It was a case of another day & another island, when we woke well before dawn off Alor Island. After a quick breakfast, we were in the boats to head ashore, where we were met by three 4WDs. This was definitely an improvement on some of the vehicles that had been provided on other islands. Time for a long drive into the hills. Our goal was a radio transmitter around 1200 metres elevation. This was our first Birding location.
We were held up for a while as the vehicles in front of us couldn't get traction on the slippery track
Typical for any forest area away from parks, the forest has been cleared in large areas near the track
Looking for a Mountain Bush-warbler: I had already seen one that morning & didn't want to make it even harder for the others to see it in that tight group
One of the observations that Alfred Russel Wallace noted in his ground-breaking exploration of Indonesia in the 19th Century, was there are many Asian families of Birds and Mammals that do not occur in South & East Indonesia and likewise, there are many Australasian families of Birds and Mammals that do not occur in North & West Indonesia. He defined Wallace's line which runs to the East of the islands of Bali & Borneo, separating those islands from the islands of the Lesser Sundas & Sulawesi. We now know there is a very deep trench along Wallace's line, which would have stopped the Mammals and many Birds crossing it during periods of lower sea levels. Thus, the Birds and Mammals in the Indonesian Wallacea region (Sulawesi, Moluccas and Lesser Sundas) are very different from Borneo & the Great Sundas (Sumatra, Java & Bali). This isn't is a perfect line as three species of Woodpeckers occur in Wallacea: Sulawesi is home to Sulawesi Pygmy Woodpecker & Ashy Woodpecker and the Lesser Sundas is home to Sunda Pygmy Woodpecker.
Sunda Pygmy Woodpecker: This is the grandis subspecies which occurs on the Lesser Sundas Islands of Lombok, Lomblen, Sumbawa, Flores, Besar & Alor. The nominate second subspecies occurs in Thailand, the Malay Peninsula, Borneo, Sumatra, Java & the Riau Archipelago.
We saw a good selection of the other high altitude species found on Alor, although I didn't manage to photograph that many.
Oriental Honey Buzzard: This species breeds across Asia and winters further South. The ones that winter in the Lesser Sundas are understood to be the orientalis subspecies
Alor Myzomela: This is a recently described species which is endemic to Alor
Wallacean Cuckoo-shrike: This is the alfrediana subspecies according to Clements and the IOC, which the Birds of the Indonesian Archipelago have proposed should be elevated to a monotypic species Alor Cuckoo-shrike. It occurs on Alor & nearby Lomblen Island
Black-fronted Flowerpecker: Male. This monotypic Flowerpecker occurs on Sumbawa, Komodo, Flores, a few neighbouring islands & Alor
Black-fronted Flowerpecker: Female or immature. Females should show some red in the crown & nape, which isn't obvious in this photo, so perhaps this is an immature Black-fronted Flowerpecker
Locals travelling to the local town
I wasn't optimistic that it was going to be a good outcome for this pig
Persistent rain set in late morning, so we dropped down to a large village about 1000 metres elevation for some lunch. Fortunately, we had seen the species we were looking for by that time.
It's surprising how many houses have satellite dishes
A locked up shop porch provided a dry place for us to enjoy the packed lunch that the ship had made for us.
Lunch time: Lizzie (left), Kevin, Robin & Peter, with Wilbur & Raja in the foreground
The rain had finally stopped by the time we had finished lunch. We were back into the cars & dropping down another couple of hundred metres in elevation.
We found a viewpoint overlooking an extensive forest patch
Oriental Honey Buzzard: We had an opportunity to enjoy better views than we had in the morning
Flores Green Pigeon: I was pleased to see some more Flores Green Pigeons on this trip, as I only had flight views of two on my previous trip in 1991
Helmeted Friarbird: This is the neglectus subspecies of Helmeted Friarbird which occurs on Lombok, Sumba, Flores & Alor according to Clements and the IOC, with other subspecies occurring elsewhere in the Lesser Sundas, New Guinea & Northern Australia. The Birds of the Indonesian Archipelago proposing splitting the two Lesser Sundas subspecies as Tenggara Friarbird, based up morphological and vocal differences, as well as, a fairly deep genetic divergence of regional subspecies
Next, we dropped down to sea level and explored some forest close to the coast for the last couple of hours. We spent a lot of time looking for a calling Elegant Pitta, but it was in a dense patch of vegetation and it wasn't possible to see it. Eventually, it was dark enough to look for Mees's Nightjar, which we quickly saw. It was time to head back to the Lady Denok in the dark, after another long day in the field.
It was an Indonesian theme to the food that evening with chicken, fish or tempeh (fried soya beans): the latter was better than it sounds
