Watching Magnificent Bird of Paradise in Tambrauw Mountains

Magnificent Bird of Paradise in Tambrauw Mountains

I went to Tambrauw regency last week. I spent most of my time exploring its interior region. During my 5-days/ 4-nights trip, I saw a lot of species of birds, butterflies, and colorful wild rainforest flowers.
In Andaer forest, I saw male and female Lesser Birds of Paradise in the mornings and in the afternoons. There were several birding sites for this species of paradise bird along the road-side. Some other species of paradise birds that lived in the same forest were Magnificent Bird of Paradise, Magnificent Riflebird and King Bird of Paradise. There was a spot where the lek of Lesser BOP and Magnificent BOP occured in very close distance - seperated only around 30 meters.
I had the chance to see them both on my final morning walk in the forest. My friend Niko who tried to take pictures of the Magnificent BOP for 2 days was not so successful. So, I asked him to focus on the Lesser BOP. And I would wait for the Magnificent BOP. One day earlier, I had seen and taken picture of the Lesser BOP. A villager named Amo accompanied me. I taught him the technique to attract the bird not by calling or placing fruit but by cleaning the ground from fallen leaves and twigs. When the playing ground of Magnificent BOP was spotlesspy clean, it would attract the female to stay longer. So, I and Amo cleaned the ground of the bird.

Nudibranch Flower

After fifteen minutes of removing dirts from the playing ground of the Magnificent BOP, we returned to our hiding place. While waiting for the birds to come, I showed picturee of birds that I made while traveling in various parts of West Papua and other places in Indonesia.
Thirty minutes later, we heard the sounds of the birds of paradise. I raised my head and looked at the playing ground of them. They had not landed. To increase the chance of shooting the birds, Amo moved to the other birding hut which is only 5 meters away from the one that I stayed in.
Several minutes later, the female bird landed. But she flew away again. A male landed and began to jump from one vine or twig to another. He started calling the female Magnificent BOP intensively. When the female came, the show began. And that's the moment when I pressed the shutter button of my camera. I was happy because the birds looked so beautiful in the photographs that I made.
There was a flower in the forest that was similar to nudibranch. Its colors were red, pink and yellow. It looked so beautiful. I walked closer to the flower plant that was at the edge of a cliff. I took out my pocket camera, a Fujifilm XQ2 and shot the flower several times.
If you are interested in taking a hiking and birding tour in Andaer forest of Tambrauw mountains and want me to organize your trip, please, contact me by email to: peace4wp@gmail.com or by whatsapp to: +6281332245180.
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