I visited some Indonesian islands during the easter holiday (Lombok, Bali and Komodo, Mar-Apr 2018). This was a family trip and whenever permission was given, I then had a birding trip with assistance from local guides. In total, I had two full days of guided birding trips. Also, had several leisure morning birding around the hotels
復活節時與家人去了印尼中部幾個島嶼渡假 (龍目島，峇里島，科莫多島及弗洛勒斯島)。除了在酒店附近看看鳥，在獲得家人同意後，我有幸能享受兩天觀鳥日。
Birding season
Mar-Apr are not the best time to go (the end of rainy season). According to the local guides, sometimes pittas disappear several months, maybe they are breeding. In general, June-Aug is better.
3月和4月是雨季尾聲，因此並非觀鳥旺季。據鳥導講，最佳季節為旱季的6-8月。
Bird reports
Two reports on Cloudbirder.com are used. They are very useful.
Cloudbirder.com 有兩份非常實用的觀鳥報告，可作參考。
Highlights are
1. Lombok (a guided day trip, Ale +62 819-1794-6606, whatsapp ok)
Elegant Pitta. We went to a hide, which is not far from the entrance. Saw at least one individual and heard another one.
Rinjani Scops Owl. They are very common. I can hear their calls every night in my hotel, but finding them is another matter. My guide showed me a good spot in Kerandanga Forest Park to see them. However, in view of protecting these birds (trapping is very serious in Lombok), it is better not to disclose the location.
Cerulean Kingfisher: quite widespread in this area. A pair was seen near the airport (-8.756045, 116.265717). The site should be ok as it is managed by the airport. Streaked Weavers were also found.
- In general, the bird density is very low in Lombok… probably due to heavy hunting press
(1) 龍目島 (鳥導 – Ale +62 819-1794-6606 可whatsapp)
- 華麗八色鶇 在Kerandangan Forest Park一個鳥棚內看見。相信有兩隻，但只看到一隻。鳥導講這對華麗八色鶇在雨季期間沒有縱影，卻在我到訪前一天突然重現，算是我走運。
- 林加尼山角鴞 - 龍目島特有種。其實在龍目島非常容易聽到，我亦在郊外入住的酒店內聽到。鳥導Ale帶我到Kerandangan Forest Park一個地方，一入黑就看到兩隻 (還在樹上交配)，非常容易。有些自助觀鳥型式的報告謂要花上數小時，才能找到。唔想花時間，唯有用錢換時間，嗚嗚
- 小藍翠鳥 -印尼廣泛分佈。有一對常在機場附近出現，位置 -8.756045, 116.265717。附近亦有Streaked Weavers
- 龍目島整體而言，雀鳥密度徧低，平原地方還可以，但一入樹林就鴉雀無聲。相信因為當地人喜飼養鳴禽，而大量捕捉林鳥。據Ale調查所得Kerandangan Forest Park 高地陷阱處處，林鳥所餘無幾。
2. Puarlolo, Labuan Bajo (self-guided)
Labuan Bajo is a town for visiting the Komodo Dragon. It is easy to book a flight from Bali to there.
I went to Puarlolo from my hotel. Puarlolo is a popular birding spot (the location can be found in ebird) for Flores Monarch. My hotel arranged a car for me (half day – 600k IDR, with driver). It took about an hour from Labuan Bajo to the entrance of trail.
The entrance is -8.605471, 120.029815. The trail is narrow, overgrown but properly maintained. I arrived there at about 7:00 but the forest was dim and so birding was not very good (just Helmeted Friarbird, Wallace Heleias and calls of probable Black-naped Fruit Dove and Chestnut capped Thrush). After 1 hr, I decided to stay at the entrance (which was more open). My reward was the Flores Monarch, a restricted endemic bird, and Russet Capped Tesia.
After a while, I went uphill a bit to visit the telecom loop (also shown in ebird). The area was more open and I saw White-throated Needletail, Flores Minivet, Sunda Pygmy Woodpecker, and Black-faced Munia.
