The plan for the second afternoon on Wetar was to move a few miles along the coast and land on the beach. This would allow us to walk along the dirt coastal track through some undisturbed coastal woodland, which was a good site for Olive-shouldered Lorikeets. Our lunch on the Lady Denok was ready, so that was our first priority.
After lunch, we headed up to the deck as the crew retrieved the anchor & motored the few miles to our destination. We quickly picked up a couple of fins in the water. Looking closer, it was clear they were attached and we assumed it was a Shark. But looking at the photos when I was writing this Blog Post, the dorsal fin isn't a single fin, but a set of joined fins, which I think rules out it being a Shark. It would appear to be one of the large Marlin or Swordfish species. However, I don't know too much about large Fish identification. If it is one of these species, they seem to prefer the open sea to coastal fringes, so its location only a few hundred metres offshore is interesting. Please leave a comment on the Blog, if you have any thoughts on the identification.
Marlin or Swordfish sp.: At times the very large & thin tail fin was visible
Marlin or Swordfish sp.: It was clearly agile and appears to be turning tightly in this photo
Marlin or Swordfish sp.: Now its body seems to be straight
Marlin or Swordfish sp.: A close up of the dorsal fin from the last photo clearly shows it is ribbed
Once on the beach, we found the coastal track after a couple of minutes' walk. This allowed us to walk through the coastal forest in the hope of the Olive-shouldered Lorikeet that had eluded us on Wetar. Fortunately, I had seen this species on Timor in 1991, but it was a Tick for most of the group. Eventually, a few of the group decided to sit down as they were short of water. The rest of us walked another half mile along the track. When we got back to the other group, we were greeted with the news that they had seen a couple of Olive-shouldered Lorikeets in flight heading into the nearby hills. This news didn't cheer up the peeps for whom it was still a Tick. We hung around till dusk, but there were no further sightings.
Red-cheeked Parrot: This is the timorlaoensis subspecies
Edible-nest Swiftlet: I sometimes find Asian Swiftlets tricky once I get it down to if it's a Glossy Swiftlet-type or not. So, it was good to have Wilbur's expertise as a Malaysian resident to assist with the identification
Rainbow Bee-eater: They are a wide-ranging monotypic species that breeds in Australia and winters in Wallacea, New Guinea & the Solomons. They also occur throughout the year in the Lesser Sundas so presumably they also breed there
Wetar Figbird: Female. This is a monotypic Wetar endemic
Olive-brown Oriole: This is another of the Indonesian brown Orioles that is a mimic to the local Friarbird. It's another potential armchair Tick for me. Clements considers that the Wetar finschi subspecies & the nominate subspecies on Timor are the same species which they call Olive-brown Oriole. Whereas, IOC & the Birds of the Indonesian Archipelago split them as Wetar Oriole & Timor Oriole, respectively
Olive-brown Oriole: They look very similar to the local Helmeted Friarbirds. One suggestion for why the Wallacean Orioles mimic the local Friarbirds, is Friarbirds tend to be very territorial to all other species in fruiting trees and perhaps this allows the similar-looking brown Orioles to sneak into those trees unchallenged
Olive-brown Oriole: The Olive-brown Orioles do not have the same extreme body & bill shape as the local Helmeted Friarbirds. The Friarbird has a prominent black or blue-black bare skin patch from the lores to the eye, a casque on the bill in the adults and a dark eye
Little Pied Flycatcher: This is the mayri subspecies that occurs in Timor, Wetar & Rote. There are a number of other subspecies across the wide range from the Indian Subcontinent & South China through South East Asia & Indo-China, to the Philippines, Borneo and Indonesia
After we had eaten dinner, the crew slipped the anchor & the Lady Denok was heading to our next Wetar destination: offshore from the Naumatong Gorge. This was to look for the last endemic Wetar species: Wetar Ground Dove.
