Wednesday, February 5, 2025

Birding Tour Outside Sorong City

I organize birding tour to a place outside Sorong city. Its name is Kasulala forest located around 2 hours drive to the east from Sorong. The duration of the birding tour is usually 3 days/2 nights. There are guesthouses (basic accommodation) which visitors can stay during the tour. 

Kasulala forest
Boardwalk in Kasulala forest of Sorong regency
Birding can be done along the clearing area and forest edge to watch such birds as Palm Cockatoo, Sulphur-crested Cockatoo, Black-capped Lory, Red-cheeked Parrot, Coconut Lorikeet, Pinon Imperial Pigeon, Zoe's Imperial Pigeon, Orange-bellied Fruit Dove, Pink-spotted Fruit Dove, Purple-tailed Imperial Pigeon, Helmeted Friarbird, Black-browed Triller, Brahminy Kite, Variable Goshawk, Oriental Cuckoo, King Bird of Paradise, Yellow-billed Kingfisher, Rufous-bellied Kookaburra, Hooded Pitta, Shining Flycatcher, and etc.
roadside birding walk in Kasulala forest
Birding walk along the road in Kasulala forest

Night walk will also be conducted during the tour to find Papuan Frogmouth, Marbled Frogmouth, Papuan Hawk Owl and etc.

The forest and agricultural garden of Kasulala is also the habitat of a lot insects. There are butterflies and beetlee which tour participants can observe. 

To take the tour, participants need binoculars and binoculars. 

Kasulala forest birdwatching tour
Boardwalk, guesthouse in Sorong city

If you are interested in taking the tour, please, contact me by email to: peace4wp@gmail.com or by whatsapp to: +6281332245180. 

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Saturday, January 25, 2025

Wildlife Tour in Kasulala Forest of Sorong Regency

Kasulala is the name of a forest area in the east of Sorong regency that is the natural habitat of various species of plants and animals. It can be reached by a 4WD car for around 1 hour 40 minutes. 

There are cuscus, dorcopsis, fruit bats, wild pigs, bandicoot, and etc. For reptiles, there are monitor lizard, and snakes. Kasulala is also the habitat of hundreds of species insects and birds. 

New Guinea Harpy Eagle (Harpyopsis novaguineae)
Bird of Prey in Kasulala Forest

Visitors who are interested in exploring the biodiversity of Kasulala forest need to bring binoculars, flash light, rain poncho, wellington boots, insect repellent, binoculars and camera. Birdwatching is a very popular tourism activity in Kasulala. So, bringing a spotting scope is also highly recommended.

Ground Orchid
Ground Orchid in Kasulala forest of Sorong regency

Birds that can be watched in Kasulala forest include Lesser Birds of Paradise, King Bird of Paradise, Red-breasted Paradise Kingfisher, Rufous-bellied Kookaburra, Yellow-billed Kingfisher, Blue-Black Kingfisher, Common Paradise Kingfisher, Papuan Eclectus, Red-cheeked Parrot, Large Fig Parrot, Double-eyed Fig Parrot, Sulphur-crested Cockatoo, Palm Cockatoo, Coconut Lorikeet, Yellow-faced Myna, Golden Myna, Shining Flycatcher, Frilled Monarch, Mimic Honeyeater, Brahminy Kite, Long-tailed Honey Buzzard, Gray-headed Goshawk, Pacific Baza, Western-crowned Pigeon, Pinon Imperial Pigeon, Zoe Imperial Pigeon, Pink-spotted Fruit-dove, Orange-bellied Fruit-dove, Blyth's Hornbill, and etc.

Papuan Eclectus
Papuan Eclectus
King Bird of Paradise (Cicinnurus regius)
King Bird of Paradise

Birding activity is usually conducted very early in the mornings, in late afternoons and at nights. Tour participants need to bring their own binoculars to enhance their birding experience.

