Site Report: Apui

Visits

• 2024-08-26: We had a bit of trouble trying to arrange a trip to the top of Alor. We were talking to one guide, but he got very needy calling multiple times all hours of the night. He also did not seem to understand what we were trying to do. He started sending me some Bahasa insults on Whatsapp, which I really appreciated, sometimes it is hard to learn swear words in other languages. Anyway, we got another guy, Gabrial. He had never guided birders before, but he was determined to try. Gabrial made a lot of special efforts on this trip, and he used his camera to document the action. We drove up to the top of the mountain where he talked to some villagers and got us overnight camping in the forest (at their garden). Before we could visit this forest, we got to meet I think the entire village. And, we were shown some miraculous ancient jars that had sprouted from the ground near the village. We proceeded toward the camp site which was down a very steep hill, and once we were down there, it was clear that we would not be able to easily see any birds in the dense forest there. All was not lost, however, as I walked back up the giant hill to get a better view of the tree tops. During the dry season, the villagers put sedatives (not sure which drug, but it comes from the pharmacy) into a small watering hole. Pigeons come in to drink the water, and then they become lethargic from the drugs. The drugged birds are gathered for the dinner pot.
• 2024-08-27: We woke up early to leave the camp in the middle of the forest. I was having a tough time convincing the guide that the bird I was looking for (Myzomela) could best be seen from the overlook on the road. Next thing you know we were wasting a bunch of time in a local market. We took a break, of course, to drink coffee made by camp stove on the side of the road. After a bit, we drove down to a house that was supposed to have birds. The first bird we saw was the wings from a boobook that was presumably shot. I opted out of visiting this farm and walked around a bit on the road. Later, we drove all around on rough roads to visit some steam vents. The idea was to cook eggs and casava in the steam, which of course, did not work. We stopped into a shop selling some knick knacks. More wildlife offense as they were selling a bunch of sea turtle shells in that shop. I mentioned how we would not be buying anything from a shop that is exploiting wildlife. This started another conversation where the guide mentioned that everyone was going to the east side of the island to hunt whimbrels and curlews. Finally, we ended up over near the airport where I walked around on the beach.

Species Seen

Lifelists

• Asia
• World

Trips

• Indonesia