Solomon Islands 2024: Part 3 - Guadalcanal Island

 

Blyth's Hornbill

The bustling Solomon Islands capital of Honiara on Guadalcanal - best-known as the site for some of the most significant naval battles of World War II - was the base for our visits to Kolombangara Island and Rennell Island in October as a guest of Tourism Solomons. I had birded Guadalcanal previously and was happy to be reacquainted with its avian inhabitants. Our first Guadalcanal foray during this visit to the Solomons was a quick stop at the Botanic Gardens after returning to Honiara from Gizo. A pair of Superb Fruit-Doves showed nicely here and Island Imperial-Pigeon was present in small numbers.

Superb Fruit-Dove

Singing Starling was ever present and probably the most numerous species in Honiara.

Singing Starling

After returning to Honiara from Rennell, we checked out the recently constructed Parangiju Mountain Lodge in the hills behind the city for an afternoon birding session. The cryptic Buff-headed Coucal was common along the road. Forest tracks behind the lodge yielded Solomons specialties including Chestnut-bellied Monarch and Steel-blue Flycatcher.

Chestnut-bellied Monarch

Steel-blue Flycatcher

The Guadalcanal endemic Black-headed Myzomela was not uncommon.

Black-headed Myzomela

A single North Melanesian Cuckoo-shrike, a scarce species seen earlier on Kolombangara, was an unexpected find. Long-tailed Myna was common.

North Melanesian Cuckoo-shrike

Long-tailed Myna

Other birds seen from lookouts around the lodge included the smart Yellow-bibbed Lory, Solomons Cicadabird and the sprightly Midget Flowerpecker.

Midget Flowerpecker

Yellow-bibbed Lory

In the distance was Honiara and across the water beyond, the neighbouring island of Malaita with its own suite of endemics.

View from Parangiju Lodge across Honiara to Malaita

For our three nights over eight days in Honaria, we were guests of Tourism Solomons at two delightful seaside hotels: the Coral Sea Resort and Heritage Park Hotel.

View from Coral Sea Resort, Honiara

Heritage Park Hotgel pre-dawn, Honiara

For our final morning in the Solomons we visited Mt Austen, another birding hotspot behind Honiara. In an isolated forest patch lurked the smart distinctive cinnamomea subspecies of Oriole Whistler - a bird that in time will likely be seven or eight species. Solomons Monarch, endemic to the central Solomons, put in a brief appearance.

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Oriole Whistler

A pair of charismatic Ultramarine Kingfisher showed nicely on the forest edge. A loud whooshing sound signalled the presence of a magnificent male Blyth’s Hornbill in flight (first image).

Ultramarine Kingfisher

We had several glimpses of Guadalcanal Rail (regarded as a subspecies of Woodford’s Rail by some) which not so long ago was thought likely to be extinct. Surprisingly, we heard and/or saw it at three sites in a variety of habitat including garden patches, grassland and secondary forest. Buff-banded Rail was also present on the road. The Woodford's wouldn't oblige for a picture. More obliging were several Brown-winged Starlings, another Solomons specialty, and the more widespread Mackinlay's Cuckoo-Dove.

 

Mackinlay's Cuckoo-Dove

Brown-winged Starling

I noticed big changes since my last visit to Mt Austen in 1988. Extensive tracts of rainforest have been razed by Asian logging companies, which continue to wreak havoc on Rennell and many other islands including Kolombangara, although at least there the loggers have agreed to leave the upper slopes intact in return for harvesting the lowlands.

The best way to combat the loss of critical wildlife habitat to logging, mining and other development is to boost the tourism sector, providing much-needed revenue to the cash-strapped country. Apart from a feast of wonderful birds, that’s another good reason to go there.

Trip report here.

View from Mt Austen 

Solomon Islands 2024: Part 2 - Rennell Island

 

Bare-eyed White-eye

After visiting Kolombangara during our October trip to Solomon Islands (See this link) as a guest of Tourism Solomons, we flew from Honiara to Rennell, the country’s most easterly island and the world’s largest raised coral atoll, believed to have surfaced 2.5 million years ago at the end of the Pliocene. Much of the island is a designated UNESCO World Heritage Site. For its size it has an unusually high rate of avian endemism, with seven endemic and one near-endemic species, along with a host of distinctive subspecies awaiting taxonomic revision. An enthusastic throng of locals greeted our plane upon arrival.