Lesser Birds of Paradise
Lesser Birds of Paradise

Most often, sound player is used to call certain species of bird for tour participants to see. Some birds such as the Black-sided Robin, Blue Jewel Babbler, Papuan Pitta and Hooded Pitta can be called using their recorded sounds. 

Ptilinopus magnificus
Wompoo Fruit-dove

For mammal watching, this is usually carried out at nights using flash lights and thermal scope. Night birding is often carried out after dinner to find nocturnal birds such as Papuan Frogmouth, Papuan Boobook, Papuan Hawk Owl, and other birds that sleep on the lower branches of trees. 

Usually, visitors spend around 3 days/ 2 nights in Kasulala to explore the plants and animals of the forest.

Accommodation

There are simple guesthouses in Kasulala forest for visitors who want to stay for several days. It is not luxurious but it is good enough as accommodation for visitors who want to stay near the forest during their wildlife watching tour. 

accommodation in Kasulala forest
Basic Accommodation in Kasulala Forest of Sorong regency

Birding in the Suburb of Sorong City

For visitors who do not have much time, they could still enjoy nature/ birding tour in the suburb of Sorong city. Usually the duration of the tour is half or full day. 

Forest areas that can be visited include mangrove, ridge forest, hill forest, and coastal area of Sorong city. 

Birds that can be watched include: Brown Oriole, Helmeted Friarbird, Beach Kingfisher, Sacred Kingfisher, Brown-backed Honeyeater, Orange-fronted Fruit Dove, Olive-backed Sunbird, White-bellied Cuckooshrike, Glossy-mantled Manucode and etc. 

birdwatching in the suburb of Aimas town and northern coast
Birding tour from Sorong city

Booking

If you are interested in taking a birding tour in Kasulala forest or the suburb of Sorong city, please, contact me (Charles Roring) by email to: peace4wp@gmail.com or by whatsapp to: +6281332245180.

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Saturday, January 4, 2025

Nature Tour Around Sorong City and Raja Ampat

Sorong city is the main entrance gate for visitors who want to enjoy their vacation in Raja Ampat islands. Every day airplanes land at Domine Eduard Osok (DEO) Airport of Sorong city. They bring hundreds of visitors. Most of them want to enjoy swimming, snorkeling and scuba diving in Waigeo, Batanta, Gam, Kri, Mansuar, Arborek, Piaynemo, Wayag and the remote Misool islands. 

nature tour in sorong city
Nature tour in Sorong city

Visitors who have just landed in Sorong city are often too tired to start their trip in Raja Ampat. They may want to take a rest in hotels in Sorong city after their long flights from home. There are also visitors who have just returned from Raja Ampat after their snorkeling or diving trips. Most of them want to take a rest for 1 or 2 days in Sorong. Some of them are interested in taking easy to do nature tour around Sorong city to see beautiful landscape, watch birds, butterflies, reptiles and mammals.

Willie Wagtail

Birding in Sorong and Raja Ampat
Helmeted Friarbird

As a tourist guide, I often organize easy nature tour around Sorong city. The duration of the tours can be as short as morning or afternoon trip, 1 full day nature tour, or 2 full day birding and sightseeing tours around Sorong city.

Swamp Tiger Butterfly (Danaus affinis)
Swamp Tiger Butterfly

During these tours, participants will be brought to places in the hills that have rainforest to see the scenery, enjoy watching birds and butterflies. Tours to mangrove forest can also be organized for visitors who are interested in seeing mangrove trees with birds, butterflies, dragon flies, and other insects,  mudskipper, fish, and crab that form the ecosystem mangrove. 

White-bellied Cuckooshrike also called Zorro bird
White-bellied Cuckooshrike

Participants can bring their own binoculars and cameras during the tours. To enhance the nature tour experience of the participants, I, as a tour guide, usually bring spotting scope that will enable participants to watch distant birds, or epiphytes in trees. 

traveling to raja ampat
Sorong city's nature tour

This nature tour around Sorong city can be taken by a solo traveling visitor, a couple or a group of tourists who are interested in exploring natural places in the suburb of Sorong city. 

