A Brit abroad

Reflections on 2007

Another year (almost) over, another year of great birding. Stand-out moments were, in no particular order: finally connecting with Wallcreeper at Les Baux, a manic weekend of chasing birds in Holland (with Red-flanked Bluetail as the star attraction), watching Black Woodpecker babies grow and fledge, a warm summer evening spent with a local Long-eared Owl, birding in amazing scenery in Corsica, Ouessant and the Pyrenees, in-hand views of Wryneck, Red-backed Shrike and Hawfinch, two very confiding crakes, catching up with old friends (avian and human) in California, finding a Red-tailed Tropicbird nest and watching a Kagu display in New Caledonia. At the time of writing I have no idea what 2008 holds - or even in which country I'll be living - but I'm sure that wherever I end up there'll always be birds to keep me busy!

My last birding outing of the year (probably...) was an evening visit to the Etangs des Imperiaux and Consecaniere on the west side of the Camargue, where Greater Flamingoes (Flamant rose) glowed in the winter sunlight.

A lone Black-headed Gull (Mouette rieuse) sent ripples across the flat-calm water...

... while an adult male Hen Harrier (Busard Saint-Martin) ghosted over the saltmarsh.

Il fait froid

Since the Surprise Island voyage, I've had precious little time to get out birding. One morning I decided to return to Vigneux-sur-Seine to see if I could get better photos of the returning drake Ferruginous Duck (Fuligule nyroca). I didn't!

For the last two weeks the weather in Orsay has been sunny but very cold (down to -6 at night, and only just getting above freezing during the day). The resident Tawny Owls (Chouette hulotte) are being very vocal, and Siskins (Tarin des aulnes) are everywhere. 3 Ring-necked Parakeets (Perruche a collier) were a surprise addition to my campus list - were they displaced by the cold, or new colonists? Most evenings this Black Woodpecker (Pic noir) flies over the campus to its roost site in the Bois des Rames (OK, the photos aren't great, but surely more convincing than those of its Ivory-billed cousin?).

Surprise silliness

And so to conclude this year's Surprise blog-a-thon, here's a collection of less-than-serious photos of my island companions (human and avian). A young Red-footed Booby turns the tables.

Since the island suffers little anthropogenic disturbance, the shorebirds can be pretty tame...

Beer hour... the most important hour of the day.

Zippy masquerades as a turtle.

Tick removal, our nightly entertainment on the boat. Every night Sylvain produced a new anti-tick device - the electric shock treatment has to me my favourite.

Close encounter.

Even when 95% submerged you can't escape the boobies!

Surprise Island haute couture.

'Expecto patronum'

By the power of Grayskull!

It's fair to say that not everyone was as into seawatching as me...

Celebrating our return to civilisation.

Glad to see Her Dollyship has made it to New Caledonia!

Well, back to daily grind behind the computer. In case I don't get round to blogging again soon, merry xmas and a bird-filled 2008!

La Grande Terre

This year I had even less time on mainland New Caledonia (damned job-hunting), and in fact I didn't see any new species in spite of a return visit to the endemic-rich Riviere Bleue park.

I did, however, get astonishingly good views of a party of 3 Kagus, and this year we even got to see the crest-raised and wing-drooping threat display. Magic!

As with last year, a late arrival and the long hike to the forest left us with precious little time for birding. New Caledonian Friarbirds were abundant and easy to see.

New-Caledonian Imperial Pigeons (the world's largest pigeon) played hard to get, and was mostly detected by call. Among the other species seen were Streaked Fantail, Barred Honeyeater, Striated Starling and a tool-carrying New Caledonian Crow (which turned away just at the wrong moment).

A few hours around the port at Koumac produced some fun birding, including all the big raptors you're likely to see here (Whistling Kite, Swamp Harrier and several Osprey).

The mangroves and surrounding mud were suprisingly bird-free, with flight views of White-headed, Eastern Reef and Nankeen Night Heron, a pair of Grey Teal and a single Bar-tailed Godwit of note. Purple Gallinule was noted from the harbour itself...

... as were several noisy Sacred Kingfishers.

Passerines were represented by Silvereye and Green-backed White-eye, the abundant endemic Dark Brown Honeyeater....

... a few Grey Fantails...

... and this LBJ, a female Rufous Whistler.

Smart butterfly.

Back in Noumea, introduced species predominate. I confess to having a soft spot for Red-vented Bulbuls.

Food chain

The journey back by boat was uneventful - unpleasantly rough seas, and pitifully few birds, of which 99% were Wedge-tailed Shearwaters - until we reached the Belep islands, and I spotted a cloud of seabirds.

Thoughtfully Gilles, our captain, was willing to take us in for a closer look.

Among the hordes of noddies, shearwaters and boobies were several Sooty Terns, a species notably absent from Surprise.

The water was foaming as thousands of tiny baitfish jumped out of the water...

... to escape predation by Yellowfin Tuna, which were apparently driving them up into a baitball (I had only heard of whales doing this).

