Sunday 16 August 2026 (continued). Our flight to Hoskins was on time, arriving soon after 5pm. We collected our bags, were met by the Walindi Resort minibus and were taken there, a 90 minute drive on some rough roads. Most of the journey was in the dark but first impressions of Walindi were very encouraging.
Monday 17 August 2026. Wenge and Kulu River.
We had an early breakfast as it was getting light and spent the morning with guide/driver Joseph and guide/spotter Crazy Dave. They came recommended and Nick had asked that we have one or the other to guide us when we booked. Luckily we were the only birders at Walindi and had both! We drove inland through Oil Palm plantations, some being cleared/replanted and looking like a WW1 battlefield. The road became a track and deteriorated further by the time we reached the forest edge at Wenge. Birding was excellent and I saw Melanesian Megapode, Violaceous Coucal heard, Channel-billed Cuckoo, Pied Cuckoo-Dove, Stephan's Emerald Dove, 30 Yellowish Imperial Pigeons, Buff-banded Rail, Moustached Treeswift, 50 Uniform Swiftlets, 3 Pacific Bazas, Variable Goshawk, 4 Brahminy Kites, Blyth's Hornbill heard, Oriental Dollarbird, a Common and 2 White-mantled Kingfishers, Black-capped Paradise-Kingfisher heard, Blue-eyed Cockatoo, 20 Papuan Eclectuses, a Coconut and 3 Red-flanked Lorikeets, 15 Purple-bellied Lorys, 2 Ashy and a male Black-bellied Myzomela, flight views of New Britain Friarbird, 2 Varied Trillers, 3 Northern Fantails, 6 Willie Wagtails, Spangled Drongo, female Velvet Flycatcher, male Bismark Monarch, 10 Bismark Crows, 6 Long-tailed Mynas, 10 Metallic Starlings and 2 Red-banded Flowerpeckers.
We returned for lunch and later visited the Kulu River which in some ways was even better with 4 Pacific Black Duck, another Melanesian Megapode, 4 King Quail, White-necked Coucal, 2 Black Bitterns, 4 Nankeen Night Herons, 30 Uniform Swiftlets, 2 Blyth's Hornbills, Black-capped Paradise-Kingfisher heard, 3 Blue-eyed Cockatoos, 20 Papuan Eclectuses, 3 Purple-bellied Lorys, Bismark Pitta, Northern Fantail, 2 Willie Wagtails, 10 Bismark Crows and 5 Buff-bellied Mannikins.
We stayed out until dark and came back past the Palm Oil plantations spotlighting where Golden Masked Owl had been seen hunting a couple of times the previous week. No luck today but we'd had an absolutely brilliant day, the best of the trip by far. My only real frustration was failing to get onto any of the several calling Black-capped Paradise-Kingfishers we encountered, I hadn't remembered others being that hard on previous trips but I was coming to realise it was probably me rather than them as Nick saw three. Photography rather took a back seat with so many birds to see although nothing close really presented itself.
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| forest at Wenge |
Tuesday 18 August 2026. Garu and Walindi.
We spent the morning in lowland and foothill rainforest in the Garu Wildlife Management Area seeing 30 Pacific Black Duck, 2 White-necked and a Violaceous Coucal, Channel-billed Cuckoo, 3 Amboyna Cuckoo-Doves, 30+ Stephan's Emerald Dove, 4 Red-knobbed and 2 Finsch's Imperial Pigeons, 2 Knob-billed Fruit Doves, Pink-legged Rail heard, 2 Black Bittern, 20 Uniform Swiftlets, 4 Pacific Bazas, Black Honey-Buzzard, 4 Brahminy Kites, 3 Blyth's Hornbills, Common Kingfisher, New Britain Dwarf Kingfisher, Black-capped Paradise-Kingfisher, Blue-eyed Cocatoo, 15 Papuan Eclectus, 12 Purple-bellied Lory, White-bellied Cuckooshrike, 3 Varied Trillers, 20 Willie Wagtails, 4 Bismark Crows, 4 Long-tailed Mynas, 15 Metallic Starlings, Black Sunbird and 25+ Buff-bellied Manakins.
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| Black-capped Paradise Kingfisher at Garu |
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| not the most co-operative species |
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| Knob-billed Fruit Dove at Garu |
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| Black Bittern at Garu |
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| Pacific Baza at Garu |
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| another Pacific Baza |
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| Finsch's Imperial Pigeon at Garu |
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| Blyth's Hornbill at Garu |
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| Black Honey-Buzzard at Garu |
We returned for lunch and spent the afternoon wandering around the Walindi Resort seeing Common Sandpiper, many Common and 2+ Crested Terns, 7 Lesser Frigatebirds, Black Bittern, a Common and 2 Sacred Kingfishers, 3 New Britain Friarbirds, 5 Willie Wagtails and 4 Bismark Crows. Our second outing was an unsuccessful night drive hoping for Golden Masked Owl. A Nankeen Night Heron flying along the edge of the Palm Oil plantation provided a brief moment of excitement but that was it.
