Birds, Beasts and Bugs- Trekking in Sabah, Borneo (1 Viewer)

Excellent report and great art work

kittykat23uk said:

Then it was time for dinner and we were joined at the restaurant by a spectacular rhinoceros beetle.

An American, Ryan was working there as a guide and planned to run a night walk that evening with one of the local staff which we were able to join. This proved to be an excellent evening as we first spotted a banded palm civet under the struts of the restaurant.

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Really enjoying your report. We are getting back to Borneo in Sept 15 and will get to Danum Valley this time so this report and all the other trips to Borneo on the Forum recently are really wetting our appetite.

Thanks! Good luck with your trip. :t:

Then a bearded pig was set on raiding the rubbish bins, making an awful mess in the process before being shooed away by one of the staff.

We headed out to the self-guided nature trail on the hunt for Bornean Tarsier (a subspecies of Horsefield's or western Tarsier). We were not disappointed as the lodge guide managed to spot one bounding from tree to tree as it fled from his spotlight and the arriving crowd of onlookers. Sadly too much vegetation in the foreground meant that my only photos came out totally underexposed, So pastels to the ready again!

Then on the way back out of the trail opposite the small rope bridge crossing the stream hiding in the bushes was the banded palm civet and alongside was a common palm civet, neither of which were kind to stay still long enough for me to get any decent pictures, though Paul has promised to send me his shots.

Praying mantis were quite frequently seen around the lodge lights and were the subject of an ongoing field study. One of the researchers was very excited as she had found a beautiful orchid mantis, sadly we were not able to see it.

Great stuff - seems like Sabah just saw you coming and set your success meter to "Jackpot".

Terrific artwork too - especially the civet.

Cheers
Mike

Thank you! Right painting finished so onwards we go!

Sunday 29th March


Before breakfast we took a walk along the orchid and menngaris trails. I managed to get a reasonable shot of a black and yellow broadbill. Also spotted were a bold-striped tit-babbler and chestnut-breasted malkoha. On the boardwalk that leads from the orchid trail down to the main road we spotted movement in the trees which turned out to be another orangutan! It was busily stripping bark from the trees. As it fed it moved away from us deeper into the jungle. At this point it was time for breakfast so we headed back to the restaurant. A streaky-breasted spiderhunter was feeding on the flowers as we ate.

After breakfast we headed further out along the coffin trail. The best of the birds seemed to be right at the start of the trail. Ferruginous babbler was the first to reveal itself, then a splendid red-bearded bee-eater came crashing in causing a mighty commotion before shooting off into the forest not to be seen again. A black-crowned pitta's plaintive whistle rang out through the undergrowth but refused to give up more than the odd glimpse here and there. As we ventured further along the coffin trial the birds all but disappeared and I began to wonder why we were bothering to walk further. We had thought it was a circular route but once we reached the coffin we realised that the way was blocked and so we had a long trek back to the lodge.

By now it was nearly lunchtime so I had a quick shower to freshen up. Once again we were “forced” to relax for the majority of the afternoon as the rain poured down until late afternoon.

Once the sun finally came out again I headed back out towards the other observation tower, which is sited back along the main road beyond the reception office. On the way I stopped to photograph a spectacular Rajah Brooke's birdwing butterfly which must truly be one of the most beautiful butterflies I have ever seen!

A troop of red leaf monkeys further delayed my arrival at the tower, as they made their way through the trees alongside the road. As I climbed the tower I surprised a snake which slithered away before I could get a good look at it, I don't think it was a viper thankfully. I waited at the top of the tower until I started to feel a bit of rain in the air. By then the six o'clock cicadas were beginning to sing. So I headed down and stopped at the rope bridge where I spotted a flying squirrel gliding across the river.

On arrival back at the restaurant I met up with Ryan and his group who had been treated to an orangutan near the restaurant who had apparently built a nest to bed down in close by, so he was hopeful that we would see the individual again in the morning.

The rain began to fall and it was touch and go whether there would be anything going on that evening. A night drive had been scheduled for Ryan's group but not everyone wanted to go so there was one seat free for me which was in the front next to the driver. As usual, Paul was more than happy to do his own thing. Being in the front was not really ideal as I soon found out when looking for creatures up in the trees, so whenever we stopped to look at something high up, I would, if I could jump out of the cab and crane my neck skyward to see what we had stopped for. Thankfully most of the tree-dwellers stuck around long enough for this approach to work and it was an excellent drive!

