Summary:
Huge national park in central Sulawesi
and the best site for easily accessed montane endemics.
Key
bird species:
Small Sparrowhawk; Bare-faced Rail; Metallic Pigeon; Ornate Lorikeet; Yellow-and-green Lorikeet;
Ochre-bellied Hawk-Owl; Cinnabar Hawk-Owl; Speckled Hawk-Owl; Diabolical
Nightjar; Scaly Kingfisher; Purple-bearded Bee-eater; Cerulean Cuckoo-shrike;
Pygmy Cuckoo-shrike; Chestnut-backed Bush-Warbler; Blue-fronted Flycatcher;
Sulawesi Blue-Flycatcher; Geomalia; Sulawesi Thrush; Great Shortwing;
Olive-flanked Whistler; Maroon-backed Whistler; Malia; White-backed
Woodswallow; Sulawesi Myna; Fiery-browed Myna; Mountain Serin
Birdwatching
locations:
While the National Park of Lore Lindu
is massive, the best birdwatching is concentrated is a pretty small area around
the villages of Wuasa/Sedoa, Lake Tambing and the famous Anaso Track. Here you
can find all of the high montane specialities of Sulawesi, including Great
Shortwing, Geomalia and Sulawesi Thrush, plus much more.
Roadside birding around Lake Tambing
Driving from Palu, the road rises and rises until it reaches its highest point
at around 1,700m. A few kilometres before the highest point lies a small lake
known as Lake Tambing (Danau Tambing or sometimes Danau Kalimpaa), and a few
hundred meters further back towards Palu lies the start of the Anaso Track. The
birdwatching in this area is fantastic.
Working along the road, or around Lake
Tambing should get you Ornate and Yellow-and-green Lorikeet (often in the big
trees around the lake), Cerulean Cuckoo-shrike, Maroon-backed Whistler; Malia,
Blue-fronted Flycatcher and many more of the more common Sulawesi endemics.
This area, in particular between the lake and the Anaso turn off, is also among
the most reliable for Sulawesi Thrush. Look for them from the roadside as they
move about in the mid-storey, and be prepared to dive into the vegetation
yourself to get a better look! Scaly Kingfisher has also been seen in this
area. At night the road- and lakeside forest holds all three of mainland
Sulawesi’s ninox owls: Ochre-bellied, Cinnabar and Speckled, plus the
ever-present Sulawesi Scops-Owl. You could easily spend a day or two just in
this area.
The Anaso Track
Moving onto the Anaso track, the lower sections are good for many of the same
species as around Lake Tambing, plus your chance of seeing things like Pygmy
Cuckoo-shrike, Maroon-backed Whistler and Purple-bearded Bee-eater increases.
The bee-eater nests on many of the exposed earth banks along the lower half of
the track, so if they are there, you will see them. Chestnut-backed
Bush-Warblers also line the lower sections of the track.
The Anaso track continues on upwards,
with the habitat changing slowly as you rise. At around 2,000 m (3-4 km?) the
track emerges into a few small flat clearings. It is here that people often see
day-roosting Satanic Nightjars. Crashing around the clearing may flush one, but
far better to move around slowly and try and spot one (or a pair) on the ground
without disturbing them. The nightjars can also be seen hawking around this
area at dawn and dusk if you don’t catch up with a day-roosting one.
From about 2,100 m the roadside forest
becomes lower and more mossy. Between here and the top the track passes through
several dense patches like this and these are the spots to look out for a
couple of Lore Lindu’s most sought after specialities: Geomalia and Great
Shortwing. For the Geomalia there is no real alternative than either walking
slowly along the trail hoping to see one, or staking out a section and hoping
one passes. Trying to get a view of one in the forest itself is extremely
difficult. For the shortwing the same approach can work, or a tape of their
call will help considerably! This area also holds both of the Sulawesi endemic
honeyeaters; Dark-eared and Greater Streaked.
At about 2,300 m the Anaso track
reaches its peak. It then drops slightly to a wide clearing, before continuing
to the right as a less distinct footpath. The area of the clearing makes for
good birding, with a good chance of Mountain Serin (the orange-coloured
Sulawesi version) and the high altitude Olive-flanked Whistler. Continuing
along the footpath (which descends at first) brings you back into habitat good
for Great Shortwing after a few hundred meters.
In all the Anaso track is around 10km
long. At times it is passable by 4×4 jeep, but this depends entirely on the
state of minor (and major) landslides and improvised bridges. If you can’t
drive it at the time of your visit, don’t despair, just start walking! (you’ll
see more birds that way anyway). The Anaso track is definitely good for a
couple of days of birding, or longer if you want to be sure of getting the
goodies.
Road to Wuasa/Sedoa
Driving from Palu, the road drops down soon after Lake Tambing towards the
villages of Sedoa and Wuasa at around 1,200 m. The roadside forest in this area
is pretty degraded, but the birding along it is excellent nevertheless. Species
commonly seen in this area include Fiery-browed Myna, Sulawesi Blue-Flycatcher,
Malia and Cerulean Cuckoo-shrike.
for those of you who plan the birding trip to Sulawesi kindly please contact us:
email: sultanbirdingtours@gmail.com
