Guided Birding Walk and Sightseeing Tour in Manado City of North Sulawesi

Manado is the capital of North Sulawesi Province of Indonesia. It has got suburban areas that are still interesting for visitors who want to enjoy birdwatching. Tropical birds that could be watched during the walking tour include: Sooty-headed Bulbul, Glossy Swiftlet, White-nest Swiftlet, Sahul Sunbird, Crimson Sunbird, Brown-throated Sunbird, Sulawesi Hanging Parrot, Pale Blue Monarch, Gray-sided Flowerpecker, Yellow-sided Flowerpecker, Pale Blue Monarch, Barred Rail, Sulawesi Crow and etc. 

Sooty-headed Bulbul

In addition to birds, we could also butterflies, dragonflies and beetles in the farmland areas outside of Manado city. Some of them include: Celebes-banded Swallowtail (Papilio gigon), The Clipper (Parthenos sylvia), Blanchard's Wood Nymph (Ideopsis vitrea), Common Birwing (Troides helena), Brown Pansy (Junonia hedonia), Pale Blue Tit (Hypolycaena sipylus), Manado Yellow Tiger (Parantica menadensis) and etc.

Dragonflies usually sit on the tip of grass blades or leaves of creeping plants that grow near water. Some that can be seen during the tour are Manado Grasshawk (Neurothemis manadensis), Green Skimmer (Orthetrum serapia), 

Butterflywatching in the Suburb of Manado city

Manado city is the destination for tourists who want to enjoy scuba diving, snorkeling and swimming in Bunaken islands and Lembeh Straight. 

Most of scuba divers cannot fly back to their countries immediately after taking the dive tour. They usually need to stay for 1 day in a hotel in Manado city. This guided birding walk that is added with city tour allows them spend time doing activities that are more interesting than just spending all day in the room of a hotel.

Extended Tour

This birdwatching tour in the suburb of Manado city can be extended to 1 more week to explore birding sites in Minahasa highland and Tangkoko Nature Reserve. 

If you are interested in taking this birdwatching tour in Manado or even throughout North Sulawesi Province, please, contact me by email to: peace4wp@gmail.com or by whatsapp to: +6281332245180. 

Also read:

• Birding in Sonder of Minahasa Highland
• Sonder Bird
• Tangkoko Birding
• Tangkoko Bird List
• Tour Around the Farmland of Minahasa
• Birdwatching in North Sulawesi
• Birding in Sulawesi's Minahasa Peninsula

Butterfly watching and Birdwatching in Manado city of North Sulawesi

A few days ago I guided Carolyn, a visitor from the United States on a butterfly watching and birding tour in Manado city of North Sulawesi Province, Indonesia. We started at around 10:00 in the morning by walking along the farm forest that was filled with coconut trees, lime trees, aren trees and a lot of other tropical plants that grow along the side of a small stream. We saw various species of butterflies and birds.

Ideopsis vitrea

For butterflies, there were The Clipper (Parthenos sylvia), Lime Swallowtail (Papilio demoleus), Common Birdwing (Troides helena), Blanchard's Ghost (Idea blanchardii), Blanchard's Tree Nymph (Ideopsis vitrea), Celebes-banded Swallowtail (Papilio gigon), Australian Lurcher (Yoma sabina nimbus), Brown Pansy (Junonia hedonia), and Pale Blue Tit (Hypolycaena sipylus). 

There were some other butterflies which I could not identify. 

Papilio gigon

Birding Walk

We also watched some birds such as: Sulawesi Crow (Corvus celebensis), Sahul Sunbird (Cynniris frenatus), a juvenile Crimson Sunbird (Aethopyga siparaja), Pacific Swallow (Hirundo tahitica), Pale Blue Monarch (Hyphothymis puella), White-nest Swiftlet (Aerodramus fuciphagus), Glossy Swiftlet (Collocalia esculenta), Sulawesi Hanging Parrot (Loriculus stigmatus), Barred Rail (Galliralus torquatus), Hair-crested (White-eyed) Drongo - (Dicrurus hottentottus leucops), Gray-sided Flowerpecker (Dicaeum celebicum), Yellow-sided Flowerpecker (Dicaeum aureolimbatum).

The trees and agricultural crops along the roadside are the habitat of Black-naped Oriole (Oriolus chinensis), Sulawesi Cuckoo-dove (Macropygia doreya albicapilla), Chestnut Munia, Scaly-breasted Munia, Sooty-headed Bulbul and etc.

Pacific Swallow

Sahul Sunbird

I brought my bridge camera, the Fujifilm HS50EXR. With this old photographic device, I could take some pictures of birds and butterflies. 

Yellow-sided Flowerpecker

At around 13:30, heavy rain started to cover the butterfly watching site. We could not continue our activity and had to return to Sam Ratulangi Airport. There, I said Good Bye to Carolyn. She would fly to Singapore by Scoot Air and then continue her trip to back to the United States. 

