10 Nov 22 - Indonesia - Banda Sea Cruise Day 15 - Reflecting On Red-necked Phalaropes

I was up as usual around first light when we were at sea. We had spent the previous day from late morning sailing from Pantar in the Lesser Sundas to Kalaotoa. It is a long journey & we were still at sea and didn't expect to reach the island until early afternoon. Kalaotoa is part of the Southern-most islands in the Sulawesi group and it would produce a few Sulawesi species, once we arrived. But first we had a morning at sea until we reached Kalaotoa. This was an opportunity for some Seabirds.

Great Frigatebird: The lack of white axillaries confirms this is a Great Frigatebird

Red-footed Booby: Subadult of the rubripes subspecies which breeds in the Tropical Pacific & Indian Oceans

Red-footed Booby: Subadult

Red-footed Booby: Adult

Bridled Tern: this is the nominate anaethetus subspecies which occurs in the Ryukyu Islands, Taiwan, the Philippines, Indonesia & Australia. The longer white supercilium with the white extending behind the eye confirms these are Bridled Terns

Crested Tern

I do enjoy getting to photograph reflections of Birds, but I rarely get the chance. Today’s glass-like seas & some close Red-necked Phalaropes provided the opportunity for some nice reflections.

Red-necked Phalarope

Red-necked Phalarope: Reflections from one of the above group

Red-necked Phalarope

Red-necked Phalarope

Red-necked Phalarope

Red-necked Phalarope: Another party

Red-necked Phalarope

Red-necked Phalarope

Red-necked Phalarope

The glass-like seas

Occasionally we saw these floating structures, but it wasn't clear what they were

Finally, we realised the floating structures were mooring buoys

Another local fishing boat

7 Nov 22 - Indonesia - Banda Sea Cruise Day 12 - Spinning For A Living

The morning was another well before dawn start as we had a walk of over two miles to get to the start of the Naumatong Gorge. This was to look for the last endemic Wetar species: Wetar Ground Dove. We landed in the neighbouring village & met the local guides. The walk took us through the cultivated areas beyond the village until we finally reached the fairly strong flowing river, just after first light.

This was where the fun started, as we kept crossing & walking up the river bed. We were well aware that we would be wading as deep as our knees at times on slippery rocks. As a result, I decided to not take the camera or mobile. Although I had a dry bag, I didn't want to run the risk of slipping & banging the camera on a rock, when I was only about two weeks into the seven week trip. In the end, I had probably over worried about the risks to the camera.

It was a pretty gorge with small patches of trees in the mile or so walk as we walked up the river & floodplain. Various Pigeons flew across during the morning including Black Cuckoo Doves, Pacific Emerald Doves, Black-backed Fruit-doves & Pink-headed Imperial Pigeons. But we didn't see any Wetar Ground Doves. We finally reached one of the better spots in the gorge & walked into the wood. This is where we had good views of a male and two female Wetar Ground Doves. Having the camera at this point wouldn't have been a big asset, as the light was very poor in the wood for photography. The photos from the others who took their cameras were very grainy & I'm confident I wouldn't have got any better photos if I had taken the camera. Having seen the last endemic Tick on Wetar, we slowly walked back to the village & caught the boats back to the Lady Denok.

The plan for the rest of the day was to head out to sea and motor onto our next location, Alor Island. It was a fairly quiet afternoon with the avian highlight being the first of the Red-necked Phalaropes that we were to see on the Band Sea Cruise: we had good numbers with 41 seen. There were Risso's Dolphins and Spinner Dolphins: sadly, all were distant.

Red-footed Booby

Crested Tern

Crested Tern

Crested Tern

Spinner Dolphin

Spinner Dolphin: Living up to their name. Spinner Dolphins can spin up to seven times in a jump

Spinner Dolphin

Spinner Dolphin

Spinner Dolphin

Spinner Dolphin

Spinner Dolphin: After all that spinning, it was an untidy landing back into the sea

17 Nov 14 - Back On Dry Land

Finally, we were at the end of the sea section of the Pitcairn & Tuamotu Sandpiper trip. A final chumming session off Mangareva hadn't produced anything noteworthy on the Seabird side, but a pod of Blainville's Beaked Whales just off the back of the Braveheart for fifteen minutes was very exciting. It was then time to sail into the small quay at Rikitea on Mangareva, which is one of the Gambier Islands. The Gambier Islands have a small airport, with flights to Tahiti a thousand miles away. Part of the reason for the airport are the two islands of Moruroa & Fangataufa about 250 miles to the East. These were used by the French for around 175 nuclear weapons tests up from the mid 1960s until 1996, when the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty was signed.

The small town of Rikitea on Mangareva: We saw our first people for eleven days since leaving Pitcairn

Claymore II: This is the sister ship to the Braveheart & is the main supply ship for Pitcairn Island

While we were getting our passports for our official re-entry into French Polynesia, the crew had the chance to start loading supplies for their next charter & moving stuff between the two boats. The Braveheart crew had been supplemented with Neil, who was the skipper of the Claymore II & he finally had the chance to return to his boat now our trip was over.

