2 Nov 22 - Indonesia - Banda Sea Cruise Day 7 - Co-finding A Third For South East Asia

In the previous Blog Post, I covered the Cetaceans we had seen on the boat crossing between Babar and Damar. While the Cetaceans had been good throughout the day, the Seabirds had been disappointing. There had been around hundred Frigatebirds, at least some of which were Lesser Frigatebirds: but generally I didn't bother to try to figure out their identification, as they weren't close. There were at least thirty Red-footed Boobies, sixty Brown Boobies, plus a few Common Noddies and a couple of White-winged Black Terns. As we got closer to Damar, we had the unexpected sight of a distant Royal Spoonbill high over a forested island. But I didn't see any Shearwaters, Petrels or Storm-petrels.

Just before 09:00, I nipped down to top up my travelling coffee cup and had a natter to Steve who was on the lower deck. While we were talking, a medium-sized Seabird flew past fairly close to the Lady Denok. I said Tern & raised the bins. There was probably an expletive before I immediately changed it to Sabine's Gull. I was wondering how many records there were in Indonesian waters as I raced for the steps to the upper deck. I got on there to find the others were already on it. While they had probably found it before me, under the Punkbirder Self-found rules, as I had found and identified it independently of them & with no prior knowledge of its presence, then it countable as a Self-found record. It stayed around for about ten minutes, but moved away for some of that time. After a while, we noticed, that Wilbur had disappeared, but fortunately, he reappeared as we were about to go looking for him. At this point, it flew around for a final pass, before disappeared. Bird Tour Asia have now confirmed this was the second Indonesian & third South East Asian record. All the Australian-based Birders were very happy with this record, whereas, I would have gladly swapped it for the Abbot's Booby that was seen on the James's Banda Sea Cruise.

Sabine's Gull: The grey back indicates it is an adult winter individual

For me, the sighting of the day was not the Sabine's Gull, but the Longman's or Immature Cuvier's Beaked Whale covered in the previous Blog Post.

Sabine's Gull: eBird records show that they travel down the West coast of the Americas with records as far South as Peru. However, there are very rare on the Asian side of the Pacific with only a handful of scattered sightings in the Kamchatka Peninsula, the Southern end of Eastern Russia, Taiwan & Thailand. There are also a few few Australian records

Finally, we could see Damar Island. We stopped on the reef & Steve & I had the chance for PADI dives, while the others were snorkelling. A better dive for Fish & Coral, but no more Green Turtles.

There was another dive boat moored on the reef

Damar Island

After the snorkelling and PADI diving, we headed off to the bay where we would be anchoring overnight. This allowed Raja, our Mr Fix It, to go ashore that evening & ensure we were cleared by the police & we had local guides who were ready for the following morning to escort us. While Raja knew the way, we did need the local guides to ensure ease of access to the path, without upsetting any of the local leaders.

We could see volcanic activity on the island

A closer view of the volcanic activity

A close up of one of the sulphur plumes

The Christian village: In the smaller islands, there are Christian & Muslin villages and the two populations don't appear to mix. We were told that had been fights between the two communities in the past

The smaller Muslim village, where we would be landing at first light on the following morning

2 Nov 22 - Indonesia - Banda Sea Cruise Day 7 - Cetaceans Between Babar & Damar

We had left Babar the previous evening and the Lady Denok had motored through the night. The following morning, I was up soon after first light as we were still at sea. I grabbed the first coffee of the day & headed for the deck.

About 08:45, we saw our first Dolphins when we encountered a distant party of at least twenty Blackfish. Blackfish is the name given for a group of largely black-coloured Dolphins comprising of: Orca (Killer Whale), Long-finned Pilot Whale, Short-finned Pilot Whale, False Killer Whale, Pygmy Killer Whale & Melon-headed Whale. Despite being called Whales, they are all part of the Dolphin family.

Thanks to the very calm water, we were able to pick up them up in the distance. They stayed on the surface as we approached, but we never had really close views. Looking at the very broad dorsal fins of the adult males, they were clearly one of the two Pilot Whales and the only Pilot Whale species that inhabits the tropical Indonesian waters are Short-finned Pilot Whales. Long-finned Pilot Whales prefer colder waters and the nearest they get to Indonesia is about half way up the Australian coast.

