Saturday 25 October – amazing viewing of the Bird of Paradise courtship dance

We were up at 4:30am and in the Car with Marlin our bird guide by 5am. It was about a twenty minute drive followed by a very sweaty, muddy steep climb into the jungle for a couple of kilometres. It started in pitch dark which was pretty hard going and finally the morning sunlight came through. We had a wonderful time listening to a Papuan Frogmouth on our way up to the hide, sadly we never saw it but he responded beautifully to our guides call. We had not realised we were coming to a hide and obviously it has to be booked as it only 8 slots, 4 people on two different levels. Rowan and I were on the top level with two Chinese photographers with enormous cameras. As the light increased the Red Birds of Paradise appeared and did their amazing courting ritual, conveniently mostly on a dead tree so they were easy to spot. So incredible that every morning they appear and do the same routine. It started with the males doing their dances, often one at a time, after about an hour two ladies appeared and there was a riot of action as the men showed off and the lucky men were chosen! It is best to have a look at the video which you will have to log onto the website to view, as the still shots do not do justice to the display. The control of the two long skinny tail feathers that finally flop over when he is completely upside down is extraordinary. It was an amazing thing to watch, only marred by the clicking of the Chinese cameras next to us. We also had swarms of mozzies, luckily we had covered ourselves in repellent. After about an hour and a half we made our way down to the owner’s little house near the road where we were given a hot drink and Pisang Goreng (bananas in batter ) that were delicious. In the garden of this birdwatching house we saw the spectacular Palm Cockatoo. Sitting in a bush nearby was a Beautiful Fruit-Dove, which lived up to its name, it was truly beautiful, very plump and colourful. It was a very successful trip we will do another tour with Marlin when we are back in town, to see the Wilson’s Bird of Paradise that does its courtship dance on the ground in the late afternoon. Marlin identified the birdsong we have been so enjoying as a Raja Amat Pitohui.

We released our ropes at the marina and were off by 11am. We went across the water to an island that has great snorkelling. It is so deep you can’t anchor there are only use the two buoys. Claudette is on the one which is free at a Homestay, ours we have to pay for and belongs to a resort nearby. Thank goodness we are on a buoy as the current was rips through, there were whirlpools all the way across from Waisai. Never seen anything quite so dramatic with the water creating weird calm patches and then little choppy waves. We were successfully on the ball so went for a long snorkel just drifting with the current. It was spectacular, the best coral and fish life since we started sailing. Just an abundance of everything and loads of big fish. Rather scarily, we also saw the biggest sharks, they kept their distance in the deeper water. We saw turtles and one in a cleaning station being attended to by little fish, he didn’t budge but watched us glide over him. Definitely saw more fish we have not seen before. It was a really long snorkel and really spectacular. What a first day for Alex, seeing the birds and then amazing snorkelling.

We invited Claudette for supper, She was very pleased to see us, and didn’t stop talking, besides going into the home stay she has not been in contact with anyone! She was very happy as she has got a plan together and has managed to get some man to come and visit her from the States with her new Shroud. Alex made us a delicious Indonesian meal, tempeh and aubergine in a peanut sauce with stir fried vegetables from the market. It poured with rain all evening, thank goodness Claudette had not paddle boarded as the tide is too strong.