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| distant volcanic peaks from Walindi |
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| Mud Skipper at Walindi |
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| Bismark Crow at Walindi |
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| nice eye |
Wednesday 19 August 2026. Kilu Ridge and a return to Kulu River.
New Britain had been going so well that it perhaps shouldn't have surprised us when we were informed by Air New Guinea that they had cancelled our return flight from Hoskings to Port Moresby on 21st. A morning flight the following day was offered but as we were flying home that afternoon we didn't want to risk it. Nick contacted his travel agent Sacha who had booked our flights and he found a PNG Air flight a couple of hours earlier than our cancelled one. We decided to book seats on it but held the changed Air New Guinea flight as insurance.
We had a later breakfast than previously as our morning's destination Kilu Ridge was a short drive through secondary forest rather than 30 minutes through Oil Palms. It was a bit of a hike up through open secondary forest, gardens and homesteads to the ridge which led through taller forest. Birds seen on Kilu Ridge were Sahul Brush Cuckoo, Pied and 2 Amboyna Cuckoo-Doves, Stephan's Emerald Dove, 4 Yellowish Imperial Pigeons, 5 Uniform Swiftlets, New Britain Boobook, Pacific Baza, 2 Variable Goshawks, Brahminy Kite, 5 Blyth's Hornbills, 10 Papuan Eclectuses, male Song Parrot, 8 Purple-bellied Lorys, 6 Coconut Lorikeets, Ashy Myzomela, 2 New Britain Friarbirds, 6 Willlie Wagtails, 8 Long-tailed Mynas, 2 Red-banded Flowerpeckers and 3 Black Sunbirds. Violaceous Coucal was heard.
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| Purple-bellied Lory along Kilu Ridge |
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| male Blyth's Hornbill along Kilu Ridge |
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| female Blyth's Hornbill along Kilu Ridge |
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| Red-knobbed Imperial Pigeon along Kilu Ridge |
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| Channel-billed Cuckoo along Kilu Ridge |
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| Pied Cuckoo Dove along Kilu Ridge |
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| Papuan Eclectus along Kilu Ridge |
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| Song Parrot along Kilu Ridge |
At Walindi Resort before and after lunch I saw 4 Common Sandpipers, Brown Noddy, 40 Crested and 150 Common Terns roosting on and as the tide came in fishing over the reef, 25 Lesser Frigatebirds, 2 Sacred Kingfishers, 4 Bismark Crows and 4 Pacific Swallows.
We revisited the Kulu River in a final chance to see Pink-legged Rail without success. Maybe the river was too low? As we scanned from the riverbank for rails an impressive number of hornbills and pigeons flew over heading to roost. I saw 7 Spotted Whistling Duck, 3 Pacific Black Duck, 2 Melanesian Megapodes, 5 King Quail, White-necked Coucal, 25 Nicobar Pigeons, 5 Red-knobbed, 30 Yellowish and a Black Imperial Pigeon, Little Pied Cormorant, 30 Uniform Swiftlets, 4 Brahminy Kites, 90 Blyth's Hornbills, 50 Rainbow Bee-eaters, Common Kingfisher, 4 Blue-eyed Cockatoos, 25 Papuan Eclectuses, 4 Purple-bellied Lorys, 6 Willie Wagtails, Spangled Drongo and 100+ Metallic Starlings. It was quite a spectacle. Another pass through the Palm Oil plantations after dusk failed to produce any owls although another Nankeen Night Heron caused a brief flutter.
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| Nicobar Pigeon going to roost at Kulu River |
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| Spotted Whisting Duck at Kulu River |
Thursday 20 August 2026. Back to Vege and Walindi.
Our final full morning was a return to Vege, the slightly higher elevation forest we had visited on our first morning. We left before dawn for a final drive by the Palm Oil plantations with the usual success. At Vege I heard White-necked and Violaceous Coucals and Black-capped Paradise Kingfisher and saw Sahul Brush Cuckoo, 2 Red-knobbed and 3 Yellowish Imperial Pigeons, Superb Fruit Dove, Buff-banded Rail, Little Pied Cormorant, Nankeen Night Heron, 2 Moustached Treeswifts, 30 Uniform Swiftlets, 2 Blyth's Hornbills, Oriental Dollarbird, 4 Blue-eyed Cockatoos, 20 Papuan Eclectuses, flight views of a Song Parrot, 4 Red-flanked and a brief Red-chinned Lorikeet, 8 Purple-bellied Lorys, 10 Coconut Lorikeets, 4 Black-bellied Myzomelas, 3 White-bellied Cuckooshrikes, Northern Fantail, male Velvet Flycatcher, Bismark Monarch, 4 Bismark Crows, 4 Long-tailed Mynas, 40 Metallic and a Singing Starling, Red-banded Flowerpecker and 8 Buff-bellied Mannikins. Again very enjoyable birding but poor for photos, and I didn't improve on my Black-capped Paradise Kingfisher views.