Orchid flower
Terrestrial Orchid at the outskirts of Sorong city

Nature Tour in Raja Ampat

For tour participants who want to take nature tour in Raja Ampat, it can be combined with this Sorong tour. The main destination is Waigeo. Birds that can be watched include coastal and sea birds such as Pacific Golden Plover, Common Sandpiper, Whimbrel, Beach Thick Knee, Wandering Whistling Duck, Radjah Shelduck, Black-naped Tern and a lot more. For Rainforest Birds, the main targets will be the Wilson's Bird of Paradise and Red Bird of Paradise. There are a lot of other species too such as the Papuan Eclectus (Echletus polychloros), Coconut Lorikeet (Trichoglossus haematodus), Great-billed Parrot, Rufous-bellied Kookaburra (Dacelo gaudichaud), Beautiful Fruit-dove (Ptilinopus pulchelus), Blyth's Hornbill (Rhyticeros plicatus), Yellow-billed Kingfisher (Syma toro-toro), and a lot more. Birdwatching or butterfly watching could be conducted between 06:00 to 09:00 and 15:00 to 18:00. Between these times, participants could enjoy snorkeling or sightseeing to a number of islands around Waigeo.

paradise bird, butterfly, piaynemo
Nature Tour in Raja Ampat

Red Bird of Paradise
Red Bird of Paradise

Equipment

Tour participants need to bring binoculars and camera. In general the 8×42; 10×42 and 10×50 mm are the binoculars which most wildlife observers bring during their trip. To enhance their birding experience, I, as a tourist guide, will bring a spotting scope that will enable participants to watch animals or plants in distant trees or places. 

If you are interested in taking this Sorong nature tour and want me to organize your trip and guide you, please, contact me (Charles Roring) by email to: peace4wp@gmail.com or by whatsapp to: +6281332245180. 

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Monday, December 30, 2024

Birding in Waigeo of Raja Ampat and Klasow valley of Sorong Regency

Waigeo island is the most recommended destination for visitors who want to enjoy birding in Raja Ampat. The main targets of observation are Red Bird of Paradise and Wilson's Bird of Paradise. A lot of species of tropical birds can be watched in Raja Ampat especially Waigeo and its surrounding islands. They include Claret-breasted Fruit-dove, Palm Cockatoo, Sulphur-crested Cockatoo, Red-cheeked Parrot, Pinon Imperial Pigeon, Pied Imperial Pigeon, Beautiful Fruit-dove, Common Paradise Kingfisher, Yellow-billed Kingfisher, Collared Kingfisher, Beach Kingfisher, Spangled Drongo, Papuan Frogmouth, Marbled Frogmouth, and etc.

The trip in Raja Ampat is usually combined with snorkeling and sightseeing trips in Kabui bay, Friwen, Yenbuba Strait, Arborek island and Piaynemo karst. Visitors who are interested in snorkeling should bring their own snorkeling masks, snorkels and pipes. Underwater cameras are also needed for taking pictures of marine life during the snorkeling excursions in Raja Ampat. 

Red Bird of Paradise (Paradisaea rubra)
Red Bird of Paradise
snorkeling in Arborek
Snorkeling photo from Arborek
snorkeling in Waigeo
Snorkeling Photo from Waigeo
Raja Ampat marine tours
Coral reef in Raja Ampat
I often guide tourists on birding or wildlife watching trip to Malagufuk, Sorong's ridge forest and Waigeo island in Raja Ampat. The duration of the trip is usually around 1 to 2 weeks covering lowland, hill and sea or coastal avifauna. During the tour, we could see various species of tropical birds from parrots and fruit doves to kingfishers and paradise birds. 
Blyth's Hornbill (Rhyticeros plicatus(
Blyth's Hornbill

