On the front end of a work trip to Indonesia, I arrived in Java (Jakarta) prior
to the weekend and drove south a few hours to Gunung Gede Pangrangro National
Park near Cibodas. The park is 2 to 7 hours south of Jakarta depending on
traffic! This park is well known due to its high concentration of Javan
endemics on an island ravaged by humanity. I stayed at Freddy’s Guest house.
His place is about 1 K from the park gates, so access is great, but it is quite
basic. You can rent a room for 100,000 / night $11 AUD, but you need to bring
your own Towel, Bog Roll, Soap and a set of your own sheets would not be a bad
idea. His wife will cook for you if you like, basic meals such as Nasi this or
Mie that for around 3-4 dollars, the will also give you a plastic lunch box to
take in the forest too!
The Friday afternoon I spent in the lower part of the forest by myself and
managed to see a number of critters and many endemics without ID’s being too
difficult. I can however say that this is the first time I have ever been
hampered by a field guide. I found A Field Guide to the Birds of Borneo,
Sumatra, Java, and Bali: The Greater Sunda Islands by MacKinnon to be very
challenging to use. I can be generous and chalk up the drawings being of
“non-Javan” forms, but I swear you would think you were discovering new
species! White-browed Shrike-Babbler, Javan Trogon and others were so
different...anyone who has the book and would like to see some pictures...I
will
show you what I mean!
The next morning, I did not intend to take a guide into the forest, but Freddy
insisted that his Grandson go with me. He told me he is training Ekke to be a
bird guide, he is a nice young kid but still needs a lot of training! Those
without independent identification skills will end up with a much bigger list
than appropriate and even a few species that would be firsts for Java...if you
know what I mean. He is in his late teens so time is on his side.
I think after the first few minutes with me pushing back on his Id’s he called
up his uncle (Freddy’s son) who was also in the forest guiding a Japanese
fellow
and the four of us hooked up. That was a blessing as he is an excellent bird
guide.
I was foiled from actually camping in the park due to the higher elevation
sections being closed to tree falls and bad weather but we made it above “the
Junction” on two successive days in search of Javan Trogon and Javan Cochoa.
Managed the Cochoa the first day and Trogon the second...nice pics of the
trogon too!
We were there on the weekend and the trails were full of Javanese heading up
and
down to the waterfall, but once we walked onto a spur trail, we had the place
mostly to ourselves. Like all forests, you can wander around and hope to
stumble into or hear a resident bird, but our guide knew the spots and we spent
more than a few hours waiting for the flocks, which inevitably had the target
species. Things like being at the boardwalk clearing at 8 for Giant Swiftlet
failed the first day, but worked the second!
There is a lot of good info on the web about the trails and areas to see which
species so I won’t duplicate that. Anyone interested in more details can
contact me off line. Bird species list is below, those with a (J) were seen
while waiting for my driver in Jakarta and not in the mountains.
Intermediate Egret(J)
Little Egret(J)
Javan Pond-Heron(J)
Crested Serpent-Eagle
Asian Black Eagle
Changeable Hawk-Eagle
Javan Hawk-Eagle
Spotted Dove(J)
Zebra Dove(J)
Oriental Cuckoo
Salvadori's Nightjar
Waterfall Swift
Edible-nest Swiftlet(J)
Linchi Swiftlet
Javan Trogon
Javan Kingfisher
Mangrove Kingfisher
Fire-tufted Barbet- not suppposed to be in Java...great pics!
Flame-fronted Barbet
Crimson-winged Woodpecker
Orange-backed Woodpecker
Pacific Swallow
Gray Wagtail(J)
Sunda Cuckooshrike
Sunda Minivet
Black-winged Flycatcher-Shrike
Sooty-headed Bulbul
Orange-spotted Bulbul
Gray-cheeked Bearded Bulbul
Sunda Bulbul
Long-tailed Shrike
Lesser Shortwing
White-browed Shortwing
Sunda Whistling-Thrush
Sunda Robin
Sunda Forktail
Javan Cochoa
Horsfield's Babbler
Eyebrowed Wren-Babbler
Pygmy Wren-Babbler
White-bibbed Babbler
Crescent-chested Babbler
White-browed Shrike-Babbler
Chestnut-fronted Shrike-Babbler
Javan Fulvetta
Spotted Crocias
Bar-winged Prinia
Javan Tesia
Mountain Tailorbird
Ashy Tailorbird(J)
Mountain Leaf-Warbler
Sunda Warbler
Indigo Flycatcher
Mugimaki Flycatcher
Snowy-browed Flycatcher
Little Pied Flycatcher
Gray-headed Canary Flycatcher
Rufous-tailed Fantail
Pygmy Tit
Great Tit
Blue Nuthatch
Blood-breasted Flowerpecker
Brown-throated Sunbird(J)
Olive-backed Sunbird(J)
White-flanked Sunbird
Javan Gray-throated White-eye
Ashy Drongo
Lesser Racquet-tailed Drongo
White-breasted Woodswallow(J)
Tawny-breasted Parrotfinch
Javan White-bellied Munia(J)
Nutmeg Mannikin(J)
Eurasian Tree Sparrow
Cheers,
Roger
Roger McNeill
Samford Valley, SEQ
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