We have just had our first family holiday in Bali. The usual constraints
of such trips prevented me from doing justice to Bali's wonderful
birdlife but a few hours at Celu Sewage Farm near Nusa Dua and an early
morning visit to Bedugul Botanic Gardens in the centre of the island
proved very productive. These notes might be useful for those with
similar family generated priorities! Highlights for me were the
Christmas Island Frigatebirds which floated lazily over us on Kuta beach
(always keep a pair of bins handy!), the stunning Small Blue Kingfishers
(should be called Turquoise, not Blue!) at Celu SF, the gorgeous Scarlet
Minivets (another misnomer, the male is orange and the female yellow)
and spectacular Chestnut-backed Scimitar-Babblers at Bedugul Botanic
Gardens, a reasonably close view of a magnificent juvenile
Rufous-bellied Eagle - again at Bedugul and the unexpected find of a
pair of Racket-tailed Treepies in our hotel garden.
I spent my first night at Benoa within walking distance of the Celu
Sewage farm at Nusa Dua. Very well worth a visit - you can even bring
the family and tell them it's a fish farm - it smells less than many
urban streets! The fish are so abundant that it attracts hoards of
herons. One or two Little Egrets were "paddling" around like ducks
picking off the small fish. Others snatched them from the surface in
flight in the manner of a Gull-billed Tern. A couple of shaded watch
towers give very good views over the ponds and I regret not bringing my
scope. The farm opens onto extensive mangroves on the north side. I
would check those out first and retire to the watch towers as the sun
gets higher.
We spent the next two nights at Ubud - the Monkey Forest there was very
unproductive due no doubt to the very high population of monkeys, and I
did not see many species generally at Ubud but a distant view of a Javan
Kingfisher while having breakfast and nesting Javan Munias and Nutmeg
Mannikins in the hotel grounds livened the day.
The next two nights were on the island of Lembongan - where
Lemon-bellied Silvereyes, a restricted range species, are very common
and tame and the Black-naped Monarchs were seen only there. No seabirds
were spotted on the ferry trips to and from except for some terns
inshore.
The last four nights were based in Sanur. From there I took a car up to
Bedugul Botanic Gardens one morning. I would strongly recommend getting
there early. Indonesian Honeyeaters provide a somewhat familiar ring to
the dawn chorus, and the place was alive with birds. I got there at 6:30
after a 90 minute drive from Sanur. By the time I left around 11:00 AM
the park was filling up with noisy parties of schoolkids and tour buses
but I could easily have escaped the hoards and spent the rest of the day
and a few more exploring. Bring a jacket as it is quite cool. A family
visit to the even cooler Mt Batur Volcano produced a Striated Swallow
but very little else of note. Overall, very few raptors were seen on the
reasonably long drives inland - one wonders if this is due to hunting
pressure?
Of the 65 positively identified species, 32 were new to me. When
confronted with numerous new species I found myself note-taking rather
than searching through the field guide (A field guide to the birds of
Borneo, Sumatra, Java, and Bali, the Greater Sunda Islands by: MacKinnon
& Phillips). The guide was generally good but threw me off on a number
of occasions. For example the Javan Whistling-Thrush is unmistakeable
bird but not well illustrated and one really needs to read the separate
text to comfortably identify it. A good guide to the Birds of Bali I
imagine would sell well (- why don't publishers chop down their field
guides - most birdwatchers would fork out for a good local guide on
their travels. A field Guide to the Birds of FNQ anyone?) .
I certainly enjoyed my birdwatching in Bali and it was at least as
interesting as any incidental birdwatching I have managed on
business/holiday trips to Singapore, Malaysia and Thailand. Next time a
cheapy fare comes up at Flight Centre I might just sneak off for a long
weekend of serious birdwatching and get over to western Bali and the
Bali Barat NP.
The following is an annotated list of what was seen 11-20 July 2009.
English Latin Comments
Little Pied Cormorant Phalacrocorax melanoleucos Few at
Celu SF
Christmas Island Frigatebird Fregata andrewsi 2 over
Kuta Beach
Purple Heron Ardea purpurea Common on reefs
and Celu SF
Great Egret Ardea alba
Common on reefs and Celu SF
Intermediate Egret Mesophoyx intermedia Few at Celu SF
Little Egret Egretta garzetta V Common
at Celu SF also reefs
Javan Pond-Heron Ardeola speciosa
Common in paddy fields and Celu SF
Green-backed Heron Butorides striatus Common at Celu
SF
Black-crowned Night-Heron Nycticorax nycticorax Common at Celu
SF
Sunda Teal Anas gibberifrons
Common at Celu SF
Brahminy Kite Haliastur indus One at Celu SF
Rufous-bellied Eagle Hieraaetus kienerii One Juvenile at
Bedugul
White-breasted Waterhen Amaurornis phoenicurus Common
Common Sandpiper Actitis hypoleucos Two at
Celu SF
Great Crested Tern Sterna bergii Common along
coast
Black-naped Tern Sterna sumatrana
One at Lembongan
Little Tern Sterna albifrons
Common along coast and at Celu SF
Rock Pigeon Columba livia A few
around Denpasar but not abundant.
