Morning General Birding in Sonder and Tomohon

Yesterday, I guided two tourists from France and the UK in Minahasa highland on a morning general birding tour across Sonder and Tomohon. They stayed at a resort in Tomohon town. I and my driver Veki picked them up at 05:00. After that we went to Sonder Hill forest. It was long draught. We could see a lot of plants were drying. We walked along the roadside in that hill. Trees and shrubs grew along both sides of the road. In this hill, we saw Black-crowned White-eye, Sultan's Cuckoo-dove, a flock of Pygmy Hanging Parrott flying to the west, perhaps, to river area, Sulawesi Hanging Parrot, Hair-crested Drongo, Gray-cheeked Green Pigeon, Collared Kingfisher, Yellow-sided Flowerpecker, Gray-sided Flowerpecker, Black-faced Munia, and etc. 

Collared Kingfisher

After spending around 1 hour there, we drove down the slope to Tounelet Slope, I tried to call Pygmy Woodpecker, Sulawesi Hanging Parrot and Black-naped Oriole. Unfortunately, we only saw Barred Rail, Sooty-headed Bulbul, and Sulawesi Crow. The road was busy with motorized vehicles that pass through it. 

We continued our trip to rice field area in Talikuran. There we saw Chestnut Munia, Black-winged Kite, Brahminy Kite, Eastern Yellow Wagtail, Bay Coucal, White-breasted Woodswallow, White-nest Swiftlet, Collared Kingfisher, and Little Egret. 

Sooty-headed Bulbul

We continued our trip to Kengkang Waterfall. It was around 09:00 when we arrived. The air temperature was quite warm. We did not see a lot of birds there. We only saw Small Sparrowhawk sitting on the branch of a tree on a slope near the waterfall. I tried to call Sulawesi-crested Myna but the bird did not come out from the surrounding forest. There were butterflies that were flying around the flower garden of the waterfall. They were Blanchard's Wood Nymph, The Clipper, and Great Orange Tip butterflies.

Sunda Teal in Minahasa highland

We continued our trip by passing through the farmland of Sonder. A Yellow-billed Malkoha was flying over the banana plantations as we passed through the farmland area of Mapaso. We reached Lake Linow. We drove through the left road that led us to the side of the lake that was closer to the hot steam. I used my spotting scope to identify some birds that were walking along the beach of the lake. We saw Wood Sandpiper, Common Sandpiper, Sunda Teal, Dusky Moorhen, Cattle Egret, Barn Swallow, Pacific Swallow, and Collared Kingfisher. I used open my Merlin Bird App. and played some recordings in it. First, I called the Oriental Reed Warbler, minutes later, a couple of the birds came out of their hiding place and sat on the twigs of the shrub plants that were growing along the lake side. 

Sahul Sunbird (female), Yellow-billed Malkoha, Gray-cheeked Green Pigeon, Barred Rail

The next bird that I called was Isabelline Bush-hen. Unfortunately, he did not come out from the bush that was growing on the slope of the surrounding hill of the lake. It was around 10:40 when we left the lake. After taking a short stop at bank Mandiri of Tomohoan town, we brought the tourists back to their resort. They thanked me and the driver for the tour that I organized. Finally, we could return to home with happy face.

If you are interested in taking a morning general birding your in forest and farmland of Sonder and Tomohon town, please, contact me by email to: peace4wp@gmail.com or by whatsapp through this contact link. 

Also read: 

• Birding Tour in Sonder of Minahasa highland
• Birding in Tomohon of North Sulawesi, Indonesia
• Early Morning Birding at the Outskirts of Manado

Early Morning Birding at The Outskirts of Manado

For 2 consecutive mornings (8 to 9 Oct. 2026), I ran 2 birding tours at the outskirts of Manado city. Our destination were the rainforest and farmland areas.

My first birding trip was with Simone - a birdwatcher from Germany. At 05:00, I and my driver picked her up at Sutan Raja Hotel (around 30 minutes ride from Sam Ratulangi International Airport). We arrived at the birding site at around 05:30. When we got off the car, we immediately were welcomed by the calling sounds of various species of birds. I saw Barred Rail walking on a dry path at the side of water stream. Yellow-billed Malkoha and Bay Coucal hopped around the branches of a tree in front of us. I played the recorded sounds of them to attract them to get closer to us. We had to change position several times to see them using our binoculars. 

Lilac Kingfisher at a farm forest in the suburb of Manado city

As we walked deeper into the forest, we saw Green Imperial Pigeon, Sulawesi Crow and Brahminy Kite sitting on the branches of trees of a hill in the right of us. We spent around 15 minutes watching these birds. After that, we continued our birding walk along the concrete path again. We saw Pacific Swallows and Glossy Swiftlet. There was also a Chinese Sparrowhawk sitting on a horizontal branch of a tree around 20 meters from us. We could only see its back. 

On the way back, we walked along different route which was a dirt path. We were able to see Minahasa Hooded Pitta and Sulawesi Pitta. There were small birds like Yellow-sided Flowerpecker and Gray-sided Flowerpecker. 

Sahul Brush Cuckoo

When we focused our attention to birds in trees, we did not realize that there was a Minahasa Hooded Pitta standing in front of us. We tried to take picture but he hopped quickly into the bush near water stream. I played the sound of the birds several times and walked away from the bird to give him enough space to show up. In less then five minutes we could see the Minahasa Hooded Pitta again for quite long, around 15 minutes. I was able to make some videos of the birds. We also saw Sulawesi Pitta. He hopped along the dirt path and made a lot of stops to look for food. It was our lucky morning. We could see other birds such as Green-backed Kingfisher, Sulawesi Hanging Parrot, Gray-rumped Treeswift, Zebra Dove, Sulawesi Crow, Collared Kingfisher, and Pale Blue Monarch. We completed our morning birding tour near the airport of Manado city at 10:00. We brought her to airport at around 12:30. It was a fantastic birding experience. She flew back to her country via Jakarta.

My next early morning birding trip was with a couple from China. They lived in a city near Beijing. They contacted me at night. After sending them the program and agreed on a price, I and my driver picked them up at Victoria Inn at 05:00. We went to the birding site immediately and then started birding at around 05:30. We saw a lot of birds including Sulawesi Dwarf Hornbill, Brahminy Kite, Bay Coucal, and Yellow-billed Malkoha. My birding experience with these Chinese tourists were even better. We saw Lilac Kingfisher, Hair-crested Drongo, Minahasa Hooded Pitta, Sulawesi Pitta, Yellow-sided Flowerpecker, Gray-sided Flowerpecker, Black Sunbird, Collared Kingfisher, Sulawesi Hanging Parrot, and Pale Blue Monarch. We returned to Victoria Inn at 10:00. They were very happy with the early morning birding trip at the outskirts of Manado because they could see Minahasa Hooded Pitta and Sulawesi Pitta.

Sulawesi Pitta in a farm forest at the outskirts of Manado city

If you are interested in taking a birding tour from Manado city to birding site at the suburb area or  from Tomohon town to forest and farmland in Minahasa highland and want me to organize your trip, please, contact me (Charles Roring) by email to: peace4wp@gmail.com or by whatsapp through this contact link.