To add to the melee, the larger fish were being harrassed by some impressively-sized sharks (ID, anyone?).

Quite the spectacle!

Masked Boobies

Everyone's favourite beach bum.

A nest with a view

Newborn

Family portrait. Although we saw many birds with two eggs, the adults will only raise one.

Adult with monster ticks on the feet.

One of our jobs on the island was to de-tick (is this a word?) chicks at the beginning of the stay and then a week later. While one of the birds remained completely tick-free, this individual managed to pick over over 50 new ticks, including some whoppers.

Wish you were here?

Frigates

Two species nest on Surprise Island, the Great and the (much scarcer) Lesser. Telling them apart in overhead flight is often possible from the shape of the white markings on their underparts, and structure. The bird in the bottom right of this photo is an adult male Lesser, with diagnostic white 'pit patches'.

Adult females also show the triangular patches on the axillaries. Note relatively small size alongside the Brown Booby.

A classic immature Great Frigatebird.

The birds are kleptoparasites, preying on boobies returning to the island in the last hour of daylight and forcing them to regurgitate.

We did, however, see several individuals flying low over the water and swiftly dipping their bills below the surface - I guess going for small fry?

I have no wisdom on how to identify perched birds. Note how the red throat patch inflated during courtship is visible on this adult male.

Redheads.

I didn't see many birds in this plumage, but suppose that the red head changing to white is the last transitional plumage before adulthood?

The life aquatic

The coral reefs surrounding Surprise are full of life, but without a snorkel, a large number of interesting species can be seen directly from the beach. Black-tipped Reef Sharks come amazingly close to the shoreline at low tide.

One of the downsides of not staying the night on the island was that we didn't see any Green Turtles come ashore, though tracks in the sand suggested that 1 or 2 visited each night. However, several were seen swimming across the turquoise lagoon.

We saw many flying fish from the boat - these fish are able to 'fly' a surprisingly long distance - a good 30m. This one was found lying on the beach, though I have no idea whether it washed up or was regurgitated by a bird.

Moray Eels used stealth tactics to attack unsuspecting small fish and crabs in the shallow lagoons adjacent to the beach.

The waters around the harbour in Koumac were full of colourful reef fish...

... and we all had excellent views of the 'tricot rayé' (Yellow-lipped Sea-Krait).

Red-footed Boobies

An abundant tree-nester on the island. The adults have amazing bare-part coloration.

This one seems to have an identity crisis, standing at the entrance of shearwater burrow!

The white-morph adults look pretty angelic in flight...

... while the duller immatures are extremely curious of visitors to the island.

Siesta time.

The juveniles moult and preen out their downy feathers, often leaving just a 'punk' topknot.

Booby and moon.

In profile

Family portrait

Fluffball.

This chick looked particularly miserable the day the storm passed through.

Wedgies

From our departure from Koumac to arrival on Surprise, Wedge-tailed Shearwaters (all dark morph) were our constant companions.

Shearing the water.

Surprise Island itself is a minefield of shearwater burrows, and great care has to be taken not to step in them.

We found this individual sitting in an old concrete reservoir (many birds don't manage to find their way out again), and on the third day decided to catch it and move it to an unoccupied burrow. We expected the bird to be in a weakened or emaciated state, but in fact it turned out to be remarkably feisty!

In the last half-hour of daylight, the birds congregated in their hundreds just offshore before returning to their burrows.

A well-fed raft resting on the water.

Surprise critters

Aside from birds, Surprise Island has decent number of insects, many of which were presumably introduced along with their host plants. Among them we saw at least 3 species of butterfly, of which this was the largest.

This day-flying hawkmoth was abundant this year.

Amazing-looking beetle.

The only reptiles are a skink and this gecko species.

Of the 4 crab species, this one was the hardest to get close to...

... and the Ghost Crabs also do an amazing vanishing act in wet sand at the tideline.

For the squeamish amongst you, look away now. We came across some impressive-sized arachnids across the island...

... this one was the biggest of the lot - needless to say I left well alone!

I enjoyed pretty much every aspect of my time on the island - except for the ticks. I can't help but feel revulsed when I see a downy booby chick with a particularly high tick burden, and being covered with them all day becomes rather bothersome. This engorged adult was about the size of a Malteser!

Unfortunately it wasn't just the seabirds who suffered from ticks...

Last year while I had several tick bites, I suffered no reaction, whereas this year I came back with a whole host of itchy souvenirs...

... and on that note, I promise to get back to birds for the next post!

Brown Boobies

A handsome bird.

Like last year, relatively few birds were found nesting in the rocky plain in the interior, perhaps due to the encroaching vegetation. Instead, evidence of nesting attempts were found on the bare ground underneath the Pisonia canopy, and alongside Masked Boobies in the vegetation closest to the beach.

Large numbers of adults were loafing at the water's edge.

