Birding and butterfly watching in Sonder's Forest and Farmland

Sonder is a small subdistrict town in Minahasa highland of North Sulawesi Province, Indonesia. It is surrounded by hills, valleys and rivers. Sonder is a good destination for visitors who love birdwatching, butterflywatching, seeing the landscape of villages and farmland as well as talking with villagers. It is a must see destination for nature lovers. Sonder, in 1970s and 1980s was very famous as the producer of clove. Local farmers grow clove trees along the slopes of the surrounding hills and mountains. In Indonesia, the dried buds of clove flower is used as ingredients in cigarette.  

The forest and farmland that surround Sonder town and its villages are the habitat of a lot of species of birds and butterflies. 

Sulawesi Hanging Parrot

ITINERARY

Day 1 

You arrive in Manado city, we will meet you at the airport and organize your transfer by car to Sonder town. Check into homestay. Take a rest for around 2 hours. We will start our birdwatching and butterflywatching activity in Mount Lengkoan - the higher elevation forest and farmland of Sonder. It is the habitat of various species of birds such as Sulawesi Blue Flycatcher, Pygmy Hanging Parrot, Pygmy Woodpecker, Crimson-crowned Flowerpecker, Crimson Sunbird, Yellow-sided Flowerpecker, Sulawesi Myzomela, Warbling White-eye, Black Sunbird, and etc. There is a quiet road in the area that allows visitors to enjoy birding in this farm forest area. 

Sulawesi Pygmy Woodpecker

Crimson Sunbird

From higher elevation forest and farmland, visitors could walk down the slopes that are covered by clove, spathodea, coconut, aren, durian, rambutan, and other fruit trees. Sometimes we could see farmers working in their farmland. 

Sulawesi Myzomela

They are the habitat of such birds as Yellow-billed Malkoha, Black-naped Oriole, Gray-cheeked Green Pigeon, Gray Wagtail, Sulawesi Drongo, Black-crowned White-eye, Hair-crested Drongo (White-eye), Sulawesi Cuckoo-dove, Gray-sided Flowerpecker, and etc. 

Purple Heron, Collared Kingfisher, Brown-throated Sunbird, Zebra Dove, Hair-crested Drongo, Sooty-headed Bulbul, Finch-billed Myna

Day 2

We will do our birding and butterflywatching activitiee in Lalek Farm Forest. There are more open areas that are good for watching birds. Roadside birding can easily be carried out along these farm roads because the road is mostly empty during the whole day. Sometimes, we could see birds such as Zebra Dove, Barred Rail crossing the road. Migratory bird such as the Gray Wagtail also like to walk on the asphalt road in certain months of the year. In an open farmland, birds such as Sulawesi Crow and Black Kite flying in the air. It is much easier for this predator to hunt rats that like to feed on agricultural produce that local farmers grow. In the same farmlabd, we could also find some White-breasted Woodswallows sitting on dry branches of trees. Pale Blue Monarch, Black-naped Oriole as well as Sulawesi Hanging Parrot could be seen in the branches of trees.

White-breasted Woodswallow

Sulawesi Cuckoo-dove (Macropygia doreya albicapilla)

In the rice field area of Sonder, we could watch more birds such as Javan Pond Heron, Little Egret, Cattle Egret, Purple Heron, White-browed Crake, Barred Rail, Buff-banded Rail, White-breasted Woodswallow, Collared Kingfisher, Scaly-breasted Munia, Chestnut Munia, Black-faced Munia, Barn Swallow, Glossy Swiftlet, White-nest Swiftlet, and etc. Farmers don't like the munias. They are pests for rice plants. However, for the egrets, farmers consider them as friends. These birds feed on insects and small water animals that harm the rice and vegetable plants. 

Barred Rail

Pale Blue Monarch

Day 3 

After breakfast, we will do birding down the slope road between Lahendong and Sonder. This is the natural habitat of Bay Coucal, Black-naped Oriole, Hair-crested Drongo (white-eyed), Sulawesi Crow, Black Kite, Sulawesi Goshawk, Lesser Fish Eagle, Pale Blue Monarch, Sulawesi-crested Myna, Green Imperial Pigeon, Zebra Dove, Sooty-headed Bulbul, and etc.

