BIRDING ON BEO

Thank's to Michael Wangko who gives many fact facing the birding of Beo.
Michael Wangko is an experienced birding guide who can show you all the best birds and birding sites on Talaud. He is based in Beo (exactly west Beo Village. I was a chief of west Beo village) and can help with local transport arrangements, reporting to the police, and finding accommodation

Getting all the endemics on Talaud is quite a tall order, and probably requires a stay of several days. Natural forest is much more extensive on this island, giving a greater range of sites to try, and also allowing plenty of scope for exploration.

A good site to try first for an introduction to Talaud is to the north of the town of Beo. Following the coast road for a few km brings you to a large box-girder bridge over a river. Paths follow the river on both banks and soon enter nice forest. Here you have a chance at the local variation on Red-bellied Pitta (a candidate for species status), the three Tanygnathus parrots, Red-and-Blue Lory, Rufous Paradise-Flycatcher and Talaud Kingfisher.

Also close to Beo, to the south-east, are some forested slopes that have much of the above, and also a chance at the recently described Talaud Rail. A track heads in towards a spring in one location, passing through some wet and swampy patches of forest along the way. This track could be worth an early morning walk to have a chance at the rail, that otherwise only ever seems to be seen as chance roadside drive-bys!

For the more adventurous, a trip to the forested interior is a good one. Several sites are accessible from the cross-island road heading east from Beo towards the village of Rainis on the east coast. Taking a path in from across the big river, that the road passes by after a few km, soon brings you to nice condition forest on the ridges and slopes above. The path leaves from the vicinity of the village of Bengel, if you need something to aim for. Here you have a chance at Talaud Bush-hen, although it is easier to hear than see. The forest also has many of the same birds as above, plus Everett’s White-eye and Grey Imperial Pigeon can be seen. There is also a Red-and-Blue Lory communal roost tree in this area, where you can see the amazing spectacle of hundreds of lorys coming to roost in the evening. You can visit this area as a long day trip from Beo, or camp out for an extended stay.