Birds, Beasts and Bugs- Trekking in Sabah, Borneo

[Safari Cal]

@@Safari Cal

How is @@kittykat23uk managing to get paintings done before your photos?

 

As we all know @@TonyQ, women are simply amazing, and don't even get me started about their multi-tasking capabilities

[kittykat23uk]

Right, painting finished, so onwards we go...

 

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!

Common Palm Civet by kittykat23uk, on Flickr

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.

P3294914 Small-toothed palm civet by kittykat23uk, on Flickr

P3294917 Black giant flying squirrel by kittykat23uk, on Flickr

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! :D

Banded linsang by kittykat23uk, on Flickr

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.

P3294928 tree frog by kittykat23uk, on Flickr

P3294933 Praying mantis by kittykat23uk, on Flickr

P3294934 by kittykat23uk, on Flickr

[Kitsafari]

wow, @@kittykat23uk, you saw an enormous amount of wildlife. somehow our trip resulted in very little. we also had torrential downpours especially in the early afternoons, so that might have affected our viewings. thank goodness, we can still get a glimpse of what we missed in your report!

[kittykat23uk]

Borneo doesn't give up her secrets easily!

 

Sunday 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!

 

P3304937 red-eyed bulbul by kittykat23uk, on Flickr

 

P3304939 orangutan by kittykat23uk, on Flickr

 

P3304946 orangutan by kittykat23uk, on Flickr

 

P3304948 by kittykat23uk, on Flickr

 

P3304954 orangutan by kittykat23uk, on Flickr

 

P3304960 orangutan by kittykat23uk, on Flickr

 

P3304961 orangutan by kittykat23uk, on Flickr

 

P3304970 orangutan by kittykat23uk, on Flickr

 

P3304973 orangutan by kittykat23uk, on Flickr

[kittykat23uk]

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.

P3304994 Red leaf monkeys by kittykat23uk, on Flickr

P3304997 Red leaf monkeys by kittykat23uk, on Flickr

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.

P3304999 Lizard by kittykat23uk, on Flickr

P3305000 plated millipede by kittykat23uk, on Flickr

P3305002 Bornean Bristlehead by kittykat23uk, on Flickr

P3305007 Black-crowned pitta by kittykat23uk, on Flickr

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.

[kittykat23uk]

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.

P3305009 Black-crowned pitta by kittykat23uk, on Flickr

P3305012 Black-crowned pitta by kittykat23uk, on Flickr

P3305016 Black-crowned pitta by kittykat23uk, on Flickr

P3305019 damselfly by kittykat23uk, on Flickr

P3305021 bug by kittykat23uk, on Flickr

menngaris tree by kittykat23uk, on Flickr

P3305024 Sambar by kittykat23uk, on Flickr

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.

P3305030 Long-tailed macaques by kittykat23uk, on Flickr

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....

[kittykat23uk]

Monday 31^st 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.

 

P3315042 Orangutan by kittykat23uk, on Flickr

 

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.

 

P3315043 Erpornis by kittykat23uk, on Flickr

 

P3315046 pacific swallows by kittykat23uk, on Flickr

 

P3315055 Streaky breasted spiderhunter by kittykat23uk, on Flickr

 

P3315057 Fairy Bluebird by kittykat23uk, on Flickr

 

P3315065 Brown-throated sunbird by kittykat23uk, on Flickr

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 5^th floor, I spotted white-breasted wood swallows. After dinner with Paul I headed to bed for an early night.

 

P3315069 Lahad datu- sea view room! by kittykat23uk, on Flickr

[TonyQ]

@@kittykat23uk

You had lots of good sightings at Danum - a good variety of birds - and the Orang Utan!

[kittykat23uk]

Thanks Tony! Yeah we were pretty lucky with what we saw!

 

Tuesday 1^st April

 

I was up before dawn and took some views of the sunrise over the harbour.

 

P4018317 Lahad datu by kittykat23uk, on Flickr

 

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.

 

P4015091 collared kingfisher by kittykat23uk, on Flickr

 

P4015102 Wallace's hawk eagle by kittykat23uk, on Flickr

 

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! Would we ever see these elusive elephants??

 

P4015113 hairstreak butterfly by kittykat23uk, on Flickr

 

P4015116 butterfly by kittykat23uk, on Flickr

[kittykat23uk]

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.

P4015136 Bold-striped tit babbler. by kittykat23uk, on Flickr

P4015146 Yellow-bellied prinia by kittykat23uk, on Flickr

P4015181 Spectacled Spiderhunter by kittykat23uk, on Flickr

P4015213 Maroon-breasted philentoma by kittykat23uk, on Flickr

P4015221 by kittykat23uk, on Flickr

P4015225 Bushy crested hornbill by kittykat23uk, on Flickr

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.

P4015118 Tree frog Hylarana raniceps by kittykat23uk, on Flickr

P4015120 raft spider by kittykat23uk, on Flickr

P4015225 Bushy crested hornbill by kittykat23uk, on Flickr

[kittykat23uk]

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!

