Only two cars and three birders, Charles Menendez, Niklas Wahlberg and myself, met under the NBC tree for the December outing. Not surprising really as most people had already departed on their Christmas holidays. Our aim was to do a run along the Hiritano Highway, stopping at various birding spots en route. After heavy overnight rain, the morning was overcast and cool. By 05:50 we were birding in the roadside rain forest at the ‘King Bird Tree’. One of the first birds we saw was a damp looking Grey-headed Goshawk; also noted was my first Purple-tailed Imperial Pigeon and two Manucode species, Glossy-mantled and Trumpet. The Trumpet Manucode perched in the open making a ‘chunk’ call. We left the King Bird Tree at 07:15 having recorded 33 species. A brief stop at the oxbow added another 12 species including Little and Azure Kingfishers. A flowering tree beside the highway was attracting a variety of Lorikeets and prompted another brief stop: Rainbow Lorikeet was the commonest species but also feeding in the tree were Black-capped Lories, Greater Streaked Lories, Red-flanked Lorikeets and Eclectus Parrots.
We eventually reached Kanosia Lagoon at 09:15, where the overcast conditions had developed into fine drizzle. First birds were a flock of 14 Cattle Egrets in breeding plumage. The lagoon hosted a good selection of birds including two Oriental Pratincole, 15 Garganey and two Little Ringed Plover, one in breeding plumage. While Nik and I went on to the coast a Hisiu with 75 species recorded, Charlie headed back to Port Moresby.
We reached the sea at Obu Point at 11:15. On a drive along the beach to Cape Suckling we recorded 11 species of wader, including 3 Terek Sandpipers, 14 Whimbrel and c.200 Red-necked Stint. A gathering of terns at Obu Point included c.300 Common Terns and c.50 Little Terns. With 89 species we turned for home.
At Hisiu Mangroves, I managed to lock the keys in the car, but fortunately managed to break-in and retrieve the keys without too much trouble. Nik, meanwhile, had been watching a pair of Mangrove Robins which thankfully hung around for me to see them. We had a good time in the mangroves catching up with most of the mangrove specialities including my first Mangrove Fantails plus Mangrove Gerygone, Broad-billed Flycatcher, Collared Kingfisher and a single Oriental Cuckoo. Hisiu Lagoon was completely dry, so we did not linger. Our last stop was Aroa Lagoon where we added a few more species to the list, including a single Australian White Ibis plus some more wetland and savanna species.
Tired and contented we rolled back into Port Moresby as the sun was setting having recorded 111 species.
Species List:
Australasian Grebe, Little Black Cormorant, Little Pied Cormorant, Australasian Darter, Great Egret, Pied Heron, Intermediate Egret, Cattle Egret, Eastern Reef Egret, Nankeen Night-Heron, Australian White Ibis, Whistling Kite, Brahminy Kite, Papuan Harrier, Brown Goshawk, Grey-headed Goshawk, Pacific Black Duck, Wandering Whistling Duck, Green Pygmy Goose, Garganey, White-browed Crake, Dusky Moorhen, Purple Swamphen, Comb-crested Jacana, Oriental Pratincole, Masked Lapwing, Grey Plover, Pacific Golden Plover, Little Ringed Plover, Mongolian Plover, Greater Sand Plover, Ruddy Turnstone, Whimbrel, Grey-tailed Tattler, Wood Sandpiper, Common Sandpiper, Terek Sandpiper, Bar-tailed Godwit, Sharp-tailed Sandpiper, Red-necked Stint, Gull-billed Tern, Common Tern, Little Tern, Emerald Ground-Dove, Stephan’s Ground-Dove, Peaceful Dove, Dwarf Fruit-Dove, Orange-bellied Fruit-Dove, Purple-tailed Imperial-Pigeon, Torresian Imperial Pigeon, Papuan mountain Pigeon, Greater Streaked Lory, Black-capped Lory, Coconut Lorikeet, Red-flanked Lorikeet, Orange-breasted Fig-Parrot, Red-cheeked Parrot, Eclectus Parrot, Oriental Cuckoo, Pheasant Coucal, Uniform Swiftlet, Glossy Swiftlet, Rufous-bellied Kookaburra, Blue-winged Kookaburra, Collared Kingfisher, Azure Kingfisher, Little Kingfisher, Yellow-billed Kingfisher, Rainbow Bee-eater, Oriental Dollarbird, Pacific Swallow, White-bellied Cuckoo-Shrike, Black Cuckoo-Shrike, Boyer’s Cuckoo-Shrike, Cicadbird, White-winged Triller, White-shouldered Fairy-Wren, Mangrove Gerygone, Northern Fantail, Rufous Fantail, Mangrove Fantail, Willie Wagtail, Friled Monarch, Leaden Flycatcher, Broad-billed Flycatcher, Shining Flycatcher, Mangrove Robin, Mangrove Golden Whistler (Nik only), Grey Whistler, White-bellied Whistler, Rusty Pitohui, Olive-backed Sunbird, Dusky Myzomela, Graceful Meliphaga, Tawny-breasted Honeyeater, Helmeted Friarbird, Rufous-banded Honeyeater, Brown-backed Honeyeater, Grey-headed Mannikin, Metallic Starling, Brown Oriole, Spangled Drongo, White-breasted Wood-Swallow, Black-backed Butcherbird, Yellow-faced Myna, Golden Myna, Glossy-mantled Manucode, Trumpet Manucode, Raggiana Bird of Paradise,Torresian Crow.
