Birding West Timor

We've had a highly successful if exhausting trip to see the birds of  West Timor. Bird pictures later but a quick rundown on how we went here... We started off at Bipolo in the ricefields near the village before moving on to Bariti, where the group is pictured here. We quickly ticked off many of the endemics and specialties including White-bellied Chat, Timor Friarbird and Fawn-breasted Whistler, with the highlights being Olive-shouldered Parrot and Cinnamon-banded Kingfisher.

The next morning saw us in the remnant monsoon forest at Bipolo. More goodies included Apricot-chested Sunbird, Olive-brown Oriole and Black-chested Myzomela. Then on to more monsoon forest at Camplong, where we had Timor Black-Pigeon. We returned to Camplong the following morning for great views of, among other things, Buff-banded Thicket-Warbler and Black-banded Flycatcher.

We moved on to the village of Oenasi, where we met with the villagers who are the custodians of the forest there. We formally sought permission to enter their forest at a little ceremony.

The next day saw us in strange, park-like forest on the slopes of Gunung Mutis, West Timor's highest mountain. Here was an odd mix of Australian-type eucalypts and Africa-type acacias, with birds including abundant Yellow-eared Honeyeater and Timor Leaf-Warbler. Great scenery.

Our last day saw us back at Oenasi for a great morning's birding with Black-banded Fruit-Dove and Spotted Dark-eye among the species added. Then a final visit to the ricefields near Bipolo, where we finally connected with Five-coloured Munia and Timor Sparrow. In all, we missed just a small number of the endemics and specialties.