iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

It’s definitely easier with a static target only 2-3m away.

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Caprimulgus on the other hand translates to goat milker. There was a belief dating back as far as Aristotle that nightjars drank goat milk and the goats went blind as a result. That myth seemed to have been quite widespread in Europe until only 1-200 years ago.

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A pretty little nightjar… which is more or less what it’s scientific name translates to. Pulchellus means beautiful little.

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James W T Hogg @jwthogg.bsky.social · 05/10/2026

Salvadori’s Nightjar Caprimulgus pulchellus - see below. Endemic to Java and Sumatra. These would be hard to spot without someone like Adunbahrum who knows a roost tree. Cibodas Botanic Garden, Java, Indonesia, Sept 26. #birds #birding #birdphotography #nightjar #birdsseenin2026

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We saw quite a few of these at Gede. As the name suggests they do catch insects for food, but they will apparently also eat small fruit.

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James W T Hogg @jwthogg.bsky.social · 05/10/2026

Indigo Flycatcher A rather attractive little creature. Found at montane / sub-montane forests on Java, Sumatra and Borneo. Gng Gede, Java, Indonesia. Sept 26 #birds #birding #birdphotography #flycatchers #birdsseenin2026

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James W T Hogg @jwthogg.bsky.social · 04/10/2026

Pink-headed Fruit Dove A truly beautiful dove, possibly one of the loveliest I’ve seen. We saw this at the upper campsite on Gunung Gede definitely worth the hike! @adunbahrum thanks 🙏 for guiding. Gng Gede, Java, Indonesia. Sept 26 #birds #birding #birdphotography #doves #birdsseenin2026

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The photo is admittedly not the good. But it was dark and the white balance hard to get right. I’ve done my best editing 🤷‍♂️

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To see one go through @adunbahrum (FB/Insta). He has spent a long time finding the bird and persuading poachers not to hunt birds in this area, so it’s good to support him. Use him to guide you there!

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Near Threatened, but working out the actual global population would be really challenging and I think it would likely be less than the official figure, so it’s probably more at risk than thought.

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It’s meant to be found on several Mtns in Java and Sumatra. But to the best of my knowledge there is only one ☝️ individual that is readily seen at the moment. It has quite an interesting call and doesn’t do a rodding flight like the European species.

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James W T Hogg @jwthogg.bsky.social · 02/10/2026

Javan Woodcock Now, this is a special bird… I’ve written a bit of waffle about these in a few replies below. Java, Indonesia, Sept 26 #birds #birding #birdphotography #woodcock #birdsseenin2026

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2/2 Luckily these two were fairly active, an adult and a juvenile (p3 on post 1 and p2 on 2) that seemed to want feeding. Or at least it felt it couldn’t quite cope without parental care. Big thanks to Adunbahrum for guiding! Find him on FB/Insta/DM me.

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James W T Hogg @jwthogg.bsky.social · 02/10/2026

Javan Trogon 1/2 Vulnerable. Another special bird found at only a handful of sites in West Java. Trogons are very pretty colourful birds, but they can sit motionless in silence so are easily missed. Gunung Gede, Java, Sept 26 #birds #birding #birdphotography #trogon #birdsseenin2026

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James W T Hogg @jwthogg.bsky.social · 01/10/2026

Thanks to Adunbahrum for guiding - find him on FB / Insta / DM me for details.

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James W T Hogg @jwthogg.bsky.social · 01/10/2026

Endemic to Java where it was at one time found on a handful of mountains. Illegal trapping for the cage bird trade has been the major problem. The remaining global population is really quite small… I can’t overstate how detrimental the Asian cage bird trade is to wild bird populations!

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James W T Hogg @jwthogg.bsky.social · 01/10/2026

Rufous-fronted Laughingthrush Endangered. Mainly due to the illegal cage bird trade. This species is apparently not seen often and then really only at one or two sites. Java, Indonesia, Sept 26 #birds #birding #birdphotography #endangeredspecies #birdsseenin2026

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James W T Hogg @jwthogg.bsky.social · 30/09/2026

2/2 Thanks to Adunbahrum for guiding! Find him on FB/Insta or dm me These birds on Gunung Gede are really tame due to being fed by the many hikers using the trails, and presumably lower levels of hunting / trapping. This is in stark contrast to other places where they were shy and evasive.

