TORRES STRAIT TRIP REPORT NOV 2008 PART 2 OF 3.
Day 4 was without doubt the most outstanding day of the entire trip with two
incredible birds seen. Our day started off with our continued unsuccessful
search for the flowerpecker. Three people decided to stay on the boat for the
morning and were rewarded with a close flyover of GURNEY'S EAGLE (1). The
shore party managed to find:
Black-winged Stilt (3)
Little Tern (20)
Whiskered Tern (3)
White-winged Black Tern (1)
Collared Imperial Pigeon (3)
Oriental Cuckoo (1)
Brush Cuckoo (1)
Little Bronze-Cuckoo (1)
Forest Kingfisher (1)
Red-headed Honeyeater (5)
Spectacled Monarch (3)
Trumpet Manucode (1) and Barn Swallow (1).
After lunch we departed in our Zodiacs to explore the river that separates the
island and a remote camping area on the southern side of the island. Exiting
the river we spotted a raptor gliding unhurriedly towards us just above the
treetops with long dangling legs. I yelled to the other boat and they quickly
returned to watch an Osprey glide by. We spent about 45 minutes exploring the
camping ground before returning to the San Miguel and a huge feed of mudcrabs
for dinner. Halfway down the river we spotted a very large imperial pigeon
sitting on an overhanging branch. This tall and heavily built pigeon was very
much larger than the Collared and Pied Imperial Pigeons we had been seeing for
the last few days and the dark grey lower body and paler chest, neck and head
with a white sub-terminal tail-band made this a possible PINON IMPERIAL PIGEON
(1). These pigeons are common in the nearby Trans-Fly area of PNG and were
highly likely to turn
up on one of these islands one day. Also along the river we had our only
Collared Sparrowhawk of the trip.
Day 5 Today was our last chance to find the flowerpecker! During the morning on
Boigu we saw, amongst others:
Great Egret (2)
Nankeen Night Heron (11)
Purple Swamphen (3)
Sacred Kingfisher (1)
Mangrove Gerygone (1)
Broad-billed Flycatcher (1)
Shining Flycatcher (1)
Black-faced Cuckoo-Shrike (3)
Cicadabird (1)
Varied Triller (3)
Tree martin (2) and Singing Starling (40).
After breakfast we headed back to Saibai Island and found:
Darter (1)
Great-billed Heron (1)
Whistling Kite (2)
Whimbrel (20)
Eastern Curlew (12)
Common Sandpiper (10)
Grey-tailed Tattler (1)
Collared Imperial Pigeon (6)
Brush Cuckoo (2)
White-throated Needletail (150) and Northern Fantail (1).
After four days we failed to see or hear a single flowerpecker.
Day 6 Several hours after leaving Saibai we arrived at Kodall Island, which is
adjacent to York Island and a typical tropical cay covered in Beach Spinifex,
Pisonia and Coconut Palms. Kodall proved to be a great afternoon stop and in a
couple of hours we saw:
Great-billed Heron (2)
Red-backed Button Quail (7)
Common Greenshank (65)
Sanderling (6)
Beach Stone-curlew (3)
Grey Plover (15)
Pied Oystercatcher (55)
Lesser Sand-Plover (120)
Greater Sand-Plover (110)
Little Tern (200)
Rose-crowned Fruit-Dove (5)
Collared Kingfisher (1)
Noisy Pitta (4)
Mangrove Golden Whistler (4) and Olive-backed Sunbird (10).
Kodall also provided one of our target species. After walking onto the island
we were immediately confronted with roaming flocks of PALE WHITE-EYE (20) some
of which were very photogenic.
Cheers
Richard Baxter
Birding Tours Australia
www.birdingtours.com.au
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