RFI New Calendonia

Hi All,

a request for some info/advice for a forthcoming trip to New Calendonia.

Generally I prefer to find my own birds, but most people who have
written reports seem to engage a guide for the Parc de la Riviere Bleue,
the key site on the island for Kagu and Crow Honeyeater (and many of the
other endemics). However Jean-Marc Meriot, the park ranger who used to
do some guiding, is now passing all requests to a pro bird guide.
Unfortunately the price of the pro guide is more than 3 times as much
and more than I can justify paying — I was quoted more than AUD300 for
4 hours.

So two questions:

1. How difficult are those two endemics? I would not want to leave
without seeing them, but have the impression from numerous trip reports
that Kagu are not so difficult any more. Crow Honeyeater rather trickier
but with the right gen on location…
2. Does anyone on the list have recent info about good spots to try?

Cheers, Ian

—
Prof. Ian Reid, FTSE
ARC Laureate Fellow
School of Computer Science
University of Adelaide
Adelaide, 5005
ph: +61 (08) 83132135
www: cs.adelaide.edu.au/~ianr