On our first afternoon we drove to the Pacific Adventist University, which is a sanctuary a few kilometers out of Port Moresby. It is like so many places fully fenced and the bird life is fully protected. Around the ponds we found a few Australian birds, but many of the highlights were without doubt the Spotted Whistling-ducks, Grey-headed Mannikins, Orange-fronted Fruit-dove and the Fawn-breasted Bowerbird. Ever present in the area are Pacific Swallows, as are Brown Orioles, and we also spotted a pair of Papuan Frogmouths, which we didn’t find at this location on last month tour.

Some of the other special birds for this day were: Pied Heron, Orange-bellied Fruit-dove, Torresian Imperial-Pigeon, Black-backed Butcherbird, Yellow-faced Myna, and Singing Starling.

The next day was spent in one of the very few National Parks in PNG, Varirata. We walked the road and several walking treks, and one of the first new birds we observed were the Raggiana Birds of Paradise. A great bird to watch, the reddish-orange plumes are so obvious, that it really stood out amongst the foliage of the rainforest.

There were several good birds along the road, including Hooded Pitohuis, Hooded Butcherbird, Brown-headed Paradise-Kingfisher and superb views of the Rusty Mouse-warbler. It came to the recorded call and just perched right in front of us, the best view we ever had! We also had great views of the Yellow-billed Kingfisher, Pink-spotted Fruit-dove, Western Black-capped Lory and male and female Frilled Monarch. I really enjoyed the female Frilled Monarch, which is so different to the Frilled Monarch on Cape York, which is now split and called Frilled-necked Monarch. We stopped at a lookout and had a White-breasted Ground-dove flying by.

The highlight was certainly the displaying Raggiana Birds of Paradise, and also the Brown-headed Paradise-Kingfisher. What a splash of colour in the lower branches of the rainforest! And like so often, the books just don’t do justice with their pictures. We tried to find the Grand Mannikin, but they weren’t present, but we ended up with the White-shouldered Fairy-wren before we returned to Port Moresby.

Some of the other special birds for this day were: Goldie’s Lorikeet, Red-cheeked Parrot, Barred Owlet-nightjar, Large-tailed Nightjar, Glossy Swiftlet, Rufous-bellied Kookaburra, Boyer’s Cuckoo-shrike, White-bellied Whistler, and Streak-headed Honeyeater.

Kumul Lodge and Mt Hagen area

We flew from Port Moresby to Mt Hagen, and we drove around the airport before we travelled on to Kumul Lodge. The airport area is great for birds like the Papuan Harrier and Hooded Mannikins, which we saw very well.

We had lunch at Kumul, and after spending some time on the balcony to photograph and see at the feeder the female Ribbon-tailed Astrapia, Brehm’s Tiger-parrot, Smoky Honeyeaters and Brown Sicklebills we went for a walk in the magnificent grounds of the Lodge. Here we encountered Whiskered Lorikeets, Island Thrushes, Large Scrubwrens, Dimorphic Fantails, White-winged Robins, Regent and Rufous-naped Whistlers, Belford’s and Grey-streaked Honeyeaters, Fan-tailed Berrypeckers and Mountain Firetails.

As we were staying at Kumul Lodge for 3 nights we visited several areas, including the King of Saxony trail and the local river in the valley. One morning we split the group up, and Klaus took his party to look for the Lesser Bird of Paradise, while Brian searched successfully for Crested Bird of Paradise and the elusive Chestnut Forest-rail. That afternoon the Klaus’ group was also treated with great views of the beautiful rail.

Some of the guests went to an optional sing-sing near Mt Hagen, which they enjoyed very much. Should I mention at this stage that one of us actually tried Betel nut! And it wasn’t Brian or Klaus.

Other outstanding birds seen while at Kumul Lodge and the surrounding area were Ornate, Black-throated and Marbled Honeyeater, the Male Superb Bird of Paradise, Yellow-breasted Bowerbird, Papuan Lorikeet, Rufous-throated Bronze-cuckoo, Papuan Boobook, Hooded Cuckoo-shrike, Blue-capped Ifrita, Mountain Mouse-warbler, River Flycatcher, Crested and Tit Berrypecker and a male Garnet Robin.

