Fiji

The numerous islands of Fiji are characterised by a high degree of endemicity, most notably the three stunning Ptilinopus fruit-doves, the Silktail and the Shining-parrots. In order to observe most of the endemics it is necessary to go to the three islands mentioned above. The islands are well-endowed with tourist facilities, and on the bigger islands there is a wide range, from backpacker hostels to 5-star hotels. English is widely spoken.

References:

We used an excellent field guide The Birds of Hawaii and the Tropical Pacific by Pratt, Bruner and Berrett (1987) in conjunction with another pocket guide published by the Fiji Museum called Birds of the Fiji Bush by Fergus Clune. The regional Fijian names for a number of species are listed at the back of this book. It can be obtained from the museum in Suva.

Time line:
We flew to Nadi direct from Melbourne with Qantas Airlines that flies to Fiji a number of times a week. The return flight at the time was approximately $AUD750. Although we booked internal flights from the Melbourne end, you could probably book flights quite easily in Nadi, but with limited time it was not worth the risk. Internal flights in Fiji are not cheap, but neither are they excessively expensive. We hired a car from a company at the airport. This had been prebooked but this was not absolutely necessary. We spent a number of days on Viti Levu and Kadavu, however in retrospect our time at Taveuni was too short; as a result we dipped on the Silktail (partly due to poor advice). This was a major disappointment.
24th March	Arrived in Nadi in the early morning, organised our hire car after eventually finding the guy having a sleep in the office. We then drove to the Nausori Highlands where we birded for most of the morning. After grabbing some lunch in Nadi we drove to Suva on the other side of the island, birding along the way. The trip takes a couple of hours.
25th March	Birded at Colo-i-Suva Park near Suva for most of the morning before driving to Joske's Thumb, where we got into trouble for not asking the people at the village we passed if we could do so. (We pleaded ignorance-which we were!)
26th March	In the AM we birded around Suva Harbour before taking a boat trip to Naigani Island. This turned out to be a waste of time as unknown to us at the time of booking most of the trip was over land!
27th March	Birded at Joske's Thumb in AM again, flew to Taveuni in PM. Organised a 4WD to take us to Des Voeux Peak the following morning.
28th March	Drove up to Des Voeux Peak arriving at about 8am, we then walked back down birding along the way. In the afternoon we walked up to the Bouma Falls on the other side of the island.
29th March	Took the early flight to Kadavu via Viti Levu (Suva), arrived mid-afternoon. Ferried across to our accommodation by speed boat.
30th March	In the morning we got a lift back to the village and airport for the morning's birding after organising a lift.
31st March	Chris departed for home in the morning, Stuart and I did some more birding around the resort area.
1st April	We spent most of this day diving but also managed to get in a bit of casual birding (we'd seen almost everything on Kadavu by this stage).
2nd April	Departed Kadavu in the morning for Nadi, then flew from Nadi to Melbourne. ñ

SITES VISITED:

On Viti Levu

This is the main and most populous island of Fiji hence the most environmentally degraded. A number of species have gone extinct or not been seen for a very long time mainly due to habitat loss with the added burden of predation by the introduced Indian Mongoose.

NAUSORI HIGHLANDS

This is a mountainous area near the town of Nadi which still has a bit of intact vegetation (though by no means very pristine). If you have a hire car the area is easily reached from either the airport or Nadi itself. You can find directions in the Lonely Planet guide book, which asserts that the turn-off is easy to find. This was not our experience, but after asking a few people (who weren't much help) we eventually got there! If you don't have a car there are a number of tour companies at the airport which can no doubt assist you. It is an interesting area but probably requires more time than we gave it. The roads in this area are pretty average and we gave our small hire car a bit of a hard time. A 4WD would probably allow you to travel a bit further.
Highlights were: Metallic Pigeon, Many-coloured Fruit-dove, Golden Dove, Black-faced Shrikebill, Polynesian Starling, Layard's White-eye ñ

