Indonesia Trip 2017 Day 18

Indonesia Trip Day 18 - Tuesday 8th August 2017

Halmahera with Mike Nelson from Bird Tour Asia.

The second part of our 6 week Indonesian trip was birding the island of Halmahera. Today we were in South East  Hamahera in the mountains near the city of Weda.

We had crossed Weber's Line and so were into the Australasia avifauna region.

On the morning of Tuesday 8th August 2017, we went out at 4.00 am. We drove up to Bucket Limba in the mountains for some higher elevation  species. Unfortunately there was heavy rain and we were only able to do 15 minutes of birding. That was really frustrating and I might have been on for sitting it out up there. 

In the end, we gave up and headed back to the lodge for lunch. It was still raining after lunch but we managed to get out birding between 3pm and 6.30 pm. The day was a complete wash out, which was frustrating.

In the evening, we met another tour group of European birders who had come to the lodge. The group was led by Untu, who guided my Dad in West Papua a few years ago. They were really pleased to be able to catch up. Untu and quite a few of the local guides were from Tankoko in northern Sulawesi.

The best birds of the day were Moustached Treeswift, Blue-and-white Kingfisher, Chattering Lori, Cinnamon-bellied Imperial  Pigeon, Pygmy Hanging Parrot, Purple Needletail and Great-earred Nightjar.