Hi I went on a six day trip to Bali about six weeks ago. Most of the trip was dedicated to relaxation and the wedding of a friend but I did have four opportunities to watch birds and saw 65 species including 9 new ones for me. Photos and videos of some of the birds mentioned in this report can be seen at: http://s273.photobucket.com/albums/jj212/eve_jean_talbot/Bali_birds/ and http://ibc.lynxeds.com/users/nick-talbot
I stayed in Ubud for three days and tried to do the walk through the paddyfields that I had done with local bird guide Sumadi Wayan in 2004. Since 2004 there has been a lot of building development around this walk and it took three attempts to find the track this time. It is a now a walled concrete path that runs between houses and then into the paddyfields along a path that is used as a road by local people on motor scooters. I actually saw more motor scooters on the walk than walkers. One of my wrong turns delivered a Streaked Weaver (new – one of only two lifers I found without help on this trip) in a little paddyfield between the houses. I didn’t see another Streaked Weaver during the trip. Around Ubud (including the paddyfield walk) I also saw Cattle Egret, Spotted Dove, Javan Pond-heron, Feral Pigeon, Javan Munia, Scaly-breasted Munia, Yellow-vented Bulbul, Pink-necked Green–Pigeon, Cave Swiftlet, Eurasian Tree Sparrow, Javan Kingfisher, White-breasted Waterhen and Edible-nest Swiftlet.
The birding highlight this trip was a visit to the Bedugul Botanic Gardens guided by Sumadi. She wasn’t available for my trip to Bedugul in 2004 so it was a new experience for me to see it with a guide. On the way to the Botanic Gardens we found Chestnut Munia (new) in a roadside paddyfield and I had the best view I’ve ever had of a Ruddy-breasted Crake. I failed to get a picture of it due to the paddyfield path I was standing on being too thin and high for me to put up my tripod on. Unfortunately when we reached the gardens the weather was bad and we had to contend with low cloud, occasional rain and poor light for most of the day. Despite this, Sumadi managed to find birds every time the sun broke through, including Long-tailed Shrike, Blood-breasted Flowerpecker (new), Indonesian Honeyeater, Great Tit, Ashy Drongo, Javan Grey-throated White-eye, Fulvous-breasted Woodpecker (new), Little Spiderhunter (new), Grey-headed Canary-flycatcher (new), Scarlet Minivet, Flame-fronted Barbet (Megalaima armillaris), Collared Kingfisher, Black Drongo, Short-tailed Starling, Asian Glossy Starling, Scaly-breasted Munia, Javan Munia, Mountain White-eye (including a juvenile possibly being fed on the ground by an adult), Yellow Wagtail (new), Crested Serpent-eagle, Pied Bushchat, Javan Kingfisher, Yellow-vented Bulbul and a White-bellied Sea-eagle. We also heard Lesser Shortwing and Horsfield’s Babbler.
We also visited Lake Buyan. There are a lot more houses along its shores than in 2004 and it was so full of water this time that some of the farmland that had been there was underwater, some buildings were flooded as well and there were no mudflats at all. Apparently it has risen two metres because of the heavy rains over the past year. The birding highlight here was the bitterns. About 10 (some of these could have been double-counted) Cinnamon Bittern (new) showed themselves in flight moving between the vegetation and two Yellow Bittern did the same. Here and on the drive back we also saw Pacific Swallow, Common Moorhen, Javan Pond-heron, Long-tailed Shrike, Striated Grassbird, Bar-winged Prinia and Black-naped Oriole.
The other three days of the trip were at Ayana Resort at Jimbarran. The weather was still overcast when I arrived but I had time to check out some of the gardens and found Pied Fantail, Olive-backed Sunbird, Sooty-headed Bulbul, Scarlet-headed Flowerpecker, White-headed Munia (new), Yellow-vented Bulbul, Bar-winged Prinia, Collared Kingfisher, Olive-backed Sunbird, White-breasted Waterhen and the only White-breasted Woodswallow of the trip. Despite the heavy cloud and occasional rain I decided to try the site formerly known as Nusa Dua Sewage ponds. I used that name to get there in 2004 but no-one seemed to know that name in 2011. The taxi driver hadn’t heard of them and we had to ask for directions to find them. The reason for this is that they don’t seem to be open to fishing any more and they are now called Taman Panting (I think this means lagoons). The gates were closed but not locked and I only saw one other person during the next two hours. They seemed to have an office there with maps but I didn’t want to risk getting told they were closed or something so I didn’t knock on the door. The result of the closed gates is a site that is much cleaner and quieter than last time (my memory is of literally dozens of people fishing there and leaving their rubbish behind). Amazingly enough, the day got brighter and it stopped raining the whole time I was there. I found Small Blue Kingfisher (one pair of these birds were dueting – the male was trying to sneak up the branch toward the female while they were both singing. It looked like he was moon-walking), Javan Pond-heron, Little Egret, Great Egret, Spotted Dove, Olive-backed Tailorbird, Common Sandpiper, Purple Heron, Pied Fantail, Olive-backed Sunbird, Pink-necked Green-pigeon, Blue-tailed Bee-eater, Striated Heron (including one immature), White-breasted Waterhen, Collared Kingfisher, White-bellied Sea-eagle (immature), Yellow-vented Bulbul, Bar-winged Prinia, Sunda Teal, Black-crowned Night-heron (eating a fish), Eurasian Tree Sparrow and Little Pied Cormorant. There was also a large monitor lizard eating a fish.
It ended up being fine for the remaining days at Ayana when I wasn’t able to go birdwatching again, although I did see several Great-billed Heron flying over the sea, and single Pacific Reef Egret (dark phase) on about a dozen occasions. Several big terns could also be seen out to sea from on top of the cliffs. These may have been Crested Terns but I couldn’t say for sure.
Despite some poorly timed bad weather I think Bali is still a great place to go birding. It is still amazingly cheap and friendly. The local tourism industry seems to have been badly affected by the downturn in Japanese tourism (post tsunami). My overall impression of Bali’s environment was that there was a lot less plastic rubbish around, fewer cars were blowing smoke and there were a lot less stray dogs around. The habit of lighting little fires everywhere seems to have declined significantly. Building construction is going on at a frantic pace and must have been for years. The roads are extremely busy and hazardous (I was even caught in a long traffic jam on the way to airport for a midnight flight back to Australia).
Sumadi Wayan can be contacted by email su_birdwalk@yahoo.com and her web-site is www.balibirdwalk.com.
All the best Nick
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