North Sulawesi Part 2 - 1st - 4th October - Days 16-19 Tangkoko
After arrival at Manado airport early afternoon on 1st November, we drove in a minibus for ~2 hours to a mangrove-lined estuary where we had a boat ride – looking for Black-billed Kingfisher (which we saw as we were getting into the boat) and Great-billed Heron (which we did not see). The ride was pleasant enough, though somewhat hampered by the constant sound of electric tools used by a nearby boatman. After the boat ride we went to Tangkoko Lodge – our accommodation for the next 3 nights. |
On 2nd November we drove for about 20 minutes up to an overlook with good view of the surrounding area and did a session of static birding from two spots, one with the birds closer and in good light, the other with the birds distant and looking towards the sun. Susan had said that Tangkoko was her favourite part of the tour – so I found this session somewhat disappointing in style, although we did see some good birds. After returning to the lodge for lunch and a break we repeated the session in the afternoon when it was less productive.
2nd November: 36 species seen; 4 new for me