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Waitanta endemicsEvery self-respecting world birder is bound to at least once in a lifetime undertake the pilgrimage to Waitanta’s avian delights. This birding break now brings the long-lost Bruijn’s Brush-turkey as well as Waitanta’s two fabled birds of paradise within reach of any reasonably fit bird-watching group with a genuine sense for adventure. Just arriving on an island the stature of Waigeo, entering the breathtakingly beautiful Orobiai River canyon, surrounded by scenic, precipitous limestone karst country, is an overthrowing experience, let alone the journey inland to seek those glorious feathered inhabitants that few people have laid their eyes on before. But best of all perhaps, just by joining this birding adventure of a lifetime, you actively help protecting an entire river catchment as part of an ambitious and innovative conservation agreement that Papua Expeditions concluded with customary landholding groups on Waigeo. 
Day-by-day itineraryDay 1 Midday arrival at Sorong's DEO Airport on early morning's domestic flight from Jakarta. After lunch in town, we shall drive out to a vantage point, primarily in order to come to grips with the restricted-range Black Lory. Other noteworthy species we may see here include Dusky Lory, Palm Cockatoo, Double-eyed Fig-Parrot, Papuan Needletail, Papuan Frogmouth, Orange-fronted and Orange-bellied Fruit-Dove, Long-tailed Buzzard, Grey Crow, Glossy-mantled Manucode, Lowland Peltops, Golden Cuckoo-shrike, Golden and Yellow-faced Myna, Olive-crowned Flowerpecker, and Streak-headed Munia. Dinner and overnight in Sorong. Day 2 After a hearty dawn breakfast in our Sorong hotel, we shall set out early morning on the three hours’ speedboat ride to the mouth of the Orobiai River on Waigeo. Here, water birds as Radjah Shelduck, Little Pied Cormorant, Great-billed and Striated Heron, and Australian Ibis tend to occur year-round on tidal mudflats and in secondary mangroves, alongside a selection of migrant Palearctic waders in season, which usually includes a few Grey-tailed Tattler. Other birds we may encounter here include Little, Beach and Sacred Kingfisher, Large-billed Gerygone, and Torresian Crow. We shall then have the rest of the morning to slowly bird along the river toward our camp in riparian lowland forest at c. 50 m elevation. Blyth’s Hornbills and colorful parrots, including Rainbow Lorikeet, Black-capped Lory, Palm and Sulphur-crested Cockatoo, Red-cheeked and Eclectus Parrot, fly overhead as we acquaint ourselves with the vocally or behaviorally conspicuous subset of the forest avifauna: Yellow-billed Kingfisher, Brush Cuckoo, Slender-billed and Great Cuckoo-Dove, Stephan’s Dove, Wompoo, Superb and Beautiful Fruit-Dove, Purple-tailed and Pinyon Imperial-Pigeon, Mimic and Tawny-breasted Honeyeater, New Guinea Friarbird, Variable and Rusty Pitohui, Hooded and Black Butcherbird, Brown Oriole, Northern Fantail, Spangled Drongo, and Yellow-faced Myna. Following lunch at camp, we shall probably end up spending most of the afternoon at a popular display tree of the fabled Red Bird of Paradise, and take ample time to observe the up to eight plumed males that normally gather here, interacting with soliciting females. After dinner back at camp, a nocturnal foray in the vicinity may produce Sooty Owl, Jungle Hawk-Owl, and Marbled Frogmouth. Overnight at camp. Day 3 We shall enjoy our breakfast while listening to the developing dawn chorus, which here invariably includes Hook-billed Kingfisher, Rusty Mouse-warbler, Olive Flyrobin, Black-sided Robin, and Variable and Rusty Pitohui among others. We shall then proceed to an area where several display courts of the Wilson’s Bird of Paradise are located, in the hope of witnessing the full array of amazing display postures of this nearly mythical bird at close range from the comfort of a well-appointed palm-frond hide. Having truly absorbed this, we shall bird the rest of the morning along the river where we may see Azure Kingfisher, Variable Dwarf Kingfisher, Yellow-capped Pygmy-Parrot, Great-billed Parrot, Moustached Treeswift, New Guinea Bronzewing, Pink-spotted, Claret-breasted, Orange-bellied and Dwarf Fruit-Dove, Red-necked Crake, Long-tailed Buzzard, Variable and Grey-headed Goshawk, Collared Sparrowhawk, Gurney's and Little Eagle, Red-throated Myzomela, Spotted, Brown-backed and Green-backed Honeyeater, Yellow-bellied Gerygone, Grey Whistler, Brown-headed Crow, Glossy-mantled Manucode, Red Bird of Paradise, New Guinea Cuckoo-shrike, Slender-billed Cicadabird, Spot-winged and Frilled Monarch, Olive-crowned Flowerpecker, Black Berrypecker, and Green-crowned, Plumed and Pygmy Longbill. Incubation mounds of the Dusky Megapode are scattered everywhere throughout the flat bottom-valley lowland forests here, and it should not take long before we feast our eyes on a couple of Western Crowned-Pigeons as they break the relative silence with their clapping wing beats to alight in nearby tall forest trees. Following lunch we shall require most of the afternoon to slowly bird up to a camp at c. 450 m elevation. Here, a spotlighting