I got back to the Puarlolo forest trail again. Sunda Brush Cuckoo, Chestnut-capped Thrush were seen. Also, got a better view of Crested and Wallace Heleias. At last I got 14 bird species. Probably getting more if I know their calls.
弗洛勒斯島 (Flores) - Puarlolo, Labuan Bajo
Labuan Bajo (簡稱LBJ) 是一個去科莫多島必經的城鎮。有往來峇里的內陸機 (單程HK$600-1000，約個半小時) 。
Puarlolo 是著名山區觀鳥地點 (ebird有位置及紀錄鳥種)，有點像大埔滘。由LBJ 住處到Puarlolo要1小時車程 (半日包車車費: $380 連司機)，小徑入口是-8.605471, 120.029815。小徑只是一條頗狹窄但明顯的泥路。我7時到達入口時，天色較灰暗，看到的雀鳥不多 (Helmeted Friarbird, Wallace Heleias), 聽到的倒是不少，尤其有很多類似Black-naped Fruit Dove 的低沉叫聲，可惜一隻也找不到。逗留一陣後，就決定到入口的開闊地方“等鳥到” ，收穫有特有種Flores Monarch及Russet Capped Tesia。
過了一陣，我決定去幾百米外另一個鳥點 Telecom loop trail。它其實是一條長一、二百米的碎石車路，路旁有稀疏樹木，所以較易找到雀鳥。我在這裏個多小時左右，看到新加種White-throated Needletail, Flores Minivet, Sunda Pygmy Woodpecker, 及 Black-faced Munia.
之後我又回到Puarlolo小徑，在入口旁聽到一隻在樹叢低下叫緊的cuckoo ，聲音有點似香港的八聲杜鵑。之後花了一番功夫，就看到真身…Brush Cuckoo，連忙拍下幾張相。又在入口10米的樹林，找到正在詠唱中的Chestnut-capped Thrush。由於牠的歌聲有點像帶有金屬味道的畫眉，又沒有飛來飛去、只企定定唱歌，我開頭還以為是一隻flycatcher之類的雀鳥。又由於背光及樹枝遮掩，很難看清究竟是什甚麼雀，最後拍了數幅無頭相，才肯定是Chestnut-capped Thrush，牠之後也企在開揚位一秒鐘，但時間實在太短，連舉鏡也來不及。樹林內又很寂靜，但清楚看到 Crested Heleia 算ok。總計共紀錄14種雀。
3. Villa Domanik, Labuan Bajo
I stayed at this villa, which have an open sea view and a nice swimming pool. But it was surrounded by very degraded forest and exotic plantation. So, basically only garden birds were here (Black-fronted Flowerpecker, Golden-rumped Flowerepcker, Flame-breasted Sunbird, Black-throated Sunbird). But I got a good bird in one early morning… the Pacific Baza. It was passby and I got a good view of it. BTW, although the manager is not a birdwatcher, he knows quite well about the birding spots as he has organized several birding tours. So, I did not waste a lot of time how to get to Puarlolo as the manager and his arranged driver had already known very well.
Villa Domanik 是我在LBJ入住的酒店，賣點是海景游泳。訂位時以為係被樹林擁抱的地方，誰不知那些樹木竟然是美洲外來入侵樹銀合歡 (即係綠色沙漠，無雀) 。可幸花園吸引一些雀鳥 (Black-fronted Flowerpecker, Golden-rumped Flowerepcker, Flame-breasted Sunbird, Black-throated Sunbird) 。另外，我在一個早上觀察緊Black-throated Sunbird時，發現牠突然變得很驚覺，原來是後方有猛禽飛過，我隨即飛奔到花園空地，拍下幾張相，事後對書及經Lombok bird guide Alewhatsapp 確認，才知道是較少見的Pacific Baza，算是非常好彩。順帶一提，酒店經理雖非觀鳥者，但他曾安排多次觀鳥團，熟知本地鳥點及如何前往。
To be continued 待續