Birding and Photography Tour in Sonder of Minahasa highland

Night birding can also be organized for tour participants to look for Sulawesi Scops Owl, Speckled Boobook and Minahasa-masked Owl.

Day 4

We will do morning birding in Mount Mahawu to look for Scaly-breasted Kingfisher, Sulawesi Pitta, Sulawesi Myzomela, Superb Fruit-dove,  Sulawesi Cuckoo-dove, Crimson Sunbird, Warbling White-eye,and etc.

We will return to Manado city and organize your transfer to airport. End of Tour. 

Sulawesi Scops Owl

Bringing binoculars and a spotting scope enhances the birding experience of each tour participant. For photographers, they could bring bridge camera such as Nikon Coolpix P1000, D-SLR or Mirrorless camera with telephoto lens. 

Colorful flowers at the roadside of Tincep village in Subdistrict Sonder

Sonder is a small subdistrict town that is formed from several smaller villages. Visitors who are interested in exploring local life could walk through the alleyways of Sonder to see the daily activities of the villagers. There are those who dry their agricultural harvest such as clove, corn and rice. There are also villagers who run fish farming in their house yards. Some open food stalls and small shops. Minahasan people like to grow flowers at the frontyards of their houses. So, visitors will be able to see various colorful flowers while visiting Sonder. 

Manado Yellow Tiger Butterfly

These flower plants attract small birds and butterflies, dragonflies and other insects. So, visitors could also watch various species of butterflies while exploring the villages, farmland and forest of Sonder. There are Blanchard's Wood Nymph, Blanchard's Tree Nymph, Sulawesi-banded Swallowtail, Lime Swallowtail, The Clipper, Meyer's Jay, Milon's Bluebottle, Common Birdwing and etc. 

Meyer's Jay Butterfly

Where is Sonder and How to get there?

Sonder is a small subdistrict town in the highland of Minahasa. It can be reached by car from Manado city. 

Subdistrict town of Sonder in Minahasa highland of North Sulawesi, Indonesia

Land route between Manado city and Sonder

Visitors need to fly from their countries to one of the major cities in Indonesia such as Jakarta, Surabaya or Denpasar and then continue their flight to Manado city. Airlines such as Garuda, Citilink, Lion Air, Batik Air, and SuperAirjet provide regular daily flights between big cities in Indonesia and Manado city. There are also international direct flights between Singapore and Manado city that is served by Scoot Air; and between Guangzhou and Manado city served by China Southern Airline. 

Flight routes to Manado city from Singapore; and other major cities in Indonesia.

Accommodation

Visitors who want to take multiple day tour can stay in homestays in Subdistrict Sonder or in hotels in Tomohon town.

Booking

If you are interested in taking a birdwatching and butterflywatching tour in Minahasa highland, and want me to organize your tour, please, contact me by email to: peace4wp@gmail.com. You could also contact me via whatsapp by pressing the following button:

Also read:

• Minahasa Highland Tour: Hiking, Birding and Sightseeing
• Wildlife Trip in Tangkoko and Minahasa Highland
• Birding in Sonder of Minahasa Regency
• Birdwatching Tour in Minahasa Highland

Birds in Waigeo of Raja Ampat

Yesterday I did some birding walk again at the surrounding area of Waigeo island. The weather was nice towards the sunset time. Birds were flying in the air and hopping in the branches of trees. I saw one male Eclectus Parrot landing on the branch of a tree near me. It was close enough for my telephoto camera.

Red Bird of Paradise

I made a few shots of him and then gave attention to Willie Wagtail that was sitting on a small twig of a shrub plant. He was quite far from me. Fortunately, my camera could still reach him. Waigeo island is a great site for tourists who like birdwatching. During my several days of birdwalk around the beach, I was able to take pictures of Palm Cockatoo, Sulphur Crested Cockatoo, Mimic Honeyeater, Lesser-crested Tern, Red Bird of Paradise, Brahminy Kite, White-breasted Wood Swallow, Pinon Imperial Pigeon, Black Sunbird, Rufous-bellied Kookaburra, Spangled Drongo
I also saw Beach Kingfisher but was not able to shoot it by my camera. I used Canon 200D with Tamron 150-600 mm.

