July 2 – Day 6: Yasukom to Kumul

Last night’s awful dinner gave me food poisoning so I skipped breakfast. We packed up and drove back to the track for more birding. Despite not feeling great I still managed to see a few new birds: Grey-streaked Honeyeater, White-shouldered Fairywren, Fan-tailed Cuckoo, Garnet Robin and Black-throated Boatbill. Mid-morning we left the area and drove to the next lodge, arriving in time for lunch.

Kumul Lodge was a refreshing change from the last hotel and is famous for its feeders which attract, amongst others, Birds-of-Paradise. We dumped our stuff, grabbed our cameras and headed to the upper veranda. 

Brown Sicklebill

Ribbon-tailed Astrapia

Within a few minutes we’d seen two BoPs – Brown Sicklebill and Ribbon-tailed Astrapia. Other birds came in regularly to feed on the fruit while other birds fed on the lawn or in surrounding trees, such as Island Thrush, this race looking very like our familiar Blackbird, along with White-winged Robin and Rufous-naped Bellbird.

Island Thrush

White-winged Robin

After lunch we took a rather too energetic trail around the grounds. It obviously hadn’t been walked for a while as a tree had fallen down and completely blocked the path which meant crashing through the undergrowth to rejoin it. And for our troubles, almost the only bird we saw was Papuan Scrubwren. We returned to the feeders until we received news that a pair of Crested Satinbirds were showing in the grounds so we dashed outside to see these rare and stunning birds. 

male Crested Satinbird

Back at the feeders we also saw Brehm’s Tiger-Parrot and Eastern Crested Berrypecker.

male Brehm's Tiger-Parrot

female Brehm's Tiger-Parrot