Chief among the special endemic subspecies on Rennell is the pygmaeus race of Australian White Ibis with its small size, metallic red nape patch and short pink legs. The ibis is numerous around the main town of Tigoa. What is striking about Rennell is the harmony between birds and humans, unlike much of Melanesia and Polynesia, where hunting suppresses bird numbers.

Tigoa village

Endemic subs of Australia White Ibis

Within half an hour of checking into our modest homestay in Tigoa, we had chalked up four endemic species in secondary scrub on the town’s outskirts including the smart Rennell Shrikebill and Bare-eyed White-eye, an enigmatic bird of uncertain taxonomic provenance.

Rennell Shrikebill

Bare-eyed White-eye

Birding the trails nearby over a couple of days cleaned up all the island specialties including the newly split Vanikoro Island Thrush and the scarce Bronze Ground-Dove.

Bronze Ground-Dove

Vanikoro Island Thrush

Birding the Rennell Island trails

The drab Rennell Whistler is regarded as the trickiest endemic to find but we had multiple close encounters with this superb songster; mid-morning appears to be the best time to see them.

Rennell Whistler (above and below)

Birds were ever present. The near-endemic Silver-capped Fruit-Dove was abundant. 

Silver-capped Fruit-Dove

Flocks of Rennell Song Parrots and Rennell Starlings wheeled about and tiny Finsch’s Pygmy-Parrots were often found probing mossy tree trunks in the forest understorey.

Finsch's Pygmy-Parrot

Song Parrot

The endemic Rennell White-eye was as numerous as the Bare-eyed White-eye in primary and secondary forest. 

Rennell White-eye

The recently split Rennell Gerygone was ubiquitous and a frequent inhabitant of village gardens.

Rennell Gerygone

Rennell Fantail was less common and conspicuous, but easy enough to locate.

Rennell Fantail

Pacific Imperial-Pigeon, Melanesian Flycatcher and Cardinal Myzomela are widespread elsewhere in Melanesia and/or Polynesia but occur in the Solomons only on Rennell and nearby islands.

Cardinal Myzomela

Melanesian Flycatcher

Pacific Imperial-Pigeon

Moustached Treeswift is found throughout the region and plenty were flitting about on Rennell. The endemic subspecies of Barred Cuckoo-shrike and Pacific Kingfisher (scarce elsewhere in the Solomons) were common.

Moustached Treeswift

Rennell subsp of Barred Cuckoo-shrike
 

Pacific Kingfisher

I spoke to villagers about the birds. Elliot is an older gentleman who doesn’t know his age; he lives in a tiny wooden shack in the forest. “This is my home where my ancestors lived,” he says. “I want to protect these forests forever.” Is he ever lonely? “No, never. I have my garden and the trees around me. Look at them.” As he speaks, a nearby tree is alive with feeding Pacific Imperial-Pigeons. A short distance from Elliot’s shack is a beautiful, deep limestone cave full of crystal-clear water; a Great Long-fingered Bat hung from the cave ceiling.

Limestone cave

Elliot outside his forest home

Limited diesel fuel on the island for generators meant restricted power availability; ceiling fans were not always whirring during the heat of the day. Compensation came in the form of plentiful meals including freshly caught fish and coconut crab. 

Great cuisine - parrot fish (above); coconut crab (below)

 As is the case throughout the Solomons, local people are invariably friendly and helpful.

Trip report here.

Rennell Island coastline - view from the air

Solomon Islands 2024: Part 1 - Kolombangara Island

 

Solomons Cockatoo

Our vehicle bumped along a rough track through a palm forest swamp near the village of Ringii on the coast of Kolombangara Island. We were on the lookout for a special bird. The near-flightless Roviana Rail, a notorious skulker found only in the Western Province of Solomon Islands, was described as recently as 1991 by the celebrated scientist Jared Diamond. Then we heard it: a jumble of loud shrieks and wails in the dense undergrowth. The rail emerged briefly from the vegetation before criss-crossing the road at lightning speed.

Roviana Rail

A 2.5-hour flight from Brisbane, the total land area of Solomon Islands is less than Tasmania. The country’s 900-odd islands spanning 1500 kilometres are home proportionally to more range-restricted bird species than anywhere else. The Solomons have no fewer than 120 endemic species; many more taxonomic splits are waiting in the wings. That figure includes the island of Bougainville, which is zoogeographically part of the Solomons but governed by neighbouring Papua New Guinea. Numerous other birds in the Solomons occur more widely in Melanesia and west Polynesia.

