This trip report is about a week spent birding (and beachbuming)on the island of Upolu, Samoa`s main island. As Samoa is seriously underbirded, understudied and underfunded my notes hopefully help and encourage birders to visit this island Paradise! Maybe boosting the local economy and create some attention from the Government of Samoa about her natural treasures which it cares very little about at the moment (where else in the World people would shoot their endangered national bird without hesitation).
As preparation for the trip i have used Dave Sargeant`s 2006 - Pacific Birding - trip report which has good maps and site descriptions. Also for Nu`utele Island i had Dave Buttler`s 2005 report which has a reasonable but basic map of the island with the trails on it so please refer to these so i don`t have to repeat their otherwise correct info.
I have flown Virgin Pacific from Auckland (NZ)and they were great and rented a small 4WD from Budget which was just perfect again! The car worked out about 60 USD/day and as a small saloon car would have cost 50 USD/day it was a pretty good deal i think. Budget will pick you up from the airport and drive you to their Apia office to sort out the paperwork including the issuing of the Samoan driving licence. At the end of the trip it was possible to drop the car off at the airport. Driving in Samoa is on the left hand side but because they just changed the system recently some older cars will have their steering wheels on the "wrong" side. I hade one night at Dave Parkers Eco Lodge (formerly Cloud9) and an other six nights at Litia Sini Beach Fales at Lalomanu Village at the south-east corner of the iland. This is probably the most beautiful spot in Samoa but beside of Nu`utele Island it is a bit fare away from the main birding sites. If i would have only focused on birding i could spent more nights at Dave Parkers place but i was stuck with my non birder friends who just fell in love Litia`s place and didn`t wanna move for the whole week.
The people the weather and the food was just graet Samoa was really a place where one can really slow down and enjoy life (and birding) without much worry!
On my last day of the trip i have accidentally but luckily met Rebecca Stirnemann a Kiwi researcher who is currently doing her PHD study on the Mao. Rebecca has already spent two and a half years on the islands and knows a great deal about her birds. Most of my info on the Manumea are from her and according to her as she finished her work with the Mao she will try to focus on the Manumea which actually seems to be in real peril and action on it would be urgently needed!
For logistical reasons i have decided not to go to the big island Savaii quitting on Samoan White-eye which only occurs on the higher elevations here. Also i was aware that there was a very extensive survey in may 2012 on Mount Silisili Samoa`s tallest mountain (1858m) and it brought sobering news. Aldough the white-eye was modarately common above 1400 meter elevation there was only one sighting of the Manumea and no sign of the Samoan Moorhen at all. Knowing this and that at A`opo village (where the mountain track starts) according to local custom they will look at a Palagi (white boy) as unlimited source of money they will charge a fortune for the track so i have decided against this experience. According to Rebecca just recently there has been a dozer track cut on the mountain which is devastating news for the environment as invasive species (including hunters) now has a highway into the pristine highlands! On the other hand maybe in the future one can drive up to the white-eye habitat from a few hours from Peak Silisili!?
Rebecca's note "if you want to visit this area you have to speak to the Pulinuu (Mayor) of A`opo village. I recommend leaving some time even an extra day for negotiations".
Birding Sites Visited
DAVE PARKER`S ECO LODGE
Great place to start with and spend a few lazy days here. Its about 40minutes from the airport and 20minutes from Apia downtown on the hillside above Apia. As the rooms are pretty basic and no beach here my friends didn`t wanna stay so i only had a night here with a nice morning. The balcony view is fantastic but you will really appreciate a good scope as views are rather distant. The sight of the hundreds of mostly Tongan (just a few Samoan) flying Foxes were great in the evening. I had all the gettable endemics here but Samoan Triller. There is a pair of Mao behind the hotel but as the immadiate surronding of the hotel is plantation getting to the birds and the right habitat needs a bit of effort and bush bashing. Still waking up to the out of this World sound of the Mao is an unforgettable experience. As a bonus i had three Blue Noddys here which was great as i have only seen them once in a whole week in the south-east corner.
VAISIGANO VALLEY
Upolu`s premier birding site 15 minutes from downtown Apia. All the endemics are available here!
