Tangkoko and Gunung Mahawu Tomohon Birdwatching
Day 1: Manado Arrival
After your arrival in Manado airport Sulawesi, you will be transferred by car to Tangkoko takes 90 minutes to reach the guesthouse where we will stay for 3 nights. Dinner includes.
Days 2 – 3: Tangkoko Nature Reserve
This reserve on the eastern tip of the Minahassa Peninsula is one of Sulawesi’s flagship parks, the excellent lowland jungle and mangrove forest providing superb birding site, The reserve is especially famous for kingfishers, having no less than eight resident species, of which four are endemic but remember that Tangkoko also has much more to offer than its kingfisher though and with the assistance of the skilled our local team, we will be search for Lilac cheeked kingfisher, Green-backed kingfisher, Sulawesi-dwarf kingfisher, Great-billed kingfisher, Red-bellied Pitta, Rudy kingfisher, Common kingfisher, Blue-eared kingfisher, collared kingfisher, Red-Knobbed Hornbill, Sulawesi dwarf Hornbill, Ochre-bellied boobook, Yellow-billed Malkoha, Bay Coucal, Lesser coucal, Sulawesi-Hawk eagle, Sulawesi serpent eagle, Black eagle, Black kite, Sulawesi cicada bird, Rusty-breasted cuckko, Sulawesi
triller, Purple-winged roller, Ashy woodpecker, Sulawesi woodpecker, Sulawesi hanging parrot, Ornate lorikeet, Golden-mantled Racquetail, Blue-backed parrot, Grey-cheeked Green Pigeon, Black-naped Fruit dove, Green Imperial Pigeon, Grey-headed Imperial Pigeon, White-bellied Imperial Pigeon, Silver-tipped Imperial Pigeon, Sulawesi Black Pigeon, Stephan’s Dove, Brown-cuckoo dove, PhilipineScrubfowl, Barred rail, Isabeline Bush hen. During our boat trip to the mangrove we may find other species; White-rumped Cuckoo-shrike, Common kingfisher, Great-billed kingfisher, Pink-necked green Pigeon, Osprey, Great Frigatebirds, Lesser frigatebirds, Pacific reef egret, common dollar bird, Striated heron, Little tern, Sacred and Collared Kingfisher, White-bellied Sea eagle, Brahminy kite and Purple heron. After spending much of the day birding but we have time also to see interesting mammals such as Black-macacanigra, Tarsier spectrum and bear cuscus in Tangkoko Park. Includes breakfast, lunch, and dinner
Day 4: Tangkoko to Tomohon
Morning birding around AMS hill and at 10 am heading to Tomohon for two nights stay. Lunch en-route and afternoon birding on GunungMahawu in Tomohon. Not include Lunch and Dinner
Day 5: Gunung Mahawu is a forested Volcano (1490 meters above sea level),
Inside the crater is a steaming, emerald-green lake ringed with yellow sulphur deposits. From the summit, you can see neighbouring Mount Lokon with its ever-present plume of smoke. On a clear day you can also see both the Sulawesi Sea on the west and to the Maluku sea to the east, GunungMahawu is located near the village of Rurukan where Sir Alfred Wallace lived for a while. Now GunungMahawu is one of the Important Bird and Biodiversity Areas ( IBAs ) in Asia by BirdLife International. In this birding place, we have some interesting Sulawesi endemic species, It is one of the easiest and most reliable sites in Sulawesi for the Scaly-breasted kingfisher- Actenoidesprinceps but please note this star bird of Sulawesi is very skittish and always hide so to spot them still need luck. Bird species at GunungMahawu and Tomohon; Scaly-breasted kingfisher, Lilac-cheeked kingfisher, Green-backed Kingfisher,
Blue-eared Kingfisher, Collared Kingfisher, Sulawesi scops owl, Speckled boobook, Ochre-bellied boobook, Sulawesi babbler, Chestnut-backed Bush-Warbler, Sulawesi Blue-Flycatcher (split from Mangrove Blue-Flycatcher), the rare Rufous-throated Flycatcher, Pale-blue Monarch (split from Black-naped Monarch), Isabelline-bush hen, Barred rail, White-browed Crake, Sulawesi Myzomela, Island Flycatcher, Citrine Flycatcher, Grey-sided Flowerpecker, Yellow-sided Flowerpecker, Crimson-crowned Flowerpecker, Black-fronted White-eye, Mountain white-eye, Streak-headed Dark-eye, Mountain Tailorbird, Purple-winged Roller, Yellow-vented Whistler, Crimson Sunbird, Black Sunbird, Olive-back sunbird, Sooty-headed bulbul, Hair crested drongo, Yellow-billed Malkoha, Ashy Woodpecker, Sulawesi pygmy Woodpecker, Grey Wagtail, Yellow Wagtail, Chestnut Munia, Scaly-breasted munia, Rusty-breasted Cuckoo, Brown-cuckoo dove, superb-fruit dove, Sulawesi black-Pigeon, Sulawesi-hanging parrot, Black Eagle, Black Kite, Osprey, Spotted Kestrel, Peregrine Falcon. During our stay here also we have a great chance of finding Purple swamphen, White-browed crake, White-breasted waterhen, Common Moorhen, Javan pond heron on the Lake Tondano. Not include Lunch and Dinner
Day 6: Morning birding on Gunung Mahawu and then at 10 AM, we will transfer you to Manado airport for your next destination. Include Breakfast.
Important NOTE:
This trip can be extended to Halmahera for Ivory-breasted Pitta, Wallace’s standard winged bird of Paradise, Common Paradise Kingfisher, Sombre Kingfisher, Beach Kingfisher, Variable Dwarf Kingfisher, Azure Kingfisher, and Blue & White Kingfisher. Tangkoko Birdwatching with our guests from USA, Birding Tangkoko, Birdwatching Tangkoko and Gunung Mahawu Birdwatching, Sulawesi Birding by Sultan Birding