Pink-necked Green-Pigeon Treron vernans A few at Celu
SFand elsewhere
Grey-cheeked Green-Pigeon Treron griseicauda Common at
Bedugul
Linchi Swiftlet Collocalia linchi Very
common everywhere (if one accepts the split from Glossy)
Javan Kingfisher Halcyon cyanoventris One at
Ubud
Collared Kingfisher Todiramphus chloris Common
Sacred Kingfisher Todiramphus sanctus Pair in
the mangroves at Celu SF
Small Blue Kingfisher Alcedo coerulescens Very Common at
Celu SF
Blue-tailed Bee-eater Merops philippinus One at Celu SF &
a few at Lembongan
Flame-fronted Barbet Megalaima armillaris A few at Bedugul
Fulvous-breasted Woodpecker Dendrocopos macei One in
the mangroves at Celu SF
Pacific Swallow Hirundo tahitica Common
Striated Swallow Cecropis striolata One at
Mt Batur Volcano
White-shouldered Triller Lalage sueurii Couple at Celu
SF
Scarlet Minivet Pericrocotus flammeus Three at Bedugul
Black-winged Flycatcher-shrikeHemipus hirundinaceus One at Bedugul
Sooty-headed Bulbul Pycnonotus aurigaster Common along
coast and at Lembongan
Yellow-vented Bulbul Pycnonotus goiavier Very common
everywhere
Grey-cheeked Bulbul Alophoixus bres Pair at Bedugul
Common Iora Aegithina tiphia
Common
Lesser Shortwing Brachypteryx leucophrys One at
Bedugul
Javan Whistling-Thrush Myophonus glaucinus Three at Bedugul
Pied Bushchat Saxicola caprata A few
pairs at Bedugul
Snowy-browed Flycatcher Ficedula hyperythra One at Bedugul
Grey-headed Canary-flycatcher Culicicapa ceylonensis Very common at
Bedugul
Pied Fantail Rhipidura javanica Fairly common
everywhere
Black-naped Monarch Hypothymis azurea One on
Lembongan
Olive-backed Tailorbird Orthotomus sepium Common in hotel
gardens
Bar-winged Prinia Prinia familiaris
Very common
Mountain Leaf-Warbler Phylloscopus trivirgatus A few at
Bedugul
Chestnut-backed Scimitar-Babbler Pomatorhinus montanus A couple
of parties at Bedugul
Golden Whistler Pachycephala pectoralis A few at Bedugul
- male grading to orange on breast where yellow meets black.
Great Tit Parus major
Everywhere at Bedugul. Completely lacks any yellow on breast and back is
grey not olive compared to the European variety.
Olive-backed Sunbird Cinnyris jugularis Very common
Blood-breasted Flowerpecker Dicaeum sanguinolentum At Bedugul and
Mt Batur Volcano . Very similar to our Mistletoebird.
Scarlet-headed Flowerpecker Dicaeum trochileum A few at Celu SF
Lemon-bellied White-eye Zosterops chloris Common
on Lembongan
Indonesian Honeyeater Lichmera limbata Abundant
around bottlebrushes at Bedugul BG
Long-tailed Shrike Lanius schach One on Lembongan
and another at Bedugul
Black Drongo Dicrurus macrocercus Two at Celu SF
Ashy Drongo Dicrurus leucophaeus Common
at Bedugul
White-breasted Woodswallow Artamus leucorynchus Scattered
records of singles
Racket-tailed Treepie Crypsirina temia Pair at
Sanur in hotel garden
Short-tailed Starling Aplonis minor Very common at
Bedugul. Similar to Phillippine/Asian Glossy Starling of Singapore and
KL but noticeably shorter tail.
Tree Sparrow Passer montanus Abundant
White-rumped Munia Lonchura striata Small
flocks seen at Kuta and Ubud
Javan Munia Lonchura leucogastroidesCommon
at Ubud (where actively building nest) and some at Bedugul
Nutmeg Mannikin Lonchura punctulata Common at Ubud -
also building nests.
Uncertain species
Little Black Cormorant Phalacrocorax sulcirostris A few
initially thought to be this species at Celu SF might actually have been
Little Cormorants
Little Cuckoo-Dove Macropygia ruficeps A few brown
Cuckoo-Doves at Bedugul were probably this species but could have been
one of the other resident Cuckoo-Doves.
Plaintive Cuckoo Cacomantis merulinus Cuckoos
poorly seen at Ubud and Bedugul may be this species
Pacific Swift Apus pacificus A white-rumped
swift at the Mt Batur Volcano may have been this species.
Bali Myna Leucopsar rothschildi Quick
glimpse of dark Myna while driving around Denpasar maybe this but not a
common bird. I suspect the many stray dogs eat all the available food
scraps, suppressing the Mynas.
Unidentified species
At Bedugul I saw a few yellow-bellied, white-throated warblers with grey
head, dark line through eye (or light eyebrow giving that impression),
and largely unmarked olive wings and back feeding high in the canopy. I
thought they were Yellow-bellied Warblers or Yellow-bellied Prinias but
neither are recorded in Bali according to MacKinnon and Phillips so any
suggestions would be welcome.
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