Lesser Sundas Part 6

Komodo & home

Thursday 3^rd

Our last full day on Lesser Sundas and one we would remember for a long time. It started with the usual early morning wake up and we left the hotel at 5am to drive down to the harbour. We boarded a rather smart speedboat and were soon heading across the strait past lots of little islands to the legendary island of Komodo. Apart from a few Crested Terns there wasn’t much to see on the way out until we approached the island. Feeding on the beach was a Wild Boar and stood on the rocks was a Large-billed Heron.

Wild Boar

Here be dragons

Our speedboat

It was low tide so we couldn’t dock at the jetty which meant a wet landing. Luckily we were prepared for this as we were wearing shorts and sandals. We lowered ourselves into the sea and waded to shore, the sea was knee height so wasn’t a problem and unlike the last time we did this on Principe where had to walk on jagged rocks, we walked onto a sandy beach.

We were welcomed by one of the rangers as the whole island is a protected nature reserve and he took us out onto the trails. First up was one of several Yellow-crested Cockatoos, subtly different from the familiar Australian Sulphur-crests. Several Javan Deer strutted around and there were a lot of birds.

Yellow-crested Cockatoo

Javan Deer

Because of its protected status with no hunting or collecting, birds on Komodo are relatively tame. Several species of pigeon were seen along with Orange-footed Scrubfowl and Green Junglefowl that wandered around, often in mixed groups.

Green Junglefowl

Orange-footed Scrubfowl

Gimp, or Green Imperial Pigeon

Island Collared Dove

We reached a little clearing and our guide pointed to a monstrous lizard – the famed Komodo Dragon. Hesitantly we stayed back, snapping a few distant photos before he beckoned us to approach closer. There were two here, a large male measuring about two and half metres that barely moved and a smaller one that was exploring a rocky pool. This one lumbered around, flicking out its forked tongue constantly but paid no attention to us. 

After our fill here we carried on and encountered another largish dragon heading down the path directly towards us. We cleared the path and watched as it ambled past just a metre away. It ignored us, seeing us as neither food or a threat. The breeding season was over for these reptiles so they were fairly placid.

We followed the path as it climbed up out of the coastal forest and up in the dry rocky hills. It was quite hot here so we didn’t spend too much time but long enough to see a Variable Goshawk hunting over the hillside. We retraced our steps and headed back to the beach passing another dragon.

Interior of Komodo

Variable Goshawk

We stopped for coffee at a beach-side café where we encountered two more dragons, making it a total of six. One walked past on the beach eyeing up a pair of Large-billed Crows that were raiding a pot of water for a drink. Another young one scampered through the café past our table causing a bit of mayhem as a couple of people sought refuge on the top of the table!

Barred Dove

Large-billed Crow

All too soon our Komodo adventure was over and we waded back into the sea and scrambled aboard our boat. We went round to another bay where a White-bellied Sea-Eagle was perched on a clifftop tree. Our guides went looking for roosting owls but couldn’t find any so we headed back across the sea to Flores. The return crossing was more productive as we encountered two pods of Indo-Pacific Bottlenose Dolphins.

Leaving Komodo

We also had more seabirds with a few Crested Terns that were mobbing a Pacific Reef-Heron as it flew low over the sea, a Brahminy Kite, two Common Noddy and a frigatebird that was too distant to identify to species level. An hour later we docked back on Flores and went for lunch at our hotel. This was the first time we’d seen it in daylight and it was set on the beach with an extensive garden. Joining us for lunch was a Black-faced Munia.

Harbour back on Flores

Our hotel

We had a decent siesta as it was hot and humid and went out again at 3.30. We headed up into the hills and stopped by the roadside where we could hear Flores Crow calling. Eventually we got good views of a pair. 

We had our final owling session of the trip but only got brief views of a Moluccan Scops-Owl. Over the entire trip we’d managed to see six of the seven endemic owls on the islands we visited although some remained unphotographed.

We finished up at a pleasant little restaurant for our last dinner with our guide and driver before heading back to the hotel.

Friday 4^th

We checked out of the hotel at 5.30 and headed back up into the hills for our last birding session. The first stop was for a group of Leaf Lorikeets that are aptly named as they’re good at blending ito the leaves of Eucalyptus trees. We managed to add another couple of endemics: Flores Monarch and Russet-capped Tesia and then finally found a perched Ornate Pitta that decided to sit still while we could see it.

Flame-breasted Sunbird

Ornate Pitta

Roadside cafe with views

and a fresh coconut to drink

There were also a few more new trip birds with two kingfishers: a Collared that perched up high on the hillside and an Oriental Dwarf that whistled past us unseen. We continued to look for Flores Hawk-Eagle but failed although we did see a few raptors, a nice perched juvenile Brown Goshawk and two White-bellied Sea-Eagles that soared over the road and ended our birding on the Lesser Sundas.

Brown Goshawk

Tree Sparrow

White-bellied Sea-Eagle

We drove to the airport, had a repack for the flight back to Bali. We arrived mid-evening although by the time we’d collected our bags and survived a taxi ride with a driver who thought he could do the journey on a thimbleful of petrol it was quite late by the time we arrived at the hotel. There was time for dinner and fortunately we’d missed most of the set of a 70s cover-band who were playing songs that were hits some 30 or 40 years before they were born!

