A short trip to Danum valley

My mom is fully enjoying her retirement and is visiting again. This time I decided to show off a little and take her to Danum valley, in my view one of the best eco-tourism locations on Borneo: pampered to the max plus great birding and wildlife viewing. Below a short summary of our trip.

The drive from Lahad Datu to Danum takes around 2.5 hours through forested area. A couple of kilometers before we entered the conservation area we passed a group of pig-tailed macaques. When encountered on foot I find that the males of this species can be quite menacing. Safely tucked away inside the car I got a rare opportunity to try for some portraits:

Southern pig-tailed macaque (Macaca nemestrina).

This species is declining in population and currently listed as Vulnerable by IUCN. The main threat is loss of habitat. It saddens me to say that I've also seen a juvenile on sale at one of the local markets in Brunei a couple of months back.  

Southern pig-tailed macaque (Macaca nemestrina).

When the big guy started to growl it was time to go!

Southern pig-tailed macaque (Macaca nemestrina).

Danum valley is top of the bill when it comes to nature tourism in Borneo. The lodges are perfect, food is excellent and staff and guides go out of their way to make your stay unforgettable. Our guide during the stay was Lister (what's in a name...), who introduced himself during lunch. Fittingly, I provided Lister with my list of around 20 target species for this trip.

We stayed around our cabin in the early afternoon. A couple of flowering ginger plants outside our balcony were visited frequently by the resident little spiderhunters.

Little spider hunter (Arachnotera longirostra).

After the small midday siesta before we set out for some afternoon birding. A noisy group of sooty-capped babblers were the first birds to greet us.

Sooty-capped babbler (Malacopteron affine).

After about an hour, we had just reached the canopy, a sighting of a large elephant herd just outside the gate was called in and we joined the open truck to see them. The elephants were a little weary at first and we moved up the road to give them some space. A baby elephant was still suckling and under constant protection of its mom and two larger relatives.

Pygmy elephant (Elephas maximus borneensis).

Later, we moved down the road to get some eye-level views:

Pygmy elephant (Elephas maximus borneensis).

Sightings of elephants along the road to Danum are relatively frequent, primarily because the vegetation along road- and riversides forms a favorite food source for the elephants. Don't let that fool you into believing that these are common mammals, they're an endangered species with a dwindling population size on Borneo of around 2500 individuals.

There were very few males in the group, two young ones and a bigger adult, easily recognized by the tusks.

Pygmy elephant (Elephas maximus borneensis).

We stayed until dusk was finally setting in.

Pygmy elephant (Elephas maximus borneensis).

A nice cold beer was waiting for me when we arrived back at the lodge! No time for too much leisure though as the night-drive was already lined up and we had only time for a quick dinner (which was again excellent!)

The highlight of the night-drive was a sighting of this Western or Horsfield's tarsier. This was only the second time that I've seen this cute little carnivore.

Western tarsier (Cephalopachus bancanus).

The next morning we first set out for the canopy walk. Along the way we heard Bornean wren-babbler and got decent views of a male rufous-chested flycatcher (a lifer for me).

A pair of bristleheads was the only noteworthy sighting at the canopy and we soon decided to head for one of the trails. Hairy-backed bulbuls were foraging close by, more exciting was a chestnut-capped thrush that was seen sitting on a log, another lifer!

Hairy-backed bulbul (tricholestes criniger).

A few noisy black magpies seemed to be following us on the trail.

Black magpie (Platysmurus aterrimus).

The yellow-bellied bulbul is a common forest species.

Yellow-bellied bulbul (Alophoixus phaeocephalus).

At around 11:00 AM things were quieting down and we headed back to the lodge for some lunch and an hour or two of rest.

This moustached babbler was the first bird we saw as we set out on our afternoon walk.

Moustached babbler (Malacopteron magnirostre).

Further down the jacuzzi trail a male scarlet-rumped trogon was very confiding and provided some great views from almost every possible angle. Even though this is a common forest species, I'll probably never tire of seeing these splendid birds.

Scarlet-rumped trogon (Harpactes duvaucelii).

A pair of giant pittas was heard, but our attempt to call them in went unanswered. As we trekked on the rain really started to come down and we arrived back at the lodge soaking wet. In the evening Lister and myself took out one of the 4WD to search for Large and Blyth's frogmouth. I can be fairly short about this attempt: no frogmouths.

The next morning we tried our luck with the giant pitta again and we soon heard the pair calling from jacuzzi trail. The birds proved very responsive and we had some great naked eye views of the birds hopping across the trail! The male showed itself only once, but the female kept close by for at least 45 minutes. My photographic intuition and judgement was a little out of tune and I missed one or two good photo opportunities. Below the one shot I managed that actually has the bird in frame. It's in the center, don't worry if you fail to see it...

Giant pitta (pitta caerulea).

This was a great birding moment! The giant pitta may not be the most colorful of the pitta's, but its size (larger than I had imagined), rarity and reputation give it amazing appeal.

On the way back to the lodge this large-billed blue flycatcher was a little more cooperative in front of my camera. Supposedly, this is a relatively common species, but one I'd never seen before!

