Night Walk in Ases River

Frog in Ases river

When I was guiding two American tourists in Tambrauw mountains, I organized several night walk tours along the banks of Ases river to find nocturnal animals. During the trip, we saw some interesting animals such as frogs, deers, gliding squirrel, cuscus possum, and fruit bats.
There was a tree at the corner of Ases village that was bearing a lot of fruit. That night, before leaving for the river, we walked to the tree to see if fruit bats were still gathering on its branches. When we arrived, we could hear the sounds of their wingbeats. It was dark and it would be difficult for us to take pictures of the bats.

A fruitbat was eating roda fruit

Everyone of us had a torch or flashlight. So, we aimed our torches to the tree and there the fruit bats were hanging on the branches eating fruits. I immediately aimed my camera at the bats and took some pictures. We only stayed for a few minutes under the tree. After that we continued our night walk tour in the jungle to see other animals following a tributary river. As we were walking through it, we saw frogs on the stone, on the buttress and on the fallen trees. We carefully approach them one by one. I did not want to disturb the frog so I used the zoom feature of my Fujifilm XQ2 camera. I made some photographs of them. We continued our exploration of the river forest area that night. We saw a lot of fish.

Deer in Ases valley of Tambrauw Mountains

There were two places in the forest where animals come out to drink water. Local people called them Vim. So, we walked to those places. At the first site, we did not see the animals that we were looking for. The other Vim was separated by the first one by a ridge. We climbed the ridge and then slowly walked to it. We saw a young deer. He did not run away. I took out my pocket camera and shot the deer several times. Its zoom was only 4x, not powerful enough to make pictures with greater details. However, I was happy with the results. We also saw cuscus possum and gliding squirrel in high trees. Again, my pocket camera was not able to reach them well.
The two American tourists who participated in the night walk tour was happy with what they saw. We returned to the village at around 01.00.
Booking
If you are interested in taking a rainforest tour in Tambrauw, please, contact me by email to: peace4wp@gmail.com or whatsapp to: +6281332245180.

Wildlife Tour to Tambrauw Mountains

Adventure in Tambrauw Mountains

The mountain range of Tambrauw is a great destination for wildlife watching tour. It is located in the Vogelkop region of West Papua.  I have organized tours to the region for tourists who want to see tropical birds, butterflies, rainforest flowers, deers, bats, frogs, and fish that live in the rainforest of Tambrauw.

Two weeks ago, I organized a one-week trip to Tambrauw mountains for two American tourists - Naftali and Sarah. We started our trip from Manokwari city by a 4WD car.
Buying logistical supplies
Before leaving the city, we bought food supplies in yhe suprrmarket and traditional market such as rice, eggs, canned fish, fruits, and vegetables as well as coffee, tea, palm sugar, and biscuits. We would need them during the tour. We also loaded mattrasses, and portable dome tents into the pick-up car. When everything was ready, we left for Tambrauw.
Birding along the road
Our first destination was District Miyah. There, we watched tropical birds such as Sulphur-crested Cockatoo, Brahminy Kite, Helmetted Friarbird, Brown Cuckoo Dove, Rainbow Lorikeet, and Pinon Imperial Pigeon. We spent 1 night in that district and then the next afternoon we continued our adventure trip to Mount Sakofsiah.

Most of the mountains are covered by pristine tropical rainforest. Along the way to the mountains, we saw Blyth's hornbill, Black-capped Lory, and a lot of other birds.
The road to Mount Sakofsiah was an unpaved one. There were wooden bridges that were badly damaged. Our cars could not pass on them. So, we had to cross the river. This was part of the adventure. There was also one wooden bridge that was not safe enough for cars. We had to make simple repair to cross it.
We arrived at the foot of Mountain Range of Sakofsiah around 14.00 local time. The next road in front of us was very steep and dangerous. Our driver as an experienced driver. He skillfully drove his car to climb the steep slopes to reach the top of the mountains.

The landscape view on top of Mountain Ridge of Sakofsiah was very beautiful. I decided to wait on top of the mountains. Below us was Ases village. I asked the driver and my friend to continue their trip to the village whereas I and our American guests would wait on top of Mount Sakofsiah. We wanted to see if there were birds from the cloud forest that we could see before during sunset time. Unfortunately, we could only see Grey-streaked Flycatcher. As we walked down the slope to Ases valley, we saw more birds such as Sulphur-crested Cockatoo, Black-capped Lory and Yellow-faced Myna.
Ases village was so quiet. There were only a few people living in it. My team had set up the dome tents, mattrasses and cooked dinner when we arrived.

