Along the Look Trail
Storm’s Stork is less wary than the duck, but more difficult to find. You may strike lucky at any of the above-mentioned sites. This swampy lake is only accessible (with a guide) in October when the water is at its lowest. Ironically, a 10-min walk from the guest-house, is where most bird-watchers finally see this Little-known stork, whose nest was first described for science as recently as 1987.
The 2-km, circular Look Trail enters the forest on the right, 150 m back along the track out of Way Kanan, and exits directly behind the guest-house. It passes through an area of stunted, secondary forest. The open undergrowth makes it a great place to get good views of galliformes, which are usually such difficult birds to see well. It is a real delight to watch a male Crested Fireback quietly scraping amongst the leaf litter, its blue eye-wattles, navy-blue, slightly iridescent body plumage and white outer tail feathers contrasting subtly with the browns and greens of the forest.
With luck, a band of Crested Partridge will cross your path. Their spiky, red crests and energetic tramping give these little birds a rather wacky appearance. But the really memorable bird to be found along this trail is the Great Argus, a pheasant which, with its 75-cm long tail, is one of the world’s more extraordinary birds. A few slow circuits of the trail may be required before you finally cross paths with this magnificent creature.
The main track leading out of Way Kanan is the most productive in terms of amassing a long list of birds, including seven or eight species of woodpeckers and up to ten species of babbler. Hill Myna frequently flies overhead, and two either common and distinctive birds are black-bellied Malkoha and- a great favourite-scarlet rumped Trogon. Strangely enough, despite its intense scarlet-and-black body plumage, the trogon’s blue eyelids are its really distinctive feature.
The Way Kanan clearing is a good place to watch at dawn or dusk for hornbills and pigeons flying over, and a bat hawk occasionally puts in an appearance.
taken from Birding Indonesia. Periplus Publishing. Singapore