June 28th - Day 2: Varirata

A long day began with breakfast at 5am and subsequent departure up into the foothills of Varirata National Park. Progress was briefly halted at the entrance as there was no one on duty so our driver had to go and find the guard. It was a little after dawn when we made our first stop and as we disembarked from the bus we could hear our first Bird-of-Paradise calling nearby – Raggiana. 

Raggiana Bird-of-Paradise

A short walk into the forest to a viewing area and we were at the lek watching five males calling and displaying although they failed to attract any females. The males spread their impressive tail plumes as they called but didn’t appear to do anything with the two extra long tail spikes. The lek started to quieten down after half-an-hour so we moved on to the next stop at the picnic area where we were treated to a very photogenic Rufous-bellied Kookaburra. 

Pink-spotted Fruit-Dove

Various pigeons either sat at top of distant trees or bombed over, including Pink-spotted, Wompoo and Chestnut-bellied Fruit-Doves and Purple-tailed Imperial Pigeon. Fruiting trees held Mountain, Plain and Mimic Honeyeaters, Hooded Pitohui and the rather silly named Coconut Lorikeet which has never seen a coconut in its life as there aren’t any on New Guinea.

Brahminy Kite

A walk along one trail got our target species of Brown-headed Paradise Kingfisher, the first of three of these spectacular long-tailed kingfishers that we’d encounter on the trip. We also saw Yellow-billed Kingfisher and on other trails added Chestnut-bellied Fantail, Frilled Monarch and Grey Whistler. 

Yellow-billed Kingfisher

The open areas were more productive and included a couple of quality fly-over raptors in the form of Long-tailed Honey Buzzard and Gurney’s Eagle.

Blue-winged Kookaburra

After lunch on the picnic tables we saw Pygmy Drongo, Blue-winged Kookaburra, Black-billed Cuckoo-dove and three species of Cuckooshrike (Barred, Boyer’s and Black-faced). 

Lookout at Varirata

It was sunny for most of the day and quite hot mid-afternoon which subdued bird activity. Nevertheless, we carried on and added a few more birds such as Rainbow Bee-eater, Lemon-bellied Flyrobin, White-throated Honeyeater and Black-capped Lory. Another flyover raptor was Pygmy Eagle and an Azure Kingfisher was seen by most of the group as it dashed by. 

Black-capped Lory

Growling Riflebirds were heard calling but I was lucky enough to spot a female flying across the main picnic site. Our third Bird-of-Paradise was one of the manucodes, a strange black, crow-like BoP, this one being the curiously named Crinkled-Collared Manucode. On one of our last stops we found a roosting Barking Owl which woke up and began calling quietly as it was almost dusk. With that we headed back to Dixie’s to pack up for tomorrow’s departure.