First we saw what the guide told us was a masked palm civet, which seemed to be very similar (in other words identical!) in appearance to ones that had previously been identified as common palm civet, so much so that we could not be 100% sure that the guides had ID'd it correctly. In fact having seen further common palm civets in Tabin, I am convinced that this one is also a common palm civet. Whilst both civets have a mask, like a raccoon, masked palm civet appears to be quite a different looking animal with a distinctive white stripe running down the forehead, white under the eyes and around the sides of the temples, down towards the cheek with a dark shoulder and back of the neck, giving it a more badgery appearance (do a Google search and you'll see what I mean). So I do not think we saw a masked palm civet at all!

As we carried on we stopped again and further investigation revealed a small-toothed palm civet feeding up in a tree. This was followed by a black giant flying squirrel. We carried on along the service road and I began to feel rather grateful that I was in the cab because the rain was now beginning to come down again.

All of a sudden the most beautiful little creature bounded into the middle of the road. It was low slung like a genet with an elegant neck patterned with bold black stripes, it's pale tan body was also heavily marked with bold black blotches and it trailed a spectacular long ringed tail behind it! Before I could really even consider getting off a shot it carried on across the road into the shrubbery.

I asked the driver what he though it was, and he commented that it was a young banded palm civet. I didn't buy this identification for a minute as we'd already had great views of the banded palm civet near the restaurant and this was clearly a completely different animal. Something in my mind told me it could only have been a banded linsang and a quick consultation with Paul's library of books confirmed this ID. I was stoked! This was undoubtedly the mammal of the trip for me! :t:

After this wonderful sighting, we turned around and headed back to the field centre, a mouse deer was the only other animal we saw on the way back as the passengers in the back were getting increasingly soggy as the weather closed in.

I spent some time chatting with the other guests at the restaurant in between photographing any bugs and things that were sheltering from the rain.

Congrats on the Banded Linsang sighting and what a great painting you've done of it .

this is becoming a very difficult thread to keep reading with linsangs and other civets at every turn!

Thanks both!

Monday 30th March


We had a fairly leisurely start as we planned to have breakfast before heading out, this being served at 07.30 each day. A red eyed bulbul was noted before one of the guests came running to tell us all that the orangutan that had been seen the evening before was now feeding in a jackfruit just behind the restaurant. We dropped everything and headed over and were treated to fabulous views as the orangutan fed on these large fruits, at one point the orangutan had one fruit in one hand and another held in it's foot and seemed to be trying to decide which one to eat first! The orangutan stayed in the tree for the best part of an hour so my toast was well and truly cold by the time I went back for breakfast, but it was worth it!

I headed to the back of the restaurant after breakfast but the orangutan had gone. Heading down towards the river I spotted a white-crowned forktail calling down by a little stream and then making their way through the trees on the other side of the river were a troop of red leaf monkeys including babies, so I watched them for a while.

Afterwards Paul and I each decided to do our own thing and I opted for a shorter walk around to Orchid/Menngaris trails. This proved to be very productive for the sort of birds that I liked to see with my soon chancing upon two black-crowned pittas which I managed to call out into a clearing as well as a female blue headed pitta that hopped across the trail and into the bush. As I waited patiently for the pitta to hop into view I heard a raucous cackling above me. Deciding to investigate I headed up to the ridge and tried to locate the source of the calls. They sounded familiar, and I thought it must have been one of the endemics we had been trying to locate with playback earlier in the trip. Then it came to me, Bornean Bristleheads!! And there they were! A small flock of the birds cackling like a bunch of feathered hyenas as they crashed through the trees.

Following them, I emerged onto a gravel road which headed up towards the dorm accommodation and lumbering along towards me was a bearded pig! After heading back to where the pittas were for a while it was time for lunch.

In the afternoon I returned to the same trail, picking up the pittas and another view of the bristlehead. Then I headed up onto the Menngaris trail itself, other birds spotted included racket-tailed drongos and dollarbird. Sambar gathered outside of the field centre later afternoon as I stopped to admire the view and photograph the menngaris tree after which the trail is named.

Later I took a walk to the bridge with another of the guests in the hope of waiting for the flying squirrel to emerge at dusk, the troop of long-tailed macaques were making their way along the rocks. A few small birds made their presence know, including common iora, silver-rumped spinetails, orange-bellied flowerpecker as well as Jerdon's baza.