Large-billed blue flycatcher (Cyornis caerulatus).

The remainder of the morning was spend on the hornbill trail. We were after banded pitta and any of the 3 lowland wren-babblers. No such luck with these, but this olive-winged woodpecker was a nice surprise; one of the rarer Bornean woodpeckers, this was another lifer for me.

Olive-winged woodpecker (Dinopium rafflesii).

After that, it was time to pack our belongings and head back to Brunei. Danum valley again fully delivered; great mammal sightings and a respectable 80+ bird species seen well with some great new ones. I hope I'll be back for the wren-babblers some day!

Big thanks to Lister, without him I would definitely have missed some species.

Folkert, 05/11/2013

Temburong

This weekend I treated my mom -who is visiting again- and myself to a small overnight trip to the Ulu Ulu resort in Temburong, the "other" part of Brunei. Temburong is only a short 2 hour journey from Bandar; a simple hop on a fast ferry to Bangar, followed by a small bus ride and another 30 minutes upstream by longboat and you'll find yourself surrounded by pristine jungle.

The last time I visited Temburong was well over 2 years ago and especially the canopy proved very rewarding then; a lot of species allowed very close views, like this velvet fronted nuthatch.

Velvet-fronted nuthatch (Sitta frontalis).

We arrived in Temburong around 4:30 PM and I spend the last hour or so of daylight around the resort. The white-rumped shama was impossible to miss.

White-rumped shama (Copsychus malabaricus).

During the evening we joined a short night walk up a tiny stream from the main river. 17 people on a night walk is really too crowded and I didn't have high expectations to encounter a lot of wildlife. Still I enjoyed this, as the stream proved a good place for frogs and I got a couple a great close-ups. As I am definitely not a frog specialist any correction/addition to my ID's are appreciated. I suspect the tiny fellow pictured below to be a Microhyla species.

Microhyla sp.

I think this is Hylarana megalonesa.

Hylarana megalonesa

The below frog is definitely a horned frog species!

Bornean horned frog (Megophrys nasuta).

The next morning we got up very early to be in time for sunrise at the canopy walk. Nowadays, you can only get to the start of the trail to the canopy by boat as the bridge crossing the river is in dire need of some repairs. After a half hour walk, scaling 290 meters elevation to the base and another 40+ meters to the canopy itself, you are rewarded with a wide 360 degree view over the awaking jungle. The rising fog and the morning calls of gibbons makes this almost perfect - next time I'll bring some warm coffee for a nice finishing touch!

Canopy walkway & tower, Temburong.

I spend a little over two-and-a-half hours at the canopy walk way listening to the gibbons and recording several different birds. This male black-and-yellow broadbill was seen and heard most of the time.

Black-and-yellow broadbill

A spectacled bulbul also provided some good views. Even though this is a supposedly common species of all primary forests type in Borneo, I don't see them that often closer to home and was therefore quite pleased with this individual checking me out at close range.

Spectacled bulbul (Pycnonotus erythropthalmus).

Besides the gibbons, the calls of both rhinoceros and helmeted hornbill seemed equally far carrying. A family of 4 rhinoceros hornbills flew by over the canopy, adding to the majestic scenery with the morning fog rising through the forest. One parent lead the way.

Rhinoceros hornbill (Buceros rhinoceros).

 And was eagerly followed by two juveniles

Rhinoceros hornbill (Buceros rhinoceros).

At 08:30 we decided to move down and try for some birds lower to the ground. I had expected to see and hear more babblers, but the only ones I picked up were chestnut-winged babblers, which seemed to be everywhere, and a small family group of scaly-crowned babblers.

Scaly-crowned babbler (Malacopteron cinereum).

An incessantly calling diard's trogon was already heard from the canopy-walk and at least 2 different males and one female were seen on the relatively short walk from the tower back to the river.

Male Diard's trogon (Harpactes diardii).

As my mom had not joined the trip to the canopy walk because of a weak knee I felt some social obligation to not stay out all morning and returned back to the resort close to 10 AM. Together we walked around the resort grounds looking for some resident wildlife. Fruitbats were easily seen overhead at the wooden boardwalks. I think this is the Sunda short-nosed fruit bat (Cynopteros brachyotis).

Fruitbat sp.

Flowering bushes close to the river were a good spot for both leafbirds and sunbirds. 

Male Lesser green leafbird (Chloropsis cyanopogon).

A nice surprise was this yellow-breasted flowerpecker. Just a small bummer that I failed to get a proper photo. Oh well.

Yellow-breasted flowerpecker (Prionochilus macalatus).

Just before heading back to Bandar this very bold pygmy squirrel seemed completely unbothered by our presence and I even had to stand back to get the animal properly into frame!

Plain pygmy squirrel (Exilisciurus exilis).

Plain pygmy squirrel (Exilisciurus exilis).

Around 1:30 PM we left again, back to Panaga. A great little trip and I am certain that with a little more dedicated effort some great species can be picked up in Temburong!

