3 Nov 22 - Indonesia - Banda Sea Cruise Day 8 - Birding On Damar

We had a pre-dawn landing in the Muslim village on Damar to allow us to walk through the village & meet our guides at the far end of the long village at first light. It was about a two & a half miles of walking along a steadily ascending track until we reached the better forest around 300m. This was our site for the main target species: Damar Flycatcher. This is a single island endemic species. We saw a few birds along the walk in the early morning light, but we didn't linger for too long as everybody was keen to push on to look for the Damar Flycatcher, before it got too hot.

The rising track passed through a lot of secondary edge

Little Bronze-cuckoo in the early morning light: This is the rufomerus subspecies that occurs on the Romang, Kisar, Leti, Moa, Sermata and Damar Islands in the Lesser Sundas

Northern Fantail: This is the hoedti subspecies of Northern Fantail that occurs on the Romang, Leti, Moa, Sermata and Damar Islands in the Lesser Sundas. It has been proposed to be split as a monotypic species, Banda Sea Fantail, by the Birds of the Indonesian Archipelago due to pronounced vocal & plumage differences within the Northern Fantail complex. Currently, Clements & IOC haven't split the Northern Fantail complex

The forest looked better by the time we reached an elevation of around 300m. Fairly soon we were watching our first Damar Flycatchers. The males were very active & didn't stay for long in any perch. It was another endemic species with a very limited range for the trip.

Finally, the forest improved

Damar Flycatcher: Male. We saw three Damar Flycatchers in the morning

Damar Flycatcher: Male

Damar Flycatcher: Female

Damar Flycatcher: Female

We also saw a few other forest species on Damar.

Yellow-throated Golden Whistler: This is the dammeriana subspecies which is another potential future split that has been proposed by The Birds of the Indonesian Archipelago field guide, from the Yellow-throated Golden Whistler complex. Currently, Clements and IOC treat it as a subspecies of Yellow-throated Golden Whistler. There is further work required in this group before the taxonomy becomes finalised

Spectacled Monarch: This is the trivirgatus subspecies that occurs in the Lesser Sundas. Other subspecies occur in the Moluccas & Australia

It was time to slowly wander back to the village.

These locals raced past us on the track down the hill carrying heavy-looking sacks of nuts

We took the walk down the hill at a more leisurely pace

As we reached the edge of the village, a damp grassy patch held a Wood Sandpiper & four Eastern Yellow Wagtails.

Wood Sandpiper: Wood Sandpipers breed across Eurasia & winter from South Africa to South Asia & Australia

Eastern Yellow Wagtail: Wilbur confirmed this is the tschutschensis subspecies

Spider sp.: There is a small brown Spider just behind the large Spider's head & I'm assuming this is a male as many species of Spiders have very large females and very small males. The males take their lives into the hands when trying to mate & too often become the next meal for the female

I hadn't expected to see paintings of Father Christmas on a police station wall

We returned to the Lady Denok for lunch. I skipped the early afternoon PADI diving & snorkelling session in favour of catching up with lost sleep. I wanted to be awake for the seawatching in the late afternoon when we left Damar & headed for Leti Island. In hindsight, this was probably a bad decision, as it was a quiet crossing with a Wilson's Storm-petrel, some Brown & Red-footed Boobies and a reasonable numbers of Common Noddies.

Some of the local kids getting used to a local fishing canoe

Brown Boobies

Common Noddy

Raja, our birding Mr Fixit, seawatching

One of the inter-island ferries

We finished the evening with some stunning sunsets.

This was one of the best sunsets I saw in Indonesia

The sunset looking forward

The sunset continued to impress us

10 Nov 19 - Two Interesting Wagtails

On 7 Nov 19, RBA mentioned that there was a probable Eastern Yellow Wagtail on the marsh & beach at Corporation Marshes to the South of Warbleswick, which had been present for eleven days. There was a message later that day that it was probably a Yellow Wagtail, based upon a sonogram. The next day, RBA were stating that the probable Eastern Yellow Wagtail had been seen again. On Saturday 9 Nov, it was confirmed as an Eastern Yellow Wagtail, with an accompanying Yellow Wagtail. That explained the negative sonogram. There were recordings of the Eastern Yellow Wagtail which supported its identification.

The Sunday looked good for a trip with sunny & still weather on the forecast. Given it had been showing on & off throughout the Saturday, it didn't seem necessary to be there for dawn. I was up early and was on the road by 08:00 as soon as positive news came through that it was still there. I arrived about lunchtime and had a half hour walk up the beach to the area of marsh & wet pools that the two Wagtails were favouring.

