor, Indonesia - October 2021

After my Rote birding trip I moved over to the island of Timor and the city of Kupang. From here I took a drive east across to the town of Soe, where I birded around the village of Fatumnasi on Gunung Mutis (Mount Mutis). After a bit more birding at mid-elevation around Soe, I came back down to the coast and Bipolo Forest where, in addition to the forest birding, I spent some time checking out some rice paddies and coastal wetland sites. One this trip I got to grips with loads of endemic species and subspecies, some regional specials, and even found a Timor rarity... 

One of the star birds that I was looking for was the undescribed "Mount Mutis Parrotfinch" and after a morning of hiking around mountain trails I was rewarded with some great views of an adult male. Other highlights of my time at a bit of elevation in Timor included Timor Boobook, Pink-headed Imperial Pigeon, Cinnamon-banded Kingfisher, Olive-headed Lorikeet, Black-breasted (Timor) Myzomela, Timor Friarbird, Flame-eared (Yellow-eared) Honeyeater, Streak-breasted (Timor) Honeyeater, Yellow-throated Whistler, Northern (Timor) Fantail, Sunda Bush Warbler, Timor Stubtail, Timor Leaf Warbler, Buff-banded (Timor) Thicketbird, Spot-breasted Heleia, Island (Timor) Thrush, Chestnut-backed Thrush, Black-banded Flycatcher, Snowy-browed Flycatcher, Timor Blue Flycatcher (Timor Warbling-flycatcher), White-bellied (Timor) Bush Chat, Thick-billed (Tenggara) Flowerpecker, and Blood-breasted (Timor) Flowerpecker. 

"Mount Mutis Parrotfinch"

Black-banded Flycatcher

Buff-banded (Timor) Thicketbird

Olive-headed Lorikeet

Snowy-browed Flycatcher

Spot-breasted Heleia

Sunda Bush Warbler

Island (Timor) Thrush

Timor (Timor) Leaf Warbler

Timor Blue Flycatcher (Timor Warbling-flycatcher)

One of the really nice surprises while birding on Mount Mutis, was discovering a Grey-streaked Flycatcher. This appears to be the first record for Timor! Got some nice and prolonged views of the bird as it fed in the sub-canopy. 

Grey-streaked Flycatcher

Grey-streaked Flycatcher

Grey-streaked Flycatcher

Some of the lowland forest yielded Arafura Fantail, Timor Boobook, Red-cheeked Parrot, Wallacean (Timor) Cuckooshrike, Fawn-breasted Whistler, Wallacean (Timor Spangled) Drongo, Spectacled Monarch, Orange-sided (Orange-banded) Thrush, lots of honeyeaters, and Short-toed Snake Eagle.

Short-toed Snake Eagle

Timor Boobook

Wallacean (Timor Spangled) Drongo

 

It was really enjoyable birding in the rice paddies and coastal wetlands and I found a load of great birds with some of the highlights including a flock of 16 Pied Herons, plus Oriental Plover, Australian Pratincole, Sunda Teal, Terek Sandpiper, Sharp-tailed Sandpiper, Long-toed Stint, Yellow Bittern, White-faced Heron, (Lesser Sunda) Zebra Finch, Five-colored Munia, Red Avadavat, Paddyfield Pipit, and Eastern Yellow Wagtail.       

Next stop Sumba....

Australian Pratincole

Oriental Plover

Pied Heron

Terek Sandpiper

Long-toed Stint

Sharp-tailed Sandpiper