Sumatra & Java Part 2

Tuesday August 4^th

One of the earlier starts as we left the hotel at 4am as we were targeting night birds to start with. We managed nice views of a Javan Scops-Owl but no nightjars. 

Javan Scops-Owl

We spent the rest of the day birding the forest, mostly from the road which was fairly busy with tourists going up to the crater lake. Several Scaly Thrushes were seen early on, then it was Javan Cochoa, Crescent-chested Babbler and Spotted Crocias. Birds in Java are generally thin on the ground as every house has at least one in a cage, usually taken from the wild. 

Aberrant Bush Warbler

Scaly Thrush

Spotted Crocias

Tawny-breasted Parrotfinch

Further along we saw the endangered Javan Hawk-Eagle, the national bird of Indonesia. A Javan Tesia was enticed out and up in the trees were Trilling Shrike-vireo and Pied Shrike-Babbler.

Javan Hawk-Eagle

We went up to the top car park where there was Javan Flowerpecker and Orange-spotted Bulbul. We joined a throng of tourists and walked down to the crater lake, the smell of sulphur was strong in the air and all the surrounding vegetation had died off. Overhead flew a few Volcano Swiftlets. 

Javan Flowerpecker

Orange-spotted Bulbul

Half a Pygmy Cupwing

Tourists at the crater lake

Another excellent meal in the field

We had lunch in the car park then drove down to a forest clearing where we heard Pink-headed Fruit-Doves calling but couldn’t locate any. A Black Eagle flew over and a roaming group of Checker-throated Woodpeckers were among the last birds seen this afternoon before we went to the hotel.

Black Eagle

Javan Trogon

Wednesday 5^th

After breakfast we left the hotel at 5.45 and headed back to the same forest clearing as yesterday for another attempt at the Fruit-Doves but they remained hidden. We did get plenty of other birds though including Orange-spotted Bulbul, Snowy-browed & Little Pied Flycatchers, Black-winged Flycatcher-Shrike and Olive-backed Tailorbird.

Black-winged Flycatcher-Shrike

Little Pied Flycatcher

We returned to the hotel, packed our bags and left for another long drive. At our lunch stop we managed to add several new birds including Zebra Dove and White-headed Munia before it was time to continue on our way to the Botanical Gardens. They are quite extensive and our hotel was located inside the grounds. 

Hotel in the Botanical Gardens

We had time for a wander around late afternoon and saw the main specialities: Orange-throated Hanging-Parrot, Sunda Thrush, Sunda Forktail and Javan Kingfisher. 

Presumed escaped Olive-headed Lorikeet

Sunda Forktail

After dinner we went looking for night birds and saw Salvadori's Nightjar & Javan Frogmouth.

Javan Frogmouth

Thursday 6^th

We had breakfast in the hotel and left at 5.45 for our trek up the mountain. It was just a short drive out of the botanical gardens and then we began the long trek uphill. The paved path became stony then there was a long concrete boardwalk over a marsh. The boardwalk was poorly maintained and the concrete had crumbled in places leaving gaping holes, some of which were filled with wooden timbers, while others exposed, waiting for someone to fall down which unfortunately one of our group did but luckily wasn’t seriously injured.

It’s a popular hiking trail and many locals passed us on their way to the top. We took a more leisurely amble and started to see a few birds with Javan Whistling Thrush being the commonest bird on the track. Javan Blue Robin was also seen a few times. We were lucky enough to see a little group of Chestnut-bellied Partridges feeding quietly in the undergrowth.

Javan Whistling Thrush

As we climbed high, the rocky path became more uneven, especially in places as it got steeper. Eventually we managed to track down some of the more elusive denizens of the forest: Javan Shortwing, Javan Bulbul and Javan Laughingthrush. 

Fire-tufted Barbet

frog sp

Lesser Gymnure

We spent all day in the forest, stopping occasionally for breaks and lunch. Once we’d seen the last speciality, the Laughingthrush at mid-afternoon we started our descent which took a couple of hours.

Then it was back to the hotel for our last meal in Java before an early lights out. 

Sumatra & Java Part 1

Thursday July 30^th

I booked on the Sumatra & Java Rockjumper trip which began on August 1st in Jakarta. Although I’d been to Indonesia four times before I hadn’t visited Sumatra before and had only overnighted on Java at an airport hotel so these were two new islands to explore. I elected to stay at Heathrow so booked a room at the Holiday Inn Express at T4 and arrived there mid-evening.

Friday July 31^st

I had breakfast at 6am getting a free upgrade to the Brasserie as the ‘guest of the day’ before checking out and walking over to the terminal to the Etihad bag drop and was quickly through to airside by 7am. My flight to Abu Dhabi wasn’t until 9.30 so had a bit of a wait before boarding.

We landed at 19.45 and went straight to the gate for the next flight to Jakarta which should have departed at 21.35 but didn’t take off until gone 11pm due to congestion in the safe Middle East air corridor.

Saturday August 1^st

We landed in Jakarta on the Indonesian island of Java at 10.10, about 40 minutes late and then had to wait ages for my luggage which appeared to be the last one off the plane. I quickly zoomed through immigration and customs (all online and completed in advance) and was met by a local Rockjumper rep and whisked to a nearby airport hotel where I could relax for the rest of the day until the first meet up for dinner at 7pm. W discussed plans for the following day and retired early to catch up on sleep as we had an early start tomorrow.

Sunday August 2^nd

Breakfast was at 5am and then we had a short drive down to the river mouth where our introductory birding was a boat trip on Jakarta Bay. 

Grey sky & sea in Jakarta Bay at sunrise

Mussel beds

Fishing platforms

We went through the mussel beds and out past the fishing platforms. At the edge of the mangroves and on the mud were various herons and a few waders with the first specialities being Milky Stork and Sunda Teal. 

Javan Pond-Heron 

Milky Storks

Sunda Teal

All the mud was covered in plastic waste and the whole bay smelt of sewage as most of Jakarta’s waste is dumped into the bay. We got out on a bank and saw Bar-winged Prinia, Javan Munia and Freckle-breasted Woodpecker. 

Bar-winged Prinia

As we got further out into the bay we saw our first Christmas Island Frigatebird then carried on to a wooden structure where a group of them were roosting along with a few Lesser Frigatebirds.

Little Tern

Little Black Cormorants

Juvenile Lesser Frigatebird (flying)

Female frigatebird sp

Male Christmas Island Frigatebird

On the way back we detoured to another spot where a few Javan Plovers were making their living on the waste-coated mud before docking at 11.30.

High rise tower blocks overlooking the mangroves

We stopped for lunch along the way on a long drive to our next stop at a forest, arriving mid-afternoon. First up were a pair of roosting Javan Frogmouths before we were ushered into a hide where Javan Banded Pitta came in along with Black-chested and Temminck’s Babblers. 

Javan Frogmouths

Female Javan Banded Pitta

Male Javan Banded Pitta

Arboreal Monitor Lizard sp

We stayed until dusk and saw Javan Owlet and several Large-tailed Nightjars before going to our hotel. 

Monday August 3^rd

We went out pre-dawn for some more owling and saw Sunda Scops Owl and Spotted Wood Owl in the hotel grounds. We carried on birding in the forest for several hours where there were plenty of birds such as Drongo-cuckoo, Sunda Pygmy Woodpecker, Grey-cheeked Green-Pigeon and Yellow-eared Barbet. 

Sunda Pygmy Woodpecker

Yellow-eared Barbet

Common Flying Lizard

We had breakfast in the field then birded for a bit longer, adding Black-collared Barbet before it was time for a long drive to our next hotel, stopping for lunch at a restaurant along the way.

Field breakfast