Extreme Birding 1 – Planking In Nimbokrang

As I mentioned in the post about getting to Nimbokrang, Pak Jamil is the must-have birding guide in Nimbokrang. A prime example of the success of eco-tourism, Jamil was formerly a bird trapper who discovered it was much more rewarding to keep the birds in the wild and help tourists see them. He is a marvel, can identify birds that are barely tiny dots in the sky and knows all bird calls and can name them in English. You can contact him by text message at +62-852-5433-2796. Keep it simple, give him the dates first and ask if he can accommodate you in his spare room. He speaks English reasonably well. As of March 2013, he charges 500,000 per day for guiding and worth every rupiah!

There are a few other fees to land-owners and the police so budget an extra $50-60 of rupiah. If you need a motorbike to get to a birding location it’s an extra 100,000 rupiah ($10).

PLANKING NIMBOKRANG STYLE

We arrived in the early afternoon and after a siesta, Jamil took us to the swamp forest outside the village of Nimbokrang. He wore gumboots and loaned me a pair of boots left behind by a friend as my walking shoes were inadequate for the swampy conditions. Have a look at the trail!

Planking in Nimbokrang Swamp Forest

Planking in Nimbokrang Swamp Forest

My husband struggles with the slippery planks and takes off his shoes – big mistake!

Jamil strolls through the swamp with the same ease that I stroll though a shopping mall!

I sit on this tree stump trying to capture birds with my camera

Catch up, Ina!

We saw some really amazing birds and Jamil gave me the list once we got back to the house. Sorry, I am just not agile enough to nail them with that tiny red dot when they fly so fast! I did try and will post a few pics but there won’t be any Nat Geo quality shots. We visited the swamp forest twice – in the afternoon on the first day and the early morning on the second day to see the two endemic Birds of Paradise. I had a problem with my camera after it fell in the mud and I somehow discharged the battery while cleaning it and missed out on getting a good shot of the Twelve-Wired Bird of Paradise who was perched atop a tree for several minutes. The Lesser Bird of Paradise was more elusive, darting around trees and calling enticingly so we knew he was there but not coming out for a good view.

We saw lots of parrots here but the few pics I took were backlit and I can’t make out the colours well enough to identify them. Jamil was pointing them out – Brown Lories, Dusky Lories, Black-capped Lories, Red-fronted Lorikeets, Red-flanked Lorikeets and Eclectus Parrots. Non-parrot birds include: Orange-bellied Fruit Dove, Black-browed Triller, Streak-headed Munia, Singing Starling, Green-backed Honey-eater, Brahminy Kite, Fawn-breasted Bowerbird, Lesser Black Coucal, Rainbow Bee-eater, Blue-tailed Bee-eater, Dollarbird, Helmeted Friarbird, Red-capped Flowerpecker, Yellow-faced Myna, Willy Wagtail, Spangled Drongo, Golden-headed Cisticola and Brown Cuckoo Dove.