Slow Sulawesi

 

My adventure to Selayar with Angus was great fun, but as it was a visit to a rather small island with very little intact habitat left, the species list we saw ended up being rather low (and in large part composed of common birds that are found just about anywhere in Southeast Asia). Thankfully, we had another couple days of our trip left before I needed to leave for the Philippines, which we planned to spend birding around South Sulawesi. 

Sulawesi is an island I've wanted to visit since I was a kid paging through an atlas and immediately wondering about that strange, spider-shaped island in the middle of Indonesia. It's one of the largest islands in the world, and looks far more interesting than any other, being made up of four long, skinny peninsulas awkwardly joined up in the middle. Geologically, that's because it was actually several islands until fairly recently, when they collided to form the misshapen oddity that it is today. The remnants of that past are visible in the unusually tall mountains in the center of the island, broken up by irregular rift valleys and lakes. 

Seriously, what is this thing?

Sulawesi's wildlife is just about as weird as its shape. Unlike the other major islands of Indonesia it's never been connected to either Australia or Asia, which means that anything that's there is stuff that was able to fly, swim, or float over. Somewhat like the Philippines it's a weird assortment of Asian and Australian fauna, with woodpeckers, pigs and monkeys sharing habitat with honeyeaters, cockatoos, and possums. A huge proportion of that is found nowhere else- in fact, it has the most species of endemic bird of any island in the world. That includes a selection of incredibly weird, wacky and unique species with intriguing names like Maleo, Malia, Geomalia, Hylocitrea, and of course the famous Babirusa. It's also home to a suite of truly incredibly kingfishers, mynas, and primates. Overall, it's a must-visit for birders and wildlife enthusiasts. 

Most birders stick to northern and central Sulawesi when they visit, as these are the areas with the most accessible intact habitat and where most of the endemics can be found. That's a shame, as the whole island is still thickly forested, and the southeastern and eastern peninsulas could benefit from more wildlife tourism and research. South Sulawesi, home to the island's largest city of Makassar, is sadly the least forested part of the island, having been home to powerful kingdoms and a dense population for centuries. A bit of habitat still remains, however, especially in the mountain areas. 

It's in that habitat that South Sulawesi's endemic species can be found. There's surprisingly a good number of them, perhaps because the mountains are separated from the rest of the island by a wide valley. That includes Black-ringed White-eye, Lompobattang Flycatcher, Lompobattang Leaf Warbler, Piping Crow, and Pale-bellied Myna. The white-eye and leaf-warbler are easy, the crow and the flycatcher take a fair bit more work, and the myna is nearly impossible (some bird guides apparently know a spot for it, but they're not going to share that info with those of us who can't spend $7,000 on a birding tour). There are also distinctive subspecies of Green-backed Kingfisher, Red-eared Fruit Dove, and Hylocitrea that may or may not be considered their own species at some point.

With two days in South Sulawesi, we sort of had to resign ourselves to the fact we weren't going to be able to find all of those. Still, we wanted to give it our best try. We decided to visit two of the best-known birding spots in the province: Mount Lompobattang and the Karaenta Forest. I was able to find a guide for the second one only, so for the most part we were on our own to explore the area in a rental car. We arrived in Makassar the evening of September 23, just in time to pick up a rental car, and we departed at 4AM the next morning for our first destination.

Makassar is the biggest city in Sulawesi, and indeed in all of eastern Indonesia. Many medieval kingdoms were based in the area, and it's long been a center of trade- somewhat of a gateway to the east. Makassans were famed merchants and navigators, and even reached Australia a century before Europeans did. These days people from Sulawesi have a reputation for being rather hot-headed. I'm not sure if that's true but I can say that people in Makassar are some of the most aggressive drivers I've seen anywhere in Asia. We found this out the hard way our first morning, when someone casually slammed into the side of our car while changing lanes, driving off before we even had a chance to react. Thankfully it was only a mild sideswipe, and we were able to buff out the scratches with a bit of elbow grease before returning the car. 

