Tangkoko - 18th September

After a leisurely and rather late breakfast we drove to Tangkoko and stopped at the viewpoint where we spent most of the morning. The view from here is quite splendid and enabled us to scan the canopy along the valley and we quickly picked up a couple of Ornate Lorikeets, followed by both Large and Small Sulawesi Hanging-parrots. A Black-naped Fruit-dove was picked up and we also found a White-necked Myna. All the time we were surrounded by the pale-rumped Sulawesi and more common Glossy Swiftlets. A steady passage of Chinese Goshawks was taking place and we had eye-level views of them flying through the valley, along with a Sulawesi Goshawk and Sulawesi Honey-buzzard, and eventually a Sulawesi Hawk-eagle was found. Leaving here we drove just down the road to our lodge where we spent a leisurely lunchtime before heading into the forest.

Red-backed Thrush

 What an afternoon session it turned out to be with at least 8 Green-backed Kingfishers seen, and as we walked up the track into the dry forest we found a wonderful Red-backed Thrush feeding in the leaf litter. 

Lilac-cheeked Kingfisher

Lower down a couple of Lilac-cheeked Kingfishers showed very well and we spent some time observing them. But after all of our hard work with owls over the previous nights it was a stunningly huge relief to finally see a pair of Sulawesi Scops-owls at their day roost, and an Ochre-bellied Boobook was also seen at its roost. 

Sulawesi Scops-owls

We ended the day hearing Sulawesi Nightjar before returning to our lodge.