Looking up the beach to Warbleswick & Southwold: This would be an interesting place to live with some great Birding spots on the doorstep

Soon after I arrived a Wagtail showed, but it was easy to confirm it was the Yellow Wagtail. I had spent some time that morning reading up the identification of the two species and also looking at photos & a Blog detailing the two Wagtails that were present at the Corporation Marshes. This proved to be a real help for me when one or other of the Wagtails showed themselves.

Yellow Wagtail: Note, the pale lores & the open-faced appearance

On a casual view, the two Wagtails looked similar. However, one of the key identification features is Eastern Yellow Wagtails have dark lores, whereas Yellow Wagtails have much paler lores and this gives a different paler and more open appearance to this part of the face. Having spent some time reading about this feature and looking at the photos of the two species, then it was very easy to focus in on this feature. Clearly, many of the twitchers who were there that day hadn't done their homework before they left home. As a result, when either Wagtail showed, there were a lot of shouts of "I've got a Wagtail", which was also clear that the person calling it out wasn't sure which species it was. Unfortunately, this wasn't the correct species, but it was good to feel confident on how to separate the two Wagtails. After a while the Yellow Wagtail flew away from the area.

Yellow Wagtail: This individual was as interesting as the Eastern Yellow Wagtail, as this doesn't look like a regular British Yellow Wagtail. So, I wonder what subspecies this might be & how far West it flew to get to Warbleswick

There was no sign of either of the Wagtails over the next couple of hours. However, the time passed quickly, helped with a Rough-legged Buzzard that steadily drifted South along the coast: a real treat for a Dorset Birder like me who rarely leaves the county.

Rough-legged Buzzard

Rough-legged Buzzard: One of the local Marsh Harriers look exception to the Rough-legged Buzzard getting all the attention

Rough-legged Buzzard: There are very few pukka Rough-legged Buzzard records in Dorset & it's still a county Tick for me

Rough-legged Buzzard: At one point, the Rough-legged Buzzard went into a steep dive before equally quickly pulling out. It's not a great photo, but it does give a good view of the upper tail pattern

There was a flock of eight Snow Buntings that were coming & going on the beach.

Snow Bunting

Snow Bunting

At one point, a flock of around 250 Barnacle Geese flew South over the sea: another treat, but one we have a chance of occasionally seeing in Dorset, albeit in smaller numbers.

Barnacle Geese: This was only a small part of the 250 strong flock or so that flew South

Barnacle Geese: A closer crop

Finally, a Wagtail dropped onto the beach close to the marsh. A quick look at the lores. Bingo: this was the Eastern Yellow Wagtail. It spent about five minutes on the beach, before flying into the marsh. For the next half hour, it was on view in the marsh.

Eastern Yellow Wagtail: The dark lores stand out to give a very different facial pattern

Eastern Yellow Wagtail

Eastern Yellow Wagtail: This Dutch Birding paper is well worth a read

After a while, the Yellow Wagtail flew over & dropped into the marsh. This made it more interesting when the views became more spasmodic as they moved in & out behind vegetation. However, the facial pattern worked on every view to figure out which species I was watching.

Yellow Wagtail: Head, shoulders and pale lores photo

Eastern Yellow Wagtail: A comparable head, shoulders and dark lores photo

I was happy I had seen both Wagtails well during my visit. Eventually, it stopped showing in the marsh: it as time to walk back down the beach. It had been a good day trip & a good learning exercise. It's taken me to Aug 23 to sort these photos out & write this Blog Post. This has the advantage that I can add in a photo that I took of an Eastern Yellow Wagtail during the Banda Sea Cruise for comparison at an identical time of the year.

Eastern Yellow Wagtail: Wilbur confirmed this is the tschutschensis subspecies. Damar, Indonesia (3 Nov 22)

Having got back from this trip, I dug out the photos from a day trip that Pete Moore & I did to St Mary's at the end of Oct 16. There had been an odd House Martin around during the week which was being touted as a putative Asian House Martin. It hadn't been worked out by the Friday morning, but it was still there. We decided to book a day trip on the plane on the hope it would still be there at the weekend. That afternoon, the news was updated to indicate it was most likely an odd House Martin. It became academic as it wasn't present on the weekend. But having been confirmed as an odd House Martin, there were probably few Birders looking for it. However, there was also a probable Eastern Yellow Wagtail on St Mary's which had been around for a while. This would have been a UK Tick for both of us at the time. As far as I can make out, this was never submitted. I guess in those days, there was a feeling that if there isn't any DNA or a recording, then it won't be accepted. But looking at these photos, in the light of seeing these two Wagtails in Suffolk, then it makes me think the finders should submit the record.

Eastern Yellow Wagtail or Yellow Wagtail?: St Mary's (29 Oct 16)

Eastern Yellow Wagtail or Yellow Wagtail?: St Mary's (29 Oct 16)

Eastern Yellow Wagtail or Yellow Wagtail?: St Mary's (29 Oct 16)