session after dinner could produce Sooty Owl, Rufous Owl, Jungle Hawk-Owl, and Marbled Frogmouth. Overnight at camp. Day 4 This morning there shall be another opportunity to spend potentially highly rewarding time at a Wilson’s Bird of Paradise court. Other species often visiting the court here include Cinnamon Ground-Dove, Pheasant Pigeon, Red-bellied Pitta, Rusty Mouse-warbler, and Pale-billed Scrubwren. We shall then require the rest of the day to bird to our final camp at c. 780 m elevation in the summit area of Mount Danai, enjoying a packed lunch en route. Along the way we may be rewarded with sightings of Rufous-bellied Kookaburra, Hook-billed Kingfisher, Common Paradise-Kingfisher, Double-eyed Fig-Parrot, Moluccan King-Parrot, White-eared Catbird, Long-billed and Puff-backed Honeyeater, Fairy Gerygone, Beccari's Scrubwren, Little Shrike-thrush, Brown-headed Crow, Lowland Peltops, Yellow-eyed Cuckoo-shrike, Black-shouldered Cicadabird, Sooty Thicket-Fantail, Golden Monarch, and Yellow-breasted Boatbill. We shall also pass a court of Wilson’s Bird of Paradise again during mid-afternoon which we could monitor for a while. After dinner at camp, a nocturnal effort in the vicinity could produce Jungle Hawk-Owl, Wallace’s Owlet-Nightjar, and Marbled Frogmouth. Overnight at camp. Day 5 We shall make sure to sit in a well-appointed palm-frond hide in front of a tended incubation mound of Bruijn’s Brush-turkey at first light. We shall monitor the mound all morning in the hope of getting up-close and personal with the mound-tending male. After lunch, we shall bird all afternoon in the vicinity of camp, spending time at water sources and at a known roosting tree of Bruijn’s Brush-turkey towards dusk again. Other birds we may see here include Hook-billed Kingfisher, Pheasant Pigeon, Gurney’s Eagle, the highly distinctive steini-subspecies of Black Myzomela, Hill-forest Honeyeater, Beccari’s and Pale-billed Scrubwren, Green-backed Gerygone, and Brown-headed Crow. Also here, there is a fine ground court of Wilson's Bird of Paradise that we could monitor from a hide mid-afternoon. Dinner and overnight at camp. Day 6 This morning we could monitor either the incubation mound of Bruijn’s Brush-turkey again or the lek of Wilson’s Bird of Paradise, or just bird in the vicinity of camp. We shall then require the rest of the day to bird down to the 450 m elevation camp again, taking a packed lunch along the way. Dinner and overnight at camp. Day 7 There shall be a final opportunity to spend time at a Wilson’s Bird of Paradise court, or to bird in the vicinity of camp. After lunch, we shall require most of the afternoon to bird down to the 50 m elevation camp again. Dinner and overnight at camp. Day 8 We shall slowly bird our way along the river toward its mouth and transfer to a tiny atoll in Dampier Strait. After lunch here, we shall have a relaxed afternoon’s birding in search of regional small island specialists like the prasinorrhous-subspecies of White-bibbed Fruit-Dove, Olive Honeyeater, Island Whistler, Rufous Fantail, and Lemon-bellied White-eye. Other noteworthy resident species here include Dusky Megapode, Beach Kingfisher, Spice Imperial-Pigeon, Varied Honeyeater, and Metallic Starling. In addition, Violet-necked Lory, Great-billed Parrot, Bicolored Imperial-Pigeon, Great-billed Heron, Island Monarch, and Moluccan Starling have been recorded on occasion. We shall proceed to Sorong in the evening for dinner and a good night’s rest. Day 9 If need be, dawn shall see us gathered at a vantage point outside Sorong in pursuit of Black Lory. Otherwise, we shall enjoy a late breakfast and transfer to Sorong’s DEO Airport for the mid-morning's flight to Jakarta. Recommended extensions
Related linksRead on about the birdlife of Waigeo Island. Read on about our prolonged birding expeditions visiting Waigeo Island. Read on about our Community Conservation and Ecotourism Agreement for the Orobiai River catchment on Waigeo Island. Read on about the first photographs taken of Bruijn's Brush-turkey in the wild on Waigeo Island on a PE exploratory bird tour. Read on about the field discovery of Bruijn's Brush-turkey Aepypodius bruijnii on Waigeo Island by PE resident birder Iwein Mauro (from www.publish.csiro.au). Read on about the conservation status of Bruijn's Brush-turkey Aepypodius bruijnii on Waigeo Island by PE resident birder Iwein Mauro (from www.journals.cambridge.org). Browse our terms and conditions. Browse our check-list of the birds of Papua. |
Waitanta endemics Thank you all for
such a wonderful trip. I can easily
say that it surpassed all of my expectations.
The relaxed, easy
going nature of the whole expedition
was only possible because of a great deal
of time and effort going on behind
the scenes. It really was lovely to
be in such a wonderful place
with people who clearly love
the area and take such care and attention
to show its secrets to others. And
I could not write without reiterating my amazement
at Like and her sous-chef's
abilities in creating such incredible
food in such relatively bare surroundings. |
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