Late Rota report
Over Thanksgiving ironpaw and I were on Rota - which is a tiny island about 15 minutes flight to the north of Guam.
I'll direct you over to his post for cool PHOTOS: http://ironpaw.livejournal.com/326453.html
Rota is special because it is home to some extremely endangered birds, including the Critically Endangered Mariana Crow and one of the few places to see the released Guam Rail.
We arrived on Tuesday morning, got our rental car and drove around the island a bit, seeing most of the regular birds of Rota along the way. We drove around the south side of the island (the road is bumpy but drivable) and made it to the Bird Sanctuary on the eastern side of the island, where there is a seabird colony. Plenty of Red-footed Boobies, a few Brown Boobies, Red-tailed Tropicbirds and White-tailed Tropicbirds. Did not see any Noddies or Frigatebirds at this time (possibly the wrong season for them?). We also saw a Mariana Fruit Bat fly over the colony. We saw bats again in the evening, too.
Our second morning we got up before dawn and went out to search for the Guam rail. We had intel which suggested looking near the Bird Sanctuary, so we staked it out until sunrise. Did not see or hear any rails there, so we drove up to the north-east part of the island to another spot we heard of in a more detailed report. Sure enough, we found the rails in the same spot at the same time of day as mentioned in the report we read!
After our initial sighting we tarried around the area a bit longer to see if it would appear again for more photographs, but it stayed hidden in the fields so we went to look for the Mariana Crow.
We found the crow at the Alaguan overlook which was said to be a reliable site. The crows were flying around when we arrived, but they soon settled down into the trees. It was getting warm so we went back to town.
We tried looking for the Bridled White-eyes that afternoon/evening and early the following morning but didn't have any luck. I guess they just weren't in the few spots we were able to search.
We spent Thanksgiving day lying on the beach, mostly. It was a really pleasant trip with some great bird sightings!
Bird list:
Black Drongo (Dicrurus macrocercus)
Micronesian Starling (Aplonis opaca)
Tree Sparrow (Passer montanus)
Micronesian Myzomela (Myzomela rubratra)
Mariana Fruit Dove (Ptilinopus roseicapilla)
White Tern (Gygis alba)
Rota Collared Kingfisher (Todiramphus chloris orii)
Island Collared Dove (Streptopelia bitorquata)
Yellow Bittern (Ixobrychus sinensis)
Pacific Golden Plover (Pluvialis fulva)
Rufous Fantail (Rhipidura rufifrons mariae)
Red-Footed Booby (Sula sula rubripes)
Brown Booby (Sula leucogaster plotus)
Red-tailed Tropicbird (Phaethon rubricauda)
White-tailed Tropicbird (Phaethon lepturus dorotheae)
White-throated Ground Dove (Gallicolumba xanthonura)
Pacific Reef Heron (Egretta sacra)
Guam Rail (Gallirallus owstoni)
Mariana Crow (Corvus kubaryi
Whimbrel (Numenius phaeopus)
Mammal list:
Mariana Fruit Bat (Pteropus mariannus)
Again, please go here for photos: ironpaw.livejournal.com/326453.html
I'll direct you over to his post for cool PHOTOS: http://ironpaw.livejournal.com/326453.html
Rota is special because it is home to some extremely endangered birds, including the Critically Endangered Mariana Crow and one of the few places to see the released Guam Rail.
We arrived on Tuesday morning, got our rental car and drove around the island a bit, seeing most of the regular birds of Rota along the way. We drove around the south side of the island (the road is bumpy but drivable) and made it to the Bird Sanctuary on the eastern side of the island, where there is a seabird colony. Plenty of Red-footed Boobies, a few Brown Boobies, Red-tailed Tropicbirds and White-tailed Tropicbirds. Did not see any Noddies or Frigatebirds at this time (possibly the wrong season for them?). We also saw a Mariana Fruit Bat fly over the colony. We saw bats again in the evening, too.
Our second morning we got up before dawn and went out to search for the Guam rail. We had intel which suggested looking near the Bird Sanctuary, so we staked it out until sunrise. Did not see or hear any rails there, so we drove up to the north-east part of the island to another spot we heard of in a more detailed report. Sure enough, we found the rails in the same spot at the same time of day as mentioned in the report we read!
After our initial sighting we tarried around the area a bit longer to see if it would appear again for more photographs, but it stayed hidden in the fields so we went to look for the Mariana Crow.
We found the crow at the Alaguan overlook which was said to be a reliable site. The crows were flying around when we arrived, but they soon settled down into the trees. It was getting warm so we went back to town.
We tried looking for the Bridled White-eyes that afternoon/evening and early the following morning but didn't have any luck. I guess they just weren't in the few spots we were able to search.
We spent Thanksgiving day lying on the beach, mostly. It was a really pleasant trip with some great bird sightings!
Bird list:
Black Drongo (Dicrurus macrocercus)
Micronesian Starling (Aplonis opaca)
Tree Sparrow (Passer montanus)
Micronesian Myzomela (Myzomela rubratra)
Mariana Fruit Dove (Ptilinopus roseicapilla)
White Tern (Gygis alba)
Rota Collared Kingfisher (Todiramphus chloris orii)
Island Collared Dove (Streptopelia bitorquata)
Yellow Bittern (Ixobrychus sinensis)
Pacific Golden Plover (Pluvialis fulva)
Rufous Fantail (Rhipidura rufifrons mariae)
Red-Footed Booby (Sula sula rubripes)
Brown Booby (Sula leucogaster plotus)
Red-tailed Tropicbird (Phaethon rubricauda)
White-tailed Tropicbird (Phaethon lepturus dorotheae)
White-throated Ground Dove (Gallicolumba xanthonura)
Pacific Reef Heron (Egretta sacra)
Guam Rail (Gallirallus owstoni)
Mariana Crow (Corvus kubaryi
Whimbrel (Numenius phaeopus)
Mammal list:
Mariana Fruit Bat (Pteropus mariannus)
Again, please go here for photos: ironpaw.livejournal.com/326453.html