Andaman Islands, Day 10, October 21st, 2011

Jungle Resort, Havelock Island

Today I actually slept until eight in the morning, so my regular morning-stroll was cancelled for today. Instead I went to explore Neil’s Cove, a little bay adjacent to the main beach. When we reached the cove a security-guard told us that we were not allowed to go in there. There are restrictions in this cove due to a crocodile eating a tourist-woman there two years earlier. I told the nice man that we were only intending to walk on the beach, and that we would stay away from the water. He allowed us to get in for fifteen minutes, and we were all happy. Neill’s Cove was a very beautiful and picturesque location. White beach and crystal clear water. In addition the birding was great there. Going into the cove I first found a Wood Sandpiper (Grønnstilk). Then I found both Collared Kingfisher (Jadeisfugl) and White-throated Kingfisher (Kastanjeisfugl), before I eventually found a Common Sandpiper (Strandsnipe). When I reached the other end of the cove my girlfriend started talking about that our fifteen minutes were soon over, and we had to head back. Midway along the beach a Dollarbird (Orientråke) came flying over, and the kingfishers were very helpful when I went to photograph them.

Other than this I saw the usual birds in the complex, and I also got to see several Alexandrine Parakeets (Aleksanderparakitt) along the beach.

Species list of the day

·         Pacific Reef Heron (Sothegre)

·         Wood Sandpiper (Grønnstilk)

·         Common Sandpiper (Strandsnipe)

·         Emerald Dove (Smaragddue)

·         Pompadour Green Pigeon (Gulbrystgrønndue)

·         Red-breasted Parakeet (Skjeggparakitt)

·         Long-tailed Parakeet (Langhaleparakitt)

·         Alexandrine Parakeet (Aleksanderparakitt)

·         Andaman Scops Owl (Andamanugle)

·         Dollarbird (Orientråke)

·         White-throated Kingfisher (Kastanjeisfugl)

·         Collared Kingfisher (Jadeisfugl)

·         Asian Fairy Bluebird (Blåalvefugl)

·         Black-naped Oriole (Svartnakkepirol)

·         Greater Racket-tailed Drongo (Dragedrongo)

·         Brown Shrike (Brunvarsler)

·         Scarlet Minivet (Skarlagenmønjefugl)

·         Red-whiskered Bulbul (Rødørebylbyl)

·         Black-headed Bulbul (Svarthodebylbyl)

·         Oriental Magpie Robin (Orientskjæreskvett)

·         Forest Wagtail (Skogerle)

·         Grey Wagtail (Vintererle)

·         Plain Flowerpecker (Oliveblomsterfugl)

New species today: 5
Total number of species this far: 43

Alexandrine Parakeet

Alexandrine Parakeet

Pompadour Green Pigeon

Collared Kingfisher

White-throated Kingfisher

Dollarbird

Pacific Reef Heron, grey morph

Pavific Reef Heron, grey morph

Common Sandpiper

Andaman Islands, Day 9, October 20th, 2011

Jungle Resort, Havelock Island

Another day spent at the resort and another day without working binoculars! Being without binoculars makes the birding all that more difficult, but it does mean that my camera with the zoom-lens gets used a lot.

The day started off in the normal way, with the regular birds feeding in the fruiting trees, and the pigeons feeding along the walkways. When we were sat for breakfast I became aware of two black birds that I had not seen before. A quick shot with the camera into the dark jungle showed that it was a pair of Common Hill Myna (Beostær). They were quickly gone, and I thought that my chance of getting a good picture of them had passed, but later in the day when I tried to get some good photos of the Red-whiskered Bulbuls (Rødørebylbyl) and the Black-naped Orioles (Svartnakkepirol) one of them gave nice views and photo-opportunities at a relatively short distance.

After a short walk on the beach where the birdlife, as usual, was rather dull I became aware of a dark raptor in the sky. An all dark bird without any light-colored parts on the body! This was the bird that I had hoped to see! It was the Andaman Serpent Eagle (Andamansnokørn). The brief sighting I got through the camera lens was of a small eagle, with dark chocolate-brown body and darker feathers on the wings. There is no doubt as to which species it was!

A new sighting of an Andaman Drongo (Andamandrongo) and new sightings of the Brown Shrike (Brunvarsler) and the Asian Brown Flycatcher (Brunfluesnapper) were also nice when thinking of the possibility of seeing them at home at some point.    

Species list of the day

·         Andaman Serpent Eagle (Andamansnokørn)

·         Emerald Dove (Smaragddue)

·         Red-breasted Parakeet (Skjeggparakitt)

·         Long-tailed Parakeet (Langhaleparakitt)

·         Andaman Scops Owl (Andamanugle)

·         Brown-backed Needletail (Brunryggseiler)

·         Asian Fairy Bluebird (Blåalvefugl)

·         Black-naped Oriole (Svartnakkepirol)

·         Andaman Drongo (Andamandrongo)

·         Brown Shrike (Brunvarsler)

·         Common Hill Myna (Beostær)

·         Scarlet Minivet (Skarlagenmønjefugl)

·         Red-whiskered Bulbul (Rødørebylbyl)

·         Black-headed Bulbul (Svarthodebylbyl)

·         Asian Brown Flycatcher (Brunfluesnapper)

·         Oriental Magpie Robin (Orientskjæreskvett)

·         Forest Wagtail (Skogerle)

New species today: 2

Total number of species this far: 38

Feeding Red-whiskered Bulbul

Common Hill Myna

Andaman Drongo

Emerald Dove

Black-naped Oriole

A visiting snake at dinner-time.

