Whereas the principle motive to return to Tangkoko is to see birds on the Tangkoko Nature Reserve, it’s also value contemplating a shortish boat journey alongside the coast – even for individuals like me who don’t significantly like boat journeys.
My journey began what number of actions on Sulawesi appear to start out – with ready. We had been on the seaside, the booked boat was not. A name to them finally introduced them to us, and we discovered they’d been sleeping.
Then once more, throughout this journey, I learn against the law novel (“Dependable in Jakarta”), which incorporates the sentence “5 Germans surrounded me moaning with their customary vanity in regards to the nation’s [Indonesia’s] inefficiencies.” So possibly I’d higher shut up.
The principle motive to take the boat journey is to see the Nice-billed Kingfisher. It isn’t a very colourful hen (significantly for a kingfisher), however spectacular because of its massive black invoice.
And it’s a Sulawesi endemic – personally, I don’t fairly perceive the joy about endemics (appears a bit too nationalistic to me), however I’m in all probability within the minority of birders right here.
Apparently, a blogger named Ray Cannon did the identical tour in 2015 – additionally to see the Nice-billed Kingfisher – and wrote about it in his weblog. I could need to ask him for his excuse for not writing for 10,000 Birds.
As we noticed the focused kingfisher throughout the first quarter-hour of the journey, we had time to see a couple of different birds on a small island near the shore.
Two species primarily occupy that island, the primary one being the Pacific Reef Heron, a barely sinister hen in all probability listening a bit an excessive amount of to outdated Sisters of Mercy data.
Those on the island appear to be solely the gray morph, not the white one.
Curiously, it appears the 2 morphs have totally different looking methods. One research discovered that white-phased birds sought prey by a flight, land, and freeze looking model in breaking surf, whereas darkish birds pursued prey by actively strolling or working on reef flats.
The opposite main species on this small island is the Black-naped Tern.
(I vaguely bear in mind Paul as soon as making some pun associated to terns. Right here is one I simply present in Alexandra Petri’s “Area Information to Awkward Silences”, which in itself sounds a bit like one thing birders would possibly discover helpful: “the person who hated seabirds left no tern unstoned, whereas the gifted masseuse left no stern untoned”)
It is likely one of the most typical seabirds in Indonesia (HBW).
A few of the images I took of them appear to lend themselves to make use of as memes (due to S.R. for the suggestion).
An fascinating discover on that small island was a Noticed Kestrel. The scientific title Falco moluccensis signifies that this can be a regional specialty – it may be discovered on Sulawesi, but in addition on Sumatra and Java.
The scientific literature mentions two threats to the species on Sumba island – it’s killed with air rifles and slingshots (supply) and dropping nesting websites within the roofs of conventional Sumba homes as their quantity declines (supply).
My guess is that guides on easy methods to write weblog posts and articles in all probability advise to refer again to the beginning of the textual content because it ends – one thing I nearly invariably fail to do. Nevertheless, I’ll make an exception this time because the journey additionally allowed me to take images of one other kingfisher – the Collared Kingfisher.
I may even do the identical trick twice, presumably as compensation for earlier omissions. The e-book quoted above mentions Germans once more a bit later (thoughts you, these are evil Germans committing crimes someplace in Southeast Asia, not enticing, good-natured Germans writing birding posts and caring for cats whereas dwelling in China): “The Germans, of their white socks and designer denims, had been getting noisier, now discussing soccer.” I hasten so as to add that I by no means put on white socks or designer denims, am normally very quiet, and am not very occupied with soccer any extra.