COLO-I-SUVA

This is a small park about 18km north-east of Suva and is very rich in birdlife. It is easily reached by car or public transport but theoretically doesn't open until 8AM. However, you can probably persuade the rangers to open the gates a bit earlier for you, just go to the headquarters over the road. There have reportedly been safety problems here in the past, so it is advisable not to go alone or carry your valuables. This said we had no problems and actually met one of the rangers on the track who was quite knowledgeable in regard to the local birds. The park protects a very nice piece of rainforest.
Highlights were: Collared Lory, Masked Shining-parrot, Scarlet Robin, Golden Whistler, Fiji Shrikebill, Slaty Flycatcher, Vanikoro Flycatcher, Blue-crested Flycatcher, Fiji Bush-warbler ñ

On Taveuni

At Taveuni we stayed at the Maravu Plantation that was very pleasant but overpriced. We had been led to believe that the people here knew something about birding. It turns out they had no idea but thought that bullshitting us would be a good way around the problem. They organised a good deal for a 4WD to Des Voeux Peak but gave us very poor advice otherwise, the end result being that we dipped on the Silktail (probably one of the biggest disappointments of my birding career thus far!). We did however learn a valuable lesson -- never leave yourself only one day to find something no matter how easy it supposedly is to find. I would recommend the Garden Island Resort over any of the other establishments on the island. This was (when we were there) run by an American couple who are apparently quite knowledgeable regarding the natural history of the island. Camping is another option. We also met the ranger at the Bouma Falls: he really knows his stuff and gave us a lot of advice that we regrettably could not take advantage of. If you are going to Taveuni I would recommend visiting the falls first and trying to get hold of him.

DES VOEUX PEAK

This mountain lies roughly in the centre of the island and at 1195m is the second highest on Taveuni. There is a track to the top which can be traversed by 4WD (not right to the top as it gets too rough a few hundred metres short). Alternatively, if you have more time you can walk, but this will probably make you too late to find the Silktail. The 4WD cost us about $AUD60. The track is in very poor condition, so good walking boots are necessary.
Highlights were: Fiji Goshawk, Orange Dove, Red Shining-parrot, Australasian Magpie(!), Island Thrush, Giant Forest Honeyeater

BOUMA FALLS

A protected area of forest on the east coast of Taveuni. You must pay a fee to enter the forest (about $5 I think). If you don't it is said something terrible will befall you! We saw nothing new here, but there have been sightings of Shy Ground-Dove, and it is some of the best forest we saw. ñ

On Kadavu (pronounced Kandavu)

Kadavu is the fourth largest island in the Fiji archipelago and lies 90-odd kilometres south of Suva, rather more isolated from the main islands leading to a slightly higher degree of endemicity. It is a sparsely populated island, hence there is a fair bit of intact forest left. There are only a couple of roads on the island, so boat is the main form of transport. This makes the accommodation proportionately expensive. We stayed at Matana Resort which was a bit expensive but conveniently situated fairly close to the airport and main town of Vunisea. The food was OK but be warned that Fiji is not a gourmet's delight - although Suva is not bad.

MATANA

There is a track leading from the back of the resort through very steep hills starting off in grassland eventually leading into rainforest. Take plenty of water if you do this as the walk through the grassland is extremely hot.
Highlights were: Kadavu Fantail, Kadavu Honeyeater

VUNISEA

On the second day we were in Kadavu, we got a lift back on the boat to the main town and met up with a fellow who had a car (there aren't too many of these on the island). The owner of the resort had organised this for us the previous day. We then drove up into the hills behind the town in the direction of a town called Naikorokoro. The rainforest in this area was in very good condition, and there was excellent birding. We found the Velvet Dove, otherwise known as Whistling Dove, to be incredibly frustrating. It is one of the most canny birds I've ever encountered: it calls loudly but seems to know that you are looking for it. After failing to get more than a glimpse whilst on foot (after 3 hours of trying) our lift came back, and the very kind driver helped us find it. This also took a long time -- we would stop every time we heard the loud call, get out of the car upon which it would stop calling! Eventually, we got good looks by all sticking our heads out the window of the minibus!
Highlights were: Velvet Dove ñ