Birding in Sorong regency of West Papua

Two most recommended birding sites in West Papua are Mount Soyti and Mount Susnguakti in Manokwari. There is also a famous site in Sorong. I visited it two weeks ago. The valley is located in the east of Sorong city and can be reached by 4WD Pick up truck. I have organized and guided birdwatchers from various countries in this valley. We stayed for several nights in a jungle village located in the middle of the valley. There was a simple wooden house that was built by the villagers for tourists.

Birdwatching

Northern Cassowary in Klasow valley

During my birding trip in Sorong regency, I was able to hear and watch Lesser Bird of Paradise (Paradisaea minor), Moustached Treeswift, Eclectus Parrot (Eclectus rotatus), Blyth's hornbill (Rhyticeros plicatus), Pink-spotted Fruit Dove, Pinon Imperial Pigeon (Ducula pinon) and Rufous-bellied Kookaburra, Sulphur Crested Cockatoo (Cacatua galerita), Goliath Cockatoo, Western Crowned Pigeon (Goura cristata), Spangled Drongo, Golden Myna (Mino anais) and large fruit eating bats.

The Western Crown Pigeon may be seen when we walk silently through small river. The bird likes to eat small shrimp or fish. 

It was a nice trip and I highly recommend it for anybody who is interested in birdwatching, Papuan wildlife and rainforest ecosystem.

Lesser Birds of Paradise (Paradisaea minor)
in Klasow valley

Other Activities in the forest

In addition to watching birds, visitors who explore the jungle of Klasow valley will be able to experience:

• Night walk in the jungle to find wallaby (this animal is similar to kangaroo but has got smaller body)
• A visit to a place where women were processing sago flour from grating the pith to squeezing the sago juice to extract its flour
• A day walk to see medicinal herbs, plants that contain water, plants that are used as materials for constructing the traditional houses, plants that are used to make hunting gear, traps.



Large Fig Parrot in the jungle of Klasow valley

• Javelin throwing practice tragetting a distant tree (in the past men from Moi tribe did this as a competition to win a girl if they love the same girl).

Extension

Some visitors combine the trekking and birding trip in Klasow valley with snorkeling, island tour, camping and fishing in Raja Ampat islands. I could organize tours to the archipelago for duration of 3 to 5 days. Visitors will be able to watch birds and see coral reef or enjoy fishing and eating fresh grilled fish that has just been caught from the sea by our local guides.

Other Alternative Destinations
In addition to rainforest of Klasow valley, there are several tour destinations that can be arranged from Sorong city.
Visitors can extend their tour to this destination.

• Rainforest of Sausapor - This is a lowland forest that is similar to Klasow. Visitors can enjoy birdwatching and wildlife tour in the jungle along the banks of the rivers. As of today, there is no guesthouse in the forest. As a tour organizer, we provide dome tents for visitors who want to take a jungle tour to this area.
• Rainforest of Ases valley - This forest is located in the highland of Tambrauw mountains. There are no villages in the jungle so the wildlife is abundant. Because of its remote location, the minimum duration of rainforest tour in Ases valley is 6 days. We need to go by car from Sorong city to Fef.
• Rainforest of Waigeo island in Raja Ampat. The birding site is located in the northeast region of the island especially along Warebar river. Visitors will be able to watch birds along the banks of Warebar river. To increase the chance to see more birds, tents will be set up in the jungle where birdwatchers could stay for several days to see birds, butterflies and other wild animals of the island.