Palm Cockatoo

In addition to birding, I also enjoyed snorkeling at the beach. I saw a lot of species of fish and coral reef. There were wobbegong, butterflyfish, stonefish, Striped Surgeonfish, anemonefish, and other marine creatures like burrowing clam, christmas tree worm and crab.

The southern coast of Waigeo is a nice place for visitors who want to enjoy snorkeling, birding, sightseeing.

Mimic Honeyeater

If you are interested in traveling to Indonesia for birding, snorkeling and scuba diving in Raja Ampat, and want me to organize your tour, please, contact me by email to: peace4wp@gmail.com or by whatsapp to: +6281332245180.

Brahminy Kite

Birdwatching is an interesting activity which I offer to tourists when I organize an adventure tour to regencies such as Raja Ampat, Sorong, Manokwari, Arfak Mountains, Tambrauw and Wondama. To enhance the birding experience, I bring my binoculars - Visionking 10×42 mm and spotting scope - Kinglux 20-60×60. Waigeo, and Gam islands are two important sites for birdwatching. There are a lot of species of coastal birds that visitors can watch. One of them is Brahminy Kite.

Brahminy Kite

From my recent trip to the archipelago, I saw the bird in the southern region of Waigeo island. It was sitting on the branch of a big tree around 40 meters away from me. I was at Warduwer beach at that time. Slowly I walked towards the bird. Because the bird had known my presence, I decided to stop walking.
I turned on my camera and carefully aimed it at the bird. The weather was hot that day. The sun was above my head and its light made the surrounding trees looked brighter. I pressed the shutter button once. Seconds later, the bird flew away. In the previous day, I saw a couple Brahminy Kite in north-east region of Waisai town. I also made a picture of them.

Brahminy Kite

Actually, there were a lot of birds that I saw during the trip such as White-bellied Sea Eagle, Torresian Crow, Singing Starling, Moluccan Starling, Lesser-crested Tern, Eclectus Parrot, Rufous-bellied Kookaburra, Spangled Drongo, Red-cheeked Parrot, Sulphur-crested Cockatoo, Puff-backed Meliphaga, Palm Cockatoo, Spice Imperial Pigeon, Stephan's Emerald Dove, Beach Kingfisher, and a lot more.
Raja Ampat is beautiful both above and underwater. I and the visitors whom I guided enjoyed snorkeling in several places of the regency. I brought Nikon W300. It was an underwater camera. So, I had the opportunity of taking pictures of coral reef and tropical fish that I saw during our snorkeling sessions. It was a nice adventure. They wanted to visit Raja Ampat again in the future.

Coral Reef and Fish in Raja Ampat

If you are interested in taking an adventure tour to Raja Ampat or other parts of West Papua such as Sorong, Manokwari, Wondama; and want me to organize your tour, please, contact me (Charles Roring) by email to: peace4wp@gmail.com or by whatsapp to: +6281332245180.
Also read:

• Raja Ampat Birds
• Birding and Snorkeling in Raja Ampat Karst

Wounded Moustached Tree Swift

When I went birding in the jungle of Klasow valley early this year with two birdwatchers from birdventures.com, I had an opportunity to see a Moustached Tree Swift closely. A boy from the jungle village, picked it up on the ground after watching it falling from the air. He told us that this bird was fighting against another tree swift and got hit on his eye.

