Two days very pleasant birding in Bali Barat National Park, accompanied by two guests from South Africa named Jonathan Rossouw and Jeena.
The first day we headed to Brumbun (last remaining habitat for Bali Starlings). We went straight to the hill past the savanna. From a distance came the sound of Black-winged Starlings. We immediately headed there and we saw a bunch of timor deer and found 2 Black-winged Starlings. This was an incredible start.
The journey continued towards the tower birdwatchers, in the midway, we saw Orange-breasted Green Pigeon, perched on a dry tree, a very beautiful bird. This bird can be found only in Bali Barat National Park and Baluran National Park. Unexpectedly we saw 30 Black-winged Starling fly past towards the valley....incredible.
While looking for the main bird... we heard a Bali Starling calling very close but it flew away. Finally we found 2 pairs of Bali Starling, such a nice bird and lovely.
We finished birding in brumbun and returned to the boat to rest. 2pm we started birding again. Our main target was Javan Banded Pitta. We played the tape and a banded pitta started calling.. very responsive bird... great.... we saw one pitta in the clearing point and in the late afternoon more success as we found Javan Plover, Sunda Teal and Black-winged Stilt.
The second day was only half day birding. We started in the early morning at 6am. We went to an area of evergreen forest. A Fulvous-chested Jungle Flycather was very active, but because the light was not good we could not see it very well, but after waiting a little bit, finally we got it.
The main target in this forest is Javan Barred Owlet and Crescent-chested Babbler. We played the tape for Crescent-chested Babbler and again a very responsive bird came within 10 metres...a fantastic babbler... nice song and nice colour... By the end of the day we saw about 10 Crescent-chested Babblers in all.
Not far from the babbler site we played the tape again for Javan Barred Owlet and finally we heard the calling of a Javan Barred Owlet and we directly went there. But it was very hard to find this bird. Four times we try to find this bird until the last time we play the tape and we see the bird perching in the canopy of a tree...Another fantastic javan endemic.
On the way back we heard and eventually saw a Rufous-backed Kingfisher.
Overall, a very successful birding trip. We found Bali Starling, Black-winged Starling, Orange-breasted pigeon, Javan Banded Pitta, Javan Plover, Sunda Teal, Javan Barred Owlet, Fulvous-chested Jungle Flycatcher, Crescent-chested Babbler, Rufous-backed Kingfisher, Yellow-throated Hanging Parrot.
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Hery Kusumanegara