Dear Steve, Paul and Dirk, and birding-aussers,
Back from Bali but not much to report. It was really a hotel based
holiday with my sister who is not a committed birder, with a group of
her artist friends whose interests are weaving, dying and other fibre
related activities, so there was not much time to get out beyond the
confines of Ubud and its immediate surrounds, visiting weaving
workshops, blacksmiths making gamalans and gongs, wood carving, etc.
However did contact Sumadi who is doing the Bali Bird Walks - Victor
Mason has had a bad boating accident and was confined to his bed with a
back injury but is recovering. She took us on a morning walk in rice
paddies up the back of Ubud, where we saw Pacific and Striated Swallows,
Cattle and Little Egrets, Zitting Cisticolas, Javan Kingfishers, Pied
Bushchats, Glossy and Mossy-nest Swiftlets, Javan, Scaly-breasted and
White-headed Munias, the ubiquitous Olive-backed Sunbirds and
Yellow-vented bulbuls, Bar-shouldered Prinias and one Scarlet-headed
Flowerpecker, butterflies, jewel beetles, fighting cocks, plants and
people planting rice.
Next trip was to the Bata Karu temple for White-capped Forktails (super
views) and Grey-cheeked Babblers, Scarlet Minivets, Blue & White
flycatchers, Racket-tailed Drongo, Asian Glossy Starling, Grey-cheeked
and Yellow-vented bulbuls, amongst the thick foliage and rain which made
birding difficult and then crowds of people arrived for a festival so
that was the end of that.
On to the Bali Botanic Gardens where it stopped raining fortunately. Not
many birds but did get superb views of Sunda Whistling-thrush, a family
of Chestnut-backed Scimiter Babblers, Javan Honeyeater, Blood-breasted
Flowerpecker and Orange-fronted Barbet, amongst other more common SE
Asian birds. Even a Golden Whistler! Paid a visit to the lake seen from
the gardens, and found Striated Grassbird, Long-tailed Shrike and
White-browed Crake. And bought a kilo of strawberries - to die for!
Wrong time of year she kept telling us - should come in October!! But
worth a quick look and obviously one has to do a properly organised bird
tour visiting Sumatra and other islands. What is sad is the few birds
one sees around the paddy fields - very small numbers of Cattle and
Little egrets. At least the Javan Kingfisher was seen often - what a
superbly coloured bird but what a variety of rude noises it makes -
there was one near our hotel and what with that, the ducks and the
White-breasted Waterhens, it was hardly a tuneful dawn chorus. Nice
sight at the hotel was a resident Ruddy-breasted Crake that spent time
preening in the open below our balcony.
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