In Malagufuk, I usually spend between 3 to 4 days. We do birding in the mornings, late afternoons and at nights. Birds that we watch include Lesser Birds of Paradise, Twelve-wired Bird of Paradise, Magnificent Riflebird, King Bird of Paradise, Common Paradise Kingfisher, Red-breasted Paradise Kingfisher, Yellow-billed Kingfisher, Rufous-bellied Kookaburra, Azure Kingfisher, Pinon Imperial Pigeon, Beautiful Fruit Dove, Wompoo Fruit Dove, Pink-spotted Fruit Dove, Purple-tailed Imperial Pigeon, Red-cheeked Parrot, Palm Cockatoo, Yellow-capped Pygmy Parrot, Coconut Lorikeet, and a lot more. 

After exploring the rainforest of Malagufuk, we usually continue our adventure by birding in coastal mangrove forest of Sorong city. There, we could look for Orange-fronted Fruit Dove, Blue-fronted Fig Parrot, White-bellied Cuckooshrike, Collared Imperial Pigeon, Sahul Sunbird, Willie Wagtail, Olive-crowned Flowerpecker, Sacred Kingfisher and etc. Sorong city is the main transit point for visitors who want to travel to Raja Ampat. 

Common Paradise Kingfisher (Tanysiptera galatea)
Common Paradise Kingfisher

If you are interested in taking a birding, sightseeing and snorkeling tour in West Papua and want me to guide you, please, contact me by whatsapp to: +6281332245180 or by email to: peace4wp@gmail.com. 

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Saturday, December 28, 2024

Birding and Snorkeling Tour in Waigeo Island of Raja Ampat Regency

Raja Ampat is a popular destination in Indonesia for visitors who love snorkeling and birding. There are a lot of islands which visitors can choose to explore if they want to see the beauty of the coral reef and the marine life as well as the biodiversity of the tropical rainforest of the regency. 
Coconut Lorikeet
Coconut Lorikeet

For visitors who love birding, Waigeo island is the highly recommended destination. There are a lot of birds that visitors can watch including Palm Cockatoo, Papuan Eclectus, Spice Imperial Pigeon, Hooded Butcherbird, Red-cheeked Parrot, and etc. 
Birds are usually active in the mornings and in the afternoons. To watch them, visitors need good binoculars. As a birding guide, I usually bring a spotting scope. It will significantly enhance the birding experience of tour participants. Distant birds that sit on the branches of trees could be watched easily using the scope.
Eclectus Parrot
Papuan Eclectus
Raja Ampat is also a great destination for birdwatchers who love snorkeling. The coral reefs of Waigeo and its surrounding islands are the habitat of a lot of fishes such as grouper, moorish idol, butterflyfish, box fish, jackfish, wrasse, parrotfish, damselfish, and etc. To enjoy snorkeling, visitors need to bring mask, snorkel and fins. Some visitors bring underwater camera. The southern coast of Waigeo is good for snorkeling. There are also small islands such as Kri, Mioskon, Friwen, and Urai that are good destination for snorkeling. To enjoy snorkeling at these sites, visitors need to be accompanied by guides. 
Coral reef, white sand beach, rainforest of Waigeo and Kabui bay
Natural Beauty of Raja Ampat

For visitors who love both snorkeling and rainforest birding in one place, they can choose Batanta island as their destination. There are homestays in Batanta. 
After taking an adventure trip in Batanta, Waigeo, Kri and Mansuar islands of Raja Ampat, visitors could continue their exploration of rainforest of mainland West Papua by visiting Sausapor or Kasulala forest. There are colorful birds and butterflies in these places. 
For Sausapor town, there is a good beach resort. Its name is Sansapore Pacific Park. 
If you are interested in traveling to Raja Ampat and nearby Sorong city to enjoy snorkeling and birding and want me to organize your trip, please, contact me (Charles Roring) by whatsapp to: +6281332245180 or by email to: peace4wp@gmail.com. 
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