Rainforest of Klasow valley

Grey-headed Goshawk in the jungle of Klasow valley

Birds

• Lesser Birds of Paradise (Paradisaea minor)
• Magnificent Riflebird (Ptiloris magnificus)
• Twelve-wired Bird of Paradise (Seleucidis melanoleuca)
• King Bird of Paradise (Cicinnurus regius)
• Lowland Peltops (Peltop blainvilii)
• Shining Flycatcher (Myiagra alecto)
• Frilled Monarch (Arses telescophthalmus)
• Helmetted Friarbird (Philemon buceroides)
• White-bellied Cuckoo-shrike (Coracina papuensis)
• Glossy Swiftlet (Collocalia esculenta)
• Moustached Tree-swift (Hemiprocne mustacea)
• Papuan Frogmouth (Podargus papuensis)
• Dollarbird (Eurystomus orientalis)
• Papuan hornbill (Rhyticeros plicatus)
• Rufous-bellied Kookabara (Dacelo gaudichaud)
• Rainbow Bee-eater
• Forest Kingfisher (Halcyon macleayii)
• Dwarf Kingfisher (Ceyx lepidus)
• Yellow-billed Kingfisher (Halcyon torotoro)
• Black Lory (Chalcopsitta atra)
• Eclectus parrot (Eclectus rotatus)
• Sulphur Crested Cockatoo (Cacatua galerita)
• Red-cheeked Parrot (Geoffroyus geoffroyi)
• Western Black-capped Lory (Lorius lory)
• Large Fig Parrot (Psittaculirostris desmarestii)
• Pinon Imperial Pigeon (Ducula pinon)
• Pink-spotted Fruit Dove (Ptilinopus perlatus)
• Wompoo Fruit-Dove (Ptilinopus magnificus)
• Beautiful Fruit-Dove (Ptilinopus pulchellus)
• Western Crowned Pigeon (Goura cristata)
• Brahminy Kite (Haliastur indus)
• Grey-headed Goshawk (Accipiter poliocephalus)
• Dwarf Cassowary (Casuarius bennetti)
• Northern Cassowary
• Hooded Pitta (Pitta sordida)
• and etc.

If you are interested in birdwatching and exploring the rich tropical rainforest ecosystem of Sorong regency and its surrounding areas, you could contact me (Charles Roring) by e-mail to peace4wp@gmail.com or send text/ whatsapp message to my cell phone: +6281332245180

Please, support this blog by clicking and buying the following paradise birds prints and my other artworks:

Paradise Birds

Birds of New Guinea

The newest edition of Birds of New Guinea by Thane K. Pratt, Bruce M. Beehler, Anderton, Szabolcs Kokay has been released Princeton Field Guides.
Birdwatchers and nature lovers who plan to visit West Papua and Papua New Guinea can now order this book from Amazon.

I hope that more visitors will be interested taking birding tour in this island.

Beach-Walking and Birdwatching at Amban Beach of Manokwari

Last week, I accompanied some of my friends who went surfing at Amban beach of Manokwari. We rode motorcycles to the beach. The surf spot was around 500 meters from where we parked our motorcycles. So, we had to walk for around 7 to 10 minutes to reach it. The view of the beach was beautiful. Some villagers were seen walking along the beach.

The swells were not too big when we arrived but still strong enough for beginning surfers at that time.I took some pictures of the scenery and also the surfers at sea. They were members of Abasi Surfing and some pilots from Susi Air.

Amban beach is a nice place for birdwatchers particularly for those who like doing beach walk and taking pictures of such sea birds as tern, frigate, swallow, and kingfishers. While I was sitting on the gray sand of the beach, I saw a bird flying over the sea towards a tree some one hundred meters from me. It perched on a branch of the tree. I immediately shot the bird several times using Nikon Coolpix P600. This camera was donated by SDSP Foundation to me and my friends for the pupose of promoting eco-tourism in Manokwari. We hope that this camera will be able to help us increase the intensity of our promotional works.
Back at home, I copied the picture of the bird into my laptop for editing works. I used Adobe Photoshop to resize, brighten it. Then I added some text caption on the picture. It was quite difficult to identify the bird. Finally, I came close to a conclusion that it was PERHAPS a Black Noddy (Anous minutus).

If you are interested in visiting Amban beach, you have to bring abottle of a STRONG anti insect repellent lotion. For further info about travelling in Manokwari, Sorong and other areas in West Papua, please, contact me by email to: peace4wp@gmail.com.