Rikitea looks a small sleepy town: The population of Mangareva is around 1200

Once the passports were sorted, we had time to wander around the town. Despite extensive patches of forest, we saw no landbirds apart from an introduced Feral Pigeon. Given how remote the Gambier Islands are, it would be hit or miss whether any landbirds ever arrived on the islands. The island has been populated by Polynesian islanders for at least a thousand years & it is quite possible than any endemic species could have been eliminated followed the likely introduction of Polynesian Rats, well before any Europeans arrived with their additional introduced predators. So, while the forests look interesting, the place to a Birder was very quiet with the landbirds missing. But there was a steady movement of White-capped Noddies, White Terns & Crested Terns which were breeding on the island.

Looking back on the town

White Tern

Crested Tern: There were a couple flying around the bay

Crested Tern

As we walked around the bay, we found a few Wandering Tattlers & a couple of Pacific Golden Plovers to photograph.

Pacific Golden Plover

Pacific Golden Plover

Pacific Golden Plover

Wandering Tattler: There were a few along the foreshore

Wandering Tattler: This individual was feeding on small Crabs

Eventually, the light rain got worse & it was time to head back to the Braveheart. Our flights weren't until midday on the following day & so we had one more night on the Braveheart. There were a few drinks on board that evening & a chance for the crew to let their hair down, after all their hard work to make the cruise such a superb trip. The wind & rain had got up during the night & it was thirty knot winds by the morning & I was glad we were tied up to the quayside. The following morning, I took the opportunity to sort out the final packing, catch up on notes, sort some photos & say the final goodbyes to the crew, before we had to leave the Braveheart. It was only a few metres walk along the quayside to where the small ferry departed to take us to the airport: which was located on a small flat offshore island. My only worry was if the small plane would arrive to take us back to Tahiti. However, the locals all thought it would, although it did arrive a couple of hours late.

The windsock shows how windy it still was: I was pleased to be leaving given the weather

Our plane back to civilisation

Arrival into Tahiti after a four hour flight

We checked into the hotel in Tahiti with just a few minutes before heading off to get dinner.

12 Nov 14 - It Was A Long Day On Tenararo

I set a new record on the day we visited Tenararo with over 1300 photos taken. This combined with the enigmatic species that I saw, has resulted in the day being split into a number of Posts covering Tuamotu Sandpiper, Atoll Fruit-dove, Polynesian Ground Dove & Bristle-thighed Curlew. This final Post will complete the other species seen on Tenararo as well as feature some new Tuamotu Sandpiper photos.

A typical view of the inside of the island

From the beach it looks like a well vegetated round island. In reality, the island is a ring with an inner lagoon, which connects to the sea on really high tides. It is about 100 - 150 metres from the coastal beach to the lagoon beach.

The inner lagoon: We were told it would not be a safe idea to try swimming in the lagoon as there were concerns of Sharks having been trapped inside the lagoon on the highest tides & a potential risk if we met one of the less docile species

The mouth of the lagoon: The sea flows over the mouth on the highest tides

The bushes at the edge of the lagoon had nesting Boobies & Frigatebirds

Steve: Note, the Tuamotu Sandpiper that had got bored with us  & was leaving

Masked Booby: They were nesting on both the inner & outer beaches

Masked Booby & chick

White Tern

Crested Tern: One or two were patrolling the inner lagoon

The Great Frigatebirds weren't shy

Great Frigatebird: Juv

It wasn't just Birds on Tenararo that were of interest. I saw reasonable numbers of the stunning Heliotrope Moth.

Heliotrope Moth: It was the only Moth that I saw on the island

White-bellied Skink: They were very skittish & not easy to photograph

Grapsid Crab sp. on the beach: They look pretty smart from the side

Grapsid Crab sp.: But head on they are stunning

Finally, it would be rude not to add a few more Tuamotu Sandpiper photos now that I have had chance to look the over 400 photos I took of them on the first visit to Tenararo. As I walked through to the inner beach, I was regularly greeted as I moved into a new territory. At least one of each pair would normally come really close to check me out & most called. Generally, they approached to within a metre or two, before backing off a bit. Quite often they would head up onto low branches & sit watching me. I think a number of these individuals were breeding & may have been calling to young chicks to keep still. Although I didn't see any chicks, some of the others did find them nesting when we visited the island of Morane later in the trip. I guess they haven't needed to develop the more typical Wader broken wing strategy as they get so few visitors.

Tuamotu Sandpiper: They are really at home sitting in the trees

Tuamotu Sandpiper: I like the background of this & the last photo

Tuamotu Sandpiper: They would walk around a lot within a few metres & call a lot whilst walking

Tuamotu Sandpiper: Up close & personal

Tuamotu Sandpiper

Tuamotu Sandpiper: A final photo

Eventually, it was time to catch the jet boat back to the Braveheart

But a final thought: if you thought that an isolated uninhabited island hundreds of miles from people would be a clean place, then think again. There was plenty of rubbish that had been thrown up on the beaches by the sea.

Fishing float: The names showed they came from a variety of Pacific countries 

Another fishing float: They were a common sight

Netting & a large barrel: Presumably washed overboard from a fishing vessel