P4015247 Malay civet by kittykat23uk, on Flickr

P4015248 Large flying fox by kittykat23uk, on Flickr

P4015250conv59 common palm civet by kittykat23uk, on Flickr

P4015255conv60 leopard cat by kittykat23uk, on Flickr

P4015257conv62 Black giant flying squirrel by kittykat23uk, on Flickr

P4015263conv61 Black giant flying squirrel by kittykat23uk, on Flickr

P4015266 leopard cat by kittykat23uk, on Flickr

P4015272 Smith's gecko by kittykat23uk, on Flickr

P4015276 by kittykat23uk, on Flickr

[TonyQ]

@@kittykat23uk

That was a great night drive - the leopard cat in particular is beautiful!

[kittykat23uk]

Yeah that was a really good drive and made up for the damp squib that was the mud volcano!

Wednesday 2^nd 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.

 

P4025283 Bornean gibbon by kittykat23uk, on Flickr

 

P4025358 Rhinoceros hornbill by kittykat23uk, on Flickr

 

P4025367 Water lilly by kittykat23uk, on Flickr

 

P4025369 water lilly by kittykat23uk, on Flickr

 

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.

 

P4025372 Sooty capped babbler by kittykat23uk, on Flickr

 

P4025382 lesser fish eagle by kittykat23uk, on Flickr

 

P4025400 waterfall by kittykat23uk, on Flickr

 

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

 

P4025410 Emerald Swallowtail (Papilio palinurus) by kittykat23uk, on Flickr

 

P4025429 butterfly by kittykat23uk, on Flickr

 

P4025436 arctic warbler by kittykat23uk, on Flickr

 

This took us along the same route as the previous evening and was good for birds with greater coucal, crested serpent eagle, grey imperial pigeon, verditer flycatcher and collared kingfisher all seen. We soon came across a huge troop of pig-tailed macaques which were very entertaining, especially the young ones who were busy messing around swinging from vines and playing tag.

 

P4025446 pig-tailed macaque by kittykat23uk, on Flickr

 

P4025455 pig-tailed macaque by kittykat23uk, on Flickr

 

P4025460 pig-tailed macaque by kittykat23uk, on Flickr

 

P4025464 pig-tailed macaque by kittykat23uk, on Flickr

 

P4025466 pig-tailed macaque by kittykat23uk, on Flickr

 

P4025468 pig-tailed macaque by kittykat23uk, on Flickr

 

P4025472 pig-tailed macaque by kittykat23uk, on Flickr

[kittykat23uk]

As we carried on we spotted blue-crowned hanging parrots, a little bronze cuckoo and long-tailed parakeet. Then a flock of noisy bushy-crested hornbills landed in one of the emergent trees away from the road. Asian glossy starlings and another distant Bornean falconet were also noted.

Then, excitement as we finally caught our first glimpse of a Bornean pygmy elephant as it disappeared into the thickets on the reserve side of the road! Mohammed enthusiastically jumped down from the vehicle and proceeded to gesticulate wildly in the direction the elephant had disappeared in “pygmy elephant!!, Pygmy elephant!!” he exclaimed with glee several times before boarding the vehicle. We carried on, elated that we'd at least managed to get a brief glimpse of this solitary bull.

We stopped to watch a giant millipede cross the road, and then a red-bellied hawk, another unusual sighting, gave us great views as it perched above the road. We also spotted some long-tailed macaques. We drove to a spot to wait for a flying squirrel to emerge from it's tree. The six O'clock cicadas started to whine as the last rays of the sun dipped behind the trees. Sure enough the squirrels emerged and eventually glided off into the night. It was dark as we headed back towards camp and this time we first spotted a crested serpent eagle. Then a little bat hanging from the branch of a tree. Afterwards we then came across another buffy fish owl a couple of fire-eared frogs and a large flying fox.

P4025474 greater coucal by kittykat23uk, on Flickr

P4025480 giant millipede by kittykat23uk, on Flickr

P4025503 Rufous-bellied hawk by kittykat23uk, on Flickr

P4025508 Rufous-bellied hawk by kittykat23uk, on Flickr

P4025519 bat by kittykat23uk, on Flickr

P4025523 Bufy fish owl by kittykat23uk, on Flickr

We were excited to find the elephant from earlier was grazing just off the side of the road, but he was rather camera shy, every time the guides shone their lights on him he would turn his face away from us and hide in the bushes. Then the guide would turn off the light, wait for him to become relaxed and start feeding again and then turn the light back on so in this way we caught brief glimpses of his face. This strategy stopped working after a while so we left the elephant to enjoy his meal in peace as we carried on.

P4025531 Bornean pygmy elephant by kittykat23uk, on Flickr

As we drove back we spotted other nocturnal delights including two more leopard cats, one of which was kind enough to stop for long enough for me to get a photograph. One common palm civet, a mouse deer and a bearded pig were also seen as we made our way back into camp.