Moustached Tree Swift

Simon Thomson, one of the birdwatchers, held the bird and put it on his Swarovski Optiks HD-ATS-80 HD Spotting Scope with 20x60 Eyepiece (Angled, 80mm) for closer examination. Because of the fighting, the bird suffered severe injury on his eyes. Free fall to the ground also worsened his condition.
I asked the boy what food he had given to the bird to help him survive. He answered, "sweet tea." We were so surprised to hear that. Later, Simon explained that the bird should be given insects such as grasshopper. There were around fifteen children who were around us.
After that they boy returned to his house which was not far from our basecamp. The next two days when I returned again to the valley with a Dutch tourist, they children told me that the bird did not survive. I was sad to hear that but highly appreciated the boy's effort in helping the bird.
Klasow valley is a birding site in Sorong regency of West Papua. The jungle village near Klabolo stream where I stayed was a new human settlement in the jungle. The villagers were cutting trees, clearing the lands to open vegetable gardens and build their houses. The valley is also the natural habitat of abundant butterflies, wallaby, and tropical plants.
I introduce ecotourism in the valley to curb illegal logging and to stop the destruction of rainforest. Visitors need to walk for around one and a half hour to reach the jungle village. To travel to the valley, every visitor needs a good backpack that can carry some clothes, and photographic equipment.
Birdwatchers and nature lovers who want to see tropical rainforest or watch birds in West Papua can contact me (Charles Roring) by email to peace4wp@gmail.com.

Raja Ampat Reef Fish

Raja Ampat archipelago region has got the highest marine biodiversity in the world. It is a must see destination for visitors who like to see various species of reef fish. When I go to the islands for guiding tourists, I always provide enough time to do snorkeling and freediving. I have got a Fujifilm XQ2 with its waterproof case that allows me to take pictures and videos of reef fish, and other marine creatures that live in coral reef. Sunlight in general can effectively reach 15 to 20 meters below the surface. These are depths where marine life is abundant.

False Clown Anemonefish (Amphiprion ocellaris) in coral reef of Waigeo island
Raja Ampat archipelago

Based on my personal observations of traveling and doing scuba diving or snorkeling in eastern and southern areas of Waigeo island especialy in Mamiaef, Waim, Saporkren, Kabui bay, Kri, Yenbuba Strait, Mansuar, Arborek, Piaynemo, abundant fish can be seen in coral reefs that are less exposed to human activities or in areas where there is current. Kofiau is another important group of islands where the wealth of marine biodiversity is well preserved. In Misool, marine protected areas are the place where reef fish thrive.

Latticed Butterflyfish (Chaetodon rafflesi) and Lemon Damsel (Pomacentrus moluccensis)

Small-toothed Whiptail in Raja Ampat

Dolphins, whales, Manta, Giant Trevally can be seen in area along the waters of Waigeo, Dampier Strait, near Arborek and between Mansuar and Gam islands. Tasseled Wobbegong and Black Tip Shark thrive in Yenbuba strait and most of the fore reef sites of most of Raja Ampat islands. For much smaller fish such as Striped Surgeonfish, Damselfish, Pink Anemonefish, Orange skunk Anemonefish, Butterflyfish, Blenny, Angelfish, Box Fish, Knifefish and Moorish Idol, they can be seen in most of the coral reef of the archipelago.

Moorish Idol and Butterflyfish in coral reef of Waigeo island

Birdwatching and Snorkeling

I spent 5 days/ 4 nights doing birdwatching and snorkeling in Raja Ampat recently. I guided Michael - a tourist from the United States. It was a nice trip because we were able to see Red Bird of Paradise, Wilson's Bird of Paradise, Blyth's Hornbill, Sulphur-crested Cockatoo, Coconut Lorikeet, Red-cheeked Parrot, Eclectus Parrot, Palm Cockatoo, Common Paradise Kingfisher, Beach Kingfisher, Dusky Scrubfowl, Mimic Meliphaga, Claret-breasted Fruit Dove, Pied Imperial Pigeon, Pinon Imperial Pigeon, Spice Imperial Pigeon, Hooded Butcherbird, Moustached Tree Swift, Pacific Swallow, White-breasted Woodswallow, Olive-backed Sunbird (now also called Sahul Sunbird), Tern, Lesser Frigatebird, Torresian Crow, Brahminy Kite, White-bellied Sea Eagle, Eastern Osprey, and etc.