Andaman Islands, Day 8, October 19th, 2011

Jungle Resort, Havelock Island

The staff here at the Jungle Resort have gotten quite used to me looking at, and photographing, the birds on the compound. Especially the head of the complex, John, is very keen that I shall get to see all the birds that are around. So today he called me over when I was sat in my usual chair in the Reception-building, and showed me a Green Pigeon sp. (Grønndue sp.). It was hidden in the foliage, but I managed to get a few shots of it from beneath. This was the only new species of the day, but I finally managed to get some documentation-photos of the Andaman Woodpecker (Andamansvartspett), and I got some quite good pictures of the Brown Shrike (Brunvarsler) and the Greater Racket-tailed Drongo (Dragedrongo).

Species list of the day

·         Emerald Pigeon (Smaragddue)

·         Pompadour Green Pigeon (Gulbrystgrønndue)

·         Red-breasted Parakeet (Skjeggparakitt)

·         Andaman Scops Owl (Andamanugle)

·         Brown Hawk Owl (Orientfalkugle)

·         Brown-backed Needletail (Brunryggseiler)

·         Andaman Woodpecker (Andamansvartspett)

·         Asian Fairy Bluebird (Blåalvefugl)

·         Black-naped Oriole (Svartnakkepirol)

·         Greater Racket-tailed Drongo (Dragedrongo)

·         Brown Shrikev(Brunvarsler)

·         Scarlet Minivet (Skarlagenmønjefugl)

·         Red-whiskered Bulbul (Rødørebylbyl)

·         Oriental Magpie Robin (Orientskjæreskvett)

·         Forest Wagtail (Skogerle)

New species today: 2

Total number of species this far: 36

Andaman Woodpecker, female

Andaman Woodpecker, male

Red-breasted Parakeet

Pompadour Green Pigeon

Brown Shrike

Brown Shrike

Greater Racket-tailed Drongo

Greater Rocket-tailed Drongo

Andaman Islands, Day 7, October 18th, 2011

Barefoot Scuba, Village #3

We left the resort at 6.30 in the morning to go snorkeling at Inglis Island. We arrived at Barefoot Scuba at approx 7 am and started to prepare for the 1,5 hour boat ride. Due to that my binoculars got soaked yesterday, and that I tried to rinse away the salt, my binoculars have taken in water and were now useless. I can’t say that I am too happy with Canon at the moment. I am a birdwatcher without binoculars in a place where I don’t know the birds! When we left Barefoot Scuba I did manage to nail three species of birds though! Two Pacific Swallows (Kystsvale) were resting on a couple of buoys, and were scared off when we drove past them. And a Brahminy Kite (Braminglente) was being mobbed by three Large-billed Crows (Tykknebbkråke) over land a bit further down the beach.

When we arrived back at Barefoot Scuba a Pacific Reef Heron (Sothegre) and a Common Sandpiper (Strandsnipe) were feeding along the dead corals next to the beach.

Inglis Island

Inglis Island was a true gem! A green emerald surrounded by silvery beaches and azure ocean. Although most of the corals were dead due to the rise in ocean-temperature after the tsunami, the coral-reef was still very nice to swim over. For a guy who lives a short way from the North Pole to be able to swim together with shoals of fish in all the colors of the rainbow, it is almost as spectacular as it gets. When the snorkeling was done, and we headed for land I saw two terns flying along the shore that appeared white. I could only guess that it was Black-naped Terns (Svartnakketerne), but it is difficult to be certain at 500 meters distance. We did a short jungle-trek to the other side of the Island where two first-winter Black-naped Terns were showing very well, and I got some nice photographs of them. A Pacific Reef Heron (Sothegre) also came flying by before we trekked back to the boat. When we left for the boat again a White-bellied Sea Eagle (Hvitbukhavørn) showed briefly, together with a Black Kite (Svartglente) when we arrived and two more overflying Pacific Reef Herons when we left these were the only birds that I could with certainty identify at this beautiful Island.  

Species list of the day

Barefoot Scuba, Village #3

·         Pacific Reef Heron (Sothegre)

·         Brahminy kite (Braminglente)

·         Common Sandpiper (Strandsnipe)

·         Pacific Swallow (Kystsvale)

·         Large-billed Crow (Tykknebbkråke)

Inglis Island

·         Pacific Reef Heron (Sothegre)

·         Black Kite (Svartglente)

·         White-bellied Sea Eagle (Hvitbukhavørn)

·         Black-naped Tern (Svartnakketerne)

New species today: 7

Total number of species this far: 34

Pacific Reef Heron

Black-naped Tern

Beach at Inglis Island

Andaman Islands, Day 6, October 17th, 2011

Jungle Resort, Havelock Island

Since we were off fishing from mid-day today I did not start walking off into the jungle today.  But I still managed to get to see the regulars in the compound. It was nice being able to sit and watch the Asian Brown Flycatcher (Brunfluesnapper) catch insects on the wing like I am used to see its cousin the Spotted Flycatcher (Gråfluesnapper) do at home.