Follow Dave Sargent`s map and instructions to find this site. I met Rebecca here and she drives the track all the way down to the valleys end as locals know and accept her. You shouldn`t do this not just because you will miss out on good birding but locals won`t like it! The protocol should be that you speak to the Pulunuu of Mangangi village and get permission (ask in the villagers and they will direct you to him) after which you drive down 4km on the Magiagi Road from the city. Park your car at the water reservoir and follow the road on foot for an other 500 meters and turn right on the track leading down to the valley (about 2km in all). I had Samoan Triller here which i was missing and also had a Metallic Pigeon at the very end of the valley which i only seen here. Rebecca and her field assistant David also caught a male Samoan Broadbill which was a first for them. Rebecca also showed me at the very end of the valley the tree where she has seen Manumea twice and her local fieldworkers seen the bird here too. Waited here for a little while but no luck for me. Rebecca was kind enough to show me a Mao chick and her committed Mum working hard for her and we had a great hour watching them. She is monitoring 17 Mao pairs in Samoa 7 from this is in this valley alone. According to her Vaisigiano Valley is a spot on habitat for the Mao so no surprise the valley is a real stronghold for the species. She also working hard to have some formal protection for the site although the locals are pretty supportive of her and her birds still it would be great if she could achieve this.
NU`UTELE ISLAND AND LITIA SINI
To me the south-east corner is simply the most beautiful spot on Upolu. It is about 40 kms (2 hours) from Apia. We tried all the three options and the fastest way to get there from Apia was to head south from downtown Apia on the central Inter Island road and turn east once you get to the coast on the "highway". Unfortunately the 2009 Tsunamy really damaged the corals here so snorkelling is not the best but the place is rebuilt and its pretty close to Paradise. Litia works out about a hundred Usd/night with breakfast and dinner included but if this breaks your budget don`t worry there are many smaller and cheaper fales around. Litia itself is not particularly good for birds and wildlife in a week spent here the best bird was Blue Noddy, distant booys and frigatebirds and a pod of Long-snouted Spinner Dolphins and a distant Humpback Whale were the wildlife highlights. If you want to do sea watching the best spot would be Cape Tapaga (you are closest here to Nu`utele Island) which is about a km away from Litias in Lalomanu Village. There is a dirt track leading you here opposite of the main church of the village). The key site and highlight was Nu`utele Island a 2km diameter caldera island 1.4km from the mainland. I have contacted the Ministry of Natural Resources in advance of the trip for permission of access but achieved nothing. Currently there is some debate as to who owns the land!? It took me two days to track down a reliable boatman to take me to the island and back. Probably for political reasons we been told at Litia that its not possible to visit the island as it is the burial site to some high chiefs! Finally i met Ford (locals called him Foki) who lives about 500m north of the Lalomanu petrol station and had a seaworthy boat and seemed like a relaxed but trustwordy guy. He charged 200 tala for the return trip. Unfortunately landing on the island is difficult and because of the tidal conditions it was late morning by the time we set out and it took an hour to get to the island. Landing on this site during periods of high trade winds is very difficult and should not be attempted! It would be the best to spend the night on the island to have the best periods of the day for birding. The island has two landing sites Vinnies Beach is on the side facing the mainland im sure easily accessible by canoe but the slope up to the rim is really steep and i wouldnt and didnt try this. The main beach is called Nuutele beach facing away from the mainland and its possible to land here at high tide but its really not recommended to paddle here as tides and waves are really strong and you might blink and find yourself in Chile. Interesting that although Ford didnt know the birds but once he took out a group of Kiwi birders/researchers to see the all dark form of Polynesian Storm Petrel rumoured to be a distinct species and they succeded seeing the bird!
Once you are on Nu`utele Beach - around the middle of it try to find the orange markers (ribbons and triangles) which were used for the trail leading you up on the rather slippery slope to the rim of the caldera where the trail will follow the caldera in both directions. The trail is overgrown and some trees have fallen over it so be flexible the slope is difficult going (especially when wet) but once you are up on the rim (215m) the going is quite pleasant and the surronding is just magnificent. To have a better general idea what i am talking about check out Dave Buttlers 2005 report which have a map of the island with the trails and beaches on it. Once you have made it up to the rim there is a half falled old and beautiful tree - this is station 4 on Buttlers report and this is where he saw two Manumeas! I have flushed a large dark pigeon here from close to the ground which im pretty sure was Manumea but it flushed from too fare away i sadly just didnt have a good enough look for a tick! From the trails intersection to the left a couple of meters away on the rim there was a small clearing which would be perfect for camping aldough im not sure if this is an actual burial site!? Although i have seen several rats and pigs and the larger birds and even the Fruit bats (local delicacy) were really flushy after the hunting season (annually in october) the place looked really great and i had a really good time birding at this Jurassic Park like environment. The local speciality the Shy Ground-dove (you only find them here in Samoa) was happily common seen a minimum of 7 of them in all. Otherwise Samoan Broadbill was the best bird here as no Mao on the island.