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| Taenaris phorcas Owl Butterfly at Vege |
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| Blue-eyed Cockatoo at Vege |
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| Papuan Eclectus at Vege |
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| Pacific Baza at Vege |
We had a free afternoon and could arrange another tour but the only one that appealed was the most expensive, a return to the Kulu River. Much cheaper would be another night circuit of the Palm Oil plantation but we felt driving round spotlighting as per previous evenings was likely to be unproductive without getting out and walking sections which didn't seem to be on offer. Mark Van Beirs with a group of Belgian friends had arrived at Walindi and was planning to go out that evening. Difficult decision but we almost felt obliged to do the same in case they were successful - it would be worse to not go and one be seen than go and fail again. However at lunch Joseph told me that Andrew, a relation Crazy Dave had asked to look out for roosting owls at a nearby village, had found one. Panic ensued as Nick had wandered back to the room giving Mark's group a head start. We arrived soon after them and followed Andrew into the patch of woodland. After a tense five minutes we arrived at the site but the bird flew before most of us had a view of it. Fortunately Crazy Dave relocated it a bit further into the wood and we had reasonable scope views of Golden Masked Owl. It was a bit distant and a bit obscured but still impressive. We returned to Walindi and spent the rest of the afternoon there. Other birds seen at Walindi were Common Sandpiper, 3 Crested and 4 Common Terns (the reef was covered by the tide when we looked), 7 Lesser Frigatebirds, Common Kingfisher, Pacific Baza, 2 Brahminy Kites, 3 New Britain Friarbirds and 3 Willie Wagtails.
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| Golden Masked Owl at Walindi |
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| impressive feet |
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| Walindi Resort |
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| New Britain Friarbird at Walindi |
Friday 21 August 2026. Our final couple of hours at Walindi produced 6 Whimbrel, 5 Grey-tailed Tatlers, 2 Common Terns, 2 Brahminy Kites, Common Kingfisher, Papuan Eclectus, New Britain Friarbird, Shining Flycatcher, 6 Bismark Crows, 2 Pacific Swallows and 6 Shining Starlings. I bought a carved wooden pig to take back to Megan to go with the two I'd brought back from my previous visits (she has a soft spot for pigs). We were driven to the airport and ouf flight to Port Moresby via Lae left on time (13:30) arriving at 16:30. We were staying at the Gateway Hotel, almost next door to the Airways, not quite so posh but a bit cheaper. It was a bit late to explore the grounds, sometihng for the morning as again with a midday checking in for our flight home we didn't want to miss it by visiting Varirata and being delayed returning. I saw Fawn-breasted Bowerbird and White-breasted Woodswallow from our room.
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| Pacific Swallow at Walindi |
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| Nick looking for Tattlers at Walindi |
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| Milionia moth at Walindi |
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| our PNG Air flight to Port Moresby |
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| dual language sign at Port Moresby airport, English and Pidgin |
Saturday 22 August 2026. A wander around the Gateweay grounds produced Peaceful Dove, 3 Torresian Imperial Pigeons, Rainbow Bee-eater, Fawn-breasted Bowerbird, Yellow-tinted Honeyeater, 4 White-breasted Woodswallows, 3 Willie Wagtails, Torresian Crow heard, Pacific Swallow and 10 Tree Sparrows. Our flights home via Singapore were on time with unforgetable entertainment though maybe I slept a lot.
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| starting the long journey home |
I have mixed feelings about the trip. Part of me wishes that Nick had never drawn my attention to the Birdquest tour or that I'd not relied to much on their brochure (propoganda?) when deciding to go. Tagging New Britain on, a joint decision but Nick did all the groundwork and arranged it very well rather salvaged the trip and we finished on a high. Will I go back to Huon? It very much feels unfinished buisness but I'd want more than three nights to cover for delays or bad weather. I can't see myself returning to Bouganville despite not seeing many of the nicer mostly higher elevation birds, some of which we were supposedly in range for. I certainly can't see my going to the Solomons either. I've definitely missed the boat on that one as it is far too tough physically with key birds that are far too hard for someone with poor eyesight and hearing to see.
