Finding Needle In A Haystack (Part 1)

2 years already since the last time I birded at Jakarta Bay. After a very long wait, my chance came when some friends from Bandung texted me and asked if it’s possible for me to go birding on the weekend. In total there were five of us. We chose to go to Jakarta Bay for the seabirds but our main targets are the two rare winter visitor, Great Frigatebird and Aleutian Tern. The weather was great, and the sea was totally calm which is good for us although one of our friend can’t hold the sea sick because she was too excited. Hehehe. The first bird we saw is the Lesser Crested Tern followed with a group of three Common Terns. They were perched on a pole. 

Lesser Crested Tern.

Non-breeding Plumage Common Tern

Another Common Tern.

Common Tern in flight.

Ten minutes after that, we got more birds including a mixed flock of Lesser Crested and Common Tern that followed the trawling boat, Lesser, and Christmas Island Frigatebirds, Little Black Cormorant, and also Great Crested Tern. But, no sight of any Great Frigatebird.

A flock of Terns with the Trawling Boat.

Lesser Crested, and Common Terns Flock.

Common Tern in flight.

Lesser Crested Tern in flight.

Little Black Cormorant in flight.

2nd Year Christmas Island Frigatebird.

Female Christmas Island Frigatebird.

A single Great Crested Tern.

A couple of Lesser Crested Terns.

Male Christmas Island Frigatebird in flight.

Female Lesser Frigatebird.

It was like finding needle in a haystack to find our target. We finally found the Great Frigatebird after one hour wandered on the bay, and carefully checked every Frigatebirds we saw. It’s easily overlooked when they perched among their two more common cousins. At the end we only saw one adult male Frigatebird. Thanks to my brother’s eagle eye, if we go without him we might easily missed it.

Comparison between Male Christmas Island (Left), and Great Frigatebirds (Right)

A lonely Great Frigatebird. 

Male Great Frigatebird (Center) with Christmas Island Frigatebirds.

In the afternoon, we went to Muara Angke Nature Reserve but before that we made a stop at Warung Leko (it served one of the best ox ribs in Jakarta) for lunch. Our main target is the rare and critically endangered Black-winged Starling, and the Javan Coucal. Muara Angke Nature Reserve is their last stronghold in Jakarta. We spent around two hours waiting for the Coucal waiting on open space from the road side, unfortunately they didn’t show up. Inside the reserve, we managed to see some more birds like Black-winged Starling, Black-backed Swamphen, Bar-winged Prinia, Sunda Woodpecker, Oriental Darter, and also the uncommon species like Racket-tailed Treepie. Before we ended our activity, we got few more species including White-browed Crake, Ruddy-breasted Crake, Chestnut-winged Cuckoo (Rare in Jakarta but regular winter visitor to the reserve) and also the Javan Coucal (in a very distance).

A single Racket-tailed Treepie.

Sunda Woodpecker.

White-breasted Waterhen with a limping foot.

An Oriental Darter.

Swimming Water Monitor.

A couple of Black-backed Swamphen.

Preening Bar-winged Prinia.

Mr. Fachry with his big gun.

A record shot of Chestnut-winged Cuckoo.

Flying bomber, the Juvenile Lesser Frigatebird.

Revenge Birding!!!

After I wasn't satisfied with my visit to Monas, I decided to make another birding trip on the next day. Not to Monas but to Ragunan Zoo that located at South Jakarta. At this time, I tried something different. I installed my Go Pro camera on my lens tripod collar because I’m thinking to make a bird photography footage. The first species I saw was the White-breasted Waterhen, I took some pictures of it as a warm up. Not long after that, I saw a flock of Pink-necked Green Pigeon.

A headless Waterhen. :P

Posing for me. Hehehe

Female Japanese Sparrowhawk

One of the Pink-necked Green Pigeon

After done with the Pigeons, I saw a lonely Juvenile Female Japanese Sparrowhawk. She was on her way to the wintering zone somewhere in Indonesia. Not long after that, an adult and juvenile Velvet-fronted Nuthatch gave me a superb view as they creep from tree to tree for small insects. Lucky for me, the tree isn’t really tall so they’re always on my reach.

Nuthatch Juvie from above.

Looking for insects.

Are you taking a picture of me?

Typical Nuthatch pose.

Nuthatch Juvie side pose.

A photogenic Spotted Dove.

Deeper inside, I found another Velvet-fronted Nuthatch. There were not just one bird but five birds. Although I wasn't able to take all of them, at least one of the Nuthatch stayed close enough to me. Then, I heard a Cockatoo calling not too far from my position that attract me because I want to take pictures of any less-common species that I found. Three different species of Cockatoos were found. The time shown 08.30AM when I'm finished with my Cockatoos.

Upside Down Pose.

Hybrid Cockatoo?

One more pose before flying away.

Same group with additional hybrid Cockatoo.

A group of Tanimbar Corella

As the time became less and less, I decided to end my visit to Ragunan Zoo at around the crocodile pen for Blue-eared Kingfisher. It doesn’t take a long time for me to find the Kingfisher because they’re always there. It’s high-pitched note “trreee-tee” or its appearance like a mini rocket with orange and blue color will help you to find them. And also I saw a three-foot-long Monitor Lizard nearby.

Looking for something to eat.

With tongue out.

Close up.

A Female Blue-eared Kingfisher.

To show how long it is. :)

Not far from the crocodile pen, there was a dry pond that usually always full of water. It attracts several Monitor Lizards, and Pond Herons. I thought I might find something else so I decided to wait. Bingo!!! A pair of Javan Kingfisher were attracted by the puddle in the middle of the dried pond. I stalked them slowly as they’re very sensitive with human. Inch by inch, step by step I moved closer, then one of them flew away. I thought it was because of me, but seems like its own choice because the other stayed. I observed them for almost one hour because it was a rare moment that Javan Kingfisher allows human to get close to them. I decided to leave when a "love bird" flushed it away.

A Monitor Lizard with Plastic Bag.

A couple of Javan Myna.

Looking for other fishy.

Finally with a fish.

The friendly individual.

The individual that flew away.

With its nictitating membrane.

In the end, the trip was well beyond my expectation because I never thought that I got some pictures of the uncommon species like Velvet-fronted Nuthatch (They're usually stay high in the canopy), and Javan Kingfisher (They're way too skittish) easily. Even, the common species that I thought will be easy to find like Grey-cheeked Green Pigeon, I don’t see any of them. Another common species like Red-breasted Parakeet, they also keep their distance from my lens. One more thing, I just find out that the Javan Kingfisher is my #64th birds on my Big Year List.

One of the myna feeding on Gecko.

A juvie male Scarlet-headed Flowerpecker.

Another Blue-eared Kingfisher.