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| Salvadori's Fig Parrot |
Following our visit to Biak Island , we flew to the West Papuan capital of Jayapura and drove in convoy for 2 hours to the village of Nimbokrang. The village is the base for exploring the bird-rich tropical lowland rainforest of north-east West Papua. We had three full days and four nights here.
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| Papua coast near Jayapura |
A basic but pleasant homestay here was more than adequate for our needs. Injuries sustained during my fall on Biak prevented me from joining the others for morning hikes. However, I was able to join them for late afternoon sessions at a lookout near the village and do a bit of birding on my own in easier terrain - ending up with no net loss of lifer numbers.
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| Nimbokrang Homestay |
The big attraction for the group more generally were birds-of-paradise and in particular, the spectacular displays of Lesser, King and Twelve-wired birds-of-paradise they enjoyed. I had seen these previously in Papua New Guinea (the border with which is 80km to the east) and would have loved to witness repeat performances. They also saw Pale-billed Sicklebill and Jobi Manucode.
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| Twelve-wired Bird-of-Paradise (Pic Alex Cruz) |
Grand Mannikin and Black-billed Coucal were among birds I found around the township while the group were out.
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| Grand Mannikin |
Papuan Eclectus Parrot was about in numbers and it was common in the lowlands throughout the trip.
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| Papuan Eclectus Parrot |
Hooded Butcherbird was at home in village gardens.
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| Hooded Butcherbird |
Puff-backed Meliphaga was common about the homestay.
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| Puff-backed Meliphaga |
Following a late afternoon visit to the lookout, we had excellent views of a roadside Papuan Nightjar at dusk.
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| Papuan Nightjar |
The next evening the group visited a track that was off-limits to me, scoring a Papuan Hawk Owl after sunset. Compensation of sorts for me came with Mamberamo Shrike-thrush and Northern Variable Pitohui sightings by the road while they were up the path.
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| Papuan Hawk Owl (Pic Richard Fuller) |
The group's long walk on our last day at Nimbokrang failed to turn up a hoped for Victoria Crowned Pigeon. I was accompanied by a guide on another roadside walk, chalking up a much-wanted Dwarf Koel.
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| Dwarf Koel |
The guide knew of a nesting hole used by a regional endemic, Salvadori's Fig Parrot, but thought it was long vacated. We dropped by anyway and a parrot was there, demonstrating considerable interest in the nesting hole.
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| Salvadori's Fig Parrot at nest hole |
Meanwhile, a Long-tailed Buzzard soared overhead.
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| Long-tailed Buzzard |
Black and Sahul sunbirds were plentiful in roadside village gardens and secondary growth.
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| Black Sunbird |
Pink-spotted Fruit Dove appeared to be the commonest fruit dove.
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| Pink-spotted Fruit Dove |
Plenty of Rufous-bellied Kookaburras were about.
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| Rufous-bellied Kookaburra |
I was surprised to find a medium-size Saltwater Crocodile by a creek. In the afternoon I joined the others at the lookout, from which we managed to see a pair of Brown Lories, another regional endemic.
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| Saltwater Crocodile |
Nimbokrang was once a reliable site for Northern Cassowary. Numbers have been seriously depleted by hunting and forest-clearing and we had to make do with two captive birds in village gardens, including our homestay.
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| Northern Cassowary (captive) |
We returned to Jayapura after the rest of the group scored the Salvadori's Fig Parrot during an early morning twitch. We stopped by the scenic Lake Sentani and flew across Geelvink Bay to Manokwari for the next stage of our journey.
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| Departing Nimbokrang |
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