Borneo July 2014

A Borneo holiday was , specifically with Orang Utans in mind but it also worked as it is vaguely on route to Australia. Our arrangements for Borneo (All in the Malaysian state of Sabah) were made through Wildlife Trails who we'd successfully done trips with before to Sri Lanka, India and Canada as they seem to have a particularly good understanding of fitting the wildlife bit with 2  children.

Wednesday 23rd July

So after 2 flights from the UK we arrived late afternoon in Kota Kinabulu a little tired and sweaty and were transferred to our hotel, Le Meridian, in the centre of town overlooking the South China Sea. A quick shower and freshen up and we went for a walk in the (rather smelly) food and clothing market across the street before crashing for the night. I surrepticiously managed to get my bird list started with
Black-naped Tern, Asian Glossy Starling, House Crow, Pacific Reef Egret and Imperial Green Pigeon from the hotel window !

Thursday 24th July

We were up early and back to KK airport for an internal flight to Sandakan, at this point we were joined by Zeno, who was our personal guide for the next 9 nights. The flight was only 45 minutes and we transfered to a minibus for a 2 hour drive to the Myne Resort which is on the Kinabatangan River arriving mid afternoon. The river is the longest in Sabah and is surrounded by a strip of rainforest, although for much of our drive we could tell the pressures the forest is under for development through the vast areas of Palm plantations which have replaced the original forest.

A Collared Kingfisher was seen on route and a Bushy Crested Hornbill flew into the car park on arrival. The jungle temperature was hot and sweaty which we would need to quickly get used to but the cabin rooms were good with aircon and a fan. About 4pm we went on or first river trip with Zeno and a driver in our own boat with a big outboard and our luck was in as a herd of Bornean Pygmy Elephants were on the bank of the river opposite our lodge, ignoring us in the boat and then entering the shallow edge of the river to bathe and play, absolutely delighfu, a joy watch at close quarters, we carried on downstream soon seeing a very large Estuarine Croc of approx 4m in length.

Our trip took us to a side tributary and then we slowly returned to the lodge just before sunset. We saw our first primates, Long tailed Macaques, Silver Leaf Langurs and lastly the odd looking Proboscis Monkeys. Other sightings included a Yellow banded Snake and a large Monitor Lizard. Several birds were seen including Crested Sepent Eagle, Blue throated Beeeater, Lesser Adjutant, Stork billed Kingfisher, Blue eared Kingfisher, Black naped Monarch and 3 more species of Hornbill, Oriental Pied Hornbill, Black Hornbill and Wrinkled Hornbill, a calling Hooded Pitta remained hidden close to the riverbank. A Bearded Pig at the lodge after dinner concluded the exciting first days sightings.

Stork billed Kingfisher

Long tailed Macaque

Monitor Lizard

Oriental Pied Hornbill

Black Hornbill

Yellow banded Snake

Wrinkled Hornbill

Proboscis Monkey

Friday 25th July

I'm used to getting up before first light as the first few hours of the day are often the most productive for wildlife, so I had no problem at 5.30am when it was still dark getting ready for our early morning boat trip. The girls are not used to it and it wasn't without a few grumbles that we managed to coax them down from our cabin to the boat ramp.

We set off on our boat and before too long had re-encountered the Elephants, who had obviously crossed the river overnight and Zeno estimated they would soon have worked their way to an area where there would be no more viewing so our timing had proved fortunate. An eerie call turned out to be a lone Bornean Gibbon at the top of a tree, looking for his mates. We headed to an area called the oxbow lake and then again returned slowly for breakfast at the lodge, we saw more Proboscis Monkeys, a White bellied Eagle, White chested Babbler, Pied Fantail, Brahminy Kite, Dollarbird and Purple Heron.