Saturday 5^th

A last leisurely morning. A trio of Pale-headed Munias were seen outside the hotel window before we went down for breakfast. We actually had to wait for a table to become free as the place was packed. We left late morning and transferred back to the airport in plenty of time for our flights home in the afternoon.

Denpasar, Bali

Bali

Our trip list for the Lesser Sundas was 171 species recorded including 85 new birds for me, as well as Komodo Dragon, a couple of Flying Lizards, a handful of mammals and a selection of insects. It's a pleasant chain of islands to visit and well off the beaten track compared to Bali, just don't expect to see hundreds of birds!

Lesser Sundas Part 5

Flores

Sunday 29^th

We got to enjoy another leisurely breakfast on the veranda as the same pair of Crested Terns sat on the rocks offshore. It was then time to pack up and say our goodbyes to Timor as we headed off to the airport for our next flight. We left Timor at 11am and landed on Flores an hour later. Straightaway the island had a different look to it, being much greener.

Different style village houses

Fruiting tree

We stopped for lunch and then checked into our hotel and had a siesta as it was too hot to go out until 3pm. We went round a local patch of forest and there were a few more birds than on Timor but still in low density. The Flores race of Ashy-bellied White-eye (complete with a yellow belly!) was seen first. Surely an obvious candidate for a split. There was also Ornate Sunbird, Brown-capped and Golden-bellied Gerygones, Crested Heleia and Trumpeting Fantail although we failed to detect any trumpeting noise.

Flores Drongo

Flores Minivet

Sunda Pygmy Woodpecker

It was a fairly productive afternoon’s introduction to Flores and we added a few more species including brief views of Ornate Pitta as we waited for dusk to try for the first of three Scops Owl that breed on the island. We heard three Wallacean Scops Owls calling but none of them came close enough to be seen so we headed off to dinner and back to the hotel.

Monday 30^th

We checked out of the hotel at 6am and could see the local volcano in the early light before we drove up into a montane forest. 

Volcano

It was again a relatively good place for birds compared to the rest of the Lesser Sundas although we only saw about eight species. Green Junglefowl and Ornate Pitta were heard, the latter being fairly common but hard to see as they are an arboreal Pitta. Flores Spangled Drongo, Little Cuckoo-Dove, and Flores Minivet were seen along with the widespread Black-naped Monarch. We drove to another patch of forest and had Chestnut-capped Thrush, Flores Green Pigeon, Spectacled Monarch and we heard Flores Crow. 

Chestnut-capped Thrush

We stopped for lunch at a small restaurant overlooking some paddyfields. Apart from the retro-style of the restaurant with its old TVs and telephones, there was a small flock of Eastern Cattle Egret in the fields along with a few Medium Egrets and a couple of flypast Javan Pond-Herons.

Lunch spot overlooking fields

Retro-decor in restaurant

We continued on to a lake and woodlands where we saw the endemic Glittering (White-rumped) Kingfisher, a quite spectacular blue/black and white kingfisher. Also here were Flores Jungle-Flycatcher while the only birds on the crater lake were a few Tricoloured Grebes. We had another dusk owling session and briefly saw a Flores Scops Owl.

Glittering Kingfisher

Tuesday 1^st

As we hadn’t properly connected with the owls so far we decided to go out early and left the hotel at 3.30 and drove to another spot. Wallacean Scops-Owl was unfortunately only heard again but we did get superb views of the more difficult Flores Scops-Owl.

Flores Scops-Owl

We continued birding and visited a site for Bare-throated Whistler. It looks better than its name suggests and has a loud song which dominates the dawn chorus. 

Bare-throated Whistler

In the same area there were plenty of island endemics: Flores Shortwing, Flores Leaf Warbler, Flores Minivet and Flores Flowerpecker along with Scaly-crowned Honeyeater, Eye-browed Heleia, Warbling White-eye and Dark-backed Imperial Pigeon.

Flores Flowerpecker

Little Pied Flycatcher

Scaly-crowned Honeyeater

We often ran into convoys ferrying election candidates around

Some of the tallest bamboo I've encountered

This shrub smelt like honeysuckle

After a very successful morning we stopped for lunch then went back to the hotel for a rest before heading out again at 3pm. We tried for better views of Ornate Pitta, hearing three and seeing one but not particularly well. A White-rumped Kingfisher was perched high up in the forest and a couple of flowerpeckers were seen but otherwise it was a pretty quiet afternoon. We had an evening off from owling as we’d had an early start so headed back to town for dinner.

Looks like a Fritillary but can't find any reference to one on Flores

A couple more unidentified forest butterflies

Wednesday 2^nd

We had breakfast in the hotel at 5.30 and checked out. We drove to a new area for more forest birding. A few new birds were seen during the morning including Flame-breasted Sunbird, Brush Cuckoo, Crested and Thick-billed Heleias and Rusty-breasted (Tengarra) Whistler.

Straight-line Mapwing

Flores Gliding Dragon

We stopped for lunch then most of the afternoon was spent driving to the other side of the island to the coastal town of Bajo. We had to time it carefully as a section of road was only open in our direction for an hour due to roadworks.

Roadworks

We made a few roadside stops where we saw Leaf Lorikeet and Tengarra Hill Myna. 

Tenggara Hill Myna

We did another owling session and managed to see Moluccan Scops-Owl although it didn’t pose for photos. We checked into our hotel and had dinner in the restaurant.

'Flores' Tree Frog