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My girlfriend Maargi
Leitch and I spent two weeks based in Seminyak,
the commercial and nightlife center of the island, staying with my friends
Javier Cachafeiro and Lula Maiz. Javier & Lula own the charming Villa 8 compound
(www.villa8bali.com), made of eight independent fully-equipped
and serviced houses for rent, within walking distance from some of the best
shopping and dining areas of the island, and yet surprisingly quiet and
secluded.
This type of accommodation has gained a lot of popularity in Bali in
recent years, as an alternative to the traditional hotel /resort.
 Legong child dancers
From Seminyak we made
a brief excursion to Bali Barat National Park,
on the island's NW end. We also visited Komodo
National Park, renting a boat that took us from Flores
to the islands of Rinca and Komodo, home of the famous dragons and some
interesting bird species.
Seaweed farming, South Bali
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| Yellow-crested Cockatoo |
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Books:
- The
one bird guide dedicated to the area is A field Guide to the Birds of
Borneo, Sumatra, Java and Bali, by McKinnon & Phillips (Oxford
University Press, 1993). It covers a huge area in a slightly outdated format
with no distribution maps, but text and illustrations are OK.
- The
more recently published (2001) A Photographic Guide to the Birds of
Indonesia by Morten Strange, published by Periplus, is widely available in
airports and good bookstores in the island. It has good texts and maps, but many
of the photos are of poor quality and not really useful for identification.
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published by Periplus, Birding Indonesia: A Bird-watcher's (sic)
Guide to the World's Largest Archipelago by Paul Jepson et al, is a
useful, nicely illustrated and generally detailed site guide. Released in 1997,
some of its indications (at least for the areas I visited) are inevitably outdated.
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| Small Blue Kingfisher |
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The one birding
excursion I took near Seminyak was to Sanur Beach
in the Merta Sari district, around half an
hour away by taxi in heavy mid-morning traffic (less than half of that early in
the morning). The Periplus guide mentions it as a reliable site for Small
Blue Kingfisher and other interesting species, but the indications it
provides were a little outdated.
The southern part of the beach past the big
resorts, where the mangrove begins, optimistically referred to in the guide as
"unspoiled", is in fact a dump full of rubbish. Say what you want of large
tourist hotels on the beach, but at least they keep their surroundings clean.
During
low tide, I did find Small Blue Kingfisher, together with Sacred
Kingfisher, fishing from wooden man-made poles in the mudflats. By 8:30 am
it was very hot and the light very hard, so I returned the day after at sunrise
and saw again Small Blue and Sacred kingfishers, plus Javan
Pond Heron, Pied Fantail, as well as an assortment of multi-colored fiddler
crabs. In a grassy area past the temple before the mangrove got thicker,
and where the rubbish was slightly less overwhelming, I saw a pair of Barred
Buttonquail and a Long-tailed Shrike.
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| Sacred Kingfisher |
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Crab spider |
Bufo melanostictus |
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The other excursion
within the island was to Bali Barat National Park,
where we had reserved 4 nights at the Waka Shorea Resort. We had found
the resort on the Internet, where it's advertised as being "in the heart of the
Park". It was indeed in a beautiful location, on a pristine coral beach, where
amazing snorkeling could be practiced facing the famous Menjangan Island, one of the world's top diving sites.
Unfortunately it was the only activity you can do on your own: it is forbidden
to walk outside of a very small area, even along the beach.
Ebony leaf monkey
Any further walking
requires being with a ranger, and rangers aren't usually available. However, I
managed to get an appointment with a ranger who I was told guided birding
walks, and spent one morning with him. His name is Kt. Wahyudi ( kt.wahyudi@yahoo.co.id ; ph (0365)
61224), and judging from his business card he guides birders privately. The
time I spent with him was actually excellent. We walked along the trail that
led from the resort along the coast to a mangrove area, and later we rode a
motorbike and a small bus to different areas of the National Park.
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| Maargi on the boat to Waka Shorea |
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| Baly skink |
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Apart from a very
decent bird list that included Banded Pitta (see list below), we found a
very big Burmese Python (Python molurus bivittatus), at least 4 m
long, in a dense scrub area that unfortunately didn't allow for good photos. I
had read that Green Junglefowl are common in dry forest areas of the
park, but they proved extremely difficult to see well, let alone photograph.
Somehow I had expected what is after all a chicken to be more confiding.
 Rufous-backed Kingfisher
As for Bali
Starling, the mythical Bali endemic restricted to a few areas of the
National Park, I was told that so few birds survive, mainly re-introduced, that
it's difficult and time-consuming to see them. It also requires permits that
must be obtained beforehand. I imagine it can be done with time and a little
effort; several birding tour companies include the species in their
itineraries.
 Green Junglefowl cock
Near and around the
resort there were Timor Deer, often among the bungalows; Barking Deer,
much more shy and skulking in the dense bush past the legal walking limit; and Black
Langur, the latter being surprisingly skittish and difficult to approach,
despite living in an area frequented by tourists. Wild Pigs also made
appearances around the resort in the evenings. Although service and
accommodation in the resort were faultless, it wasn't what we had expected, and
we left sooner than programmed, back to Seminyak via Ubud.
The road back offered some spectacular classic views of Bali's famed terraced
rice field landscapes.
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| Burmese Python |
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| Fulvous-breasted Jungle Flycatcher |
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| A temple in Ubud |
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| Daily morning offerings, Ubud |
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Barking-deer |
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Views from the road to Ubud |
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