srvancott's equinox birds (Mar. 2009)
Who: srvancott
Where: Ukarumpa, Papua New Guinea
Bird list: Equinox Spring 2009
Report:
The morning of March 20th looked promising, but then again, most mornings do. It's the afternoons you have to worry about.
Here in the Highlands of Papua New Guinea it's rainy season, and it's one of the most intense rainy seasons many people can remember. Mornings are often foggy; once in a great while, the fog burns off by mid-morning and we see the sun! Usually by early afternoon, black clouds are rolling in. Rare is the day that we don't have at least a few minutes of torrential, deafening rain. Often the rain starts and keeps going all afternoon. Sometimes it is still raining as I fall asleep.
When the noon whistle blew, I ran home to grab a quick sandwich and then went birding with my friend Juliann. It was Juliann's first time birding, so I was hoping we'd see lots of birds and not get rained on, quite a lofty hope this time of year. But both things came true.
As we went to some of my usual spots – by the horse paddocks, along the back fence, and near the translators' lodges – we saw most of the birds I was expecting and a few more. When I was checking out movement in a distant tree, Juliann pointed out something only a few feet in front of us – a pair of beautiful Midget Myzomelas! I've seen them a few times before, but never had such a good look at these small, elusive birds. Along the fence, we were treated to a show by a group of Hooded Munias. Over the past week, I'd watched the group of about 40 of them acting like the school of fish in "Finding Nemo," and I was hoping they were still around for Juliann to see – they were!
We saw 11 species in our 45 minutes of walking around – including two that were life birds for me: Yellow-breasted Bowerbird and Rainbow Bee-eater. I'd have taken pictures of them, but alas, my point-and-shoot digital camera is very inadequate for bird photography. However, due to the patient nature of Long-tailed Shrikes, I managed to get a few pictures of them. The first series, which doesn't at all do justice to the bird's striking color, show a bird in its typical spot perched on a wire. The second picture gives you a better idea of the Shrikes' true colors.
Amazingly, it didn't rain a drop during the 24-hour period around the equinox, and I was able to get out birding twice and make a few more observations while hanging up laundry on Saturday morning. In all, I identified 16 species of birds. A few of the most conspicuous species – Coconut Lorikeet and Grey Shrikethrush – stayed hidden from my view, but I managed to ID them by their calls.
While I'm looking forward to dry season more and more each day, this past March 20th proves it is possible to have a good day of birding during the rainy season.
Text and photos copyright © 2009 srvancott, used with permission.
