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.