Thrilling encounter with the blue bird of paradise on a steep hillside

Setting off in the dark, we reached a steep hillside, where we didn’t actually soar, but with the promise of one of the world’s most beautiful birds, the Blue Bird of Paradise , waiting close by. Our end speed is a little faster than before. Maybe! After a tense wait, a hairy male flew in and made everyone around him gasp. Everyone agrees; it IS one of the best birds in the world.

In the afternoon, we planned to visit the large mountain garden, our local guide, who provided delicious birds such as Sooty Melidectes , Crested Satinbird (formerly Crested Bird-of- paradise ), Dusky Woodcock and Crested Berrypecker . I mean, how could we say no to such an illustrious flock of birds?! We had lunch at Kumul Lodge , with regular bird friends like Belford’s Melidictes , Brehm’s Tiger Parrot . The orange flowers vibrate with the visits of a red and jet-black Red-necked Myzomela , while a young White-winged Robin regularly attacks insects from the base of the bird’s table.

After lunch, we depart for the mountain garden, which has large areas of crops and natural grasslands, surrounded by dense mountain forests. Unfortunately, when we arrived at the area with our tour guide Max, the heavens opened and heavy rain began to fall. Undeterred, we continued to the site, reaching the clearing, but soon needed to take shelter under the eaves of Max’s traditional hut. The rain was so heavy and the clouds were so low that we could hardly see the trees at the edge of the clearing. Unsurprisingly, some of the group felt cold and, seeing no promise of a change in the weather, headed back to the motel for the remainder of the afternoon. Stupidly, Chris and I decided, with no more afternoons left to visit this place, to stay until late afternoon and hope circumstances would change. Several hours passed, and finally, the clouds cleared and the trees became visible again, even as light rain continued to fall. We left the shelter of the hut and crossed the clearing to a dense fruit tree, where a movement led us to our first target: the Crested Woodpecker , which looked a bit like a strange waxwing. strange, but covered in blue- and white! We were pumped. In the end, the few hours in the relentless cold rain paid off. But the best things are still behind . Another rustling in the trees led us to a female Crested Satinbird . It may just be the shabby female version, but we got the bird for the first time on our trip and we were happy. Max then informed us about the first of three Sooty Melilectes that had visited some white flowers blooming in the clearing. What is surprising is that this species was only recently discovered in the area and that it has only been seen regularly this year. We had some great views as the rain finally started to stop. We shook off our umbrellas and soon heard the call of a male Crested Satinbird coming from near the fruit tree that supported both the Crested Woodpecker and its females. Incredibly, a large fiery orange bird appeared in the tree. We had just laid eyes on this black and orange male Crested Satinbird when he jumped up and landed on top of the tree, as if to say “you’ve got me!!!” We couldn’t have dared to dream of a Better results for the afternoon which started so badly, with rain pouring down and visibility almost zero. Chris and I were delighted with our success and beamed, grateful that our long, cold wait in the rain had been worth it. We decided to wait until sunset and see if Dusky Woodcock (a lifesaver for me even on my 7th PNG tour) had any hope of passing through the clearing. What was surprising was that a short time after the light began to fade, the distinctive call of a snipe flying across the clearing reached our ears, and a moment later the snipe could be seen. flying through a large gap in the forest. Life became brighter after a truly wonderful afternoon, it will certainly live long in my memory! Once again I have proven that the weather in the mountains is completely unpredictable from what your eyes see, and the birds that live there are also unpredictable. Something that makes birding fun.

More information from PNG coming soon…

…Continuing our stay at Kumul Lodge in the highlands of Papua New Guinea, we enjoyed the bird table as much as everyone who visited. They are the only motel in the world that can boast birds of paradise on their dining tables. In addition to the aforementioned Brown Crescent Babbler, there was also a regular flock of Ribbon-tailed Astrapia which, after the display they put on at Kumul Lodge, was justifiably included in the top five bird species of the trip, and shines through more recent memories from the trip. ending up beating out many other large birds seen later in the trip into that empty spot. Astrapia means lightning, and you can’t help but think they named the group after the ribbon-tailed guy with the lightning rod tail?! Several astrapia individuals seen with the white-tailed male caused a stir at each appearance, even appearing to “follow” one of the group, Shannon, when she stayed at the motel one afternoon . I can’t think of a better afternoon companion!

Other great birding at Kumul Lodge includes a visit to the slopes of Tonga, where the back-signaling calls of a male Blue Bird of Paradise hurt our ears and the sight of a male flying into a neighboring tree will imprinted on our retinas forever. Quite simply one of the world’s greatest birds. There are many options to think about; this is an automatic entry, no problem for any top 10 list! A male called the Fabulous Bird of Paradise almost seems like an afterthought when the blistering Blue male comes in and steals the show in such an absolute and consuming way.

