Hello south-west Pacific birders,
Apologies for clogging your list with yet another 'RFI' from a British
visitor (albeit one who works in California) -- especially when it's
not even Australia that I plan to visit next. But I'm at my wit's end
trying to to get birding advice about Samoa, where my work will take
me (for a few days) early next year. Wheatley's new book "Where to
watch birds in Australasia and Oceania" isn't much use; I hope some
Aussie birders have advice they could share about these relatively
nearby islands.
I spent a couple of days on Tutuila and Upolu in 1996 (and wrote a
brief Trip Report that can be found at Urs Geiser's http://www.xnet.
com/~ugeiser/Birds/Trip Reports/TripReports.html). This time my
goals are to find the rare/elusive Mao honeycreeper, and Tooth-billed
Pigeon. Does anyone have any advice on where to spend several days
looking for them on Upolu or Savai'i --- or where and how to seek
help from Samoa (so far all e-mail attempts have failed).
At the end of next week I'll be visiting Fiji briefly. I've birded
the main islands before; this time I plan to go to Kadavu for its
endemics. I also want to search (around Suva) for Pink-billed Parrotfinch.
Any hints for Kadavu or the Parrotfinch would be most appreciated.
Please reply to me directly, 'cos I plan to "unsubscribe" Birding-Aus
soon
Thanks, Peter Lonsdale,
Professor, Scripps Institution of Oceanography,
La Jolla, California, USA
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