Hi all, I recently had the privilege of spending 6 weeks on Christmas Island working with the Western Australian Department of Environment & Conservation’s Science Division under the ongoing cat and rat management program on the island. During this time I spent most of my time around the Settlement areas radio-tracking collared black rats to gain some insight into their home range and habitat preferences. As an obsessive birder I also spent alot of time observing the native avifauna and in addition to getting excellent views and photographs of all the endemic species and subspecies I noted some noteworthy species that were listed as rare/vagrants on the CI checklist that may be of interest to members on this group. Virtually all of these sightings were made together with Neil Hamilton, a keen birder and a senior technical officer with the forementioned department who was assisting me with the research:
-Australian Pratincole: A group of 4 were observed on the runway when I first arrived on the island on 19 July. Over the course of the next 6 weeks I made 3 visits to the airport to send off various staff members and saw at least 1-2 birds on all occasions, although views were always distant compared to my initial sighting. Lisa Preston subsequently informed me that an unknown number of birds were still present during Bird Week, so some likely stayed throughout the entire duration.
-Black-winged Stilt: An adult and a juvenile bird were first reported by Mark Holdsworth on 22 July along the beach at Flying Fish Cove and I subsequently saw the pair the following day on the 23th. Not seen again thereafter.
-Asian Koel: While making my rounds to interview locals for permission to place rat traps on their premises, I met Mr Joel, a keen photographer who lived along Sea View Drive in Silver City who asked me to identify some birds he had photographed. One of his pictures showed an unmistakable female Asian Koel feeding on Papaya in his backyard. He informed me that the bird also frequently “made loud noises” at dawn. I subsequently had 2 sightings of a female Koel on the same date (12 August). The first was a female flying across Sea View Drive at 9am in the morning. Subsequently, I encountered another (same?) female flying from tree to tree down at Triadic Crescent on the edge of the settlement on the same day. Unlikely the Asian Koels I am used to in Singapore, these birds were very wary and never allowed close approach, taking flight the moment I got within 15 metres of the tree they were in. The only time I heard Koels was at 6am on Saturday 3rd September where one called briefly from the escarpment behind the VQ 3 Lodge. Neil Hamilton also showed me pictures of a male Koel that he photographed at Sea View Drive back in 2008, so there might be a tiny population persisting on island.
-Barn Swallow: The first Barn Swallows of the season which I observed were 5 individuals at the fly-infested Rubbish Tip on 28 August 2011. They were still present on 31 August 2011.
-Grey Wagtail: My first sighting of this migrant was 2 individuals along the East-West Baseline not far from the LB 4 Lookout on 31 August 2011.
-Glossy Ibis: 1 was present at the Central Area Workshop on 3rd September 2011.
-Abbott’s Booby: While common and apparently expanding in range throughout the Western and Central portions of the islands, I understood that they were still rarely seen in the settlement. My only sighting within the Settlement in 6 weeks of fieldwork were a pair soaring around Territory Day Park on 31 August 2011 at 830am.
-Java Sparrow: In my view this species is dying a natural death due to unknown causes, similar to its eventual extirpation from Singapore. I personally doubt that 200-300 birds still persist in the settlement. I spent weeks trying to pin some down before receiving a tip-off from Mark Holdsworth that some visit the well-watered lawn behind the concrete water tank opposite the VQ 3 Lodge where the owners provide a bird bath and bread crumbs for the sparrows there. Hordes visited the gardens at the crack of dawn and after 30 minutes of waiting I managed 2 individuals briefly before they flew off in the direction of the Kampong at around 630am.
Other notables during my time on the island which I failed to find or hadn’t had the time to follow up on included an Intermediate Egret in the vicinity of the CI Resort and an unidentified Kingfisher that was hanging out at the Jetty. A poor photo shown to me by Joel indicated either a Collared or Sacred Kingfisher. Unfortunately, I was also not aware of the probable Sunda Teal at the Sewage Works until some time after the event, so did not manage to see the reported individual; nor was its corpse present in the freezer up at the National Park HQ.
Best Regards, ===============================
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