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The dense tropical rainforests of Kolombangara Island Kolombangara is a dormant volcano, rising 1700 meters to a mist-shrouded caldera Elegant Sticky-toed Frogs, <i>Brachylodes elegans</i>, </br>can be heard throughout track 1 giving their sharp little 'Ek' calls The low growls of a Treasury Island Tree Frog, <i>Litoria thesaurensis</i>, </br> can be heard at the very beginning of track 1 Mantis of the tropical forest The unusual and endemic Solomons Eyelash Frog, <i>Ceratobatrachus guentheri</i>,</br>can also be heard, yapping loudly like a small dog The Solomon Islands race of the Golden Whistler, <i>Pachycephala pectoralis</i> Belting it out! Golden Whistlers sing from the forest midstory, </br>often 40 metres above the ground Yes, right up there! No wonder the Whistlers are difficult to locate and see! The recording location for much of this album, deep in Kolombangara's green heart Unusually for birds, the Golden Whistler has both vibrant plumage and a stunning voice Adorned in moss and epiphytes The Solomon Islands White-eye, <i>Zosterops kulambangrae</i>, </br> is a lowland species, and quite widely distributed The Kolombangara Monarch, <i>Monarcha browni</i>, has a great variety of textured calls The ringing tones of a Singing Parrot, <i>Geoffroyus heretoclitus</i>, can be heard on track 3 Intent. Green Ants go about their business. Leave them alone! Many creatures on Kolombangara seem to have points - </br>this colorful spider is made of them! Pristine. The forest above 400m on Kolombangara has never been </br>commercially logged, and is now completely protected A female Yellow-eyed Cuckoo-shrike, <i>Coracina lineata</i>, scans the forest The diminutive Steel-blue Flycatcher, <i>Myiagra ferrocynea</i>, <br>more often heard than seen as it feeds high in the canopy The mighty Blythe's Hornbill, <i>Aceros plicatus</i>, calmly searching for its favourite fruit; figs Hornbills generally have super loud wingbeats, a result of rough feather edges. </br>Hear them wing overhead on track 3 If any cockatoo can be called pleasant-sounding, it may be the Ducorp's Cockatoo, </br><i>Cacatua ducorpsii</i>. Approaching rain. Afternoon mists roll in through the rainforest Kolombangara creates its own weather - clouds swirl and shroud the mountain A chaos of living things - the forest floor Rarely seen, the huge Buff-headed Coucal, <i>Centropus milo</i> - its highly unusual calls, </br>consisting of growls, barks and a deep booming, are heard on track 4 The golden throat feathers of a Whistler fluff right out when it sings Peek-a-boo. The piercing, fluid whistles of the Yellow-faced Mynah, </br><i>Mino dummonti</i>, are conspicuously heard in the Solomon's rainforests Well named - the Superb Fruit-Dove, <i>Ptilinopus superbus</i> So many varieties of fruit pigeon call these forests home. <br>This is a Mackinlay's Cuckoo-Dove, <i>Macropygia mackinlayi</i> Noisy, noisy, noisy! The vibrant (and noisy) Cardinal Lory, <i>Chalcopsitta cardinalis</i> Dusk settles over Kolombangara. This is the view from Imbu Rano Lodge, </br>our base while recording, and we never tired of the ever-changing vista The 'Koni' Frog, or Solomons Wrinkled Ground Frog, <i>Platymantis solomonsis</i>, <br>so named by locals due to its call. A chorus of them feature on track 7 On location: our SASS head microphone capturing the magic of Kolombangara
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Image gallery to accompany the album: 'The Whistlers of Kolombangara'

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