I recently returned from a work trip to Papua New Guinea where I fitted in
the odd spot of birding, as one does. As I visited places rarely birded,
some of these observations will be of interest.
I had a few days at the newly opened Rondon Ridge Lodge near Mt Hagen, run
by TransNuigini, which also operates the well-known Ambua Lodge further
west. Rondon has the advantage of being close to Hagen. I missed some of the
birds that Ambua is famed for - Crested Bird-of-paradise, Black Sicklebill,
Archbold's Bowerbird. However I did see birds at Rondon that are difficult
at Hagen - Papuan Parrot-Finch, Black Pithoui, Orange-crowned Fairy-wren,
Madarasz's Tiger-Parrot. I saw some nice birds readily seen at both lodges -
Lesser Melampitta, Loria's Bird-of-Paradise, Lesser Ground-Robin,
Blue-capped Ifrita.
I had a week at Lake Murray in the Western Province, where Southern
Cassowary and Southern Crowned-Pigeon were plentiful although under
sustained hunting pressure. Fortunately, the locals can't afford guns. Other
interesting birds here included Least Paradise-Kingfisher, Blue
Jewell-Babbler, White-spotted and Grey-crowned Mannikins. The day before I
arrived the locals snared a New Guinea Flightless Rail which they said was
common, though I failed to see one.
I had a short time at Kiunga with Sam Kepuknai, seeing New Guinea Babbler
and Yellow-eyed Starling.
Greg Roberts
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