MAKIRA ISLAND: SOLOMON ISLANDS

11 April: MAKIRA ISLAND in the Solomon Islands. We left behind the outlier,
Rennell Island and reached Makira Island by early morning. It is also known
as San Cristobal Island. The forested mountains of this island support the
most single-island endemics of the archipelago. We had planned to land near
a logging operation and hike the logging road. However, as the first two of
our Zodiacs approached the landing area, we were met by a local boat of men,
one of whom was the Chief of this land. He informed us that we did not have
permission to land at the logging site. After much (valuable morning
birding) time was spent in launching the other Zodiacs, and following the
local chief by boat navigating around the coral reefs, we finally landed.
After landing, we hiked up a very steep, single file trail in search of
birds. As anyone who has birded rain forests anywhere in the world knows,
trying to find birds with a group size of 30 is nearly impossible. This
proved to be extremely frustrating! Still, we did manage to see: Brahminy
Kite, Solomon Islands Sea Eagle, Pied Goshawk, Chestnut-bellied Pigeon (very
rare), Rainbow Lorikeet, Glossy Swiftlet, Long-tailed Triller, Ochre-headed
Flycatcher, Golden Whistler and Sooty Myzomela. In the afternoon, we visited
the Anuatu Village, the village of the Chief.
Debi Shearwater, in the Solomon Islands