Also read:

• Manado City Tour
• Birdwatching Tour At The Outskirts of Manado City
• Nature Tour Around Manado City
• Butterflywatching in Sonder town of Minahasa Highland
• Butterfly watching in Minahasa Highland
• Watching Black-naped Oriole in Sonder town of Minahasa
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BUTTERFLY WATCHING AND BIRDING TOUR IN SONDER TOWN OF MINAHASA HIGHLAND

The Subdistrict town of Sonder in Minahasa highland is a recommended destination for visitors who are interested in watching butterflies, and birds of Sulawesi especially those that live in higher elevation forest. 

Manado Yellow Tiger (Parantica menadensis)

The farmland and forest around Sonder town is the habitat of a lot of species of butterflies and birds. If we walk around the agricultural land, we will be able to see such butterflies as Lime Swallowtail, Common Birdwing, Manado Yellow Tiger, Blanchard's Ghost, The Clipper, Celebes Leafwing, and a lot more. Butterflies like to gather in flowering plants to collect their nectar. Visitors could see a lot of flowering plants in Subdistrict Sonder. 

Yellow-billed Malkoha in the Tounelet slope forest of Sonder town

Birdwatching is another interesting activity which visitors can enjoy while exploring the farmland, rice paddy and forest of Sonder town. A lot of birds could be watched using binoculars and spotting scope. Some of them are listed below.

Crimson Sunbird

• Black-crowned White-eye
• Warbling White-eye (also called Japanese White-eye)
• Hair-crested Drongo
• Sulawesi Drongo
• Sulawesi Pygmy Woodpecker, 
• Sulawesi Hanging Parrot
• Pygmy Hanging Parrot
• Sulawesi Crow
• Sulawesi Blue Flycatcher
• Sulawesi Myzomela
• Crimson-crowned Flowerpecker
• Yellow-sided Flowerpecker
• Gray-sided Flowerpecker
• Green Imperial Pigeon
• Sulawesi Cuckoo-dove
• Gray-cheeked Green Pigeon
• Zebra Dove
• Sooty-headed Bulbul
• Scaly-breasted Munia
• Chestnut Munia
• Black-faced Munia
• Little Egret
• Cattle Egret
• Cinnamon Bittern
• Buff-banded Rail
• Barred Rail
• Isabelline Bush-hen
• White-breasted Woodswallow
• Sulawesi Myna
• Finch-billed Myna
• Sahul Sunbird
• Black Sunbird
• Brown-throated Sunbird
• Crimson Sumbird
• Sulawesi Scops Owl
• Yellow-billed Malkoha
• Black-naped Oriole
• and etc.

Sulawesi Pygmy Woodpecker in Tounelet Slope Forest of Sonder town

Where is Sonder? And How to go there?

Sonder is a small subdistrict town in Minahasa regency of Indonesia. 

• To reach it, visitors need to fly from their own countries to one of the major cities in Indonesia such as Jakarta, Denpasar, Surabaya, Makassar, Balikpapan, Sorong and Ternate. After that they could continue their trip to Manado city by taking a domestic flight served by Garuda Indonesia, Lion Air, SuperAirjet, TransNusa, Wings Air. It takes around 1 hour by car from the Sam Ratulangi International airport of Manado city to Sonder town.
• Visitors could also take a direct flight from Singapore to Manado city by Scoot Air.
• There are direct flights between Guangzhou in China and Manado city served by TransNusa and China Southern Airlines. 

Flight routes between Manado city and some major cities in Indonesia

Car route from Manado city to Tomohon town and Sonder town and from Manado city to Tangkoko Nature Reserve

If you are interested in taking a butterfly watching and birding tour both in the suburb of Manado city and in Sonder town of Minahasa highland, please, contact us by email to: peace4wp@gmail.com or by whatsapp to: +6281332245180. 

Also read:

• Sonder Bird
• Birding in Sonder of Minahasa Highland
• Hiking and Birdwatching in Sonder of Minahasa Highland

Butterfly watching in Sonder Town of Minahasa Highland

Sonder is a small district town in Minahasa regency of North Sulawesi Province of Indonesia. It is a recommended destination for visitors who like to watch and take picture of butterflies. 

Lime Swallowtail in the highland of Minahasa

A couple of Graphium meyeri meyeri
in Sonder town of Minahasa highland

Tourists who go to Sonder can watch butterfly and other insects in general along the roadsides, riversides, ricefields and dry agricultural lands as well as forest areas. 

Graphium anthedon in Tounelet village of Sonder town

Some butterflies that could be seen in District Sonder include: The Common Birdwing (Troides helena), Lime Swallowtail (Papilio demoleus), Blanchard's Wood Nymph (Ideopsis vitrea), Blanchard's Tree Nymph, Clipper Butterfly (Parthenos sylvia), Manado's Yellow Tiger Butterfly, and Neptis Ida Celebensis Butterfly, Celebes Leafwing butterfly (Doleschallia polibete celebensis). 

