Standardwing Leks and a Megapode Beach
The first morning’s excursion at Tanah Batu Putih is the short pilgrimage to the Wallace’s standardwing lek. Just before dawn, Anu will guide you across the stream below his house and up a short, steep trail to a small clearing in the forest. Here, in the cool dawn, two or three male standardwings perform their display flights. Shadows at first, but, as the light improves, the iridescent breast spurs and four strange, white, elongated feathers become visible. What a bizarre bird!
Brilliant though it is, this standardwing lek is pitifully small. If you have three or four days and really want an unforgettable experience, ask anu to take you to the lek tree of hundred or more birds he discovered during the 1995 BirdLife International surveys. Getting there is great journey, which starts with a 4-hr bus ride to Tobelo, followed by 2,5 hours by speedboat across the magnificent Kao bay to the village of Lel life. The display tree is just a 4-km trek away.
This trip is easily combined with a visit to another truly remarkable bird phenomenon-the world’s largest nesting beach of Wallacean Scrubfowl. The PHPA office in Tobelo will give permission to visit the 1.6-km long, black sand beach, which is pitted with the nest burrows of this extraordinary bird.
The beach owners harvest the eggs in an apparently sustainable manner. At least, for nearly a hundred years they have been collecting the eggs, and hundreds of scrubfowl still arrive each night to lay their single, massive egg.
Source: Birding Indonesia. Periplus Publishing. Singapore
Birdbody berisi informasi seputar pariwisata, hotel, kuliner dan budaya khas Indonesia
A Birder's Best Friend For Birdwatching In Moluccas
A Birder’s Best Friend
This is due in part to the daily flights to Ternate, the famous neighbouring spice island, from Manado or Ambon, but it is mainly because the first adventurous birder chanced to meet Deminaus Bagadli (or Anu, as he is universally known), a farmer with a natural talent for birding, who has since become host, friend and ace guide to visiting birders.
Anu’s “birdwatchers home”, a very basic losmen, is located in a dip to the right of the road at Tanah Batu Putih, 8 km along the road out of Sidangoli. Forested hills rise up behind the house, making it a great place to hang out and get into some serious birding. Finding it is simple: just climb into any of the bemos meeting the ferry and ask for Tempat Burung Bidadari (bidadari, or fairy bird, is the local name for standardwing).
Nowadays, Anu is often away working on conservation projects, so it is best first to call in at his brother’s shop, Toko Mandiri, in Domato village, to make arrangements. If Anu is not around, his detailed birders’ log will point you in the right direction.
Source: Birding Indonesia. Periplus Publishing. Singapore
This is due in part to the daily flights to Ternate, the famous neighbouring spice island, from Manado or Ambon, but it is mainly because the first adventurous birder chanced to meet Deminaus Bagadli (or Anu, as he is universally known), a farmer with a natural talent for birding, who has since become host, friend and ace guide to visiting birders.
Anu’s “birdwatchers home”, a very basic losmen, is located in a dip to the right of the road at Tanah Batu Putih, 8 km along the road out of Sidangoli. Forested hills rise up behind the house, making it a great place to hang out and get into some serious birding. Finding it is simple: just climb into any of the bemos meeting the ferry and ask for Tempat Burung Bidadari (bidadari, or fairy bird, is the local name for standardwing).
Nowadays, Anu is often away working on conservation projects, so it is best first to call in at his brother’s shop, Toko Mandiri, in Domato village, to make arrangements. If Anu is not around, his detailed birders’ log will point you in the right direction.
Source: Birding Indonesia. Periplus Publishing. Singapore
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)