Birding in Bali

What do you think comes to the mind of a birder who is visiting Bali for the first time? The Bali Myna; a bird endemic to the Bali island. So a visit to Bali without trying to see the bird was unthinkable for me. Therefore the first part of Bali that we visited in our trip there was a place called Blimbingsari. It is located in the north west part of Bali. We spent 2 nights there and the main reason for doing so was to do birding, and the best place to get the chance to see the Bali Myna. Did I get to see them? I did and lots more.

I had engaged Made Surya as my birding guide for 2 days. Since his mother ran a homestay, we decided to stay at her place for the 2 nights that we would be in Blimbingsari. Surya organised for a car to pick us up from airport and drop us his mother’s homestay. The ride from airport to the homestay was around 4 hours. So we stopped enroute to catch lunch. And I got my first lifer for the trip right out in the garden of the eatery; Cave Swiftlets! There were several of them flying around. Being just besides the coast, I scanned the beach for any birds. There was a lone Common Sandpiper feeding on the beach.

Once at the homestay, we took a short nap to recover from the drive. In the evening we decided to take a walk around the Blimbingsari village. There was a Grey-rumped Treeswift flying around overhead along with a few Cave Swiftlets. The walk also yielded a couple of Collared Kingfishers.

Next morning I had an early breakfast at 6:15AM. Surya met me by 6:30AM and we were off to the first spot. This was a patch behind his house. The bird to appear first was one that I really wanted to see; the Javan Banded-Pitta!

A bit away was a roosting Sunda Scops-Owl.

We spent the next 30 minutes walking around the patch. The birds that we got to see included the Freckle-breasted Woodpecker, Common Flameback, Pacific Swift, Zebra Dove, Coppersmith Barbet (Javan Red-faced), White-shouldered Triller, Ornate Sunbird (Olive-backed Sunbird) and Scarlet-headed Flowerpecker.

We then drove over to another patch. Here I got some excellent views of a White-shouldered Triller.

The other birds in the patch included a Sunda Collared-Dove, Freckle-breasted Woodpecker, Pink-necked Green-Pigeon, Dollarbird, Common Tailorbird, White-breasted Woodswallows and a Bar-winged Prinia among others.

There was also a lone Bali Myna sitting atop tree afar and calling. However those views did not satisfy me. So we headed off to another patch. There we got to see and hear a Green Junglefowl, Lineated Barbet, Olive-backed Tailorbird and two Crescent-chested Babblers. The Babblers were very vocal but very shy. They appeared only for a few seconds.

We moved on yet again. And this time, we got to see the prime target; the Bali Myna. They were just besides a busy road. Here are some photos:

Another patch yielded us a Olive-backed Tailorbird, Mangrove Whistler and Crested Serpent-Eagle. We then headed to a place where we hoped to get the Yellow-eared Barbet. Sadly we could only manage to hear it calling from a tree. It refused to show itself.

The next stop was a busy park near the shore. There were plenty of people around. But thankfully we also got some new birds. They included the Brown Honeyeater, two Lemon-bellied White-eyes, a Coppersmith Barbet (Javan Red-faced) and two Orange-breasted Green-Pigeons.

Post lunch we first visited a spot to try and see Savanna Nightjars. We were treated to one roosting out in the open!

Then we headed off to the coast to try and get waders and shorebirds. Unfortunately our arrival there was delayed by a flat tire. Once repaired, we made it around 4:30PM. The next hour of birding yielded lots of good birds. The highlights were the Grey-tailed Tattlers, the Malaysian Plover, a Brown Bobby, Little Tern, Golden-bellied Gerygone, Zitting Cisticola (Double Zitting) and a Sacred Kingfisher.

Soon we called it a day and headed back to our homestay.

The next morning started again at 6:30AM. This time we first birded in patch directly behind the homestay. The main target was the Horsfield’s Babbler. Two of them showed up. But were very fidgety. I just about managed to get the below photos.

Target done and we then headed off to bird in Blimbingsari Rainforest. We spent the next 3 hours walking and birding at this rainforest. And we got plenty of birds! Below are some of the ones that I photographed:

Just before lunch a visit to a bridge near the homestay yielded us a Javan Kingfisher and a Black-naped Monarch.

Post lunch and it was time to bird at the last patch of the day. It yielded me decent views of a few lifers; the Javan Munia and a Cerulean Kingfisher.