Ambua area

Ambua, what a place! We are truly in the highlands, and the temperature is just perfect. A charter flight from Mt Hagen brought us right to Ambua, and landing on the airstrip is always exciting. In the lodge gardens we spotted Common Smoky Honeyeaters, Blue-grey Robins, Yellow-billed Lorikeets and Yellow-browed Melidectes Honeyeaters. The roads around Ambua have improved, and we traveled to different locations every day. Some top spots we visited several times, and again Birds of Paradise were the most spectacular birds around. We saw over the next days Brown Sicklebill, King of Saxony Bird of Paradise, Stephanie's Astrapia, Short-tailed Paradigalla, Lawes’ Parotia, Loria's Bird of Paradise, and the spectacular male Ribbon-tailed Astrapia with the unbelievable long tail.

Seeing pictures of the Sicklebills and Astrapias always makes one wonder how they can fly, but they are doing it rather well and it was great to watch them flying through the canopy of the rainforest and across the treks.

Below Ambua on the Tari road we looked on village land for Black Sicklebill, Superb and Blue Birds of Paradise, and in these days there is a payment to the village, so there is some incentive to keep the birds alive. We had great views, especially of the male Blue Bird of Paradise.

We had often rain in the afternoons, but we still did very well indeed watching other fantastic birds of this region:

Papuan King-parrot, Papuan Lorikeet, Orange-billed Lorikeet, Great Cuckoo-dove, White-bibbed Fruit-dove, Black-bellied Cuckoo-shrike, Garnet Robin, Canary Flycatcher, Island Thrush, Black-breasted Boatbill, Black-throated Robin, Wattled Ploughbill, Brown-backed Whistler, Rufous-naped Whistler, Papuan Treecreeper, Rufous-backed Honeyeater, Fan-tailed Berrypecker, Crested and Tit Berrypeckers, Blue-faced Parrot-finch, New Guinea Wood-swallow, Lesser Ground-robin, New Guinea Logrunner and Lesser Melampitta.

Tabubil region

The same two planes picked us up at Ambua around midday, so we spent another morning in the Tari Gap.

We had lunch at our hotel in Tabubil, and in the afternoon we went birding, but the rain didn’t stop until 5.00 pm. Tabubil is well known to be a wet spot, and our hotel is aptly named ‘Cloudlands’!

We made up for it the next day, seeing Red-breasted Pygmy-parrots, White-crowned Koel, Golden Cuckoo-shrike, Chestnut-breasted Cuckoo, White-eared Bronze-cuckoo, Moustached Tree-swift, Stout-billed Cuckoo-shrike, Long-billed Honeyeater, and Mountain Peltops.

Without any doubts, the highlights were the Torrent-lark and Salvadori's Teal, a rare endemic duck that everybody was hoping for. Even better, we found a nesting Shovel-billed Kingfisher! This is such a rarely seen bird, and to be able to watch it leaving the nest and returning to it was a great treat.

Other birds worth mentioning were: Orange-breasted Fig-parrot, Spotted Honeyeater, Mountain Yellow-eared Honeyeater, Carola's Parotia, Magnificent Riflebird and a Magnificent Bird of Paradise.

Kiunga area

We departed Tabubil and drove to Kiunga, and just at the outskirts of Tabubil we found the Little Ringed Plover. The form here may be split from the Eurasian form because of several differences (its yellow eye-ring goes red in breeding season, it doesn't migrate, and it has a different call).

After lunch in Kiunga we spent the afternoon birding the local area. Highlights were the Long-billed Cuckoo, Eclectus Parrot, and Papuan Spine-tailed Swift, apart of course from the wonderful Greater Bird of Paradise. Even in the afternoon they were displaying.

The next morning we departed early to go to Ekame Lodge. We traveled in two boats on the Fly River, stopped for a host of Fruit-doves. The Twelve-wired Bird of Paradise was sitting on its perch, displaying to the female below. We all tried to count the wires, and there appeared to be 12.

We turned off into the Elevala River, where Ekame Lodge is located. The Elevala, with the water level being very high this year, due to the late rains, made it very easy to get in and out of the boats. In all the previous years we had to climb up the muddy river banks, while now we could go into the flooded forests by boat. Less walking, but it also made it quite difficult to view the birds in the canopy. We did eventually not only see the King Bird of Paradise, but we also got tremendous looks of a Hook-billed Kingfisher. Another highlight for everyone, as it is a very sought-after bird, was the Southern Crowned Pigeon, of which we saw several. The size of this Pigeon is just unbelievable.

Ekame Lodge consists of two buildings in a clearing in the rainforest. It’s made out of local timbers and bamboo, and it’s just like the local people live, including pit toilets. Nature is all around us, and it’s great to fall asleep with the sounds of the jungle.