After breakfast I spent some time on the balcony of our cabin whihc overlooked a variety of tall flowering and fruiting trees down to the river edge which was quite productive with Yellow rumped Flowerpecker, Ashy Tailorbird, Scarlet backed Flowerpecker, Brown Barbet, Chestnut backed Scimitar Babbler and a Yellow and Black Broadbill, then best of all a loud honking sound (think Canada Goose but 10x louder) turned out to be a Rhinoceros Hornbill in a large fruiting tree only visible when it flew across the river.

We had another afternoon boat trip but this wasnt as productive as our morning trip and we raced back to the lodge early and just avoided a drenching as a thunderstorm hit.

Then after dinner we went on a night walk with the sky still flashing with lightning but the rain had stopped. We saw quite a few frogs and then fluked on a Brown Wood Owl perched above us on a forest trail, returning to our rooms about 10.30pm.

River from the lodge

Bornean Pygmy Elephant

Blue eared Kingfisher

Bushy crested Hornbills

Purple Heron

Saturday 26th July

The  main reason we came to Borneo was to see Orang Utans and we'd always rather see them wild than in the renowned Recovery Centre at Sepilok. All 3 forest locations we were going to, had recorded sightings but we thought our best chance was probably on the river , so that meant today we had to find one, which Zeno was well aware of as we kept reminding him. So we set out on the boat around 6.30am and had only ventured 200m when an Urang Utan was spotted. It was a male and he was still in his overnight nest at the top of a tree. He slowly moved around reaching for fruit but remained in his nest for the 20 minutes we were watching. It wasn't the greatest view but it was a decent sighting the only issue we had was that we couldn't get Hannah out of bed this morning so she had missed it !.

Elated, we headed down stream and soon had sightings of Wallace's Hawk Eagle and Jerdon's Baza. We turned down the same side channel we had been on the first day and quickly found a Blue eared Kingfisher then a Stork billed Kingfisher
We heard what at first sounded like a pigeon, but Zeno said that sounds like a Ground Cuckoo. The Bornean Ground Cuckoo is a rare and much sought after bird and sightings by visiting birders are often few and far between . The bird continued to call it's deep call which sounded like a cross between a pigeon and a cuckoo. Another bird started to respond the other side of the channel. We tried looking in the trees on both banks but the birds were hidden. Zeno suggested that the only way might be to clamber out of the boat onto the bank. Part of me could see that this just might meet a very muddy end and Sal and Adie didn't look too impressed, but as we nudged the boat into the bank there was the Bornean Ground Cuckoo about 10 ft off the ground in a tree. What luck.! It seemed content calling away and we had excellent views for about 10 minutes before we decided to leave it in peace. A Lesser Adjutant, Asian fairy Bluebird and White bellied Eagle were seen on the way back to the lodge in what was a great mornings excursion.

After breakfast I went on a walk with Zeno , led by one of the lodge workers with a Machete. It was already steaming and very sweaty, as we headed up a hill towards the start of a trail Zeno heard a distant call of the Great Argus (a large pheasant) and decided we should try and track the bird down. So off we went under electric fences through a palm plantation then into the forest where the trails were non existent and we were up and down hills sometimes on our hands and knees and occasionally waiting for Macheteman to clear a way. An hour and a half later I was grubby and drenched with sweat and although at one point we obviously got close we didn't see the bird. The only bird we saw was a Spectacled Bulbul but I enjoyed the adventure.

We had a rest after lunch before visiting the Gomatong Caves in the late afternoon.
The caves are renowned for their bat and swiftlet populations over a million of each. There are 4 types of swiftlet, the Glossy Swiftlet, the Edible nest Swiflet, the Mossy nest Swiftlet and the Black nest Swiftlet, the only easy way to identify the last 3 species is by the nest shape which I managed to do. The caves themselves were understandably a smelly affair with slippery guano covered walkways crawling with Cockroaches and the occasional giant Centipede, not for the faint-stomached. We watched the vast numbers of Swiftlets entering the caves for a while but decided not to hang around at the cave entrance and wait for dusk mainly because of an approaching thunderstorm, we walked back to the start of the trail and struck lucky as a mother and baby Orang Utan were in a fruiting tree near the car park so Hannah got to see these which was a relief. Whilst watching the Ape activity the bats had started to leave the caves in big waves and a number of Bat Hawks were attacking the waves of bats, quite a spectacle. We headed back to the lodge in a massive thunderstorm with the rain continuing through the night, but what a superb day.