Morova Lagoon from the air

Relatively few birders venture to these parts, however. Serious birding in the Solomons requires travelling between islands, and until recently air and sea connections were not always reliable with accommodation scarce outside the capital, Honiara, and the diving industry centre of Gizo. Things are much improved these days, and Solomon Islands is fast acquiring a reputation as a world-class ecotourism destination. I had been there previously (in 1988 and 2000) and had the opportunity in October to visit Kolombangara, Rennell and Guadalcanal islands as a guest of Tourism Solomons.

Flying over the high mountains of Guadalcanal

To reach Kolombangara, we flew from Honiara in a Twin Otter plane, crossing the high mountains of Guadalcanal (which harbour several endemic species that remain largely out of reach to birders) before reaching the New Georgia island group in the west-central Solomons. I was travelling with Tourism Solomons marketing officer Brenden Mautoa and New Zealand birder Ilse Corkey.

Marovo, Roviano and other sea lagoons fringed by dozens of coral atolls glistened in the morning sun as we approached the town of Munda on New Georgia Island. I had several delightful days with my friend Glen Ingram on a small island in Marovo Lagoon in 1988; one thing I recall from that visit were daily visits from islanders in canoes offering freshly caught fish and lobster.

Getting the boat ready

Small islands in New Georgia group

At Munda after a delightful fish lunch at Agnes Gateway Hotel on this trip, we boarded a small speedboat and negotiated our way through a myriad of reefs and island channels. Beach Kingfisher and the distinctive endemic race solomonensis of Common Kingfisher were spotted, as the imposing twin volcanic peaks of Kolombangara loomed large on the horizon.

Common Kingfisher

The coast of Kolombangara near Ringii

Volcanic peaks of Kolombangara

A short drive from Ringii brought us to Imbu Rano Lodge, located at 340 metres on the mountain’s lower slopes, for an overnight stay. The splendid view from the lodge deck of heavily forested valleys, framed by those massive peaks, was interrupted by a constant flow of bird traffic. 

Forest slopes above Imbu Rana

Imbu Rana Lodge

Our group at Imbu Rana

The Solomons White-eye, one of many species and subspecies endemic to the New Georgia region, was flitting about, uttering its weird stacatto calls. Vocal Solomons Cockatoos screeched overhead and colourful Cardinal Lories chattered in the tree-tops.

Cardinal Lory

Solomons White-eye

The road behind the basic but comfortable lodge was heaving with feeding flocks. They included a pair of difficult-to-find North Melanesian Cuckoo-shrikes and good numbers of the Western Solomons endemics Kolombangara Monarch and White-capped Monarch.

Kolombagara Monarch

The next morning we trekked uphill to 650 metres where we were rewarded with encounters with the difficult Kolombangara White-eye, found only at higher elevations on this island. Other goodies included the rare Crested Cuckoo-Dove and the lovely Pale Mountain-Pigeon. We did not have time to hike further up the mountain and tent camp overnight – which is required for a handful of specialties including the endemic Kolombangara Leaf-Warbler.

Kolombangara White-eye

In the late afternoon we returned to Ringii, where we scored with not just the much-wanted Roviana Rail but other lowland birds including Claret-breasted Fruit-Dove and the newly split Solomons Brush Cuckoo. Sahul Sunbird was common.

Claret-breasted Fruit-Dove

Sahul Sunbird

Another boat took us to Gizo the next morning, passing en route many small flocks of seabirds - mostly Black-naped Tern, Black Noddy and Great and Lesser Frigatebirds. We passed close to Kennedy Island, named after former US President John F. Kennedy, who swam to the island when the navy ship he commanded was sunk by a Japanese destroyer during World War II.

Kennedy Island

I was in Gizo in 2000, when I saw the endemic Gizo White-eye. We didn’t have time to look for it this time as we headed to the airport, located on an island offshore from the main Gizo Island, to board a flight to Honiara. Melanesian Kingfisher, Island Imperial-Pigeon and Oriental Hobby were distractions at the airport as we waited for our flight.

Trip report here.

Island Imperial-Pigeon

Melanesian Kingfisher