Wildlife Watching in Susnguakti Forest of Manokwari

There are a lot of places in West Papua province of Indonesia where visitors can go to watch Birds of Paradise, possum, monitor lizard and butterflies. 

One of them is Susnguakti forest in Manokwari regency. Visitors usually spend 3 days/ 2 nights in a basecamp that is built for visitors. 

Lesser Birds of Paradise in Susnguakti forest of Manokwari

During the day, they can walk in the jungle to find such birds as Common Paradise Kingfisher, Yellow-billed Kingfisher, Rufous-bellied Kookaburra, Black-billed Fruit Dove, Eclectus Parrot, Golden Cuckooshrike, Pink-spotted Fruit Dove, Blyth's Hornbill, King Bird of Paradise, Magnificent Riflebird, and Lesser Birds of Paradise. 

Butterflies such as Silky Owl Butterfly, Cruiser Butterfly, and Blue Mountain Swallowtail butterfly can also be watched in the forest. 

Cuscus Possum in Susnguakti forest

Staying in the forest of Susnguakti, visitors can do night walk to watch Cuscus Possum, Papuan Forest Dragon and various kinds of insects. 

Visitors need to bring binoculars, flashlight and camera for the wildlife watching tour in Susnguakti forest of Manokwari.

For further info, please, contact me (Charles Roring) by email to: peace4wp@gmail.com.

Birdwatching in Wondama Regency of Indonesia

Wondama is the name of a regency in West Papua province of Indonesia. It is a great destination for visitors who are interested in birdwatching and wildlife watching. The capital of Wondama is Rasiei which is an integrated part of Wasior town. 

Golden Myna

There are several birding sites that are good for visitors. The nortern tip of Wondama peninsula, Wondiboy mountains and Naikere forest is the most recommended destination for visitors. There are a lot of birds that visitors can watch there. Here are some of them:

• Lesser Birds of Paradise
• King Bird of Paradise
• Magnificent Riflebird
• Twelve-wired Bird of Paradise
• Magnificent Riflebird
• Glossy-mantled Manucode
• Lowland Peltop
• Black-capped Lorry
• Eclectus Parrot
• New Guinea Vulturine Parrot
• Red-cheeked Parrot
• Large Fig Parrot 

• Sulphur-crested Cockatoo
• Palm Cockatoo
• Blyth's Hornbill

• Yellow-billed Kingfisher
• Common Paradise Kingfisher
• Rufous-bellied Kookaburra
• Sacred Kingfisher
• Azure Kingfisher
• Spangled Drongo
• Hooded Butcherbird
• Black Butcherbird
• White-bellied Sea Eagle
• Pinon Imperial Pigeon
• Purple-tailed Imperial Pigeon
• Beautiful Fruit Dove
• Red Myzomella
• White-bellied Sea Eagle
• Brahminy Kite
• Lesser Frigatebird
• Willie Wagtail
• Common Tern
• Pacific Swallow
• Hooded Pitta
• Moustached Treeswift
• Red-bellied Pitta
• Brown Cuckoo Dove
• Great Cuckoo Dove
• Golden Myna
• Yellow-faced Myna
• White-bellied Cuckooshrike
• Rufous Owl
• Sooty Owl
• Papuan Frogmouth
• and a lot more

Eclectus Parrot

Birdwatching trip to Wondama regency can be done all year round. Visitors need to bring binoculars, spotting scope and sound recording of bird calls from New Guinea. 

It is easy to reach Wasior town of Wondama regency. First, visitors need to fly from their country to Jakarta or Denpasar or other major cities in Indonesia. There are regular daily flights which connect these cities with Manokwari city (the capital of West Papua province). From Manokwari city, visitors can go by passenger ferry to Wasior town or by small single turboprop airplane, Cessna Caravan 208, operated by Susi Air. 