More river views

Male Orang Utan in nest

Great Egret

Stork billed Kingfisher

Bornean Ground Cuckoo

Bornean Ground Cuckoo !

White bellied Eagle

Green Agami Lizard

Entrance to the Gomatong Caves

Swiftlets and Bats in the cave

Cockroach clan in the caves

Black nest Swiftlet on nest.

Sunday 27th July

Today we left the river and journeyed to the Danum Valley by road, we'd had a great time at Myne Resort and had been very lucky with the wildlife. One bird  was hoping to catch up with on the river was a Storm's Stork an endangered endemic bird but with a stronghold in the area but we just hadn't come across one on the river.
Our car journey was about 2 hours to the town of Lahud Datu, about an hour into the journey Zeno asked the driver to pull over and we got out of the minibus and walked a 100yds down the road and sat in a tree preening was a Storm's Stork !
We changed vehicles at the Borneo Rainforest Lodge office and set off on another 2 hour drive to the lodge, situated in the middle of spectacular primary rainforest and next to the Danum river.

We arrived to a fantastic lunch buffet, it was very hot and steamy but we went out for an afternoon walk along the trails as well as Zeno we had Adzel who was one of the lodge guides and also luckily knew his birds. We walked up the main track to the canopy walkway and back through a forest trail to the lodge.
We saw a few birds a Chestnut winged Babbler, Green Iora, Orange bellied Flowerpecker, Black winged Flycatcher shrike, Lesser Green Leafbird, Whiskered Treeswift and Brown Fulvetta. Just as the light was fading Adzel took me to another trail and after a short wait we managed to see a Blue headed Pitta.

After dinner we hopped on a truck for a night drive. Rain was threatening so I decided to leave the camera behind (always a mistake). Less than a minute into the drive an Owl was seen on the ground just inside the first row of scrub next to the track, it was a Buffy Fish Owl and was standing next to a tiny pool when it plunged in and pulled out a frog devoured it then disappeared into the forest, great stuff. We then had great success with the mammals, seeing a  Giant Red Flying Squirrel which glided in front of us between trees, a Civet Cat, a Leopard Cat then a Lesser Mouse Deer. So another great day.

Storm's Stork

Whiskered Tree Swift

Black winged Flycatcher shrike

Blue headed Pitta

Sunday 28th July

I was up early for a walk with Zeno and Adzel, the morning was extremely misty and we headed down the main track towards the canopy walkway, the birding was fairly slow as it can be in forests and we were hindered further by visibility being restricted by the mist. We managed to see Little Green Leafbirds, Rufous Crowned Babbler, Cream vented Bulbul, Bold striped Tit Babbler, Chestnut Winged Babbler, Dark breasted Oriole and Crested Jays. On the return we managed a sighting of a particularly skulky Striped Wren Babbler.

After breakfast, the girls joined us on a walk up to a viewpoint which had the added attraction of a swim in a waterfall rockpool. We saw a Bornean Black Magpie and Short tailed Babbler and Adzel and I spent some time unsuccessfully trying to find a calling Blue banded Pitta whilst the girls were enjoying their swim. I joined them in the rockppol, although the fish that chewed on your ankles became a little too irritating to last long in the water.

Heavy rain in the evening had us making the most of the luxurious surroundings and delicious food in the dry to end a day which is fairly typical of tropical primary forests where the wildlife can be quite difficult to find !