We eventually reached Kanosia Lagoon at 09:15, where the overcast conditions had developed into fine drizzle. First birds were a flock of 14 Cattle Egrets in breeding plumage. The lagoon hosted a good selection of birds including two Oriental Pratincole, 15 Garganey and two Little Ringed Plover, one in breeding plumage. While Nik and I went on to the coast a Hisiu with 75 species recorded, Charlie headed back to Port Moresby.
We reached the sea at Obu Point at 11:15. On a drive along the beach to Cape Suckling we recorded 11 species of wader, including 3 Terek Sandpipers, 14 Whimbrel and c.200 Red-necked Stint. A gathering of terns at Obu Point included c.300 Common Terns and c.50 Little Terns. With 89 species we turned for home.
At Hisiu Mangroves, I managed to lock the keys in the car, but fortunately managed to break-in and retrieve the keys without too much trouble. Nik, meanwhile, had been watching a pair of Mangrove Robins which thankfully hung around for me to see them. We had a good time in the mangroves catching up with most of the mangrove specialities including my first Mangrove Fantails plus Mangrove Gerygone, Broad-billed Flycatcher, Collared Kingfisher and a single Oriental Cuckoo. Hisiu Lagoon was completely dry, so we did not linger. Our last stop was Aroa Lagoon where we added a few more species to the list, including a single Australian White Ibis plus some more wetland and savanna species.
Tired and contented we rolled back into Port Moresby as the sun was setting having recorded 111 species.
Species List:
Australasian Grebe, Little Black Cormorant, Little Pied Cormorant, Australasian Darter, Great Egret, Pied Heron, Intermediate Egret, Cattle Egret, Eastern Reef Egret, Nankeen Night-Heron, Australian White Ibis, Whistling Kite, Brahminy Kite, Papuan Harrier, Brown Goshawk, Grey-headed Goshawk, Pacific Black Duck, Wandering Whistling Duck, Green Pygmy Goose, Garganey, White-browed Crake, Dusky Moorhen, Purple Swamphen, Comb-crested Jacana, Oriental Pratincole, Masked Lapwing, Grey Plover, Pacific Golden Plover, Little Ringed Plover, Mongolian Plover, Greater Sand Plover, Ruddy Turnstone, Whimbrel, Grey-tailed Tattler, Wood Sandpiper, Common Sandpiper, Terek Sandpiper, Bar-tailed Godwit, Sharp-tailed Sandpiper, Red-necked Stint, Gull-billed Tern, Common Tern, Little Tern, Emerald Ground-Dove, Stephan’s Ground-Dove, Peaceful Dove, Dwarf Fruit-Dove, Orange-bellied Fruit-Dove, Purple-tailed Imperial-Pigeon, Torresian Imperial Pigeon, Papuan mountain Pigeon, Greater Streaked Lory, Black-capped Lory, Coconut Lorikeet, Red-flanked Lorikeet, Orange-breasted Fig-Parrot, Red-cheeked Parrot, Eclectus Parrot, Oriental Cuckoo, Pheasant Coucal, Uniform Swiftlet, Glossy Swiftlet, Rufous-bellied Kookaburra, Blue-winged Kookaburra, Collared Kingfisher, Azure Kingfisher, Little Kingfisher, Yellow-billed Kingfisher, Rainbow Bee-eater, Oriental Dollarbird, Pacific Swallow, White-bellied Cuckoo-Shrike, Black Cuckoo-Shrike, Boyer’s Cuckoo-Shrike, Cicadbird, White-winged Triller, White-shouldered Fairy-Wren, Mangrove Gerygone, Northern Fantail, Rufous Fantail, Mangrove Fantail, Willie Wagtail, Friled Monarch, Leaden Flycatcher, Broad-billed Flycatcher, Shining Flycatcher, Mangrove Robin, Mangrove Golden Whistler (Nik only), Grey Whistler, White-bellied Whistler, Rusty Pitohui, Olive-backed Sunbird, Dusky Myzomela, Graceful Meliphaga, Tawny-breasted Honeyeater, Helmeted Friarbird, Rufous-banded Honeyeater, Brown-backed Honeyeater, Grey-headed Mannikin, Metallic Starling, Brown Oriole, Spangled Drongo, White-breasted Wood-Swallow, Black-backed Butcherbird, Yellow-faced Myna, Golden Myna, Glossy-mantled Manucode, Trumpet Manucode, Raggiana Bird of Paradise,Torresian Crow.