Our destination for the first morning was Mount Lompobattang, the enormous extinct volcano looming over Makassar to the east. It was a two-hour drive to get there, first through rice fields then up increasingly twisty mountain roads. The roads reach surprisingly high elevations, and we were already at 1,500 meters above sea level by the time we parked the car on a bumpy mountain road in the middle of vegetable fields. I had gotten some pins for our target birds from an eBird checklist but had little other information, so we just drove to the road nearest the GPS pins and started walking. What could go wrong?

Dawn on the slopes of Lompobattang

We started walking along a dirt path through vegetable fields, aiming in the general direction of the patch of forest where the birds had been seen. Unfortunately, there proved to be a river between us and where we wanted to go, and no clear way to get up the slope. We eventually found ourselves in a little wooded valley that held the first good birds of the morning. The first bird I got my bins on was, in fact, a little Lompobattang Leaf Warbler, one of our primary targets. That proved to be part of a mixed flock of small birds, including Streak-headed White-eyes, Dark-ringed White-eyes, Citrine Canary Flycatchers, and Turquoise Flycatchers. The first two of those were lifers for me, while the second two are some of the species that are surprisingly shared between Sulawesi and the Philippines. It was oddly comforting to see them again here, even though so many other birds were wildly different.

Lompobattang Leaf Warbler- this is the closest relative of the Selayar Leaf Warbler, but the song is rather different and there are subtle differences in plumage as well

Dark-ringed White-Eye, a South Sulawesi endemic that looks like it hasn't gotten enough sleep

Streak-headed White-eye, also sometimes known as Streak-headed Heleia (a much better name)

Citrine Canary-Flycatcher

Turquoise Flycatcher

The little bird wave was nice, but we knew that all our other targets were going to be further uphill in proper forest. Unfortunately it was completely unclear from the satellite map how we were supposed to actually get to it. After a while spent getting lost in random people's vegetable gardens, we realized that it was necessary to hop a fence and take a path that lead over the stream. From there the only was up; specifically up a near-vertical slope where a recent landslide had cut a huge scar into the mountainside. It was slow-going and treacherous, scrambling up an unstable slope with lots of loose rocks, and by the time we had made it up 50 meters or so we still couldn't see any path into the woods. Instead we decided to bushwhack, forcing our way through incredibly thick bracken and thorny undergrowth at a glacial pace until we were finally inside the woods. The trail still wasn't clear, but at least we could move around a little bit. 

The trail before the landslide

As we were making our way through yet more thorny undergrowth, I spotted a Lompobattang Flycatcher in a bush in front of us- our other primary target for the day. Unfortunately it flew off before I could get a picture or get Angus on it, making it a rather unsatisfying tick. There was also a little flock of birds with more Lompobattang Leaf Warblers and Streak-headed White-eyes, along with my lifer Sulawesi Fantail. We followed a tiny trail down into a nice valley, but it became clear that that led absolutely nowhere. Finally I decided to bushwhack my way straight to one of the GPS points I had, which was on the ridge above us. That did the trick- we got up a bit higher and suddenly a lovely, well-maintained trail materialized out of the woods as if from nowhere. 

Sulawesi Fantail

Inside the woods

We had wasted the best birding hours of the morning getting lost in the underbrush, but here we were finally on the proper trail. The birds were there too, although they were devilishly hard to actually see or photograph- it was like being back in the Philippines. We heard the screeches of Ornate Lorikeets and the wail of a Sulawesi Hawk-Eagle in the trees above us, but we couldn't see them through the thick foliage. I got a great look at a Golden-mantled Racket-Tail, a gorgeous endemic parrot, but it flew off before I could get a good look. Piping Crows were calling in the trees as well, but I was only able to get an awful record shot of a crow butt. We came across a very large mixed flock with some of the small birds we'd already seen, but also with Sulphur-vented Whistlers and a large, bizarre-looking Dark-eared Myza. Angus could hear the high-pitched calls of a Sulawesi Bush Warbler (sadly too high-pitched for my dysfunctional ears) and we saw one briefly, but never well.

