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New Caledonia Birding Trip Report14-17 December 1999by Jon Hornbuckle
COSTFlight: South Pacific airpass $440 plus tax = c£280. Car hire: c£70 from Avis ((3 day rental, 150 km per day free, extra km would have been expensive) using ABA discount no. AWD A843000; petrol £13. Drink, tolls, Parc entrance fees and food bought on New Cal (most was taken with me from Oz) c.£12 including 2 beers for nearly £5. LOGDec 14 Arrived 01.15, 6 hours late due to an Air Calin plane failure (discovered before I left for Sydney airport fortunately). Picked up Avis car, despite late hour, and drove to Riviere Bleue. After 3 hrs sleep in car outside entrance, was directed at 06.55 by the Parc chief to the Grand Kaori where Yves Letocart awaited me; Dark-brown Honeyeater and New Cal Cuckoo-shrike en route. 07.30-14.30 with Yves in that area, seeing 13 of the specialities including great views of Kagu, Cloven-feathered Dove, and Crow Honeyeater. Rest of day birding alone without additional specialities, overnighting in car at Pont Germain “camp site”. Sun and cloud, dry all day. Dec 15 05.00-11.00 birding in the Parc, only adding Myzomela, Red-fronted Parakeet and poor view of Barred Honeyeater. Slow drive out with stops failed to give expected Parrotfinch. Drive to Mt Koghi. Walk up Grande Piste to Belvedere and Vue Pointe, adding New Cal Flycatcher and Barred Honeyeater, before heavy rain stopped play. Overnight in car (thought of going to the recommended YHA in Noumea but couldn’t be bothered) after 2 beers at the Auberge. Cloudy in morn, rain most of afternoon. Dec 16 05.00-10.00 Mt Koghi in the rain, trying for Grassbird (not even heard) but only adding Melanesian Cuckoo-shrike and poor view of Red-throated Parrotfinch. Drove to Noumea, checking coast at Magenta Bay and Anse Vata, for waders (Bristle-thighed Curlew possible according to Wheatley), only seeing Wandering Tattler, and looking for fresh water without success. Drove to Mt Mou but too wet to be worth climbing. Tried coastal strip at Nde – still no Parrotfinch but an accipiter caused brief excitement till I found it was Brown Gos. Overnight in car below Mt Mou. Rain all day, heavy at times. Half wished I’d gone to Lifou but later learnt there was 56mm of rain there compared to only 7mm in Noumea! Dec 17 05.00-06.20 Mt Mou 350-550m, dry at last, finally spotting single Parrotfinch in tree amongst a flock of Waxbill. 08.00 flight to Sydney. SITESParc Provincial de la Riviere Bleue Holds all the existing endemics although some are difficult to see, especially the grassbird. Essential to contact Christophe Lambert, Yves Letocart’s boss for permission for Yves’s help – fax 243256. He will contact Yves and presumably tell you if he is not available. Make sure you ask for a day during Tues – Friday and bring red wine for Yves. Permits unnecessary, pay at gate which is open 07.00-17.00. Mont Koghi Cuckoo-shrikes, New Cal Fly, Striated Starling and in my case Barred Honeyeater seem to be easier here than at Riviere Bleuee and Grassbird is possible. If dry, raptor watching from vicinity of Auberge would probably give the Gos. Mont Mou This site might be better than Mt Koghi. Take the road to the international airport (45km from Noumea) and as it winds upwards some 30km from Noumea, at the highest point take an unsigned unmetalled road on the right to the Sanatorium. After 2km park at a pull-in just before a bridge over a stream, perhaps 500m before the Sanatorium entrance. Walk back c100m to an inconspicuous track, steep at first, which goes up the hillside. It soon enters good forest, then stunted forest with an excellent view-point at 550m – the Gos should be a certainty from here on a decent morning. The grassland higher up looked good for the Grassbird but I did not have time to reach it. ACKNOWLEDGEMENTSMany thanks to Neil Bostock, Peter Lansley and Jan Vermeulen for helpful advice, but especially to Yves Letocart for helping me find