Folkert, 21/07/2013

KB road in spring

I had planned to spend some of the morning hours at KB road on my Friday off. As it happened it was pouring down when I got up and I needed very little persuasion to return my head back to my pillow. Luckily, the weather promised to be much better the next day and at Saturday 6 AM I turned onto KB road in a highly upbeat mood.

Some bushes next to the road were fruiting and there were plenty of bulbuls around, mostly black-headed, but I also saw a puff-backed bulbul which is an uncommon encounter at KB road. After a couple of minutes the star of the morning flew in: a male black-and-white bulbul.

Male black-and-white bulbul (Pycnonotus melanoleucus).

This first picture is really not very good. I was shooting against the light with a slightly fogged up lens. And not only that, I also still had my camera in a fixed setting from the previous night! Not very smart. It's hard to explain the anguish when failing to make the most of a perfect photo opportunity of a hard to get bird.

While waiting for the black-and-white bulbul to return, I heard a scarlet-rumped trogon singing and soon found the source.

Scarlet-rumped trogon (Harpactes duvaucelii).

I don't think I will ever tire of seeing a trogon, they really are stunning animals. There were also several black-winged flycatcher-shrikes around. This is one of the more common birds along KB road.

Black-winged flycatcher-shrike (Hemipus hirundinaceus).

Black-winged flycatcher-shrike (Hemipus hirundinaceus).

Two black magpies were making a lot of noise nearby. This is only the second time I have seen this species now on KB road.

Bornean black magpie (Platysmurus aterrimus).

This pygmy squirrel also showed quite well. These tiny squirrels do not measure more than 10 cm. I think this is the plain or least pygmy squirrel, and a from a little googling I just learned that this species is endemic to Borneo.

Least pygmy squirrel (Exilisciurus exilis).

After a while another black-and-white bulbul showed up, a female this time. This species really seems to have a cunning ability to make any photographing attempts difficult. In this one the head is superbly hidden behind a leave...

Female black-and-white bulbul (Pycnonotus melanoleucus).

The browner color suggest that this is a female. And here she is flying of again....

Female black-and-white bulbul (Pycnonotus melanoleucus).

The black-and-white bulbul is uncommon species. KB road seems to be a relatively good area for an encounter with this distinctive bulbul and I have seen them now on several occasions. This Saturday I was lucky to not only see a male and female bird, but also this juvenile.

Juvenile black-and-white bulbul (Pycnonotus melanoleucus).

 Finally the female showed up again and allowed some better shots.

And just in time as I really couldn't stay any longer; the jazz festival in Miri was waiting, which btw was very excellent!

Folkert, 13/05/2013.

Teraja at 6 AM.

Finally, after a handful of hikes to the Teraja waterfall at mid morning, I decided that there would be no more excuses for the track to be explored at sunrise. Kolbjorn was again prepared to join me, so this Saturday I got up at 04:00 and after an uneventful drive parked the car at the end of Labi road and the start of the waterfall trail at exactly 06:00 AM.

We quickly gathered our gear and set off on the trail. The forest was still only just waking up when we crossed the stream into the primary forest. There was plenty of activity to be heard, alas we didn't see anything. This is, until we happened to come across a small fruiting tree with the fruits sprouting directly from the trunks and branches. We stayed for a little while and saw some flowerpeckers, bulbuls and a male fairy bluebird. The grey-cheeked bulbul was already a nice surprise, but my bird of the morning was definitely the grey-bellied bulbul, a lifer for me! As luck would have it I even managed a half-decent picture (and also the only half-decent picture taken in the forest this morning).

Grey-bellied bulbul (Pycnonotus cyaniventris)

After observing the activity for a good period we decided to continue to the waterfall. Along the way we saw some unidentified fluttering and heard quite a few interesting calls and songs.

Teraja Waterfall

After a short pitstop at the waterfall we decided to head back to the fruiting tree. Along the way we did see a little more now: yellow-bellied bulbuls, some babblers and spiderhunters and we heard a helmeted hornbill. A passing kingfisher was too quick to identify (banded?). At the fruiting tree there were some different species, incl. puff-backed bulbuls and a female red-throated barbet. Most enticingly we heard a pitta-like call that with reasonable certainty we think was a blue-winged pitta.

Barn swallow (Hirunda rustica), opposite the parked car.
Note the bend tail-feather.

Barn swallow (Hirunda rustica)  

On the way out we did see a spotted fantail, probably quite common but still a first for me in Brunei. As expected Teraja really offers good opportunities to see some great new species. But it does require a lot of dedication as good views are hard to come by! The morning's Teraja list:

puff-backed bulbul, yellow-bellied bulbul, cream-vented bulbul, red-eyed bulbul, grey-cheeked bulbul, grey-bellied bulbul, asian fairy bluebird, spotted fantail, red-throated barbet, little spiderhunter, spiderhunter sp., black-throated babbler, ferruginous babbler, chestnut-winged babbler, ruby-cheeked sunbird, yellow-rumped flowerpecker, yellow-vented flowerpecker, kingfisher sp., barn swallow

Folkert, 10/09/2012