A taste of Papua New Guinea

I'm gradually wading through the pics from my recent trip to Papua New Guinea (the view from Ambua Lodge, in the Western Highlands, is pictured above). They need a bit of work on them, because I'm really not much of a photographer. There are a few decent bird record shots though, all digiscoped or, in the case of the three I'll post here today, digibinned. I used my ancient Fuji f-31, a Swarovski scope, and Swarovski 8.5 x 42 ELs.



First up is a Brown Sicklebill Bird of Paradise, snapped on the 'table' (actually a huge platform) at Kumul Lodge in the Western Highlands. This place was a photographer's heaven - all sorts of great birds come in to feed. As an added bonus, we had what amounted to an en suite BoP - a Crested Bird of Paradise appeared in the tree just outside our cabin window.




Next we have two Belford's Melidectes, one of the more striking honeyeaters we saw. Again it's at Kumul.



The third bird is a Superb Fruit Dove, taken near Walindi on New Britain. I love the band across its breast, imitative of shadow and adding a bit of camouflage to a bird that otherwise looks as if it was painted by a small child.

Lastly, here's a few of us enjoying an early morning start near Ambua - you'll notice that wellies were the essential fashion item of the tour!