Common Birdwing

The recommended times to watch butterflies are early in the morning and late in the afternoons. Flowers that grow at the frontyard, roadsides, farmlands and forest edges always attract butterflies. 

Blanchard's Wood Nymph

Visitors who want to take pictures of butterflies can bring pocket cameras with zoom lens of several magnifications or camera with telephoto lenses.  Sometimes for closer picture, macro lens is needed. 

Manado Yellow Tiger Butterfly (Parantica manadensis)

Bringing binoculars is also recommended. The device will greatly enhance the wildlife watching experience of the visitors while they do nature walk around the forest, garden and wetland of Sonder. 

Blanchard's Tree Nymph Butterfly

The Clipper Butterfly in District Sonder of Minahasa regency

Celebes Leafwing

The butterfly watching tour can also be combined with birdwatching trip across the highland of Minahasa as well as snorkeling and sightseeing tour in Bunaken and its surrounding islands.

A caterpilar on the ground of a concrete path in Sonder town of Minahasa highland

The base for this butterfly watching trip is sub-district town of Sonder in Minahasa regency.

Flight routes to Manado city in North Sulawesi Province of Indonesia 

Land route between Subdistrict town of Sonder and Manado city

If you are interested in taking butterflywatching tour in Minahasa highland that is combined with sightseeing and birdwatching tour and want me to organize your trip, you could contact me (Charles Roring) by whatsapp to: +6281332245180 or by email to: peace4wp@gmail.com. 

Also read:

• Butterflywatching in Minahasa Highland
• Flower Tour in Minahasa Highland

Butterfly Watching in Minahasa Highland

I have just explored the highland of Minahasa especially the forest and flower garden areas in Sonder town to see its wildlife. I saw a lot of interesting animals including butterflies. I took pictures of some of them. 

A big butterfly that I saw in the Sonder forest of Minahasa was Blanchard's Ghost Butterfly (Idea blanchardii). It was a big butterfly whose wingspan was around 12 to 14 centimeters. According to Wikipedia, the butterfly was named Idea blandchardii, after a French zoologist and entomologist, Charles Émile Blanchard (1819-1900). 

Blanchard's Ghost Butterfly in the Highland of Minahasa

One that attracts my attention was a big butterfly whose wings were larger than other butterflies. The main colors of the butterfly were black and bright yellow. Later, when I did searches on the internets for identifying the butterfly, I found that its name was Troides helena. The wingspan of this Helena Birdwing Butterfly was around 12 centimeters. It was difficult for me to take pictures of the butterfly because it hopped from one flower to another when taking their nectar. 

In Greek mythology, Helena or Helen was the daughter of Zeus (the god of sky and thunder). She was said to have been the most beautiful woman in the world. 

Helena Birdwing Butterfly

Another butterfly whose colour patterns on the wings are unique was Clipper Butterfly (Parthenos sylvia salentia). It could easily be found among the flowers of trees and shrub plants in the mornings when I did walking tours. 

Sulawesi Clipper Butterfly

The Clipper

Sulawesi Leafwing Butterfly

There was also Sulawesi Leafwing Butterfly (Doleschallia polibete celebensis), Manado Yellow Tiger Butterfly (Parantica menadensis). The butterfly could easily be seen hanging on flowers of tall grass along the roadside of Minahasa highland. This butterfly was not shy when I took picture of it.

Manado Yellow Tiger Butterfly

The next photographs below are the Blanchard's Wood Nymp butterfly (Ideopsis vitrea), the Neptis ida celebensis, Lime Swallowtail (Papilio demoleos), Sacred Tabby (Pseudergolis avesta) and Gigon Swallowtail (Papilio gigon). 

Blanchard's Wood Nymph

Neptis ida

Lime Swallowtail (Papilio demoleus)

Sacred Tabby

Gigon Swallowtail

Where is Sonder and how to get there?

Sonder is a small town in Minahasa regency of North Sulawesi Province in the Republic of Indonesia. It can easily be reached by car or motorcycle from Manado city which is the capital of Indonesia. To visit Sonder town, see the following flight routes:

• International visitors need to fly from their countries to Singapore. After that, take a direct flight by Scoot Air to Manado city.
• International visitors can also fly to Jakarta, Surabaya or Denpasar and then continue their trip by domestic airlines such as Batik Air, Citilink, and Lion Air to Manado city.
• There is also direct flight between Manado city and Sorong city.

Traveling to Manado city

When you arrive in Manado city, I could meet you at the airport and then organize your trip to Sonder town. 

There are a lot of other butterflies that we can see in Minahasa if we explore its rainforest and farmland areas. If you are interested in traveling to Indonesia and want me to organize your tour, please, contact me (Charles Roring) by whatsapp to: +6281332245180 or by email to: peace4wp@gmail.com. 

Also read:

• Birding in North Sulawesi
• Birding Walk in Sonder Town of North Sulawesi
• Flower Tour in Minahasa Highland