A Week in West New Britain 9 – 16 January 1986

For our week in West New Britain we were based at the Hoskins Hotel, close to Hoskins airfield at the eastern end of the sealed road which round Kimbe Bay to just beyond Kimbe in the west. Along much of this road the land has been given over to plantation crops, mostly oil palm. Birds were relatively few among the palms although we did see Eastern Black-capped Lory, White-necked Coucal and Slaty-backed Goshawk. Around the villages Olive-backed and Black Sunbirds were common, Black Myzomela, New Britain Black Mannikin, Metallic Starling, New Britain Friarbird and Moustached Tree-Swift were also seen. A flock of seven Little Curlew which were feeding among the houses at Dami Reasearch Station, should have been sseing out the northern winter in Australia. A roosting flight of Blyth’s Hornbills heading west over Dami was seenmost evenings, with 79 being the most recorded. Inland and beyond the end of the sealed road the rain forest eventually gave way to rain forest and it was here we spent most of our bird-watching time. On our first day we went east along the coast road towards Lavege where we found a guide to take us to the hot springs. On the half hour walk we saw Red-knobbed Imperial Pigeon, Eclectus Parrot and Spangled Drongo. Near the hot springs we saw the nest holes dug by megapodes, using the ground warmed by geothermal activity to incubate their eggs, but sadly there was no sign of the birds. On subsequent days we went inland, first along the road to Bargua where we saw Pacific Baza, White-rumped Swiftlet and the New Britain subspecies of Dwarf Kingfisher which has a red bill. Next we explored the highway that will eventually link west to east New Britain. The best bird-watching was along the shores of Lake Lalili, made accessible by logging tracks. Here we saw Common Kingfisher, Comb-crested Jacana, Pied Cuckoo-Dove, Blue-eyed Cockatoo and Black Bittern. The highlight of the week was our first experience of snorkelling on a coral reef. We were taken to Ema Reef, 10 miles out in Kimbe Bay. The underwater scenery and colours were out of this world and fish-watching could be as pleasurable as bird-watching. En route to and from the reef we saw Common, Swift (Crested) and Little Terns, Lesser Frigatebird and Brown Boobies.

Our thanks to Max Benjamin of Walindi for the snorkelling and special thanks to Bob Prior for his time and hospitality.

Species List:
Lesser Frigatebird, Little Pied Cormorant, Brown Booby, Black Bittern, Pacific Baza, Slaty-backed Goshawk, Brahminy Kite, Spotted Whistling Duck, Pale-vented Bush-hen, Comb-crested Jacana, Pacific Golden Plover, Little Curlew, Common Sandpiper, Swinhoe’s Snipe, Common Tern, Swift (Crested) Tern, Brown Noddy, Brown Cuckoo-Dove, Pied Cuckoo-Dove, Red-knobbed Fruit-Dove, Pied Imperial Pigeon, Eastern Black-capped Lory, Coconut Lorikeet, Red-flanked Lorikeet, Blue-eyed Cockatoo, Eclectus Parrot, White-necked Coucal, Moustached Tree-Swift, Uniform Swiftlet, White-rumped Swiftlet, Dwarf Kingfisher, Common Kingfisher, Blyth’s Hornbill, Pacific Swallow, White-bellied Cuckoo-Shrike, Varied Triller, Northern Fantail, Willie Wagtail, Shining Flycatcher, Olive-backed Sunbird, Black Sunbird, Papuan Black Myzomela, New Britain Friarbird, Metallic Starling, Spangled Drongo, New Britain Black Mannikin, Yellow-faced Myna, Torresian Crow.

First Published in PNGBS Newsletter 219: 4 – 6, co-authored with Jenny H. Bott