Wilson's Bird of Paradise (Cicinnurus respublica)

I brought a 20-60×60 spotting scope, a good pair of binoculars, and a Canon 200D with Tamron 150-600mm telephoto lens. For snorkeling and freediving, I only brought a mask and a snorkel with my underwater camera. I didn't bring my swim fins to minimize the weight of my travel bag. This equipment greatly enhanced our birding experience. I also was able to take good photos both above and under water.

If you are interested in taking snorkeling and birding tour in Raja Ampat with me as your guide, please, contact me by email to: peace4wp@gmail.com or by whatsapp to: +6281332245180.

Amazon online store has got some good books about Raja Ampat. Some of them include:

• Diving Indonesia's Raja Ampat by Burt Jones and Maurine Shimlock
• Diving & Snorkeling Guide to Raja Ampat and Northeast Indonesia by Tim Rock and Simon Pridmore.

Black Capped Lory in Watercolor

Title: Black Capped Lory
Size: A4 size paper
Media: Watercolor on paper
Painter: Leo Charles Roring

Here is the watercolor painting of Black Capped Lory (Lorius lory). I saw this bird while I was traveling in Raja Ampat islands. As a tourist guide, I often arrange tours and accompany tourists on various birdwatching and snorkeling trip in West Papua. Some of the destinations are Sorong regency, Tambrauw mountains and Raja Ampat. Raja Ampat is a famous place for diving and snorkeling. But the regency is also a nice place for birdwatchers. I saw this bird in Kri island and was attracted to it because of its colorful feather.
I made the watercolor painting of the bird using Derwent Watercolor pencils. I offer the cut out version of this bird in my Redbubble store. It can be bought on various printed products from T-shirts and drawstring bags to iPhone cases and pillows. I hope that you will be interested in buying some of them on the following link: Black Capped Lory Prints

Bird Knitting Nest

I have just uploaded my old watercolor painting into my Redbubble online store. It is a bird that was knitting a nest. I made this painting when I was still learning watercolor. I was not experienced enough in controlling the wash techniques of this wet media. So, I used watercolor pencils to do the artwork.

a bird was weaving a nest

There are certain species of birds that weave their nests like pockets or socks that are hanging in twigs of trees or in thin vine in the jungle. Birds make this kind of nest to avoid predator. Usually a a female bird weaves a nest from dry grass and fallen twigs after mating season as a preparation to lay eggs.

White Cockatoo

This is a simple sketch of Sulphur Crested Cockatoo (Cacatua galerita) that I saw in the jungle of West Papua when I guided tourists from The United Kingdom. Local people call it Kakaktua Putih (meaning White Cockatoo) or Buring Yakop (Jacop bird).

Cockatoo like to sit on the branches of a tree early in the morning when they have just woken up. They flap their wings, move or climb to higher branch and make screeching sounds. When one of them flies, they others will follow and together they will make noisy sounds in the sky.
It is not only cockatoo that I and the tourists saw while walking in the jungle. we also saw Papuan hornbills (Rhyticeros plicatus), Eclectus Parrot (Eclectus rotatus), Brahminy Kite (Haliastur indus), and Willie Wagtail.
If you like birdwatching, seeing beautiful nature and are interested in making sketches or taking pictures of birds, butterflies, flowers and the surrounding scenery while traveling, you can contact me to be your guide and sketching mate. This is my e-mail: leororing@gmail.com
Artworks:
Please, support this blog buy buying one of my other artworks in zazzle store below:

Butterfly Drinking Nectar Button
by tropicalart

dolphins-color large tote bag
by tropicalart

Black-capped Lory

Black-capped Lory (Lorius lory) lives in the jungle of New Guinea and its surrounding islands. I saw this bird when I was traveling to Waigeo island in Raja Ampat archipelago. The bird has got beautiful red, blue, black and green colors. It also has got orange bill with some yellow feather in its tail.
Because of its beautiful colour, a lot of people catch the birds and sell them to big cities in Indonesia. I feel sad every time I see bird in a cage. I prefer watching birds in their own habitat to watching them in cages and in the market.

