Resort Birding

Most of the bird species around the resort in Mauritius were introduced and of standard holiday fare - common myna were very abundant and noisy, while the bold red-whiskered bulbul (right) came a close second.

A small stream near the resort entrance was checked a couple of times per day and produced most species, including village weaver, common waxbill, nutmeg mannikin, madagascar fody, spotted dove, zebra dove, madagascar turtle dove, yellow-eyed (also known as yellow fronted) canary and the familiar house sparrow.

Of more interest was the native species. In the resort this comprised of the most common endemic - Mauritius grey white-eye - an odd white-eye without a white eye / eye ring! Very tricky to photograph (see below), they had a knack of staying just within the foliage, obscuring a clear view! This species would often be found in small parties, typically 2 - 4 birds, and were generally very active.

Mascarene martin (below) were present, and appeared to be nesting at the hotel next door. I spent a morning waded out into a tidal channel trying to get some decent shots, but this species beat me! This species reminded me a little of purple martin...

Also available were the occasional striated heron (often feeding on the stream, most commonly on the shore-line), and an occasional fly-over white-tailed tropicbird.

Above - Yellow Eyed (Fronted) Canary

Below - Village Weaver

Late afternoons were spent checking out the sea ~ walks up and down the coast produce small numbers of whimbrel, while offshore there were good numbers of common noddy and a single sooty tern was logged.

Above - Common Waxbill

Mauritius is a fantastic place... it's certainly not a place to visit for high numbers of bird species, but in terms of endemics it has some real treats and this visit may have given me my only ever chance to see pink pigeon, echo parakeet, Mauritius olive white-eye... Combined with stunning scenary, the best fish I've every tasted (and Rhum I've drank!) and very friendly locals it comes highly recommended as a holiday destination.

Black River Echo

Our base in Mauritius was in the Bel Ombre area, located in the south-west of the island and close to the last native forested areas of Black River Gorges National Park.

The park extends over 6,754 hectares, covering about 2% of the island’s area and holds 9 species of birds, which are found only in Mauritius. So that was enough incentive to explore the area!

Armed with some of Charlie Moores trip details from a few years back we headed to the Le Petrin visitor centre and took an easy walk along the Macchabee forest ridge. Many of the introduced bird species were seen frequently along the trail including red-whiskered bulbul and rose-ringed parakeet. It was however another parakeet species that was of more interest...

It was a really hot day but the views enabled us to forget the sweat dripping...! The gorge was exceptionally deep and their were some wonderful views of waterfalls.

Above - failing miserably to photograph Mascarene Swiftlet...

In the gorge white-tailed tropicbird dominated and were a pleasure to watch, their tails were amazing!

Nearing the Macchabee viewpoint were finally heard the deep croaking call of one of our target species, and a few seconds later a pair of the endangered endemic Mauritius echo parakeet flew past. Phew! The male bird is essentially similar to rose-ringed, with the deeper call being the most reliable distinguishing feature, while female birds have a conveniently all dark bill - see the record shots in this post.

Above - male Echo Parakeet

Below - Female Echo Parakeet

While we did not manage to see any Mauritius kestrel, a single Mauritius bulbul was seen (near the Black River Gorges Viewpoint), so it was a relatively successful visit... certainly recommended for the views alone.

Birding Honolulu

....Airport. We had a relatively short lay over in Honolulu on the island of O'ahu, made much more tolerable due to the presence of a rather nice garden area within the terminal. In the time between disembarking our picturesque Hawaiian Airlines flight (great views of the other islands!) and giving in to one more Kona Brewary beer and steak I managed another three species for the holiday list:

Red-crested cardinal - similar to the yellow-billed seen on the Big Island, a few of these birds were feeding on the lawn area. This species was introduced in 1930 from South America.

Two bulbul species were seen - red-vented and red-whiskered. Of the two species, red-vented appeared more dominant in the pecking order and was observed chasing the red-whiskered on several occasions. RVB was introduced from Asia in the mid 1950's while RWB was introduced around 1965.

In addition to the new species there were a couple of spotted dove, zebra dove, Japanese white-eye, house sparrow, java sparrow and common myna.