Location of Wondama regency

For accommodation, there are hotels, lodges or Inns and guesthouses in Wasior town. However, for birding purposea, visitors need to stay in simple homestays on the villages which are closer to the forest. 

If you are interested in taking birdwatching tour to Wondama regency of Indonesia, please, contact me (Charles Roring) by email to: peace4wp@gmail.com.

Red-breasted Paradise Kingfisher

Red-breasted Paradise Kingfisher

The first time I saw Red-breasted Paradise Kingfisher was when I guided some tourists on a birding tour in Klasow valley of Sorong regency. This Kingfisher was sitting in a small tree at its lowest branch around 2 meters above the ground. I did not pay attention to it at that time. I was watching Lesser Birds of Paradise (Paradisaea minor) dancing in high branches of some trees in front of me. Suddenly a villager named Daniel Kalami called me and showed me the bird. I turned and aimed my camera at the bird. 

Several weeks ago, I guided 4 American tourists on a birding tour to Tambrauw regency which was located between Sorong and Manokwari. I saw the bird again. This time it was sitting in a high branch around 5 meters above the ground. Fortunately, I brought my telephoto camera the Canon 200D with Tamron 150-600 mm G2 lens. I adjusted my position so that I could see the bird through a small window among thick green leaves of the surrounding trees. Carefully, I aimed my camera and shot the bird several times. 

Yellow-faced Myna

There were a lot of other birds that we saw during the rainforest birdwatching and wildlife watching tour in Tambrauw forest including:

• Palm Cockatoo, (Probosciger aterrimus)
• Sulphur-crested Cockatoo, 
• Long-tailed Buzzard, 
• Brahminy Kite, 
• Pinon Imperial Pigeon, 
• Orange-bellied Fruit Dove, 
• Twelve-wired Bird of Paradise, 
• Lesser Birds of Paradise 
• Large Fig Parrot, 
• Eclectus Parrot, 
• Red-cheeked Parrot
• Black-capped Lory
• Black Lory
• Grey Crow, 
• Marbled Frogmouth (Podargus ocellatus)
• Hooded Pitta, 
• Azure Kingfisher, 
• Blyth's Hornbill, 
• Red-cheeked Parrot,
• White-bellied Cuckooshrike,
• Black Sunbird
• Helmetted Friarbird and etc.

Because I brought my Kinglux 20-60×60mm spotting scope, I was able to show the beautiful birds to my American clients during the tour. It was not a professional scope but it was good enough for watching birds, wild animals or flowers in distant trees. I also played a few sounds of the above birds to attract them. We stayed in the houses of the villagers.

If you are interested in taking rainforest tour that is organized from Sorong city to Tambrauw forest please, contact me (Charles Roring) by email to: peace4wp@gmail.com.

Related articles:
Kingfishers
Azure Kingfisher

King Bird of Paradise

King Bird of Paradise (Cicinnurus regius) is a small paradise bird that lives among hanging vines of a tree in the forest of New Guinea. It lives mostly in lowland and lower montane forest and has got red back and wings with white belly. His bill is yellowish orange.
I have watched the birds a lot of time in Susnguakti forest of Manokwari. The birds are usually active in the mornings from 7 to 10 and in the afternoons from 3 to 6. If the weather is bad he may not come out to dance or he may show up later.
King Birds of Paradise call his female counterpart before performing his courtship dance. If the female King BOP comes, he will jump up and down the vines and perform the dance. If she does not come, he will be reluctant to dance.

King Bird of Paradise

King Birds of Paradise in the rainforest of Manokwari

It is not easy to find the bird due to its small size. We have to follow its calling sounds. Sometimes he jumps and dances to lower branches or vines. Because of its small size, we need to use binoculars and spotting scope to watch the bird.
When I guide tourists to watch the bird, it is not only the King BOP that we will watch but also Lesser Birds of Paradise, Magnificent Riflebird, Common Paradise Kingfisher, Yellow-billed Kingfisher, Frilled Monarch, Hooded Butcherbird, Fairy Lorikeet, Eclectus Parrot, Pink-spotted Fruit Dove, Spangled Drongo, Brown Cuckoo Dove, Yellow-capped Pygmy Parrot, Mimic Meliphaga, Black Sunbird, and a lot more.