After local birding we returned to Kiunga in the afternoon.

Highlights around the Lodge and the rivers were: Orange-breasted and Large Fig-parrot, Beautiful and Dwarf Fruit-dove, Pinon, Collared and Zoe Imperial-pigeon, Palm Cockatoo, Yellow-streaked Lory, Channel-billed Cuckoos, Rufous-bellied Kookaburra, Blyth’s Hornbill, White-bellied Pitohui, Yellow-eyed Starling, Golden Myna, Bare-eyed (Grey) Crow, Glossy-mantled Manucode, and a ‘lost’ juvenile Great Frigatebird perched atop a riverside tree.

We left Kiunga and flew to Port Moresby. Some of the group stayed overnight to connect with the international flights in the morning, while Brian took a group to New Britain.

New Britain Extension

Our first day on New Britain was spent visiting the Garu Wildlife Management Area - a protected area of primary and secondary rainforest in which egg-grounds of the Melanesian Scrubfowl are located. During the cool early morning we walked along the road observing an abundance of birdlife, including colourful and noisy Eastern Black-capped Lories, Eclectus Parrots, Blue-eyed Cockatoos, Red-flanked Lorikeets, Red-knobbed Imperial-pigeons and Red-knobbed Fruit-doves. The characteristic birds here also included endemic Pied and Violaceous Coucals, New Britain Friarbirds, Ashy Honeyeaters, and the distinctive Northern Melanesian forms of both the Yellow-faced Myna (surely a separate species, ‘Melanesian Myna’) and the Varied Goshawk. It was also pleasing to finally catch up with Buff-faced Pygmy-parrot, a species that had eluded us on the mainland. The rest of the morning was spent in the forest interior where several pairs of the handsome Black-headed Paradise-kingfisher were found but gave difficult views. Several Melanesian Scrubfowls were observed here and it was interesting to examine some of their nest burrows, including some with recent excavations.

During the afternoon we explored another section of the Wildlife Management Area. Black-headed Paradise-kingfishers were again found, though the only new birds were Torresian Imperial-pigeons. However, while driving back to our accommodation, we were rewarded with delightful views of a flock of Buff-bellied Mannikins.

The next day we visited Big Malu Malu and Restorff Islands in Kimbe Bay. Here we saw several Nicobar Pigeons, many Island Imperial-pigeons, Beach Kingfisher, Island Monarch, Mangrove Golden Whistler and Scarlet-bibbed Honeyeater, all of which are small-island specialists. We also had splendid views of a pair of nesting White-bellied Sea-eagles and an Osprey.

In the afternoon we drove up to Kilu Ridge. Here we saw a variety of species, including great views of Violaceous Coucal and Moustached Tree-swift, though the only additions to our New Britain list were Channel-billed Cuckoo and Blyth’s Hornbill.

The following morning we flew back to Port Moresby. In the afternoon we again visited Varirata National Park where the highlights were excellent views of a Brown-headed Paradise-kingfisher, a male Mountain Red-headed Honeyeater and, after much persistence, excellent views of a pair of Chestnut-backed Jewel-babblers.

SUMMARY

Birdwatching in PNG is quite different from Australia, as birds and mammals are hunted for food. That is happening for ages, and the native fauna adapted to it by not trusting humans in almost all areas. Normally you go for the specialties of each region and encounter other birds en route, but there was a surprising lack of visible small birds in most areas. That meant it was hard work for all of us to get to the birds and to see them. Of course rainforest is like that, you always hear more than you see. In PNG the rainforest is much more diverse and the canopy is much higher than in Australia. One can also always expect showers, which does slow down the birding.

Walking treks were muddy and slippery. Mosquitoes, leeches and scrub itch mites were low in numbers in all areas, which was greatly appreciated.

Overall the tour was a great success without anyone falling sick, without serious injuries or accidents or any other mishaps. The people we met were always helpful and friendly, and the birds were definitely worth every bit of effort.

It was a great and positive experience and I am already looking forward to my next return to the country of the Birds of Paradise.

Papua New Guinea

Trip Report 12.8. - 28.8.2007

Kumul Lodge and Mt Hagen area

Ambua area

Tabubil region

Kirrama Wildlife Tours

Papua New Guinea Trip Report 12.8. - 28.8.2007

Kumul Lodge and Mt Hagen area

Ambua area

Tabubil region

Kirrama Wildlife Tours

Papua New Guinea

Trip Report 12.8. - 28.8.2007