Striped Wren Babbler

Red Leaf Langur

View over Danum forest

Monday 29th July

Another early walk for me this morning, this time just with Adzel who was determined we were going to find more birds. We drove to the main gate and the plan was to walk the 4kms back along the main track veering off onto trails where required. Even at 6.30 in the morning the temperature was hot and humid and the thick mist still lingered. Coming out of an air conditioned cabin just meant that the optics and camera just steamed up for the first hour.

The first bird of the morning was an obliging Red bearded Bee-eater with it's characteristic deep throaty croaking call. We headed into the forest hearing more calls of the Great Argus but a bit distant and spent some time looking and listening for Pitta's but with nothing more than a distant call we headed back to the main track. A Black Eagle soared overhead and a Maroon-breasted Philantoma was briefly in a trackside tree, we had more activity as the morning advanced with a Chestnut breasted Malkoha, Scarlet Minivet, Bronzed Drongo, Rubycheek Sunbird and Dark necked Tailorbird. We then heard a Black and Crimson Pitta close to the edge of the track and after manouvering into position through the undergrowth managed a good view of the bird.

Pitta's are enigmatic species of the Asian forest, they are typically the size of a large thrush but despite being brightly coloured they are immensely shy and retiring  living in the dark and damp places favoured by mosquito's and leeches and are much sought after by birders for being so attractive but difficult to find and the only way is normally to get down to their level with the leeches and mosquitos. Sabah has 8 recorded Pitta species of which 3 are endemic to Borneo.  I'd considered that seeing one of these birds would be a pretty good haul, but I was now lucky enough to have seen 2, both of these being endemic species and despite the leech socks had the evidence of mozzy bites and leech attacks to show as battle scars.

We finished the morning walk with a Red throated Barbet, Thick billed Spiderhunter and White crowned Forktail.
Our afternoon activity was 'tubing' down the Danum river, which involved sitting in a large inflated rubber ring as it progressed through the current and gentle rapids - great fun !

Our evening game drive was less eventful than our first night although we did see more Red Giant Flying Squirrels.

A misty Red bearded Bee eater

Black and Crimson Pitta

Dark  necked Tailorbird

Canopy walkway at Danum

Another Whiskered Tree Swift

Rhinoceros Hornbill 

part of the lodge in Danum

Tuesday 30th July

Today we were leaving the Borneo Rainforest Lodge to transfer to the Tabin Wildlife Reserve. I agreed with Adzel to have a couple of hours early in the morning. We headed into the forest to a site where the Great Argus was known to display in the mornings. We waited patiently for an hour hearing only a more distant bird which we concluded was using a different site for its morning call. We did see a close Scarlet rumped Trogon whilst waiting but decided to head up to the Waterfall trail to try for the Blue banded Pitta. After a rather brisk and sweaty hike uphill we crossed a stream and clambered uphill to arrive at a suitable site. I was thinking this was probably long shot anyway, but after abut 30 minutes we heard the faint call of the Pitta and after a couple more minutes Adzel had spotted the Blue banded Pitta which gave a satisfying but brief view through the undergrowth before it vanished still calling away. How fantastic and seeing all 3 of the endemic Pitta species here was pretty amazing.

We left the Borneo rainforest lodge mid morning and had arrived at the Tabin Wildlife resort by mid afternoon. Tabin is in an area of secondary forest , partly surrounded by Palm plantations. We went on an afternoon drive with our new lodge guide, Wangkong, a few Bornean Gibbons were being acrobatic near the lodge,we saw a Bornean Falconet, the astonishing Helmeted Hornbill an Oriental Honey Buzzard and an Asian Paradise Flycatcher.A night drive through the forest was pretty quiet with just a distant Giant Red flying Squirrel.

