Birding in Klabolo Forest

Forest Bittern

This is the picture of Forest Bittern (Zonerodius heliosylus) that I took in Klabolo forest of Malagufuk village two days ago when I guided 3 Dutch birders. It was quite difficult to shoot the bird because he was sitting on the top of a tree. There were a lot of leaves and branches between I and the bird. After patiently looking for a small window among the green leaves, finally, I found one. I immediately turned on my camera and aimed it at the bird. I made some photos of the bird. I was happy because it was the first time I saw the Forest Bittern.

Western-crowned Pigeon

Another interesting bird that I saw was the Western-crowned Pigeon. When I and the Dutch birders were walking in the forest, suddenly we heard a heavy wing beat of a big bird. I recognized that it was the bird that had become our target. We looked for the bird among higher branches of the trees and were able to spot it in less than 2 minutes. Behind the bird was a bright sunlight. Taking picture of the bird in such back light condition was difficult. I tried several times but the result was not very good. At least it was good enough for identification purposes.
During our 3 days of exploring the rainforest of Klabolo, we were also able to see King Bird of Paradise, Twelve-wired Bird of Paradise, Lesser Bird of Paradise, Red-breasted Paradise Kingfisher, Common Paradise Kingfisher, Yellow-billed Kingfisher, Rufous-bellied Kookaburra, White-bellied Cuckooshrike, Northern Cassowary, Golden Myna, Yellow-faced Myna, Pinon Imperial Pigeon, Large Fig Parrot, Red-bellied Pita, Orange-bellied Fruit Dove, Beautiful Fruit Dove, Black-capped Lory, Black Lory.
In addition to birds, we saw wallaby, soa-soa monitor lizard, butterflies. The rainforest of Klabolo is a good site for nature lovers who want to see the wealth of biodiversity of West Papua.
Birding is a fascinating activity but one must make adequate preparations before going to West Papua. The lowland rainforest is the natural habitat of insects such as mosquito. There are also the tiny ones that are locally called agas and kutu maleo. When they bite our skin, we may not know about it. We will suddenly feel itchy on our skin and begin to scratch it. The insect bites will leave a lot of very itchy red dots on our skin. To prevent it, we need to wear long pants, spray anti insect lotion all over our body. We also must protect our legs, and arms from leeches that try to suck our blood. If we prepare well, we will enjoy birding easily in this harsh environment.
If you are interested in birding and want me to be your guide, please, contact me (Charles Roring) by whatsapp to: +6281332245180 or send email to: peace4wp@gmail.com if you are interested in birding in Klabolo forest of West Papua.