With my Grandma’s significant 70 milestone this year, the whole family headed over to Fiji, where she grew up, for a reunion. I was grateful at the privilege to be going to such a great place to get a spot of birding done.
Within a few seconds of the plane’s wheels touching the tarmac, a nicely breeding plumaged Pacific Golden Plover was seen on the grass. The drive through Nadi to Denaru reminded us of the devastating floods the week before – furniture strewn everywhere to dry out, huge puddles, broken bridges. Denaru was quite empty (like our flight in), as many people had cancelled their trips. Luckily, the things we were doing had remained unaltered, and life seemed to be progressing almost as normal.
At Denaru Port, I quickly got onto a mixed flock of Fiji Parrotfinches and Red Avadavats. After an early dinner, the port car-park yielded two Polynesian Trillers (the only ones for the whole trip surprisingly), Pacific Swallows, and a pair a Fiji Woodswallows.
The next morning, the Yasawa Flyer was to take us out to Octopus Resort on Waya Island, where we would spend the next three days. On top of a yacht mast in the marina, a bird of prey took off. To my surprise, it was a Peregrine Falcon, a very rare bird in Fiji, the field guide says there are only 40!
I spent the next 3 hours looking for seabirds, with Black Noddies, Black-naped Terns, Lesser Frigatebirds (40 of them! Not normally in the Yasawa Islands, probably blown in by the previous week’s bad weather), Brown Boobies, and some frustratingly bad views of what were probably Bridled Terns.
This wasn't taken on the boat, but when I was on Waya. What a sight it was!
The next 4 days were at Octopus Resort. In between snorkelling and relaxing, I managed Sulphur-breasted Myzomela, Collared Kingfisher, Vanikoro Flycatcher, as well as the ever-present Red-vented Bulbuls, Silvereyes and White-rumped Swiftlets.
Male Vanikoro Flycatcher
Sulphur-breasted Myzomela
On the third day, my dad and I joined a hike up to one of the mountains in the centre of the island. Now, the field guide says there are Golden Doves on Waya, but I didn’t find any evidence of them… Anyhow, the hike was extremely tiring, lots of it a hard slog, but the end was worth it. Panoramic views of the Pacific Ocean, dotted with various islands, and to top it off, a couple of Fiji Woodswallows hawking around at eye level against a backdrop of coral reefs! The places the birdwatching brings you are just amazing!
Fijian Green Tree Skink
A very cool moth (now known to be Theretra pinastrina)
From the top of Waya
Fiji Woodswallows in paradise
Two days later, after a boat trip back to Viti Levu and a late night taxi ride, I found myself waking up on the Coral Coast, at Korotogo near Sigatoka. Within the next 3 days, most of the family arrived and we had a wonderful time.
But that’s enough of that. The birds.
By far the standout of our accommodation at Tubaluka was the flowering tree 20 metres from our cabin. Collared Lory galore! What beautiful parrots they are. A large flock of Fiji Parrotfinches frequented the grass, and I saw them regularly.
Collared Lory
The flowering tree
Fiji Parrotfinch
On the second day, I went to check out the nearby Kula Eco Park, Fiji’s only wildlife park. As well as having some impressive native fauna and flora on display, it does some impressive conservation work (only here and at Taronga Zoo can you see Fijian Crested Iguanas being bred up for release), and with the cages and walkways set up in a nice rainforest, there are also some nice birds about. After a bit of searching, I located a small feeding flock, consisting of three Fiji Bush Warblers and a single Slaty Monarch. My grandma, being the kind and loving person that she is, introduced me to the manager, and so we arranged an early morning trip for me to look for Golden Doves in the park’s forest.
Take my word for it, it's a Fiji Bush Warbler
The next morning at 6:30, I met Pradeep, a great guy who has been working at the park for 9 years. He collects food from the rainforest, and regularly sees the resident Golden Doves there. 2 hours later, after a lot of slogging through rainforest, trekking up muddy banks and splashing through creeks, we had nothing to show for our efforts (and I literally mean not one bird was seen, of any species). Then, we found ourselves back at the gate (I had to leave for a family outing in 30 minutes), so I was ready to admit defeat, when Pradeep thought we should check out some bushes near the fence line behind the chook house, where he said the doves often feed. Sure enough, we had just turned our heads to look in that direction when a beautiful female Golden Dove flew up onto a branch. We crept round and had a look at the bird from less than two metres away at eye level as it fed on some small berries. Also feeding in these bushes was a flock of 7 White-throated/Metallic Pigeons (one sat very nicely in the sun), and it took me a while to figure out what a Reba was (apparently there was one sitting in the tree above us, and I eventually spotted the young Fiji Goshawk perched there). Sod’s law at its finest!
The family outing to Suva followed, and after a day of driving along the coral coast and being shown where grandma grew up, we headed for a very quick trip to Colo-I-Suva Forest Park (pronounced tholo-ee-suva). Now, we had originally been going to stay here for one night, but the warnings of rape and muggings on the internet had put us off. Let me tell anyone reading this, that there is nothing wrong with the park. We talked to the manager of Raintree Lodge, and he said that it happened once 15 years ago and they can’t get rid of it from the internet. Moral of the story – make sure you spend one night at Colo-I-Suva, not one hour at noon!
That said, I stilled managed some great birds – Masked Shining Parrots flew past, a pair of Pacific Robins sat quietly, a pair of Azure-crested Flycatchers flitted about, and the ever-present hoot of Barking Pigeons eventually allowed me to see a few birds well (after a fair bit of stress!), and a female Fiji Whistler regarded me quizzically. I heard a few more species, including a male Golden Dove and a few Giant Honeyeaters, but time was short and I had to be satisfied with what I had.
Blurry Male Pacific Robin
The next few days were taken up by games, food, snorkelling, and relaxation. Also I got the dreaded travel bug… ;D
In summary, 22 lifers, of which 10 were endemic to Fiji. The whole Pacific Ocean is an amazing place in itself, and the birds it contains are just beautiful. I have made it my resolve to see that male Golden Dove one day, so I will be back (hopefully seeing everything else while I’m at it)!!!
Holy Grail: The male Golden Dove eluded me in the wild... for now
