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Extension : Oceanic PapuaNo less than 12 endemic birds, including a megapode, two gorgeous paradise-kingfishers and two parrots, plus heaps of morphologically highly distinctive yet virtually 'forgotten' endemic subspecies await us on this pre-tour extension covering the islands of Biak and Numfor in Papua's Geelvink Bay. So join us as we sound out speciation in these insular taxa, and later still be in the fortunate opportunity to continually add ‘new species’ to your life list from the comfort of your easy chair... Day-by-day itineraryDay 1 > Numfor Island Dawn arrival at Kota Biak’s Frans Kaisepo Airport on overnight’s domestic flight from Jakarta and transfer to Numfor Island by chartered c. four hours’ speedboat ride. The main focus of our attention shall of course be the delightful Numfor Paradise-Kingfisher and the distinctive maforensis-subspecies of Island Leaf-Warbler. Other interesting birds we may see here include Black-winged Lory, Yellow-bibbed Fruit-Dove, Biak Flycatcher and Long-tailed Starling. Dinner and optional spotlighting excursion. Overnight’s stay in basic community-owned facilities on Numfor. Day 2 > Numfor and Biak Islands Following our pre-dawn breakfast, we shall bird all morning on Numfor and transfer to Kota Biak again after lunch. Dinner and a good night’s rest in Kota Biak. Day 3 > Biak Island After a hearty pre-dawn breakfast in our Kota Biak hotel we shall transfer to our Biak jungle camp. We’ll have a relaxed early morning’s birding in the environs of camp around a couple of forest clearings where we could be rewarded with sightings of Black-winged Lory, Red-fronted Lorikeet, Yellow-bibbed Fruit-Dove, Spice Imperial-Pigeon, Emperor Fairywren, Dusky Myzomela, Biak and Shining Flycatchers, Long-tailed Starling, and Biak White-eye. The rest of the morning we’ll spend along a trail running through a mixture of secondary growth and tall primary forest. Biak Paradise-Kingfishers and Hooded Pittas call everywhere in these forests but to see Biak Megapode, Biak Coucal, Geelvink Pygmy-parrot, Biak Gerygone, and Biak Monarch we may need to persevere. After lunch we’ll spend the hottest part of the day along a creek where we hope to find the world’s largest pigeon, the glorious Victoria Crowned-Pigeon. We’ll have a relaxed evening’s birding followed by dinner and an optional nocturnal foray, which could produce the rarely seen Biak Scops Owl as well as Papuan Frogmouth and Large-tailed Nightjar. Day 4 > Biak Island Following an optional spotlighting session and pre-dawn breakfast, we’ll have a full day to concentrate on finding those species that are likely to elude us for a while. We could monitor known incubation mounds of the Biak Megapode, bird along the creek for Victoria Crowned-Pigeon, and invariably spend much time scrutinizing mixed insectivore feeding flocks, with lunch in between. Dinner and optional nocturnal excursion. Day 5 > Biak Island We could start out early with a nocturnal excursion again and after a final day’s birding shall transfer in the evening to Kota Biak for dinner and a good night’s rest. Day 6 > Biak Island Dawn transfer to Frans Kaisepo Airport for the domestic flight to Jayapura and start of the Easy Papua birding expedition. Related linksDownload our Oceanic Papua tour dossier in handy PDF-format. Read on about the birdlife of the Geelvink Islands. Browse our terms and conditions. Browse our check-list of the birds of Papua. |
EXTENSION
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