Traveling to Raja Ampat Islands

Raja Ampat is an important destination for tourists who like tropical islands. They could enjoy swimming, scuba diving, snorkeling, freediving, see beautiful seascape of karst islets like Wayag, Piaynemo, Fish Lagoon, Kofiau, and Misool. It is also a highly recommended travel destination for people who like to explore rainforest and see its wildlife. 

Kabui bay

Getting to Raja Ampat

It is easy to travel to Raja Ampat. First, you need to fly from your country to Jakarta (the capital of Indonesia). After that, you need to take a domestic flight by flying to Sorong city. Airlines such as Garuda, Sriwijaya, and Batik provide regular flights to Sorong.

Arriving at the airport, you need to go by airport taxi to Pelabuhan Rakyat (People's harbor). The cost per taxi is 100,000 rupiahs. Remember, the price is not per passenger but per taxi. You need to spend around 10,000 to 15,000 rupiahs (depending on the number of passengers in the taxi) for entrance fee to the harbor. At the passenger terminal, you could buy tickets there. The price is 100,000 per passenger for regular seat and around 210,000 rupiahs for VIP. It takes around 2 hours to reach Waisai harbor of Raja Ampat.

Accommodation

There are hotels and simple lodges in Waisai town (the capital of Raja Ampat) which you could choose to stay during your holiday in the islands. However, most tourists prefer to stay in beach resorts and homestays in southern area of Waigeo island or in other islands such as Gam, Mansuar, Kri, Arborek of the regency. One that I recommend is Raflow beach resort. It is located in southern coast of Waigeo. The beach resort has got beautiful house reef. 

Observing Marine Life

White sandy beach in Raja Ampat

You could enjoy swimming and snorkeling over the coral reef to see a lot of species of fish such as butterflyfish, damselfish, parrotfish, wrasse, moorish idol, blenny,  anemonefish, and even the unique scorpionfish, and even the tasselled wobbegong. There are also Christmas Tree Worms, Sea Stars and Burrowing Clams. Make sure you bring a good underwater camera that can take pictures of the marine life. I personally use Fujifilm XQ2  with waterproof case and Nikon AW130.

Watching Tropical Birds
If you like to watch birds, you can do it in Raflow Resort. The trees around the Raflow resort are frequently visited by Beautiful Fruit Dove, Palm Cockatoo, Sulphur-creasted Cockatoo, Eclectus Parrot, Pinon Imperial Pigeon, Claret-breasted Fruit Dove, Willie Wagtail, Red Bird of Paradise, Spangled Drongo, Beach Kingfisher, Brahminy Kite, Mimic Meliphaga, Puff-back Meliphaga, Blyth's Hornbill, Lesser-crested Tern, Sooty Tern, Eastern Reef Egret, Wimbrel. 

Red Bird of Paradise

A good pair of binoculars such as the Nikon Monarch 7 10×42, Leica Noctivid, Swarovski EL 50, can greatly enhance the birdwatching experience. I often guide tourists to watch birds in Raja Ampat. I bring my Visionking 20-60×60 spotting scope to watch birds that sit in the branches of high trees. 

Visiting karst islets in Piaynemo, Wayag, Kabui is also a nice thing to do. You could ask other guests who also stay in the Raflow resort to take the tour so that the cost can be shared.

Booking

If you are interested in traveling to Raja Ampat and want me to be your guide and arrange your tour, please, contact me (Charles Roring) by email to: peace4wp@gmail.com.

Also read:

• Birding and Snorkeling in Raja Ampat
• Watching Red Bird of Paradise in Raja Ampat
• Northeast Raja Ampat Tour