Birding New Britain - April to May 2013

New Britain Boobook

Ninox odiosa

From Kavieng, New Ireland we took a direct flight to Kimbe (Hoskins) in New Britain. 

Crossing the coast, New Britain

We stayed at the Walindi Plantation Resort, which is about 45 minutes drive through oil palm plantations from the airfield. New Britain is relatively  "developed" compared to New Ireland, which is much more rustic .  New Britain is volcanically active and cone-shaped mountains are a feature of the landscape.

"Volcano, landscape, feature" (see above)

A brochure picked up at the British Bird Fair, a personal recommendation back in February 2013 and the knowledge that several bird tour companies base their "New Britain Extension" tours at Walindi made the place selection a "no-brainer".   

Walindi is well-established and well-run place with a main clientele of divers, who dive the usually clear waters of Kimbe Bay. When we arrived it was raining really hard and runoff from the land was clouding things a bit for most of our fellow guests. We saw a good variety of birds around the accommodation in the following few days, especially when the rain eased off.

New Britain Friarbird

Philemon cockerelli

New Britain Friarbird

Philemon cockerelli

Olive-backed Sunbird 

Cinnyris jugularis

Metallic Starling

Aplonis metallica

Blue-eyed Cockatoo

Cacatua ophthalmica

Blue-eyed Cockatoo

Cacatua ophthalmica

Bismarck Crow

Corvus insularis

Oriental Hobby

Falco severus

White-necked Coucal

Centropus ateralbus

Anyhow, having pre-booked and pre-paid our birding outings we were led out into the field by Walindi's specialist local bird guide, Joseph.  Access to original rainforest was usually through palm plantations, and on a couple of early excursions we found tracks through the plantations cut off by floodwaters.  The plantation areas themselves had birds such as Black Bitterns and Pacific Black Ducks.

Oil Palm "dates"

Collared Kingfisher

Todirhamphus chloris tristrami

Buff-banded Rail

Gallirallus philippensis meyeri

Pacific Black Duck

Ana superciliosa

Black Bittern

Dupetor flavicollis

Willie Wagtail

Rhipidura leucophrys

(Edited) - Common or Black Treesnake   Dendrelaphis punctulatus (Thanks to Jeff C.)

Red-knobbed Imperial Pigeons

Ducula r rubricera

Comb-crested Jacana

Irediparra gallinacea novaeguineae

We visited most of usual birding sites, including the Garu Wildlife Management area, and Kulu river. 

Violaceous Coucal

Centropus violates

We visited the Melanesian Megapode nesting areas and saw White-mantled Kingfishers nearby. 

Melanesian Megapode

Megapodius eremita

White-mantled Kingfisher

Todiramphus albonotatus

A bonus for us was the sight of a family of New Britain Boobooks at a day roost within the grounds of the resort.

New Britain Boobook

Ninox odiosa

New Britain Boobook

Ninox odiosa

New Britain Boobook

Ninox odiosa

Later we had a couple of mornings on a boat out in the bay.  There were quite a few terns on the water. 

Common Tern
Sterna hirundo

Common Tern
Sterna hirundo

Black Noddy

Anous minutus

We birded some of the small islands, where Nicobar Pigeons were a "tick" for us.  

Island Imperial-pigeon 

Ducula pistrinaria vanwyckii

Nicobar Pigeon 

Caloenas nicobarica

Nicobar Pigeon 

Caloenas nicobarica

A few more island birds......

White-bellied Sea Eagle

Haliaeetus leucogaster

Brahminy Kite 

Haliastur indus

Sclater's Myzomela

Myzomela sclateri

Bismarck Tube-nosed Bat

Nyctimene vizcaccia

Then we were able to do some snorkeling before returning.

And that was just about it.  We flew from Hoskins to Port Moresby, where my cunning plan to avoid spending the night in PNG's capital was thwarted by Air Niugini, who postponed our flight by 24 hours.