Scarlet rumped Trogon

Bornean Gibbon with youngster

Bornean Gibbon

Helmeted Hornbill

Asian Paradise Flycatcher on nest

Wednesday 31st July

This mornings plan was for an early start for me with Wangkong walking on one of the trails and the girls would start later with Zeno and walk to the mud volcano where we would meet them. Tabin turned out to be quite a birdy place and with secondary growth forest allowing more viewing gaps,  most birds were a little easier to see than in Danum.
Our morning started with  Buff rumped, Crimson winged and Rufous Woodpeckers, Black bellied Malkoha and Wreathed Hornbill (my 7th out of the 8 Hornbill species). Black and Yellow Broadbill, Raffles Malkoha, Yellow vented and Grey cheeked Bulbuls were followed by the elusive Banded Kingfisher. We also saw a Ferruginous Babbler and a Diards Trogon before we caught up with the girls at the mud volcano. It was extremely hot so after a brief mud coating we headed back to the lodge for lunch.

Late afternoon, we went for a drive along the perimeter track where one side is forest the other is palm plantation. A troop of Pig tailed Macaques kept us entertained and a smart Changeable Hawk Eagle was close to the the track, along with Long tailed Parakeets and Blue crowned Hanging Parrots.

Our post dinner night drive went back along the perimeter track. We saw both Giant Red and Giant Black Flying Squirrels, Leopard Cat, Civet Cat and a Brown Wood Owl.

Black and Yellow Broadbill

Banded Kingfisher

Diards Trogon

Dark throated Oriole

Raffles Malkoha

Crested Serpent Eagle

Changeable Hawk Eagle

Pig tailed Macaques

Friday 1st August

I was up for an early bird walk with Wankong, on my way from the cabin to the front of the lodge I saw an Otter glide along the water and clamber up the far bank of the river.

We were driven to a different part of the reserve and dropped along the track , where we would later meet Sal and the girls who were walking to a waterfall pool for a swim.

The area that Tabin reserve is in is extensive and we were only seeing a small proportion of the forest. Within the reserve are sponsored rehabilitation programmes for both Orang Utan and the Sumatran Rhino (not that we saw either of these).

On return to the cabins it was a surprise when we found the 8th and final hornbill species, the White Crested Hornbill,  was around the girls cabin and even tapping on the window. So that was great having seen all the species of Bornean hornbills.

It was a quieter morning but we did encounter a couple of bird flocks which included Pale Blue Flycatcher, Scarlet rumped Trogon, Red naped Trogon, Purple naped Sunbird, Spotted Fantail, and Banded Broadbill. A calling Banded Pitta remained hidden.

Our afternoon walk was curtailed after only half an hour by a thunderstorm although we did add Buff an Grey Woodpecker and Grey capped Pygmy Woodpecker.

It was 160 steps up to our cabin at Tabin

Red naped Trogon

Black Hornbill

White Crested Hornbill (pic courtesy of Adie)

Saturday 2nd August to Tuesday 5th August

After 9 nights of hot, steamy, sweaty, leachy, bitey tropical forest it was with some relief (especially for the girls) that we had the last 4 nights at a beach resort. We transferred back from Tabin to Lahad Datu flew back to Kota Kinabalu and drove about an hour north to the Shangri La resort.

Needless to say I wasnt expecting any birds, I had thought of trying to arrange a daytrip to Kinabalu park, but decided that I wouldn't be able to do it justice,so it would have to wait for a future visit.

I did pickup a few species around the hotel golf course with Pied Triller, Pink necked Green Pigeon, Sunda pygmy Woodpecker. The vast sandy beach held a pair of Malaysian Plover and the forest had a surprise with a pair of Tabon Scrubfowl.

We thoroughly enjoyed  our lazy days by the pool in this fantastic resort

Malaysian Plover

Wednesday 6th August

.......and so to Australia, having had a fantastic time in Borneo. Mammal highlights were the Urang Utans, Proboscis Monkeys and Pygmy Elephants. Bird highlights were the Bornean Ground Cuckoo, the 3 endemic Pittas and all 8 species of Hornbill bringing my list for the year to around 1,100 species.