Village #7

The villages and beaches on this island are numbered, instead of named. This seems strange to me, but at least it makes it easy to say where you are. When we had just passed Village #7 on our way to Barefoot Scuba at Village #3, I became aware of a Stork-billed Kingfisher (Storkenebbisfugl) that was sat on one of the power lines. Just too bad that I did not have my camera with me, due to the fact that we were going into an open boat.

Barefoot scuba, Village #3

Barefoot Scuba looks much less tidy and nice than where we live at the Jungle Resort, but to just go through thereto get onto the sea it was OK. An Asian Fairy Bluebird (Blåalvefugl) and a Greater Racket-tailed Drongo (Dragedrongo) were the only two birds that I could manage to identify. We headed out to see in a traditional Dhungi-boat, which is basically a long and narrow boat, with something looking like a car-engine from the fifties sat in the back. The exhaust comes through a pipe over the railing, and the sound is tremendous. But we survived with our hearing more or less intact, but we were soaked due to the poor ability of the boat to keep the waves outside. And what fishing goes I managed to catch a 20 kg Giant Trevally and a 2 kg Grouper. I had hoped to see some sea-birds on the trip, but the air at sea was as lifeless as anything you can imagine. That is definitely not what I am used to.

Species list of the day

Jungle Resort

·         Emerald Dove (Smaragddue)

·         Asian Fairy Bluebird (Blåalvefugl)

·         Black-naped Oriole (Svartnakkepirol)

·         Scarlet Minivet (Skarlagenmønjefugl)

·         Black-headed Bulbul (Svarthodebylbyl)

·         Red-whiskered Bulbul (Rødørebylbyl)

·         Asian Brown Flycatcher (Brunfluesnapper)

·         Oriental Magpie Robin (Orientskjæreskvett)

·         Forest Wagtail (Skogerle)

Village #7

·         Stork-billed Kingfisher (Storkenebbisfugl)

Barefoot Scuba

·         Asian Fairy Bluebird (Blåalvefugl)

·         Great Racket-tailed Drongo (Dragedrongo)

New species today: 1

Total number of species this far: 27

Andaman Islands, Day 5, October 16th, 2011

Jungle Resort, Havelock Island

The way that I most often like to do birdwatching is to just sit in one spot and let the birds come to me at their own pace. So today I spent most of the day sat in the reception-house, looking out at the surrounding trees and just enjoying the color-display that was outside. The orioles and the bluebirds are of course some of the most richly colored birds around, but they both got put into the shade when a flock of Scarlet Minivets (Skarlagenmønjefugl) came flying by, and decided to land in the fruiting tree just in front of me. The bright red color of the males is just breath-taking, and can`t really be appreciated from a photo. The females are not bad either, where they have replaced the red colors from the males with a beautiful lemon-yellow. Other than two Pied Trillers (Parktrillefugl) that were feeding in the top of some palms, and a pair of Chestnut-headed Bee-eaters (Bengalbieter) that were picking giant bees from the air, the birds that I got to see today were the same as I have seen before. But the bee-hive that the Bee-eaters were feeding of was quite a sight though. When the bees themselves are between two and three centimeters long, and the entire hive, the size of a 10-liter bucket is covered with bees, it is a truly impressive sight!

Species list of the day

Jungle Resort

·         Emerald Dove (Smaragddue)

·         Andaman Scops Owl (Andamanugle)

·         Chestnut-headed Bee-eater (Bengalbieter)

·         Asian Fairy Bluebird (Blåalvefugl)

·         Black-naped Oriole (Svartnakkepirol)

·         Great Racket-tailed Drongo (Dragedrongo)

·         Pied Triller (Parktrillefugl)

·         Scarlet Minivet (Scarlagenmønjefugl)

·         Red-whiskered Bulbul (Rødørebylbyl)

·         Black-headed Bulbul (Svarthodebylbyl)

·         Asian Brown Flycatcher (Brunfluesnapper)

·         Oriental Magpie Robin (Orientskjæreskvett)

·         Forest Wagtail (Skogerle)

·         Plain Flowerpecker (Olivenblomsterfugl)

New species today: 3

Total number of species this far: 26

Chestnut-headed Bee-eater

Asian Fairy Bluebird, male

Asian Fairy Bluebird, male

Asian Fairy Bluebird, female

Asian Fairy Bluebird, female

Greater Racket-tailed Drongo

Greater Racket-tailed Drongo

Plain Flowerpecker

Scarlet Minivet, female to the left and male to the right

Emerald Dove

Black-headed Bulbul, ssp. fuscoflavescens, endemic ot the Andaman Islands

Black-naped Oriole

Black-naped Oriole, male (left) and female (right)

Black-naped Oriole

Bee-hive with HUGE bees!