West Papua (1 Viewer)

[Arie G]

Hello,

I'm planning to go to West Papua for some diving and birding next year, unfortunately to my surprise there is not much information available. Isn't this area very famous for its birds of paradise? I did get quite alot of information from Cloudbirders but these are all trip reports. These reports don't really mention which sites are best, and there seems to be quite a lot of places to choose from?
Species like the Arfak Astrapia, Flame Bowerbird, Superb BOP and Magnificent Riflebird are on the top of my list, the birds of paradice entice me most.

I would love to do a tour but the costs are all astronomical - I can't afford those at this stage. I'm used to a bit of backpacking so I'll probably manage on my own, although I'm still looking for companion(s) but that's another subject.

Main areas of interest based on my research:
- Waigeo (Red and Wilson BOP, also good place for diving)
- Arfak mountains

Some other areas I'm less sure about:
- Nimbokrang (many mosquitos but interesting BOP species?)
- Wamena / Lake Habema area (seems very remote, probably too hard, but seems to have nice (BoP) species
- Biak/Numfor/Yapen Island (many endemic species, but even less info available)

Anyone here to help me out? Which sites are most worth it? Thanks in advance!

 

[amears]

Hi there - we put a lot of effort into planning a great itinerary and it's all mapped out in my report, which I suspect you've seen. Priorities were BOPs and other specials. So if you were taking 3 weeks birding, you could do a lot worse than mimic what we did.

Just search for Andy Mears West Papua... Hope you have a blast.

 

[Arie G]

Yes I did read your report, several times! Sounds like you had a great time, so many crazy species!

Just wondering, what area did you like best?
Also, I'm mainly a photographer, not really a birder, but I'm tempted to invest in a scope. How useful is one in jungle conditions? I might take a shot at digiscoping as well, the weight sets me a bit off though.... Also many displays seem to take place during dawn, I guess it's quite a challenge to capture them. Papua as a whole is quite challenging due to hunting I read?

I won't have much time unfortunately, I'm planning to stay for 1 month but will be diving for at least 2 weeks. I'm also thinking about including Lembeh and Tangkoko national park (Sulawesi) which would result in even less time, options options
If I were to focus on Arfak/Waigeo, would I miss out on too much?

Thanks for your time!

 

[amears]

Very glad to be of help. Have you also seen this very useful report?
https://www.cloudbirders.com/tripreport/repository/KNASS_WestPapua_1011_2015.pdf

Lists sps highlights per site, which is just what you’re after I think.

Nimbokrang is classic lowland rainforest so if you like it hot and sweaty, with shy forest species and absolute jewels if you strike lucky, it’s for you. Easy to get to and I thought Jamil’s place to stay was really quite comfortable considering how remote it is. Photography will be hard but possible.

Lake Habema is a bit of a mission. Unreliable flights and even access can be tricky due to local disputes and the like. Chilly and damp but we had lots of sun so were lucky. Fab birds but plenty would prove very challenging to photograph.

Waigeo – well if it’s scuba diving and spectacular photo opps for birds you want, you might find Waigeo hard to beat on the world stage. I think you have to pencil it in. You don't need much time to do it justice either.

The Arfaks arguably offer the best birding of the whole lot but you gamble with the weather and in turn, how hard the trails are. With luck, the weather will allow super photo opps. If it rains all the time you’re there, the camera will barely come out of its bag.

A scope was worth taking for things like Twelve-wired and Red BOPs, and various pigeons. Well worth it in fact even if it only gets used occasionally. We even scoped Shovel-billed K.

I’m told that because humans have hunted in New Guinea for hundreds of thousands of years (hope that’s about right, I’m no anthropologist), the birds there are amongst the shyest on earth. I wouldn’t let that or current hunting practices put you off.

You will miss out by focussing on just 2 sites but I think that is a very wise thing to do and you’ve suggested a fantastic pair.

Hope this is useful,
A

 

[GDK]

Very glad to be of help. Have you also seen this very useful report?
https://www.cloudbirders.com/tripreport/repository/KNASS_WestPapua_1011_2015.pdf

Lists sps highlights per site, which is just what you’re after I think.

Nimbokrang is classic lowland rainforest so if you like it hot and sweaty, with shy forest species and absolute jewels if you strike lucky, it’s for you. Easy to get to and I thought Jamil’s place to stay was really quite comfortable considering how remote it is. Photography will be hard but possible.

Lake Habema is a bit of a mission. Unreliable flights and even access can be tricky due to local disputes and the like. Chilly and damp but we had lots of sun so were lucky. Fab birds but plenty would prove very challenging to photograph.

Waigeo – well if it’s scuba diving and spectacular photo opps for birds you want, you might find Waigeo hard to beat on the world stage. I think you have to pencil it in. You don't need much time to do it justice either.

The Arfaks arguably offer the best birding of the whole lot but you gamble with the weather and in turn, how hard the trails are. With luck, the weather will allow super photo opps. If it rains all the time you’re there, the camera will barely come out of its bag.

A scope was worth taking for things like Twelve-wired and Red BOPs, and various pigeons. Well worth it in fact even if it only gets used occasionally. We even scoped Shovel-billed K.

I’m told that because humans have hunted in New Guinea for hundreds of thousands of years (hope that’s about right, I’m no anthropologist), the birds there are amongst the shyest on earth. I wouldn’t let that or current hunting practices put you off.

You will miss out by focussing on just 2 sites but I think that is a very wise thing to do and you’ve suggested a fantastic pair.

Hope this is useful,
A

Good summary above by Andy, all sites are good because they provide opportunities for access to different habitats and geographical areas with localised endemics. For the species you mentioned in your first post, Arfaks is a good location for most of those. With blinds set up, opportunities for photography of some of the Birds of Paradise (although probably not the ones you mention) are quite good, however it will be low light.

nb: The email address for Eliakim in the above link is no longer active. Contacting Zeth and co. in advance is quite difficult!

Nimbokrang is visited for the lowland species, because access is relatively straight forward and certain key lowland birds are staked out. There are lowland areas on the Vogelkop where you can get some of the lowland species (eg King BoP, Mag. Rifebird etc), including areas Zeth and Eliakim know, so you could enquire about these when at Arfaks. I dont have any more details on these Im afraid. We heard Mag. Riflebird in the valley below Syoubri in the Arfaks, and you can walk down to this area from there (see eg Michiel de Boer's excellent report - not currently on line by looks of it).

Regarding lack of info on West Papua generally, if you are after information on the natural history of West Papua, you could try the two volume set: Ecology of Papua. It's heavy scientific reading on the whole.

Also worth checking is the Birds Indonesia website, which provides lots of info: http://burung-nusantara.org/birding-indonesia/sites/papua/

Cheers

 

[tony.saw]

If you are interested in visiting Biak & Numfor, have a look at http://www.discoverpapua.com/ or http://www.discoverrajaampat.com/. They arranged our trips to the two islands. Benny Lesomar appears to be the man to contact if interested.
Tony