My feet were a little tired so I decided not to join Ryan on his night walk that evening as they were planning to head up the Menngaris trail. Instead, I opted to wait around the restaurant until about 10.00 and then try and relocate the banded palm civet and maybe find any tarsiers that might be around the woodland trail. The buffy fish owl was hanging around by the tennis courts as we made our way down to the nature trail. Unfortunately, not having a decent torch meant that night watching was a bit of a non starter, as I was joined by another of the guests who had an equally pitiful torch. We did manage to excite ourselves when we spotted several instances of eye shine, some which must have been civets but one of which almost had us convinced that it was something bigger than a civet and possibly carnivorous! Could we have seen that elusive clouded leopard...?









Well, I later met up with Paul and we spotlighted in the same area, and the “leopard” turned out to be just a sambar deer that was sitting down! Never mind, it was an exciting idea while it lasted....

Tuesday 31st March



Our time in Danum was almost at an end and we were heading back to Lahad Datu today. We had some time in the morning for a final look and so I spent my time around the orchid trail since I'd had such good sightings there yesterday (yeah and because it was a nice short walk!). I soon found my black-crowned pittas again and then headed out along the boardwalk, and who did I find there, but another orangutan! He didn't stick around though, preferring to descend to the forest floor and make his way across the trail into the adjoining block of forest.

Over breakfast I added erpornis to the bird list and then a pretty Asian fairy bluebird. On our way out we spotted orange-bellied flowerpecker and brown-throated sunbird feeding on the flowers by reception. Our drive back was through the forest and I was again hopeful that we might see those elusive pachyderms, but again we did not! We did spot a collared kingfisher on the way back though.

We had the afternoon/evening in Lahad Datu to relax back at the Silam Dynasty. I spent some of the afternoon window shopping. From the Silam Dynasty, which is located quite centrally in the town, there are a couple of shopping malls. One seems a little down-market with lots of mobile phone stores and costume jewellery outlets, but there was at least one stand that seemed to be selling some Cree torches (which I didn't buy) and the other one which is a little further away seems to be a bit more upmarket with clothing stores, shoe shops, a reasonably modern camera shop and a book store. There are also plenty of little cafés, the majority of which seem to sell two things, ice cream and waffles! I decided to try one of these outlets myself. There are clearly loads of different flavours of ice cream which seem to be sold in a sort of powder which is then made up into the ice cream. I had asked for chocolate, but they didn't have that flavour. I then asked for vanilla, nope they didn't have that one either. Since none of the ice creams were labelled I pointed to an interesting looking purple concoction. This turned out to be yam flavour, which is to say the least an acquired taste, especially when covered in chocolate sauce and served on a waffle.



There were also many stalls advertising “bubble tea”, which having sampled the ice cream I considered with due caution and decided not to indulge. Bubble tea, for those not in the know is a Taiwanese tea-based drink invented in Taichung, Taiwan, during the 1980s. The term "bubble" is an Anglicized imitative form derived from the Chinese bōbà, meaning "large", slang for the large, chewy tapioca balls commonly added to the drink. These are also called "pearls". Most bubble tea recipes contain a tea base mixed with fruit or milk. Ice-blended versions are usually mixed with fruit or syrup, resulting in a slushy consistency. There are many variants of the drinks, and many kinds of types are used and ingredients added. The most popular bubble drinks are bubble milk tea with tapioca and bubble milk green tea with tapioca. Sounds perfectly delightful doesn't it?

Having mooched around the shops long enough I headed down to the seafront where I saw a Brahminy kite, some Javan Mynahs and tree sparrows. Later I spent some time sorting through picks whilst catching up on the news, the only things being covered there were the tragic loss of flight MH 370 and the trouble in Ukraine. From my “sea view” room on the 5th floor, I spotted white-breasted wood swallows. After dinner with Paul I headed to bed for an early night.

Wednesday 1st April


I was up before dawn and took some views of the sunrise over the harbour. We took an early breakfast, eager to get on the road to our next destination, Tabin Wildlife Reserve. Created in1984, Tabin has been declared a Wildlife Reserve primarily on account of the large number of animals inhabiting its forests, some of which are highly endangered. The three largest mammals of Sabah, namely Borneo Pygmy Elephant, Sumatran Rhinoceros and Tembadau (Banteng) are all found within the reserve; nine species of primate are present, as well as three species of cats all of which are on the protected wildlife list. Of bird species, 42 families representing 220 species have been recorded.

We were due to be picked up at 07.45 and taken to the Tabin office at Lahad Datu airport for check-in and then were driven for a couple of hours, mainly on gravel roads through the relentless oil palm plantation. We spotted whistling ducks, a collared kingfisher and Wallace's hawk eagle before we finally arrived at Tabin Wildlife Resort at around 10.00.