Black-capped Lory is now available in Redbubble store

Black-capped Lory (Lorius lory) T-Shirt
by tropicalart

As a tour guide, I have guided hundreds of tourists who want to go birding in West Papua particularly in the rainforest of Sorong regency, Arfak mountains or even to Raja Ampat islands. I provide 10x42 mm binoculars and spotting scopes to enhance the birding experience of my guests. Birds are usually active in the mornings and in the afternoons before sunset.
If you are interested in having birdwatching tour with me in the jungle of West Papua, you could contact me by email to: peace4wp@gmail.com or whatsapp: +6281332245180.
Artworks
To create awareness among all of us about the importance of protecting animals, I have just created a drawing of this Black-capped Lory as shown above.
Instead of using coloured pencil or pastel sticks and paper, I used S-pen stylus and the glass screen of Samsung Tab A tablet as my media. So, it is a digital drawing. The principles of drawing are relatively similar. However, I feel that the glass surface of tablet is so flat and slippery. I have to be more careful in drawing lines. The use of digital eraser, the ease of setting brush sizes and colors as well as the superimposition of lines make the digital drawing process faster. Sketching, colouring, hatching are done simultaneously. But I still do manual drawing using pencil and paper regularly.
I hope that you like this bird drawing. Don't forget support this blog by buying some of my other artworks that I made available in my zazzle store at the following links:

T-Shirt

Paradise Birds in Watercolor
by tropicalart

Pale Blue Monarch

I have just completed drawing a bird called Pale Blue Monarch. First, I created a sketch using ordinary graphite 2B pencil on a small piece of paper. I considered it as a kind of practice to study the shape of the body, wings, head, legs and claws of the bird. The Pale Blue Monarch is a bird that lives in lowland rainforest of Sulawesi. It is a beautiful bird.
I saw it when I was guiding Taiwanese tourists on a birdwatching trip to Dumoga Bone National Park and Tangkoko Nature Reserve in the province of North Sulawesi, Indonesia. He was hopping from one branch of a tree to another.

Pale Blue Monarch from Sulawesi island

Birds play important role in maintaining and preserving rainforest. They disperse seeds from the fruits that they eat. They also work as pest controller. They eat flies, beetles, work, butterflies, spiders and other small insects. By eating insects, birds curb the exploition of insect population thus maintaining the balance of forest ecosystem.
After creating the sketch on paper, I photographed it and transferred it into my tablet. I used Samsung Tab A with S-pen. It was a great tablet. The drawing application that I used was Autodesk Sketchbook. Because I made this drawing in my leisure time, it took around 2 weeks for me to finish it. Actually, I could finish it in one or two days.
Now the higher resolution version of the above drawing is available in prints on various products such as mug, studio pouch, iPhone skin, t-shirt, draw-string bag and a lot more. Please, visit my Redbubble Shop to order the artwork: Pale Blue Monarch

Red-breasted Paradise Kingfisher

Red-breasted Paradise Kingfisher

The first time I saw Red-breasted Paradise Kingfisher was when I guided some tourists on a birding tour in Klasow valley of Sorong regency. This Kingfisher was sitting in a small tree at its lowest branch around 2 meters above the ground. I did not pay attention to it at that time. I was watching Lesser Birds of Paradise dancing in high branches of some trees in front of me. Suddenly a villager named Daniel Kalami called me and showed me the bird. I turned and aimed my camera at the bird. 

Several weeks ago, I guided 4 American tourists on a birding tour to Tambrauw regency which was located between Sorong and Manokwari. I saw the bird again. This time it was sitting in a high branch around 5 meters above the ground. Fortunately, I brought my telephoto camera the Canon 200D with Tamron 150-600 mm G2 lens. I adjusted my position so that I could see the bird through a small window among thick green leaves of the surrounding trees. Carefully, I aimed my camera and shot the bird several times. 

