We left Pak Subandi's homestay at 5am and were driven a couple of hours to the Tapan road by one of Pak's sons arriving at around 7am. Our prime target was Graceful Pitta, but we didn't expect to be watching a pair alongside a stream flowing through a ravine literally on arrival. We watched them for a couple of hours being a magical experience, almost surreal, especially as Tsuri quickly appeared with chairs, coffee and biscuits! A Honeyeater-like Spot-necked Bulbul arrived to feed on a fruiting tree overhead but a singing Rusty-breasted Wren-babbler or two unfortunately kept to the shadows and out of sight. It was difficult to tear ourselves away from the performance of the Pittas, but when we did so, we continued to descend along the road walking various stretches and driving others. It was noticeably warmer than at Kerinci and we had probably already missed the most active time of the day but we enjoyed seeing a steady procession of good species the highlight being finding a pair of nest-building Long-tailed Broadbills and then a nearby Banded Broadbill. An encounter with a mixed-species flock added nicely to the day's species list including both Sumatran Treepie and Cream-striped Bulbul but Sunda Forktail remained stubbornly elusive despite staking-out the main river for a considerable time albeit that did produce a pair of Sumatran Sunda Bulbuls. A thunderstorm and heavy rain commenced at 3pm, but after waiting a while hoping it might clear, we called it a day and made the drive back to the homestay.
Little Cuckoo Dove 8
Barred Cuckoo Dove 2
Green-billed Malkoha 4
Square-tailed Drongo Cuckoo 1
Plume-toed Swiftlet c.200
Blyth's Hawk-Eagle 2
Rufous-bellied Eagle 1
Black Eagle 1
Sumatran Trogon 2
Red-headed Trogon 3
Fire-tufted Barbet 8
Long-tailed Broadbill 5
Banded Broadbill 1
GRACEFUL PITTA 2
Black-and-crimson Oriole 5
Ashy Drongo 5
Lesser Racket-tailed Drongo 1
Long-tailed Shrike 2
SUMATRAN TREEPIE 1
Barn Swallow 30
CREAM-STRIPED BULBUL 1
SPOT-NECKED BULBUL 10
SUMATRAN SUNDA BULBUL 2
RUSTY-BREASTED WREN-BABBLER h
Arctic Leaf Warbler 1
Verditer Warbling-Flycatcher 2
Mugimaki Flycatcher 1
Temminck's Sunbird 1 male
Tree Sparrow 1
Pair of Graceful Pittas along the Tapan road, Kerinci
river along the Tapan road, Kerinci
Long-tailed Broadbill along the tapan road, Kerinci