Rainbow Lorikeet

Our next adventure in Ases valley consisted of riverwark, swimming, nightwalk and birdwatching. We saw birds, cuscus possum, lizards, lizards, butterflies, rainforest flowers, deers, and frogs. We spent 5 days/ 4 nights exploring the mountain ridge and valleys. The forest was in very good condition. The trails were not clear. Visitors must not walk alone in the huge forest. A local guide must accompany them.
In the last day when we were left the Mount Sakofsiah, we saw big deers and cassowary. It was a nice and unique adventure. I like it very much.
If you are interested in Traveling to Mount Sakofsiah and want me to organize your tour, please, contact me (Charles Roring) by email to: peace4wp@gmail.com or by whatsapp to: +6281332245180.
Birding and Wildlife Tour in Tambrauw Mountains
Birding and Snorkeling in Tambrauw regency
Palm Cockatoo in Tambrauw Mountains
Birding in Tambrauw Mountains

Birding in Tambrauw Interior Region

I have just returned from Tambrauw mountains with 2 American birdwatchers. We spent one week exploring the rainforest of the interior region to find tropical birds.
There were several sites that we visited. Some of them were District Miyah and Mount Sakofsiah. The avifauna in this regency was in very good condition.

Long-tailed Buzzard

From our jungle walks, we saw Sulphur-crested Cockatoo, Golden Cuckooshrike, Spangled Drongo, Palm Cockatoo, Rainbow Lorikeet, Red-flanked Lorikeet, Azure Kingfisher, Great Cuckoo Dove, Wompoo Fruit Dove, Pinon Imperial Pigeon, Double-eyed Fig Parrot, Red-cheeked Parrot, Grey-streaked Flycatcher, Vulturine Parrot, Lesser Birds of Paradise, Helmeted Friarbird, Rufous-bellied Kookaburra, and Oriental Dollarbird, Lowland Peltop, and a lot more.

Little-pied Cormorant

During the tour, we had several night walks in the jungle to see other wild animals such as deer, cuscus possum, fruitbats, frogs, and squirrel.
The scenery of Mount Sakofsiah was very beautiful. We really enjoyed the tour to this forest.
For taking pictures of birds, I used Nikon 200D with Tamron 150-600 mm G2 telephoto lens. For sceneries and macro subjects, the camera that I used was Fujifilm XQ2.
The trip to this forest is expensive due to the remote location of the forest. So, I highly recommend that visitors come in a group of at least three to four people to share the cost. If you are interested in traveling to Tambrauw mountains to do birdwatching and wildlife watching and want me to organize your trip, please, contact me (Charles Roring) by email to: peace4wp@gmail.com or by whatsapp to: +6281332245180.

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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Watching New Guinea Vulturine Parrot

New Guinea Vulturine Parrot

This is the picture of New Guinea Vulturine Parrot (Psittrichas fulgidus) that I saw in Sakofsiah mountain range of West Papua. There were three of them that stayed in the fig tree for quite long. They ate the fruits and took a rest for several hours there. Because of continuous hunting, road construction and conversion of rainforest into monoculture palm oil and cacao plantations, the population of the bird decreases rapidly. IUCN has put the bird into the Status of Vulnerable. A different approach has to be done to preserve the natural habitat of this parrot, other tropical birds and wild animals.

Andaer ridge forest in Vogelkop region of West Papua

Ecotourism is one of the solutions to protect them. Local villagers could work as guides, cooks, and porters when tourists come to their village to watch Vulturine Parrot and other birds.

To watch tropical birds in the forest, visitors need to make some preparation and bring suitable birding devices. A good pair of 10×42 or 12×50 binoculars is needed to see birds and animals. For taking pictures, I highly recommend a bridge camera such as the Nikon P900 or Nikon P1000. Users of D-SLR camera can buy telephoto lens Sigma 150-600 mm or Tamron 150-600mm G2.

Visitors need to fly to Manokwari or Sorong city if they want to go hiking and birdwatching in the forest of Mount Sakofsiah. I suggest that visitors travel in a group of 4 people so that they can share the cost. Birds that can also be seen in the region are Wompoo Fruit Dove, Sulphur-crested Cockatoo, Palm Cockatoo, Eclectus Parrot, Mountain Peltop, Long-tailed Buzzard, Pinon Imperial Pigeon, and Magnificent Bird of Paradise, Lesser Birds of Paradise, Magnificent Riflebird, Rufous-bellied Kookaburra, Yellow-faced Myna, Oriental Dollarbird, Blyth's hornbill, and at lot more.

The duration of the tour to Andaer ridge forest should be at least 4 days. If the trip to Mount Sakofsiah is included, we need at least 6 days in total to accomplish the tour.

Bringing raincoat, sleeping bag, and plastic bags to cover camera and other electronic devices in case of raining is highly recommended. When visitors participate in this tour, they have to be physically fit because the trip may involve long walk along mountain ridge and camping in the forest to see more wildlife and birds.

If you are interested in watching Vulturine Parrot, please, contact me by email to: peace4wp@gmail.com or whatsapp: +6281332245180.

Also read:

• Birdwatching Tour in Subdistrict Sonder of Minahasa Highland
• Birds of Minahasa in Highland and Lower Montane Forest
• Birding in Sonder