Yellow-faced Myna

There were a lot of other birds that we saw during the rainforest birdwatching and wildlife watching tour in Tambrauw forest including:

• Palm Cockatoo, 
• Sulphur-crested Cockatoo, 
• Long-tailed Buzzard, 
• Brahminy Kite, 
• Pinon Imperial Pigeon, 
• Orange-bellied Fruit Dove, 
• Twelve-wired Bird of Paradise, 
• Lesser Birds of Paradise 
• Large Fig Parrot, 
• Eclectus Parrot, 
• Red-cheeked Parrot
• Black-capped Lory
• Black Lory
• Grey Crow, 
• Marbled Frogmouth, 
• Hooded Pitta, 
• Azure Kingfisher, 
• Blyth's Hornbill, 
• Red-cheeked Parrot,
• White-bellied Cuckooshrike,
• Black Sunbird
• Helmetted Friarbird and etc.

Because I brought my Kinglux 20-60×60mm spotting scope, I was able to show the beautiful birds to my American clients during the tour. It was not a professional scope but it was good enough for watching birds, wild animals or flowers in distant trees. I also played a few sounds of the above birds to attract them. We stayed in the houses of the villagers.

If you are interested in taking rainforest tour that is organized from Sorong city to Tambrauw forest please, contact me (Charles Roring) by email to: peace4wp@gmail.com or by whatsapp to: +6281332245180.

Related articles:
Kingfishers
Azure Kingfisher

Beautiful Fruit Dove

I often travel to Raja Ampat islands to guide tourists on a birdwatching and snorkeling tour for 3 to 5 days or even more. During the tour, we watch Red Bird of Paradise, Hooded Butcherbird, Eclectus Parrot, Pinon Imperial Pigeon, Claret-breasted Fruit Dove, Beautiful Fruit Dove, and a lot more. I also saw Beautiful Fruit Dove (Ptilinopus pulchellus) several times feeding on small berries of a kind of ficus tree.

Beautiful Fruit Dove

I used to see the same bird in mainland West Papua. This bird lives in lowland and hill forest. 

When I accompany tourists on snorkeling tours, we go by motorized boat to islands in Kabui bay, Dampier Strait and northeast coast of Waigeo. We swim over coral reef and see a lot of tropical fish including butterflyfish, wrasse, parrotfish, and a lot more.
Also read:

• Digital Drawing of Male Lesser Birds of Paradise
• Brown Cuckoo Dove
• Pigeons and Fruit Doves in West Papua's Forest

Slender-billed Cuckoo Dove

This is the photograph of Slender-billed Cuckoo-Dove (Macropygia Amboinensis) that I saw in the forest of north-east region of Waigeo island of Raja Ampat regency. I and two villagers were conducting an early morning bird walk when we saw the bird 2 kilometers outside Yenbekaki village. 

Actually the species of Brown Cuckoo Dove, according to Phil Gregory in his book Birds of New Guinea: including Bismarck Archipelago and Bougainville, has been split into several species. So, the ones that we see in West Papua is now called Sultan's Cuckoo Dove. The Amboyna Cuckoo Dove is considered as the species that lives in Ambon island, Seram and other islands in the Moluccans. As a matter of fact, some birders disagreed with the split.

It was a nice trip because we were able to see other birds as well including Hooded Butcherbird, Helmetted Friarbird, Oriental Dollarbird, Papuan Black Myzomela, Rufous-bellied Kookaburra, Olive-backed Sunbird (now also known as Sahul Sunbird), Beach Stone Curlew, Shining Flycatcher, Singing Starling, Eclectus Parrot, Torresian Crow, and Papuan Blyth's Hornbill.

Brown Cuckoo Dove

I turned on my camera and shot the bird. I used Canon 200D with Tamron 200D telephoto lens to make this picture. I also brought a good pair of roof prism Visionking 10×42 mm binoculars.

Raja Ampat regency in West Papua province of Indonesia is a great destination for birdwatching. As a tourist guide, I often organize birding tours to this archipelago for visitors who want to watch Red Bird of Paradise, Wilson's Bird of Paradise and a lot of other birds such as Wimbrel, Radjah Shelduck, Beach Kingfisher, White-breasted Woodswallow, Eastern Osprey, Palm Cockatoo, Sulphur-crested Cockatoo, Coconut Lorikeet, Pied Imperial Pigeon and a lot more. I usually combine the birding tour with snorkeling and sightseeing excursion to various islands in archipelago.