USEFUL STUFF
Rebecca Stirnemann - rstirnemann@gmail.com also www.samoanbirds.com
More about the Mao project and a way to help out if you can :
http://www.rockethub.com/projects/11793-saving-the-mao-an-endangered-bird
Equipment purchased by this funding source is also used to save the Manumea!
Samoan Tourist site - www.samoa.travel/ - Good general site about Samoa you will find contacts and info for Dave Parkers and Litia here.
Boatman for Nu`utele - Ford (Foki) Mobile phone 772 0254
NOTES ON THE MANUMEA (mostly based on Rebecca's research)
The Manumea is certanly a curiousity in the birding world and certainly Samoa`s highest bird prize. It is a monotiphic genus with no living relative. Its closest relative could have been the long extinct Dodo. There are very little information exist about it and most of it is rather speculative. Rebecca is doing a great job apart from the field work researching some local library evidence on it and also talking to reliable old timers (this is a rare species too)! As genetically its closest living relatives are the Nicobar, Pheasant and Crowned Pigeons which are closely associated with the ground it is an interesting more than suspicion from Rebecca that the Manumea is not the bird of the high forest canopy as previously thoughed but also closely associated with the ground as its relatives! All the recent sightings are from rather close to the ground and it is being suggested that the bird is nesting close to the ground too being very vulnarable from introduced predators adding an extra reason to its serious decline. Also interesting that the native Mahogany species (Dysoxylum) aldough very important indicator species to the health of the forest are not as vital for the Manumea for food as it was previously thoughed! Rebeccas attention is more and more shifting on to the Native Yam called Sa`o! The Manumeas peculiar bill is surely the adaptation for special diet and the Sa`o could be the key for this as the bird has to dig to access the plant! She also found historical evidence about the Sa`o being used to lure the Manumea to be caught on the ground. The Manumea according to Rebecca who heard them several times sounds like a cow using a mooo call with an inflection.
SITES ON UPOLU WHERE THE MANUMEA WAS RECENTLY RECORDED
In general judging from the sightings the bird is still present in very low numbers all around the island wherever food is available and pristine habitat still exists!
Rebeccas best bet is Lake Lanotoo (off the central inter island road) where she and her local helps recorded the bird several times and the locals shot one reasonably recently. Note that i havent visited the site and it said to be difficult to access without a 4WD car!
My best bet is Nu`utele island where Dave Buttler saw two birds and im sure mine was this species too.
There are recent sightings from the central inter island road like Bahai Temple and Hillside Cafe at Kelsey Lane where a single bird visited the site reliably but not too often!
Rebecca also seen the bird flying on the coast at O`le Pupu Pu`e National Park.
LAST WORDS
The MANUMEA`s future is rather bleak. Habitat loss and degradation because of humans and cyclones, hunting pressure (beside the bird being protected by law) and introduced predators are all against a small population of birds on the brink and a community of people of little resources in a country of environmental lawlessness (O`le Pupu Pu`e the Manumeas former stronghold has been declared Natonal Park yet is still being logged and turned into a cattle ranch)!
Samoa`s national bird is truly our generations Dodo! The way things went in the XVII. centoury we can do nothing about but clearly in the XXI. centoury we could and should do better than a bunch of hungry sailors ....
Addiction By Rebecca - " Over the last few days specialists gathered to determine how to save the Manumea : 1. Upgrade to Critically Endangered 2. Research 3. Establishing a breeding facility 4.Predator eradicaton 5. Educating locals
We are looking for founds for the first steps. If you can help please contact Rebecca on - rstirnemann@gmail.com
1. Pacific Reef Heron
2. Purple Swamphen
3. Buff-banded Rail
4. Brown Booby
5. Red-footed Booby
6. Great Frigatebird
7. Lesser Frigatebird
8. White-tailed Tropicbird
9. Grey-backed Tern
10.Sooty Tern
11.Blue Noddy
12.Black Noddy
13.Brown Noddy
14.White Tern
15.Barn Owl
16.Pacific Golden Plover
17.Ruddy Turnstone
18.Wandering Tattler
19.Pacific Pigeon
20.Metallic Pigeon
21.Shy Ground-dove
22.Crimson-crowned Fruit-dove
23.Many-coloured Fruit-dove
24.White-rumped Swiftlet
25.Flat-billed Kingfisher
26.Blue-crowned Lorikeet
27.Polynesian Starling
28.Samoan Starling
29.Samoan Fantail
30.Pacific Robin
31.Samoan Broadbill
32.Samoan Whistler
33.Samoan Parrotbill
34.Polynesian Triller
35.Samoan Triller
36.Wattled Honeyeater
37.Cardinal Myzomela
38.Mao
Introduced Species:
- Rock Dove
- Common Myna
- Jungle Myna
- Red-vented Bulbul