Thick-billed Ground Pigeon

Here is a short video of Thick-billed Ground Pigeon (Trugon terrestris) that I made when I and some villagers were guiding a French wildlife photographer in Klaimis, a lowland rainforest outside of Sorong city. 

The bird was sleeping on a branch of a tree around 2.5 meters above the ground. This bird, during the day, spends most of its time on the ground feeding on fallen fruits, seeds and insects.  At night it sleeps on the branch of a tree. 

Deforestation that continues to happen in New Guinea is becoming a serious problem for the survival of endemic plants and animals of this tropical island. 

A lot of species of birds could be seen in this forest. There are Lesser Bird of Paradise, King Bird of Paradise, Magnificent Riflebird, Twelve-wired Bird of Paradise, Trumpet Manucode, Red-breasted Paradise Kingfisher, Yellow-billed Kingfisher, Blue Black Kingfisher, Papuan Dwarf Kingfisher, Azure Kingfisher, Rufous-bellied Kookaburra, Superb Bird of Paradise, Wompoo Fruit-dove, Pink-spotted Fruit-dove, Pinon Imperial Pigeon, Western-crowned Pigeon, and etc.

Visitors who take wildlife watching trip in Klaimis need to bring their own binoculars, camera with telephoto-lens and spotting scope (optional). For night walk in the forest, visitors need to bring flashlight. 

The average duration of stay for visitors who take wildlife tour in Klaimis forest is 3 to 4 days. There is a simple wooden house with 3 bedrooms that was built by villagers as accommodation for visitors.

This wildlife tour in Klaimis forest of Sorong regency can be combined with wildlife trip in Raja Ampat such as in Waigeo or Batanta islands for tour participants to watch Red Bird of Paradise, Wilson's Bird of Paradise as well as other animals such as cuscus, and monitor lizard.

If you are interested in taking a wildlife watching and photography tour in Sorong regency or Raja Ampat of Southwest Papua Province of Indonesia, please, contact me by email to: peace4wp@gmail.com or by whatsapp through this contact link.

Also read:

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Night Walk Tour in the Forest of Sorong City

I have just conducted a night walk tour in the forest of Sorong city for an American tourist. The tour started at 08:00 when I picked him up from Swissbel Hotel. We went to a forest near Sorong city. I was accompanied by a driver and a local guide.

Before starting the walking tour, we had some tea and coffee with some cakes that I bought from a bread store. We could feel the sudden change of atmosphere. From a city with a lot of lights to a rainforest that is very dark. On the positive side, we could see stars in the dark sky.

When we were walking along a road inside the forest, we used sound recordings to attract birds. We played the sounds of Papuan Frogmouth, Marbled Frogmouth, Papuan Boobook. 

Flying Fox in the forest of Sorong regency

Although we walked for quite long, we did not feel hot at all. The temperature of the forest that night was cool. We were able to watch Papuan Frogmouth and Marbled Frogmouth. We also saw some flying foxes in trees and flying in the air.

Papuan Frogmouth in the forest of Sorong city

We completed our night walking tour in the rainforest of Sorong city at around 00:15. It was a nice trip although we did not see many animals. When we arrived in Swiss Belhotel, it was 00:30 in the middle of the night.

Morning or Afternoon Birding Tour

For visitors who are interesting in taking birdwatching tour at the outskirts of Sorong city. Usually the morning birding tour starts at 05:00. We will go to birdwatching site outside of Sorong city by car. It takes around 1 hour. As soon as we arrive, we could see the sun light on the canopy of the forest. Birds that we could watch include Yellow-faced Myna, Golden Myna, Eclectus Parrot, Coconut Lorikeet, Black-browed Triller, Black-capped Lory, Sulphur-crested Cockatoo, Hooded Butcherbird, Rufous-bellied Kookaburra, Blyth's hornbill, Pinon Imperial Pigeon, Claret-breasted Fruit-dove, and etc.

Papuan Eclectus

To enhance the birding experience of the participants, I will bring spotting scope. We will also walk along the beach area to enjoy the landscape of the coastal area as well as watching birds. Beach Kingfisher is the main target at the beach but we could see other species such as Willie Wagtail, Whimbrel, Common Sandpiper, Pacific Reef Heron, Striated Heron, Little Egret, Pacific Golden Plover and etc.

Beach Kingfisher

If you are interested in taking this night walking tour in Sorong city 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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Night Birding

As a tourist guide, I often accompany birdwatchers who come from various countries in Europe, America, or Asia. We spend at least 3 days/2 nights up to 2 weeks in the forest to see birds that live in rainforest and coastal areas of West Papua. We walk in the mornings, in the afternoons, and at nights along the trails or roads or beaches. 

Rhett Butler founder of mongabay.com

We also do night birding to find birds that are active in the dark or that sleep on lower branches of trees.  Usually owls, nightjars, frogmouth, boobook, and Hook-billed Kingfishers are the ones that go out to find their prey. We detect their calls and imitate them to attract the birds.

In Mesirrokow river forest, we just walk along the banks of the river to find Large-tailed Nightjar. In Tambrauw Mountains, we walk along empty roads to find Marbled Frogmouth, Hooded Pitta and Azure Kingfisher. In Ases valley of Tambrauw, we saw fruit bats.

Large-tailed Nightjar

From my trips with tourists in the jungle, birds that I see sleeping on lower branches include King Bird of Paradise, Red-bellied Pitta, and Spot-winged Monarch. 

When we do the night birding, we often see other animals such as cuscus possum, bandicoot, snakes and a lot of insects. 

Because taking pictures of animals and plants at night are difficult, we have to use flash of our cameras or light from our torches.

King Bird of Paradise

There are venomous snakes in the forest so, birdwatchers must wear boots and socks.  

At the moment, the spread of coronavirus has forced government to curb all tourism activities. These birding trips can be continued again in the future if government has lifted the travel ban of foreign tourists. - This is written by Charles Roring

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Night Walk Tour in Susnguakti Forest of Manokwari

Night Walk Tour in Susnguakti forest of Manokwari
We were watching a King Bird of Paradise that was sleeping on a low branch of a tree

The tropical rainforest of Susnguakti is a nice destination for tourists who are interested in watching paradise birds such as Lesser Birds of Paradise, King Bird of Paradise, Magnificent Riflebird and Common Paradise Kingfisher. However, it is also a great site to see cuscus possum, Papua dragon lizard, bandicoot and glowing mushroom. The cuscus, dragon lizard usually can be seen at night. That's why when I organize tours to this forest, I offer night walk tours.

A King Bird of Paradise was sleeping on a lower branch of a tree.

In my last trip with two French tourists and one Japanese, we saw a King Bird of Paradise sleeping on a small branch of a tree that is around 4 meters above us. We were surprized to see the bird. One the second night, we saw cuscus possum. In the first night, we did not see cuscus. It was a full moon period and we felt that our chance was little. However, we decided to do the night walk again and finally saw the marsupial animal. On the third night, we saw Papuan Dragon Lizard.

Glowing Mushroom

Susnguakti forest was not completely dark at night. There were fireflies, and glowing mushrooms. Sometimes we could see light from the moon or stars.

Cuscus in Susnguakti forest

There were moths, and beetles in the forest. They sat on wooden posts and beams or flew around the battery powered lights that were hanging on our basecamps.
It was a great trip because we saw animals that had been our targets. We stopped at a villager's house to see how a Papuan man made a traditional match to make fire.
If you are interested in a taking tour in Susnguakti forest of Manokwari, please, contact me by email to: peacewp@gmail.com or whatsapp: +6281332245180.