Our time at Kumul Lodge continues with another contender for the world’s top ten bird species list (only in PNG can you have two entries on this list two days in a row)!

We had arrived in the so-called “Land of Surprises”, Papua New Guinea , the day before and were soon off to catch some easy birds right here in Port Moresby. The city is notorious for being one of the least attractive cities on the planet and I agree. However, the manicured campus of Pacific Adventist University (PAU) is a refuge from the usual filth and hustle of the capital. We enjoyed the usual flocks of delicious birds there, giving it a distinctive Australian feel, many of which also occur in remote north-east Oz. Highlights include a pair of bark-like Papuan Frogmouths hiding in the Giant Rain Tree on campus; Equally discreet spotted whistling ducks were roosting in the trees surrounding a hidden pond; a Fruit-Dove has a beautiful orange front with orange “headlights” on full blast; and a series of the most common Brown-breasted Bowerbirds I’ve ever seen here (this was my 7th visit). Visiting this late in the season also brought some surprises such as Latham’s Snipe and Pacific Golden Plovers feeding on the grass, and newly established populations of both White-eyed Ducks ) and the Feathered Whistling Duck also piqued my interest.

However, on this day, our plan was to go meet the first family that attracted people from all over the world: BIRDS-OF-PARADISE . We hatched a good plan for this: a three-night stay at Kumul Lodge in the rich “BOP” highlands of PNG. The only thing we needed to navigate was the chaotic airport of Port Moresby and even

Airlines are more chaotic. On this day, however, our flight to Mount Hagen left quite on time and before we knew it we were at the lodge with binoculars (if needed) we were firmly focused on the object. The unique centerpiece of the lodge: an old bird table (which has been around for a long time). covered with a deep layer of wet moss) is the host of the bird of paradise. This is the only motel on Earth that can boast of that. It wasn’t long before the first of these jumped in and opened their mouths, while the cameras started rolling. Brown sicklebills arrived during the few days we were there, including some flat-chested females and one super juvenile male adorned in more colors than the brown his name suggests…

More information from PNG’s Kumul Lodge to come, including one of the nominees for the bird award on the trip…

I returned from Papua New Guinea the morning after being caught in the “red eye” from PNG’s notorious capital, Port Moresby. I had a great tour of PNG, with about 23 species of birds of paradise and even a few rescuers, but that’s enough for now, back to that later…

I landed in Brisbane and planned some final Australian birding trips before returning to my Andean home in Ecuador for a while. I decided to visit Minnippi Parklands , because my wonderful birding friend, Stuart Pickering, calls it his home ground. Unfortunately, he wasn’t there, and all I had in mind was to photograph some birds, no matter how common they were, they still appealed to me and my lens. Once at the lake, there are often plenty of waterfowl around: Purple Marshes , competing with Pacific Black Ducks and Noisy Miners (and later , Crested Pigeons ) for the scraps that are available to them.

There was some mud in the middle of the lake that attracted both Red-headed and Black-faced Dotterels , as well as the family of comb-crested Jacanas . A few Australian pelicans were lazing, quite conspicuously, offshore. On the island, a Latham’s Snipe runs around the edges of the mud, probing deep into the mud with its well-adapted weapon, its long, long bill.

While walking around the pond, I heard the melodious sound of the tawny hen , a bird I had never seen in Australia ( only in Papua New Guinea and eastern Indonesia ), and started trying to see it. . usually to no avail. The bird liked the bush, as its name suggests, and there it remained; In the dark, impenetrable thicket! It was still the habitat around the edge of the lake that led me to two of my favorite Australian birds; first the great wrens , and then the trio (including two powder blue-headed males) of the variegated wrens .

A Tawny Grassbird also appeared to make sure it was recorded on my memory card as well. Moving on, I admired both the sound and size of a pair of Laughing Kookaburras , laughing at me from a eucalyptus tree, then tried capturing a Sacred Kingfisher that alerted me to its presence through its sounds. jangle.

Then I turned around and was startled to come face to face with a low-sitting cuckoo ; my best views and photos of this species. Those were my highlights, a close-up look at the world’s largest cuckoo ( it’s significantly larger than the fearsome Great Horned Owl ), and more intimate encounters with the cutest birds of Australia, the bird is appropriately named, the Superb Fairywren . Goodbye, my beloved Australia, where I love to return. Birds are friendly and so are people.