A taste of Wallacean, Manado trip report

Author & Editor

Author: wilis

Editor: <Please add your name here if you have edit this article>

Photographs and article are copyright of wilis

Participants, Agent, Guide, Flight and Transportation

Participants: Remo, Eric, Wilis

Local Agent: Adventureindo

Tangkoko Guide: Bobby & Antry.

Flight: Silk Air flies direct to Manado. Flight time: 3 hr 40m.

Transport: 7 seater minibus for our party of three.

Lake Tandano is 1 hour drive from Manado. Tangkoko Nat Park is 2 hrs drive frm Manado.

Itinerary

Day1: Arrival early afternoon in Manado. To Lake Tondano’s paddyfields for birding. Evening drive to Tangkoko Nat Park.

Day2: Tangkoko Nat Park.

Day3: Morning by boat to Maleo nesting site at Batu Angus. Abandoned as the strong waves prevented landing on the beach. Snorkeling Lembeh Straits. Afternoon Mangrove at Tangkoko.

Day4: Morning to Lake Tandano. Mid morning to Bunaken for snorkeling.

Little Facts

Tangkoko: located a mere 2 hours drive from Manado. From the 400+ species of birds in Sulawesi, a staggering 103 species are endemics. Of the 88, 47 endemics could be found at Tangkoko. It is reknowned as kingfisher’s haven as from the 10 species of kingfishers that can be found at Tangkoko, 5 species are endemics to Sulawesi. Tangkoko is also the home of the sulawesi crested black macaque and spectral tarsier, the smallest nocturnal monkey in the world at the size of 12cm.

Bird and Wildlife Checklist

Bird Checklist

At Lake Tondano:

1. White-browed Crake

2. Black-headed Munia

3. Scaly-Breasted Munia

4. Javan Pond Heron

5. Cattle egret

6. Black Kite

7. Clamorous Reed Warbler

8. Olive-backed sunbirds

9. Little egret

10. Great egret

11. Collared Kingfisher

12. Sulawesi Owl (endemic)

13. Yellow Wagtail

14. Wood Sandpiper

15. Yellow Bittern

16. Lesser Coucal

Yellow Wagtail

At Tangkoko Dua Saudara Nat Park

17. Lilac Cheeked Kingfisher (endemic)

18.Green-Backed Kingfisher (endemic)

19. Sacred Kingfisher

20. Blue-eared Kingfisher

21. Ruddy Kingfisher ->. Collared Kingfisher

22. Red Knobbed Hornbill (endemic)

23. Great Billed Heron

24. White Breasted Woodswallow

25. Osprey

26. Brahminy Kite

27. White Bellied Sea-Eagle

28. Striated Heron

29. Sooty-Headed Bulbul –> Sulawesi Owl (endemic)

30. Slender Bill Crow

31. Hair Crested Drongo

32. Black-naped Oriole

33. White-necked myna (endemic)

34. Asian Glossy Starling

35. Sulawesi Babbler (endemic)

36. White-rumped cuckooshrike (endemic)

37. Pacific Swallow

38. Dollarbird

39. Grey-rumped Treeswift

40. Glossy Swiftlet

41. Sulawesi Hanging Parrot (endemic)

42. Yellow-billed Malkoha (endemic)

43. Green Imperial Pigeon

44. Superb Fruit-Dove

45. Common Sandpiper

46. Purple Heron

47. Grey Heron

48. Little Cormorant

49. Lesser Frigatebird.

50. Pacific Reef Heron

51. Ashy Woodpecker (heard) (endemic)

52. Barred Buttonquail

53. Asian Koel

Wildlife

1. Spectral Tarsier (endemic)

2. Sulawesi Crested Black Macaque (endemic)

3. Tarantula (nesting)

Notes from the trip

1. What started as a birding trip, ended on a sweet note as a snorkeling trip. Tangkoko maybe a birder’s paradise, but ‘almost’ a photographer’s nightmare. Imagine we had to trek close to 12kms from 5.30am to 7.30pm thru thick primary forest with plenty of up and downslopes. Luckily our guides were most willing to help wth carrying the camera gear sparringly. We were not aware of the tough terrain and it really caught us off-guard.

2. Bird density is low at Tangkoko. But fortunately what was lacking in birdlife was partly made up with good weather, and the primates in Spectral Tarsier and Black Macaque. The entire trip we had beautiful, almost cloudless day. We’re lucky as at this time of the year Manado should still be in transition from wet weather.

Sulawesi Crested Black Macaque

Spectral Tarsier

3. Due to the lack of birdlife, we abandoned birding and switched to snorkeling on the last day. The corals and fishes at Bunaken are world class. We chartered a big 30-seater catamaran boat for a little over SGD100 for the whole day. Everyone had great and enjoyable day.

some other shots from the trip:

most common birds at Tondano paddyfield, the black headed munias

if the wildlife is not enough to entice you, the diving and snorkeling surely would.. Silk Air approaching Manado

___________________above article, photographs contributed and copyright of William Susanto