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James W T Hogg @jwthogg.bsky.social · 30/09/2026

Javan Whistling-Thrush 1/2 Seen backlit these can look rather blackish and dull, but when seen well the colour shines and a wonderful deep blue is revealed. Only found in montane forests of Java and Bali. Java, Sept 26 #birds #birding #birdphotography #wildlifephotography #birdsseenin2026

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If you are in the market for a trip to Java, then Adunbahrum is a great guide. You’ll find him on insta / FB or dm me for contact details

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If you are in the market for a trip to Java, then Adunbahrum is a great guide. You’ll find him on insta / FB or dm me for contact details.

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These reminded me of the Neumann’s Warblers that I saw in Rwanda many moons ago, and they are related in the family Cettiidae. They don’t have much tail either, I suppose a tail would get in the way of a ground-dwelling warbler.

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James W T Hogg @jwthogg.bsky.social · 28/09/2026

Javan Tesia These little (7cm) things behave like mice, crawling through the undergrowth. They do have a tail, albeit a very short one. Quite common on Gunung Gede. Endemic to forested Mtns (1000-3000m) on Java. Gunung Gede, Java, Sept 26 #birds #birding #birdphotography #birdsseenin2026

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Essentially there are very few cage birds in Singapore these days and a total ban on bird trapping there. Indonesia, Malaysia, Thailand and the Philippines still have huge problems with the bird trade.

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James W T Hogg @jwthogg.bsky.social · 28/09/2026

Fire-tufted Barbet A wasp for food, beaten to eject the sting, as per a bee-eater. Native to Sumatra and Peninsular Malaysia. There is a population at Gunung Gede, Java originating from escaped cage birds. Gunung Gede, Java, Sept 26 #birds #birding #birdphotography #barbet #birdsseenin2026

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Then just imagine you are a multilingual bird guide with English speaking clients and trying to make sense of this… See this infographic: seagullblog.com/wp-content/u...

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These colour words can be quite obvious, but often make little sense to native English speakers e.g. plumbeous. Until you remember that plumbum is Latin for lead and this it means grey…

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English common bird names use a lot of obscure language around colours. I think fulvous fits into that category, where it can mean a reddish-yellow / warm-brown.

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James W T Hogg @jwthogg.bsky.social · 25/09/2026

Fulvous-chested Jungle-flycatcher This one is found in dry lowland forests from Myanmar, Thailand, Borneo, Sumatra, Java, Bali and some other smaller islands. Bali, Aug 2026 #birds #birding #birdphotography #flycatcher #birdsseenin2025

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Thank you 🙏 The bird did all the work…

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James W T Hogg @jwthogg.bsky.social · 25/09/2026

The day after, we had one casually hop along the path in front of us. Further along the trail we had a Javan Spitting Cobra cross the path only about 1m from us. It looked at us then slinked off, quite relaxed and unfazed. We on the other hand were decidedly fazed and then on proceeded with caution.

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James W T Hogg @jwthogg.bsky.social · 25/09/2026

Ornate Pitta As with many forest floor species we heard more than we saw. At least 6 were calling at one point, but we only saw 2. One was part of a bird under a bush, but we had clear views of this habilitated bird that put on a show… Lombok, Aug 26 #birds #birding #pitta #birdsseenin2026

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Also big thanks to Gary Allport @birdsandlife.bsky.social and Peter Ryan for help with the MS and Derek Engelbrecht for the maps. Pied Avocet, Bela Vista, March 2022

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…Samuel Liebert, Dave Minney, Daniel Moore, Zach Simpson, Torres Taymo, Peter Vrooman, Peter Van As, Sam Jones, Justin Rhys Nicolau and Hugo Costa.

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In no particular order, big thanks to those that helped document the birds: Sarah Love, Olivier and Zev Hamerlynck, Stéphanie Duvail, Anne Marie and Tom Moore, Thomas Bruneau, Antonio Deligencio, Adriaan Tas… cont…

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I'm pleased that people still visit the area. I had to have a cut off date when preparing the manuscript, but since then I've noticed some further high counts and additions to the species list. There are now 274 species on the list, please keep going, find more and put it on eBird.

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After the first visit accompanied by a range of friends I spent many a happy day birding there over roughly 3 years and we all found some really interesting stuff and several national rarities!

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