Christmas in July
In mid-July I left the Philippines once again and headed towards the US. I didn't take the direct route though, as I still had a few days of meetings in Indonesia. The meetings were, sadly, in Jakarta but I did have one free morning before I had to be back in the office. It was a pretty easy choice to return to Jakarta Bay and the Muara Angke mangroves, where I could look for Javan Coucal, one of the only lifers I could get in Jakarta and one I had dipped on twice before . It was also a chance to see the famous frigatebirds of Jakarta Bay, which I had seen on my first visit but didn't have any pictures of. I didn't really feel like figuring out logistics on my own, and I didn't feel like birding alone to begin with, so instead I went with Boas, a bird guide of the Jakarta Birders and a friend. A couple of Boas' friends ended up tagging along as well, and the four of us met up in north Jakarta early the morning of July 17 to get started. I had gotten in late at ...