Trip report Torres Strait Feb 2009
Islands visited: Little Tuesday, Saibai, Dauan & Boigu.
Those on board: Richard Baxter (Leader/Organiser), Karen Blake, Mike Carter,
Jan England, Dougald Frederick, Andrew Humphreys, Bill & Jack Moorhead, David
Mules and Jen Spry.
We departed Horn Island at 8am on 21/2/09 in sunny conditions with a forecast
of good birding weather for the next eight days. Not long after packing our
gear in our cabins we arrived at Little Tuesday Island at 9.15am and within
minutes we were all in the zodiacs heading ashore. Little Tuesday Island was
the first stop for one of our trip’s four target species. These being, 1) Pale
White-eye, 2) Collared Imperial Pigeon, 3) Singing Starling & 4) Papuan
Flowerpecker.
After 30min on the island we had located 10+ PALE WHITE-EYE, Rose-crowned Fruit
Dove, Red-headed H/E, Mangrove Golden Whistler and Beach Stone Curlew. We
didn’t linger on the island and soon continued our journey north towards Saibai.
Later that afternoon we anchored off Saibai Island in calm conditions with the
sun setting over the Torres Strait. An afternoon storm was brewing over PNG
and flocks of Pied and COLLARED IMPERIAL PIGEON were flying from the mainland
over to Saibai, while we enjoyed drinks on the top deck.
We decided to have a non-birding wildlife high light for each day and today’s
was a large Green Turtle swimming near the boat adjacent to Saibai.
22/2/09 - We arrived onshore pre-dawn and walked to the cemetery in search of
better views of Collared IMP and our first views of Papuan Flowerpecker. This
morning would prove to be one of the most spectacular I’ve ever experienced in
the Torres Strait. In overcast conditions we began to see flocks of Lorikeets
flying south from PNG. The first flock was definitely Rainbow Lorikeet. The
second flock sailed past minutes later and judging by their calls these birds
were another lory species. A few distant photos were taken but the light was
poor and these birds will probably remain a mystery. These were followed by
Red-cheeked Parrots(4) and further flocks of Rainbow Lorikeets.
At 6.45am the first Fork-tailed Swifts came into view, cruising over the
cemetery. As we watched the flock move across, UNIFORM SWIFTLETS (4) could
also be seen as they circled low overhead. Amongst these, a lone HOUSE SWIFT
was spotted as it wheeled directly above. As the flock was nearly out of
sight, Mike Carter called PAPUAN SPINE-TAILED SWIFT (1) and a lone bird was
seen directly overhead and straggling behind the rest of the main flock. It
wasn’t long and the birds had disappeared over the nearby tree line, leaving
ten stunned but very happy birders as light rain began to fall.
The rest of the day was spent exploring the township, airport and nearby
forest. Birding high lights were, Orange-footed Scrubfowl (6), Radjah Shelduck
(1), Pied Heron (15), Striated Heron (6), Brown Goshawk A.f.dogwa (1), Collared
Sparrowhawk(1), Brolga (3), Oriental Plover (1), Superb Fruit Dove (20),
Collared Imperial Pigeon (1), Barking Owl (2), Spangled Drongo (resident Papuan
ssp) (15) and Yellow-bellied Sunbird (50).
Whilst walking through the an area of forest near the cemetery I saw a medium
sized bird sitting on an exposed branch only 10m ahead of our group. A quick
look revealed a long down curved bill and I quickly informed the rest of the
group. Only two others saw it before it flew and despite searches of the area
over the next two days we could not locate this elusive bird. The only
Australian birds with a bill similar are the riflebirds and this bird was not a
riflebird. This was an exciting find but with brief views in poor, dappled
light ID was going to be impossible. On returning to the boat we searched
through our PNG field guides and quite easily narrowed it down to either
Long-billed Honeyeater or Long-billed Cuckoo, both of which would be new for
Australia.
Our non-bird highlight of the day was a Papuan Black Snake eating a Pacific Rat
near the airport.
23/2/09 – Starting pre-dawn, the group went in search of the Torres Strait
speciality, the Papuan Flowerpecker and after a couple of hours, most of the
group finally had views of two PAPUAN FLOWERPECKERS, expertly located by Jen
Spry. Later during the day we all had better views of Collared Imperial Pigeon
as we cruised the Saibai River. Other interesting species seen were, Oriental
Cuckoo, Large-billed Gerygone, Collared Kingfisher, Cicadabird and Black
Butcherbird.
Our non-bird highlight of the day was a spectacular Emerald Monitor (Varanus
prasinus) hunting through the mangroves adjacent to our flowerpecker tree.
To be continued........
Cheers
Richard Baxter
Birding Tours Australia
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