In the evenings back on the boat, we were often entertained by young Red-footed Boobies squabbling for a perch. One night they were joined by a Brown Booby who was able to hold her own in the melee.

Noddies

The relative abundance of the two species of noddy on Surprise seems to have completely switched this year, with Black Noddy being by far the more abundant close to shore.

However, there were many more nests of Brown Noddy than Black Noddy in the coconut palms.

The two species side by side.

Mug shots

Brown Booby

Masked Booby

Red-footed Booby adult white morph...

immature...

... and a poor individual covered in ticks.

Frigatebird sp (Great or Lesser) of all ages. Again, note the enormous tick on the juv.

Surprise shorebirds

Total shorebird numbers were about the same as on the previous visit, though lacking a couple of species found in ones and twos last year (Greater Sandplover and Red-necked Stint). Pacific Golden Plover was again the most abundant species, with a max. count of 62 in the high tide roost in the island's centre. Always a pleasure to see this species up close - and away from sewage works!

2 Whimbrels (plus a freshly dead specimen) were the flightiest of the species present.

Wandering Tattlers were regularly encountered, but hard to count as they were typically solitary.

I got close enough to this one to discover the species has semipalmated feet.

Ruddy Turnstone completed the line-up. Probably not that many photos of them alongside Red-footed Boobies!

Surprise Terns

This title is particularly apt given that one of the very first birds I saw on arrival on the island was not only a life bird, but probably also the first record for the island - a pair of Common White Terns. The pair was seen several times during the week, but no evidence of nesting was found.

Another species I didn't see last year was Fairy Tern. This single bird was a one-day wonder.

A group of beautiful Black-naped Terns was constantly hanging around the island.

Numbers of loafing Crested Terns seemed slightly up on last year too.

At least 2 pairs of Bridled Terns were hanging around in the central plain. One pair dive-bombed me, but I found no evidence of a nest.

It seems even the smaller species aren't immune to the attention of the abundant seabird ticks...

Paille en queue

I couldn't resist starting with the trip highlight. Last year, I had brief looks at a couple of Red-tailed Tropicbirds soaring overhead, but didn't even have my bins with me. This year following a couple of days with no sightings, much better views were obtained, and after several days' of detective work I was delighted to find the nest. As birding pal Nick Moran might say, 'wot a burd'!

Return to Surprise Island

Well, lightning ended up striking twice, and I had the opportunity to get back out to Surprise Island (a tiny seabird-filled island a day's boat ride north of New Caledonia) for an intensive week of birding - oops - fieldwork. The biggest change this year was that we stayed on the boat rather than camping - hot showers, cold beers, delicious food and most importantly, a respite from the ever-present seabird ticks was a much welcome improvement! A feast of bird photos coming soon; in the mean-time, here are a few scenery photos to whet your appetite.

Arrival in cloudy weather

The beach - tempting...

The lagoon at low tide - sharks, turtles, moray eels and the like were easily observed from shore.

Booby tracks

Not all the turtles that come ashore to lay make it back out to sea...

Trouble in paradise - the day of the storm, when it dropped to a chilly 20C. Brrrr!

Sunrise and sunset were always worth a look...

... often giving the white-sand beach a pink glow.

9 hours in Japan

En route to New Caledonia I found myself with a 9 hour layover at Tokyo Narita airport. Having never been to Japan I was keen to explore. Tokyo itself was just a little far (90 minute train journey), so I opted instead for the 20 min train journey to Narita. From the train station it's a very easy walk to Naritasan shinshoji temple and gardens, passing many shops selling delicious but unidentifiable (to me) sweet and savoury snacks. I resisted temptation to drop into the English pub!

In a tiny park just off of the main street I found the customary sparrows and starlings, though to my surprise the sparrows were all Tree Sparrows...

... while the Starlings were my lifer Grey Starlings.

I have no idea how the temple here ranks against other temples in Japan, but I was duly impressed.

Noisy flocks of Brown-eared Bulbuls were my next lifer, and alongside the familiar Carrion Crows were a few huge-billed Jungle Crows.

In one particularly productive clearing, a bird flock included the charming Japanese Pygmy Woodpecker.

The local Great Tits are much drabber than our European counterparts.

One or two Oriental Turtle Doves were sitting motionless in the trees. Saves me an expensive twitch to a Scottish island one day!

The line-up was completed by the distinctive local race of Goldcrest, Long-tailed Tit, Japanese White-eye (lifer) and a couple of skulking warblers which after some internet searching was able to confirm as Japanese Bush-Warblers - I didn't even know there were was more than one species in the genus Cettia.

Before leaving I managed a flock of Oriental Greenfinches, and two unidentified flyover thrushes. An attempt to bird along the stream at the edge of town was abandoned as the rain set in, though the detour did yield my lifer Daurian Redstart.

Back at the airport I celebrated the day's successes with with some delicious sushi.

Japanese warning signs are so much cooler than ours.

Press the wrong button and you could get more than you bargained for on a visit to the toilet!