You'll just have to believe me when I say this is a Piping Crow

Sulphur-vented Whistler

Dark-eared Myza

Sulawesi Fantail

Streak-headed White-eye

Some kind of stick insect

We followed the trail uphill for another kilometer or so, until we were at about 2,000 meters above sea level. We hoped for another Lompobattang Flycatcher, but although we heard one distantly it never came into view. A bird rustling in the undergrowth proved to be a gorgeous Sulawesi Thrush, a strange and uncommon endemic that gave us great views but only mediocre photo ops. An incredibly raucous call next to the trail nearly made me jump out of my skin, and we eventually realized that it was a pair of Malias, another Sulawesi specialty- enormous, aberrant grasshopper warblers that act more like babblers. Similar to the thrush, they allowed for great views but only terrible pictures. 

Sulawesi Thrush record shot

Malia record shot

It was near midday by then, so reluctantly we decided to make our way back down the mountain. The forest was actually fairly birdy despite it being hot and windy, and I suspect we would have had a great morning of birding if we hadn't spent peak birding hours crashing aimlessly through the underbrush. Still, we saw our primary targets, and I got a good number of lifers. I suspect I'll return if I find myself in Makassar again so that I can get better looks and pictures of the endemics (and now that I know the trail). On the way down we saw another pair of Malia and some cool insects, but not much else. Following the trail down to where it intersected with the landslide, we also realized that we would have been on the right path if we'd just gone another 10 meters uphill. Alas!

Bracca adelindae, a gorgeous endemic moth

Odonata experts are still trying to ID this dragonfly, which hopefully means it's a good one!

We made the long drive back to Makassar, stopping along the way for some fried chicken. It was late afternoon by the time we were back in the hotel, and we took that time to have a proper nap after an exhausting several days. The destination for the following day was the Karaenta Forest, the largest patch of remaining lowland forest in South Sulawesi. I had managed to get in touch with Hendra, the go-to guide for Karaenta, so I was optimistic we might have an easier time of birding than up on Lompobattang. That turned out to... not be the case.

We departed Makassar at 4AM once again on September 25, making the 2-hour drive to the forest. The nice thing about the forest is that there's a fairly well-maintained road running through the middle of it, and it seems to be reasonably intact despite the easy access. The downside is that that road is apparently the only one crossing this part of the peninsula. That meant that we had to spend the whole drive there dodging the enormous trucks zipping up and down the narrow, curvy roads at unsafe speeds. 

We got to Hendra's village just after sunrise, and I headed to the house for which he had sent us a GPS point. Once we arrived there was no Hendra, just lots of confused people wondering what the bule were doing driving a rental car down their little dirt road. There was no signal to text Hendra, so eventually turned around to head to the main road. I called him and after some awkward conversation in my stilted Bahasa Indonesia told him where we were.

Finally after some delay we got to the first birding site, just off the road. Hendra led us into the woods and soon he spotted our primary target for the day: a huge, gorgeous Green-backed Kingfisher. Sulawesi has an incredible suite of endemic kingfishers, and Green-backed is one of the better ones. The birds in South Sulawesi have greenish-black heads rather than the blue-headed birds in northern Sulawesi, and they may be a separate species. Whatever the taxonomy this was a lifer for me, and thankfully I was able to finally get some decent pictures despite the poor light. 

Green-backed Kingfisher

Aside from the single kingfisher, there was... very little to be seen in the forest. It wasn't too long after sunrise, yet this was perhaps the quietest tropical forest I'd ever birded in. Angus did hear the high-pitched seep of a Sulawesi Dwarf Kingfisher, and eventually we were able to track one down and get backlit views. We heard calling Pale-blue Monarchs and Sulawesi Babblers in the undergrowth and Sulawesi Hornbills and Piping Crows in the canopy but frustratingly they never came into view, or responded to playback- perhaps this was a bad time of year for that. Far above us we saw a few Lilac-breasted Rollers flying around, and I spotted a gorgeous Yellow-billed Malkoha that (of course) flew off before I could get a good picture. On the whole, it was one of my more unsatisfying mornings of birding in a new spot, despite the good birds.

