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.

Monkeys

Another post that is well overdue.

February 3rd 2012, together with my wife and two good friends we went for a long weekend to do the headhunters trail in Mulu. It's fairly easy access from Brunei, a quick bolt across the border to Miri and a 30 minute plane ride before touchdown in Mulu.

We had been in Mulu a couple of occasions before and went straight for the longboat this time to take us to the start of the 8 km. trail to camp 5. 

On arrival the stream next to camp 5 served as the perfect cooling down. Because of an injury I wouldn't be able to join the rest of our party for the climb to the pinnacles the next day.

A pygmy squirrel

View from camp 5 on the limestone cliffs.
A wreathed hornbill is also enjoying the afternoon sun. 

Another view from camp 5, down the river.

So the next morning my three companions went up the pinnacles while I stayed behind to shoot some pictures of the animal- and birdlife around camp 5. 

I was walking down the Melinau gorge when I heard some commotion overhead. A group of langurs, but not the familiar silver-leaf or red-leaf monkeys we see in Brunei. A family party of 4-6 Hose's Langurs (Presbytis Hosei), a very rare sighting. And that is an understatement!

The Hose's langur is a primate, endemic to the island of Borneo. Due to habitat loss and extensive hunting the populations have severely declined over the past decades. The IUCN website tells us more, there are 4 subspecies of Hose's langur:

• Miller's grizzled langur (Presbytis hosei canicrus) - "Endangered"
• Everett's grizzled langur (Presbytis hosei everetti) - "Vulnerable"
• Hose's grizzled langur (Presbytis hosei hosei) - "Data Deficient"
• Saban grizzled langur (Presbytis hosei sabana) - "Endangered"

So which one is it? It is not subspecies (ssp.) canicrus, thought to be extinct, but recently re-discovered in Kalimantan. Ssp. sabana, or the grey-leaf monkey, is a rare subspecies in Sabah. And as ssp. everetti is found in Kalimantan, the species I encountered must be the Hose's grizzled langur (Presbytis hosei hosei), which indeed fits with the described range of the species. Thanks to an attentive reader (see comments) I have corrected this to Everett's grizzled langur now.

Some further googling indeed confirms its rarity - Cede Prudente's blog is the only place where I can find some other photographic evidence of the existence of this species. 

Hose's Langur (Presbytis hosei everetti); one of the adults

Hose's Langur (Presbytis hosei everetti);
a youngster, checking me out. 

Hose's Langur (Presbytis hosei everetti); same juvenile. 

Besides a siberian blue robin, I didn't see an awful lot of exciting wildlife after this. That I missed a big trogon (Whitehead's?) the others saw on their ascend of the pinnacles seems only fair.

The next day we set off for the second part of the trek in the direction of Limbang. The last time we did this hike we were lucky with views of an argus pheasant and a glimpse of the extremely rare and endangered bay cat. This time the usual bulbuls and babblers. A banded broadbill and an asian paradise flycatcher at the end of the trail both provided some reasonable views.

After about 11 km we reached the stream where a longboat picks you up for the final 3 hour stretch. I really enjoy this part; you just sit back and see the jungle glide by. We saw stork billed kingfisher, emerald dove and red-and-black broadbill before reaching the longhouse where some cold beers were waiting for us. The longhouse marks the end of the trail - the next day we were dropped off at Limbang for our flight back home to Miri and Brunei.

Folkert, 20/07/2012

As a final note; I did share one of the langur photo's with the Malaysian Nature Society, but I am actually not sure if they ever published it.