In early-September 2020 I took a flight from Denpasar, Bali to Manado, North Sulawesi (via Makassar, South Sulawesi). Nice easy and fairly quick journey of about 4 hours including the stops with a bit of faff for Covid-screening etc.
The plan was for 3 nights at Tangkoko with 1 night at Tomohon (for birding at Mt Mahawu) on the tip on the Minahassa Peninsula. I think I was the first western person to have gone birding around Tangkoko National Park/Nature Reserve since Covid happened and everything shut down, as a result the usual known stakeouts for many of the birds were not currently known as the local guides hadn't been into the park for many months. I had two mornings in Tangkoko Nature Reserve, one afternoon session there and one session at nearby Temboan Hill, and one morning on the mangrove boat ride. Weather at Tangkoko was hot and dry. Over near Tomohon I had one wet morning birding session of a couple of hours at Mt Mahawu. The birding at Tangkoko was really enjoyable. Quiet at times with lots of walking to cover the distance but I got a lot of the targets I was after. Birding at Mt Mahawu was not very successful due to the poor weather conditions. Full sighting details on my eBird profile here. It was a useful trip to go and check out a few spots that we visit on our July Sulawesi and Halmahera tour - details of which can be found here.
Here are a few of the highlight birds that I managed to photograph during the trip:
Green-backed Kingfisher - front view!
Green-backed Kingfisher - back view!
Lilac Kingfisher
Great-billed Kingfisher (Black-billed Kingfisher)
Knobbed Hornbill
Knobbed Hornbill
Ochre-bellied Boobook
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