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