This is the only accommodation option in Tabin Wildlife Reserve and consists of 20 air-conditioned rustic cabins (bliss!!), 10 sited along the Lipad river and the remainder situated up on a hill with views of the rainforest.



Our guide for the duration of our stay was Mohammed. Bornean gibbons made their presence know almost immediately after we arrived and would become a regular fixture of our stay here. There were many beautiful butterflies feeding on the flowers along the boardwalk connecting all the cabins. I commented to Mohammed that people who I'd spoken to at Danum had been telling me that there were loads of elephants at Tabin around the lodges but that they appeared to be noticeably absent upon our arrival. Mohammed apologetically explained that yes, they had been around about a week ago but had now gone back into the forest and had not been seen for a few days.. This was starting to become a rather bad running joke! :-C Would we ever see these elusive elephants?? :smoke:

After settling in we took a walk with Mohammed along the road. We spotted pig-tailed macaques, rufous-tailed tailorbird, yellow-bellied prinia, small flocks of dusky munia, bold-striped tit-babbler, a family of black and red broadbills and on the way back we also found the robust spectacled spider-hunter (an unusual sighting at Tabin) and a maroon-breasted Philentoma by the river. We also found a very-well camouflaged insect.

Below are:

bold-striped tit-babbler, yellow-bellied prinia, spectacled spider-hunter, maroon-breasted Philentoma and the weird bug.

We had a really substantial lunch and then retired to our rooms as the rain started to come down hard and was unrelenting until about half past three. At this point it was time to join a drive to the Lipad mud volcano which was sad to say a bit of a damp squib. We drove to the head of the trail seeing nothing of interest and then trekked through muddy puddles, slipping and sliding over rocks and roots until we reached the mud volcano, which was basically a large muddy clearing in the middle of the forest. There was nothing there to see, especially given that we were with a rather rowdy group of tourists so even if there had been any animals around they had no doubt been scared off by our approach.



When we had booked this package we had intended to have a night at the observation tower. However, the tower which overlooks the volcano was closed for maintenance. Having seen the tower and the volcano I was actually very relieved that we wouldn't be camping out overnight, especially given the turn in the weather. Instead, we were offered a sunset and extended night drive package, which sounded much more enjoyable to me.

Disappointed with the excursion, I trudged back with the group to the vehicle and we headed back to the lodge. We spotted a bushy-crested hornbill on the way back, but not much else.

After a shower it was time for dinner. The food was very good here and they also sold a few different types of wine. I opted for a rather sweet rose. There is a little pond behind the restaurant by the toilets which hosts a plentiful supply of treefrogs as well as some kind of raft spider. After dinner we boarded the vehicle for our night drive.

The drive took us along the edge of the reserve on the road we drove in on, so there was palm oil to the right of us and the forest to the left on the way out and the reverse on the way back. Clearly this is a very productive route for rodent-hunting carnivores as we saw a whole host of critters. On this first drive we had two sightings of Malay civets, two sightings of common palm civets, six sightings of leopard cats (of which we think at least 3 or 4 different individuals), plus one large flying fox, two black giant flying squirrels, a brown hawk owl and a sleeping yellow-bellied prinia! It was just incredible the amount of nocturnal mammals we saw! :t:

A few more

Oops, some how I labelled some of the days wrong, so that last one should have been Tuesday 1st April not Wednesday (and so on, unfortunately I cant edit the days but the dates are still correct).

Wednesday 2nd April

In the morning Mohammed put on a relaxed walk around the lodge and along the road. We didn't really get very far though because first we stopped to watch the Bornean gibbons and then later we found a rather showy pair of rhinoceros hornbills in the lodge grounds.I was delighted to be able to get such a nice photograph of this mega bird! We also spied black and pied hornbills, and a stork-billed kingfisher.

Later in the morning I opted to take a trip to the waterfall for a swim in the natural pool. Probably wasn't the wisest of ideas because the rain of the previous afternoon had turned the clear bubbling brook into a raging torrent of rainwater and the pool once we arrived was more a muddy puddle than something out of a herbal essence shampoo ad. Getting there too was an adventure in itself as we had to wade across the river and clamber over rocks in order to get to the edge of the pool. After all that effort we were all well and truly sweaty with the heat and so the dip was at least quite refreshing.

After lunch there was some time to enjoy the lodge surroundings before we headed out on a sunset drive at about half four.