Short-finned Pilot Whale: Both species of Pilot Whales stay on the surface for extended periods

Short-finned Pilot Whale: Two adult males and a female or immature individual

Short-finned Pilot Whale: The left hand male blowing

Short-finned Pilot Whale: The right hand two individuals showing how distinctive the male's dorsal fin is

Twenty minutes later, we had our next Dolphin sighting: a small pod of at least six Spinner Dolphins. Spinner Dolphins are renowned for their energetic spinning as they jump & one individual didn't disappoint when it jumping out of the water. Unfortunately, after this spinning session, they continued on their way, with no further acrobatics.

Spinner Dolphin: Doing what they excel at

Spinner Dolphin: They occur in all the tropical oceans of the world

Spinner Dolphin: Spin over & back in the water in a relatively normal orientation

We saw two parties of Pantropical Spotted Dolphins during the afternoon. In both cases, there were about twenty individuals in the pod. While most passed at a distance, a few did feel obliged to put on a display by jumping out of the water.

Pantropical Spotted Dolphin: The main features are they are fairly slender Dolphins, with a reasonable length beak (which is not as long as a Spinner Dolphin's beak), a distinct crease between the beak and the base of the melon, a long & narrow dorsal fin with a slightly rounded tip and a dark dorsal cape which sweeps down below the dorsal fin, but quickly rises to the top of the back just behind the dorsal fin

Pantropical Spotted Dolphin: Not all Pantropical Spotted Dolphins are spotted & this feature is of limited use. They have a similar range to the Spinner Dolphins and they occur in all the tropical oceans of the world

The Cetacean highlight was the first Cetacean of the day. Arthur picked up a Beaked Whale on the surface, that dropped down, but resurfaced a few times. Fortunately, he also managed to grab a few helpful photos, which I thought at the time confirmed the identification as a Longman's Beaked Whale. Frustratingly, while I saw it on several occasions, I never managed to photograph it. I am grateful to Arthur for copies of his photos & permission to be able to add them to the Blog. Larger versions of the original photos can be found here (I've not changed Arthur's photos as they appear on the Blog). The likely Beaked Whales are Cuvier's Beaked Whale & Longman's Beaked Whale. Here are my reasons why I think it is a Longman's Beaked Whale, based upon features & photos in the excellent Marine Mammals of the World Ed 2 by Jefferson, Webber & Pitman book, as well as, photos online.

Longman's or Immature Cuvier's Beaked Whale: Copyright of the photo remains with Arthur Geilvoet

I think an adult Cuvier's Beaked Whale can quickly be ruled out by the lack of paler colouration, lack of scarring & lack of many cookie-cutter scars. This looks to have a pretty uniform colouration, with only one cookie-cutter scar (but Longman's Beaked whale can show some cookie-cutter scars). However, I don't think the colouration & lack of scarring eliminates a fairly young immature Cuvier's Beaked Whale, which should be more uniform in colouration & less scarred.

Longman's or Immature Cuvier's Beaked Whale: Copyright of the photo remains with Arthur Geilvoet

Looking at photos of Cuvier's Beaked Whales & Longman's Beaked Whales in the book & online, Cuvier's Beaked Whale is a much bulkier species, with a fairly pronounced curved body in front on the dorsal fin, whereas, Longman's Beaked Whale doesn't have this same bulk or upper body curvature. Separating Cuvier's Beaked Whale from Longman's Beaked Whale isn't heavily stressed in the book, with the book being more focused on confusion of Cuvier's Beaked Whale with a number of other Beaked Whale species (which only applies to other parts of the Cuvier's Beaked Whale range).

