Tropical Island Mountain Rainforest | Nature/Birds of Moorea, French Polynesia

Moorea is a gorgeous tropical island of jagged volcanic peaks draped in lush tropical rainforest and surrounded by a coral reef lagoon. Moorea is one of the Windward Islands in the Society Islands Archipelago of French Polynesia in the South Pacific. I rented a biked, loaded up my backpack (tripod, camera and plenty of water!) and took off along the coast into 'Ōpūnohu Bay, into the valley and up the steep hairpins ending at Belvedere lookout on the slope of Mount Tohiea. The hiking trails fan out from there. I took the trail up to Three Coconuts Pass, a narrow saddle between Mt Mouaroa to the west and Mt Tohiea to the east.
Opening shots of 'Ōpūnohu valley and bay taken on the trail just above Belvedere Lookout. Mt Mouaroa (Shark’s Tooth) at 0:10, 1:34, 4:41.
0:23 - this herbaceous plant known as the Tahitian torch (Zingiber zerumbet) is related to ginger. The liquid squeezed from the flower head can be used as a “shampoo”. It was hot, wet and the surrounding rainforest was an impenetrable tangle.
0:29 Banyan Tree branches and roots sprawling everywhere.
0:34 Enjoying my first hike in a tropical rainforest. Had to get this on camera :-)
0:59 An adult male Red Junglefowl (Gallus gallus) in a thick stand of Giant Bamboo (Dendrocalamus giganteus). The “King of the Jungle” maneuvered easily where I could not pass. This was in the middle of the forest, but Red Junglefowl are common along the forest edge 5:08.
The Red Junglefowl is an introduced species on many Pacific islands. Populations in the forest appear to be pure Red Junglefowl. Populations down by the beach were hybrids between Junglefowl and domestic chicken (separate video coming up).
1:43 Dark-bellied Copper-striped Skink (Emoia impar) and again near the top of the saddle (3:29).
2:07 White-tailed Tropicbirds (Phaethon lepturus) soaring across the valley below Mt Tautuapae. This is the dorotheae subspecies of the tropical pacific.
3:00 View of Mt Tohiea, the highest point on the island at 1,207m (3,960 ft), panning north along the ridge to Mt Rotui.
4:52 Down in the valley now, a flock of Iphis Monarch (Pomarea iphis) is calling and foraging in an African tulip tree (Spathodea campanulata). This bird is endemic to French Polynesia.
Mt Rotui at 4:47 and 5:40.
5:53 Blue moon butterfly (Hypolimnas bolina) male.
6:15 Flock of Red-browed Finch (Neochmia temporalis) grooming after a hard rain the night before. Glimpse of Zebra Dove (Geopelia striata) at 7:28 (separate video on this bird coming up).
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[@TheMistyfyingOne77]

The littl birds with the red masks are adorable 🥰😌
Thank you for being here
🙌🏼♥️🌟🌌

[@featherdude]

What an amazing & beautiful place.

[@CliveBramham]

Very special place. All the best for the weekend :-)

[@titicatfollies6615]

Stunning photography, as always. THank you for the great pleasure.

[@CliveBramham]

Thanks so much. Wish you all the best.

[@MAD-zx8cn]

hands down one of the best video of nature for French Polynesia, it is very hard to find footage withous music blasting of the sounds of the capture, contemplative vids are rare, this one is great !

[@CliveBramham]

Thanks very much for your comment!

[@FollowThomas]

Wow, what an existing place. So much to see and experience 🙂

[@CliveBramham]

Yes, it was amazing to be there. It's 2 years ago now. There's one main road that circles the island.
About 60 km. I punctured a tire at 45 km, luckily there was a bike shop right there that also sold water!
All the best.

[@knutfugl]

Really a good movie Clive. Very well filmed and edited. Fantastic nature.
With best wishes for tomorrow.
Kind regards, Knut.

[@CliveBramham]

Thanks very much, Knut. Working with these videos is like being there. All the best for tomorrow too!

[@knutfugl]

Understand what you mean. ◕‿◕

[@user-mj7yh4ig5m]

Hello! Thanks for your videos! What kind of binoculars do you use?

[@CliveBramham]

Thanks very much! I use Leica Ultravids 8 x 42. Very happy with them.