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| Wilson's Bird-of-Paradise |
We
flew from Manikwari to Sorong following
our Arfak Mountains visit, then caught the ferry for the 2.5-hour
journey to the island of Waigeo at the far western end of West Papua.
Large numbers of Red-necked Phalarope were at sea. We were
transferred to the pleasant Korpak Villa Resort for a 3-night stay.
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| Korpak Villa Resort |
The next day began with another nocturnal hike through forest to be
at a special spot at dawn - a hide overlooking the lek of a Wilson's
Bird-of-Paradise.
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| Wilson's Bird-of Paradise |
As
the sun rose the forest resounded with the loud, distinctive call of
the male Wilson's. Then a male bird landed on a bare branch near the
ground in the lek. It hopped about, overturning and moving leaves,
and even in the half light the vividness of its extraordinary colours
was evident. That striking combination or iridescent green, blue,
yellow, black and red - with violet circular tail feathers – was
something to behold as the sunlight improved. At
one stage the bird fluffed out its shield of breast feathers to
display to a visiting female. It left and returned several times,
paying close attention to tidying the lek; a large leaf that floated
down between visits was swiftly removed. It was no surprise that this
species – found only on Waigeo and the nearby island of Batanta,
was voted by the group as the top bird of the trip.
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| Wilson's Bird-of-Paradise (displaying above) |
Returning
back down the track we saw the regional endemic Raja Ampat Pitohui,
which was encountered on other occasions over the next two days.
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| Raja Ampat Pithoui |
A
Palm Cockatoo was spotted along the road.
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| Palm Cockatoo |
In
the afternoon we visited another hide, this one two storeys high,
where the Red Bird-of-Paradise put on a show for us. We watched as
6-8 birds flew about, with males displaying and chasing each other as
females checked out what was on offer. Two top birds-of-paradise in a
day was nothing to complain about.
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| Red Bird-of-Paradise (female above, male below) |
The
next two mornings we walked the trails of Warkesi Forest Park. Here
we found the endemic Waigeo Shrikethrush to be quite common. A
lookout gave us good views of Black-capped Lory, Orange-fronted
(Papuan) Hanging Parrot and Black-shouldered Cuckooshrike, with brief
views of White-eared Catbird for some.
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| Black-capped Lory |
Brown-headed
Crow and Dusky Megapode were located along the track and a few had
fly-by views of New Guinea Bronzewing. A Papuan Boobook was finally
seen before dawn on our last morning; we had heard several earlier
during the tour.
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| Papuan Boobook |
Returning
one evening we spotlighted a female Northern Common Cuscus with a
well-developed youngster in tow roadside.
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| Northern Common Cuscus |
We
took a boat out one afternoon and visited the attractive Mioskon
Island. Some of us enjoyed a spot of snorkelling and all of us
enjoyed good views of Spice Imperial Pigeon, another regional
specialty.
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| Spice Imperial Pigeon |
Pied
Imperial Pigeon and Beach Kingfisher were common, while
Violent-necked Lory was added to the list.
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| Pied Imperial Pigeon |
We
motored on for a thoroughly enchanting ride through hundreds of
limestone, rainforest-topped islands in Kabui Bay.
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| Kabui Bay |
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| Waigeo Coast |
We returned to
Sorong by ferry the next day, when Matsudaira's Storm-Petrel and
Bulwer's Petrel for some were notable sightings.
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| Bulwer's Petrel (pic by Richard Fuller) |
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