Longman's or Immature Cuvier's Beaked Whale: Copyright of the photo remains with Arthur Geilvoet

The book does say Longman's Beaked Whale can cause some confusion with Cuvier's Beaked Whale, but attention to colour & head shape should allow distinction, if seen reasonably well. That doesn't really seem to help given Arthur wasn't lucky enough to get a good head shot and the colouration of fairly young immature Cuvier's Beaked Whale. Both species should have paler heads, with Cuvier's Beaked Whale looking like it has the paler of the two heads. It's possible to see the blow hole which is at the back of the melon. The melon looks bulkier & longer which looks better for Longman's Beaked Whale, whereas it drops fairly quickly in Cuvier's Beaked Whale. But I'm not sure there is enough of the head to be sure on head shape or colouration.

Longman's or Immature Cuvier's Beaked Whale: Copyright of the photo remains with Arthur Geilvoet

In summary, I think it's between a fairly young immature Cuvier's Beaked Whale & a Longman's Beaked Whale. In the absence, of a clear full head photo, then I think the identification can still be made based upon the lack of bulk in the body & shape of the body in front of the dorsal fin which doesn't look right for a Cuvier's Beaked Whale, but fits pretty well for a Longman's Beaked Whale. I would be interested in any feedback from other Cetacean peeps with reasons why they agree or disagree with this analysis. Please leave a comment & an email address on the Blog.

Longman's or Immature Cuvier's Beaked Whale: They are also known as Indo-Pacific Beaked Whale. Copyright of the photo remains with Arthur Geilvoet

Subsequent feedback from James Eaton & Dan Brown have suggested this is more likely to be an immature Cuvier's Beaked Whale. I have changed the Blog Post since I wrote it to leave this as a Longman's or Immature Cuvier's Beaked Whale. I suspect we will never get an answer on this one for certain, but I will still look for others with experience of both species for further feedback.

In addition to the Cetaceans, I also had the only Sunfish we saw on the trip, which passed close down the starboard side & which I didn't pick up till it was near the boat. As I called it out to the others, that was the point it decided to head down from the surface.

Floating Coconut: Not everything on the sea's surface turned out to be a Cetacean or resting Seabird

1 Nov 22 - Indonesia - Banda Sea Cruise Day 6 - Off To The Babar Woods

After an early morning look around the gardens & village edge of the village we landed at in West Babar, our transport arrived to take us a few miles away to some reasonable forest.

We quickly jumped into the back of the 4WD pickups & we were on our way

There was some reasonable looking forest once we got clear of the village

Another view of the forest from the outside

We had a ten to fifteen minute walk through cleared degraded ground with scrubby edges that had grown up again, before we reached the hillside forest.

Golden-headed Cisticola: This Golden-headed Cisticola sang to us from the scrubby edge to a field

After a few more minutes, we were in the forest. Our main target was the endemic Golden Whistler on Babar. The original widespread Golden Whistler was split into a number of species and subspecies a few years ago. Clearly, there is further work required in this group before the taxonomy becomes finalised. The Birds of the Indonesian Archipelago field guide proposes splitting Babar Whistler from Yellow-throated Golden Whistler, on the basis of extremely divergent mtDNA, a somewhat distinct female plumage and states further investigation is needed. Currently, Clements & IOC, regard Babar Whistler as one of the subspecies of Yellow-throated Golden Whistler, which occurs in the Moluccas & Banda Sea. We quickly saw the first Whistler soon after we entered the wood.

Yellow-throated Golden Whistler: This is the Babar audacis subspecies which is a potential future split from Yellow-throated Golden Whistler. It spent a fair bit of time looking around its perch for the next morsel of food

We had to cross this stream, soon after we entered the wood

This unknown Hawk Moth was disturbed by the stream

The view from inside the forest

Ashy-bellied White-eye: Juv. Soon after crossing the stream, we saw this only just fledged Ashy-bellied White-eye

Timor Stubtail: I saw two of the advena subspecies which are restricted to Babar. I had seen one of the nominate subulata subspecies on Timor during my first trip to Indonesia in 1991 & was keen to see another

Snowy-browed Flycatcher: This is the Babar audacis subspecies. It is at the South East end of the range for this widespread species, which occurs from the East Himalayas, China and Taiwan, through South East Asia & Borneo to the Lesser Sundas

It was now late morning & we returned to the Lady Denok. When we got back, I finally hit the wall through lack of sleep over the last week of travelling out to Indonesia and all the early starts & after dark Birding. I missing lunch to catching up with a few hours of sleep and then decided to skip the afternoon Birding. While the others were returning to Babar, where fortunately, they didn't see anything new, I had the opportunity to catch up with Jimi the Dive Master on the Lady Denok. We had been told that there would be opportunities on the boat for snorkelling and PADI diving in some of the pristine reefs we were passing & I was keen to get back into PADI diving.