Sulawesi Dwarf Kingfisher

Yellow-billed Malkoha, another 10/10 Sulawesi endemic

Some kind of cool leaf beetle (Aulacophora sp.)

Blanchard's Ghost (Idea blanchardii)

There clearly wasn't much going on in this bit of forest, so Hendra recommended we head over to the hide he had set up for Sulawesi Pitta. We headed back into the village, then stopped in the middle of the village where he told us to wait for him. Wait we did- in fact, we spent almost an hour sitting in the middle of town watching the sun go even higher in the sky, with no idea where Hendra was. It was a bit frustrating, but there wasn't much we could do about it. Finally he reappeared with a container of mealworms, and we headed back into the woods to a different site.

The trail he took us along went through some fields and then scrubby secondary forest interspersed with coconut plantations. We saw a Brown-throated Sunbird feeding in Gmelina trees in a clearing, and in a patch of forest we heard the calls of an endemic Vinous-breasted Sparrowhawk. The hide was really just a clearing in a coconut plantation, but apparently the pitta showed up there semi-regularly. It didn't this time, and instead we spent almost a half hour looking at coconut trees and listening to barking dogs. A Piping Crow did fly in and we got decent views, but once again no pictures. Thankfully there were lots of butterflies and other insects along the trail, so at least I have a few pictures I can put here.

Some sort of wasp moth (Amata sp.)

Lohora dinon

Lexias aeetes

Elymnias hewitsoni

Terinos taxiles

Purple Snout

 Moduza lymire

Small Leopard

Greater Banded Hornet

Some kind of tiger beetle (Neocollyris sp.)

Neocollyris manadensis

Eventually we gave up on the pitta and started walking back. We passed a farmer along the way carrying a big jug of some violently pink liquid, which turned out to be the local version of coconut wine. Hendra asked if we wanted some, which we accepted–there were no birds around, so why not accept alcoholic beverages from complete strangers in the middle of the jungle? It turned out to actually be pretty good, didn't make us go blind, and helped take the edge off of not seeing any birds. 

Good old Sulawesi moonshine

Walking back we heard a rustling by the trail, and both got our bins on a Sulawesi Pitta! It flew off as soon as I tried to take a picture of course, and spent the next 45 minutes calling from the thick underbrush while remaining resolutely out of sight. Frustrating, but par for the course for our Sulawesi experience so far. Nearer the village, we found a few Grey-rumped Treeswifts perched along the road, and Hendra spotted an endemic Yellow-sided Flowerpecker feeding in a fruiting tree in the village- my final lifer of the day. 

Grey-rumped Treeswift

Yellow-sided Flowerpecker

We bid our goodbyes to Hendra and started on the way back to Makassar. It hadn't been an incredibly satisfying morning of birding, but I did get lots of lifers and a few decent pictures, and Hendra did well despite the quiet conditions. Perhaps it's better in other times of the year, since it seems like others have been there and had much better times than we did. 

The trip back didn't go off entirely without a hitch- it turned out that there was road work going on, and given that this was literally the only road for hundreds of kilometers north or south that meant that traffic was backed up. And by backed up I mean a 3-kilometer-long line of vehicles and spending over two hours sitting on the road before it moved! Thankfully we had departed with lots of time to catch our flights, or we would have been in trouble. Once we got to the airport the woman who was supposed to pick up our rental car was over an hour late, and I had to leave Angus with the car so I could check in for my flight. A typical end for a mishap-filled trip, but thankfully we both made our flights in the end. It was the end of an incredibly fun and adventurous week of birding, and I'm already looking forward to birding in Sulawesi again- hopefully with more birds next time...