We continued our tour of Fiji by flying to the small island of Taveuni, which is to the north east of Vitu Levu. Although it is not far from Suva we had to fly back to Nadi and wait for several hours before crossing Vitu Levu again. We arrived at our accommodation mid afternoon with just enough time to score with another endemic, the Maroon Shining Parrot and walk to the Date Line. Actually its not the date line but the 180 degree longitude, as the Date Line detours to prevent Fiji being divided into two separate days.
All these flights in small planes over the Fijian islands gave us wonderful views of coral reefs and remote beaches.
The ‘Date Line’. Valerie is standing with one foot in the western hemisphere and one in the eastern. Some guy who forgot to tuck his shirt in is just in the eastern hemisphere.
The dense moss covered forest where that most enigmatic of birds, the Silktail, can be found. I posted a photo of the Silktail on the 18th of September whilst I was still in Fiji.
The aptly name Many-coloured Fruit Dove …..
… but the most amazing dove of the trip, if not in the world is the incredible Orange Dove which showed well at nearby Bobby’s Farm.
Rather than drive back we returned to our lodge by boat, this gave us close views of a number of Brown Boobies
and large numbers of Red-footed Boobies.
The resort seen from the sea.
Around the resort and on an offshore island were large numbers of Pacific Flying Foxes. Many were in a tree just outside my room and they made a huge racket at dusk as they were preparing to fly out to feed.
Sat on a chair beside the swimming pool was this Fijian race of Collared Kingfisher. Well Collared Kingfisher according to the IOC world checklist, Clements checklist treats it as a race of Sacred Kingfisher. It am sure that DNA work would identify it as a race of neither, but a species in its own right.
With our flight to Nadi not until late afternoon, we were at a bit of loose end today (there are worse places to be at a loose end than Fiji). Valerie, Vera and I went snorkeling, the gear and boat was easy to hire from the nearby dive centre. This photo of me was taken by Richard Clifford in Truk, Micronesia in 2010.
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