I have a PADI licence, but I hadn't been able to do any diving for the last 18 years. I am only really interested in diving opportunities in warm tropical seas where I can dive in shorts & t-shirt. Despite having good diving sites on my Purbeck doorstep, I've never fancied diving in the relatively cold UK waters with wet suits. I had asked Jimi for a refresher course before I went diving. There was one other experienced PADI diver on the boat, Steve, & he had enjoyed his first dive while the others were snorkelling after lunch & I was catching up with sleep. Once the refresher was complete, Jimi & I had the chance for my first dive since 2004. The dive went well given my rustiness & I saw a good selection of coral and fish. Best of all, was the Green Turtle that swam past: but unfortunately, didn't linger.

It was a great sunset as the others got back to the Lady Denok

As we were having dinner, the crew set off for our next location, the island of Damar

1 Nov 22 - Indonesia - Banda Sea Cruise Day 6 - Back On Babar

We awoke for breakfast prior to our first light landing at the Western end of Babar. However, having seen the Southern Boobook on the previous evening, at least we didn't have to get up really early for a couple of hours before dawn Southern Boobook search.

First light in Western Babar

The crew heading back to the Lady Denok: The boat crew all had other jobs on the ship to attend to

A typical coastal scene in Indonesia: Plastic bottles thrown into the sea as they just haven't heard the problems of plastic pollution

Early morning in the village: It didn't have the closely laid houses as many other Indonesian villages

Another village scene

We had to wait for our transport to arrive, which gave us the chance to have a look around some of the gardens as we walked through the village. There were a number of large weedy gardens around the edge of the village, which allowed a few photos in the early morning light.

Uniform Swiftlet: The subspecies that is thought to occur on Babar & Tanimbar is moluccarum

Banda Myzomela: This is the nominate boiei subspecies. We had already seen the annabellae subspecies on Tanimbar

Pacific Swallow: A freshly fledged individual

Pied Bushchat: This is the cognatus subspecies which is endemic to Babar

Tricoloured Parrotfinch: This is a Lesser Sundas endemic which occurs on Timor, Wetar, Babar, Damar, Romang & Tanimbar. I had seen my first Tricoloured Parrotfinches on Tanimbar a few days earlier, but the views were too short to allow photos

The weedy plot where the Tricoloured Parrotfinches were feeding

The rest of the group by the weedy field

Indonesia has some lovely looking local cattle

There seems to be a lot of food around the village for the local pigs

As the transport hadn't arrived yet, we carried on to explore the scrubby forest & coconut plantations on the edge of the village.

Scrubby vegetation and plantations on the edge of the village

Cinnamon-banded Kingfisher: This is the dammerianus subspecies which occurs on Moa, Leti, Babar and Damar. Two other subspecies occur elsewhere in The Lesser Sundas

Arafura Fantail: It sounds like the taxonomy of Arafura Fantails needs more investigation. Clements has grouped the Indonesian and New Guinea subspecies of Arafura Fantails as Supertramp Fantails and puts the nominate Northern Australian Arafura Fantail in a group on its own: but all are within Arafura Fantail. The Birds of the Indonesian Archipelago states that while the nominate Arafura Fantail looks similar to some the Western Indonesian subspecies, these differences become successively different in the closer Supertramp Fantail subspecies. Also, the Supertramp Fantails have more complex songs than the nominate subspecies

Cinnamon-tailed Fantail: This monotypic species is restricted to Babar and the Tanimbar Islands

It was a regular sight to see small groups of graves, often with tiled coverings, around the Banda Sea villages

Cashew Nuts were a regular crop on the Banda Sea islands

I will cover the rest of the morning on Babar in the next Post.