Swedish Girls in Manokwari

Last Sunday (12 Oct. 2014) I was called by two Swedish girls who had just arrived in Manokwari by Sriwijaya Air. They were Catarina and Cait. They wanted to meet me to ask for information about tourist attractions in Papua. From our conversations that afternoon, I suggested that they go to Raja Ampat. They said that their plan was to go to Asmat. I made a few phone calls to my friends in Jayapura and Mapi regency to get more info about flights to Asmat.

Catarina and Cait - two Swedish girls were tasting red fruit paste in Manokwari

While waiting for their detailed information, I brought them to West Papua Art and Culture Festival in Valeria area. It was the final day of the festival. Fortunately there were still some stands open for visitors.
Most of the participants of the festival were happy to receive these Swedish girls. They showed them how the tradional Papuan cloth was made. There were several stands that exhibit Papuan food. Catarina and Cait were given the opportunity to taste some of the foods.
When they were offered to taste the red fruite paste, I quickly turned my smartphone camera on and took some pictures of them. The women who served these Swedish visitors explained that the paste was good for their skin because it contains a lot of vitamins and other nutrients that were good for human health.
The tour to the festival was only as short trip but Catarina and Cait looked happy about it. The next day, they continued their trip to Sorong and then to Raja Ampat. Perhaps, they would fly to Asmat after spending one week holiday in Raja Ampat. I hope that they will return to West Papua again to explore the Arfak mountains or enjoy snorkeling in Bitsyari bay of Kaimana where they will be able to see whaleshark. This was written by Charles Roring/ E-mail: peace4wp@gmail.com

Also read:

• Tropical Birds in Sonder of Minahasa Highland
• Birdwatching in Sonder of Minahasa Highland of Indonesia
• Birding in Sonder of Minahasa
• Birding in the Paddy Fields of Subdistrict Sonder
• Birdwatching in the Farmland of Sonder Town
• Walking Tour, Birdwatching and Butterflywatching in District Sonder of Minahasa Highland
• Birds in North Sulawesi
• Birdwatching Tour in the Farmland and Forest of Minahasa Highland
• Manado City Tour: Birdwatching and Sightseeing
• Birding in North Sulawesi
• Birdwatching in Sulawesi
• Birdwatching in Minahasa Highland
• Collared Kingfisher
• Birding in Minahasa of North Sulawesi
• Birding in Higher Elevation Forest of Minahasa
• https://wildlifeminahasa.blogspot.com

Cruise Ships in Manokwari

Several cruise ships have visited Manokwari this year. They are guided by Oswald from Cruise Asia. The first one was Caledonian Sky. It entered Dore bay in August and was in the harbor of Manokwari from 1 p.m. to 6 p.m..Guests from the ship watched traditional dance at Abasi beach and enjoyed lunch prepared by the indigenous people who cooked the food using traditional barapen style. The villagers burn stones first and then with the hot stones they cooked the food.
Then, they continued their trip to Table Mountain where they walked through and under the canopy of tropical rainforest.

Cruise ship Discovery Explorer in the Dore bay of Manokwari

The second cruise ship that entered Manokwari was Discovery Explorer. This was a small cruise ship that visited Mansinam island on 11 October 2014. It anchored some 200 meters off the coast of the island from 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. Using a small boat, the crew of the vessel transfered around 50 passengers to the pier of Mansinam for a welcome ceremony. They were received by the village chief, priests from the local church and the villagers.
After that some of the guests went snorkeling and scuba diving around the waters of Mansinam. There are several shipwrecks in the bay of Manokwari. Because the weather was not really good that morning, they could only dive in front of Cross Monument of Mansinam island.

Traditional Dance Performance by people from Arfak Mountains

Most of the guests from the ship was later transferred to Manokwari town to see the West Papua Art and Culture Festival. There they watched traditional dance performance, and handicrafts made by Papuan men and women artists.
We hope that more cruise ships will visit Manokwari in the future and we will do our best to serve the guests who come with the ships.