the birds at Riviere Bleue. Jon Hornbuckle 35 Grove Road, Sheffield S7 2GY SYSTEMATIC LISTLittle Pied Cormorant Phalacrocorax melanoleucos Singles Riviere Bleue and Noumea White-faced Heron Egretta novaehollandiae 1 Riviere Bleue Pacific Reef-Egret Egretta sacra 2 Noumea Whistling Kite Haliastur sphenurus 4 Riviere Bleue Swamp Harrier Circus approximans 1 Riviere Bleue and 2 near Noumea Brown Goshawk Accipiter fasciatus Singles near Noumea and Mt Mou Kagu Rhynochetos jubatus 8 Riviere Bleue on 14/12 and 4 on 15/12, including 3 feeding at the campsite late pm and early am. Wandering Tattler Heteroscelus incanus 2 on rocks Noumea Silver Gull Larus novaehollandiae Common on coast Great Crested-Tern Sterna bergii 1 Noumea Black-naped Tern Sterna sumatrana 2+ Nde Metallic Pigeon Columba vitiensis 2 singles Mount Koghi Emerald Dove Chalcophaps indica 2 singles Riviere Bleue Spotted Dove Streptopeia chinensis Fairly common Noumea area Cloven-feathered Dove Drepanoptila holosericea Singles Riviere Bleue and in flight Mount Koghi with several heard including 1 on Mt Mou New Caledonian Imperial-Pigeon Ducula goliath 3 Riviere Bleue and 1 Mount Koghi with others heard Red-fronted Parakeet Cyanoramphus novaezelandiae Only 1 Riviere Bleue 15/12 Horned Parakeet Eunymphicus cornutus Only 1 Riviere Bleue 14/12 Rainbow Lorikeet Trichoglossus haematodus Fairly common throughout Fan-tailed Cuckoo Cacomantis flabelliformis Heard Riviere Bleue and Mt Koghi with 1 seen at the latter Shining Bronze-Cuckoo Chrysococcyx lucidus 2 heard Mt Koghi Barn Owl Tyto alba 1 near Noumea at night Glossy Swiftlet Aerodramus esculenta A few throughout Uniform Swiftlet Aerodramus vanikorensis Only 1 identified, at Mt Koghi Sacred Kingfisher Todirhamphus sanctus 3 Riviere Bleue and 2 Mt Koghi and near Noumea Fan-tailed Gerygone Gerygone flavolateralis Fairly common Riviere Bleue and Mt Koghi with a few elsewhere Dark-brown Honeyeater Lichmera incana Common throughout New Caledonian Myzomela Myzomela caledonica 3 Riviere Bleue and 2 Mt Koghi and Mt Mou New Caledonian Friarbird Philemou diemenensis Fairly common Riviere Bleue but only 2 seen Mt Koghi, heard Mt Mou Crow Honeyeater Gymnomyza aubryana Only 1 Riviere Bleue Barred Honeyeater Phylidonyris undulata 2 in flight Riviere Bleue and 2 Mt Koghi Yellow-bellied Robin Eopsaltria flaviventris 6+ Riviere Bleue and Mt Koghi New Caledonian Whistler Pachycephala caledonica 2+ Riviere Bleue and Mt Koghi Rufous Whistler Pachycephala rufiventris 10 Riviere Bleue and 2+ Mt Koghi, Mt Mou and Noumea Grey Fantail Rhipidura fuliginosa 3 Noumea and 2 heard Mt Koghi Streaked Fantail Rhipidura spilodera 2+ Mt Mou and near Noumea, with 2 heard Mt Koghi Southern Shrikebill Clytorhynchus pachycephaloides Only 1 seen Riviere Bleue but 3 heard there and 1 heard at Mt Koghi New Caledonian Flycatcher Myiagra caledonica 2+ Mt Koghi New Caledonian Crow Corvus moueduloides 4 Riviere Bleue on 14/12 only – using stalks to extract grubs from trunks White-breasted Woodswallow Artamus leucorynchus 6+ Riviere Bleue, 4 Mt Koghi and 1 Noumea Melanesian Cuckoo-shrike Coracina caledonica 2+ Mt Koghi and 1 Mt Mou New Caledonian Cuckoo-shrike Coracina analis 1 in flight and 2 heard Riviere Bleue, and an imm. Mt Koghi Long-tailed Triller Lalage leucopyga 6+ Riviere Bleue and singles Mt Koghi, Mt Mou and Noumea Striated Starling Aplonis striata Only 1 Riviere Bleue but 8+ Mt Koghi ComMou Myna Acridotheres tristis Common Noumea and beyond Silver-eye Zosterops lateralis Common Noumea and beyond Green-backed White-eye Zosterops xanthochrous 6+ Riviere Bleue and 10+ Mt Koghi and Mt Mou House Sparrow Passer domesticus Common around Noumea Common Waxbill Estrilda astrild Common around Noumea (introduced) and beyond including Mt Mou Red-throated Parrotfinch Erythrura psittacea 4 in flight at Mt Koghi and 1 Mt Mou Chestnut-breasted Munia Lonchura castaneothorax 2 of this introduced sp. at Magenta near Noumea |
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