P4025533 Leopard cat by kittykat23uk, on Flickr

P4025536 Leopard cat by kittykat23uk, on Flickr

P4025544 gecko by kittykat23uk, on Flickr

[kittykat23uk]

Thursday 3^rd April

 

One of the things for which Borneo is famous are it's pitcher plants and I realised that I hadn't actually seen any yet so I asked Mohammed if there were any and he kindly pointed out the plants that were actually all around the lodge! This time of year it seemed that all the big pitchers had come and gone so the only ones I saw were actually quite diminutive examples.

P4035559 pitcher plant by kittykat23uk, on Flickr

P4035566 pitcher plant by kittykat23uk, on Flickr

Up until now, we had been placed with other guests who were staying which wasn't really ideal, especially for Paul. Today Mohammed had promised to give us a special day with just the three of us. In the morning he would take us on a longer walk (deep joy!) and in the afternoon we would have our extended sunset game drive/night drive. Things started well with gibbons once again in camp as we climbed the (many) steps up past the cabins to the head of the gibbon trail. To be honest I would have quite happily stayed longer in camp to watch the gibbons. But Mohammed and Paul were keen to get started on the walk and so we carried on.

 

P4035575 adj Bornean gibbon by kittykat23uk, on Flickr

 

The gibbon trail was rather overgrown and Mohammed started slashing vigorously at the vines and branches as he tried to clear a path ahead of us. Paul looked at me, I looked at him, this clearly was not going to be a productive walk if Mohammed was just going to scare away everything within 50 yards of us as he crashed around, so Paul judiciously commented that we could get through the trail unaided. Getting the message, Mohammed stopped his attack of the local vegetation and we carried on.

 

After about 15 minutes, Mohammed spotted a crested fireback in deep undergrowth. It took me forever to get onto the bird, not helped by steamed up glasses and me mistakenly thinking the fireback was a type of woodpecker, not as it turned out, a spectacular forest pheasant. So the only views I got were of a dark bird with a flash of the blue wattle and glimpse of rufous flanks as it crossed the path and disappeared not to be seen again.

 

Then we spotted a chestnut-backed scimitar-babbler, and soon after a black eagle. A little further along a trogon of some description, flew from a clearing deeper into the forest.

 

P4035587 Chestnut-backed scimitar-babbler by kittykat23uk, on Flickr

 

After this little pocket of birds we saw absolutely nothing for the next two and a half hours of hard walking. Perhaps not surprisingly, as we carried on I got increasingly aggravated as we tried to navigate steep-sided ravines, clinging to ropes and slipping and sliding everywhere on this very muddy trail. The final straw was when I lost my footing, skidded on my backside and my camera got covered in mud. To say I was not too impressed was the understatement of the century!

 

Paul's incessant habit of checking every singly hollow log and culvert rewarded us with some more roosting bats, this time Malayan Slit-faced Bats and as we emerged into the light we added another stork-billed kingfisher.

 

P4035596 Malayan Slit-faced Bat by kittykat23uk, on Flickr

 

It was time for lunch by the time we got back. Afterwards I spent some time watching out for otters along the river, as Paul had spotted one the day before. Unfortunately none reappeared. Later on in the afternoon we boarded our vehicle for a late afternoon drive into the reserve.

P4035611 by kittykat23uk, on Flickr

 

P4035612 tree frog Hylarana raniceps by kittykat23uk, on Flickr

[kittykat23uk]

The plight of the Sumatran Rhino

 

As mentioned earlier, Tabin Wildlife Reserve is one of the last places in Bornoe where Sumatran Rhinoceros are known to exist. To put this in perspective, there are thought to be fewer than ten Sumatran rhinoceroses in the whole of Borneo. The species is “functionally extinct” in Borneo and Peninsular Malaysia. That means that there are not enough of them left in the wild to breed successfully.

Attempts at breeding this species in captivity have also been a catalogue of disasters and has arguably done more harm than good in that many wild rhinos brought into captivity have died due to poor animal husbandry and lack of knowledge. The Cincinnati Zoo have, however, pioneered the way and have had some success with breeding them in recent years. However the programme has suffered a recent blow with the death of their female Suci.

The Bornean Rhino Alliance (BORA) is now in the process of bringing into captivity the remaining few wild rhinos who have no chance of breeding in the wild. Whilst we were in Danum we'd been told that the Bornean Rhino Alliance had captured a pregnant rhinoceros on 21^st March and transported her to Tabin to be part of a last ditch attempt save this species from extinction. She has been named Iman and joins two other rhinos in captivity, one male and one female.

Unfortunately a press release issued on April 4^th shows that the plight of rhinos in Borneo is indeed dire. What they thought were signs of pregnancy were actually indications of large tumours in Iman's uterus. This means that she has not been sexually active for a long time, probably without a male partner for maybe 5 to 10 years. The other female has equally severe reproductive tract pathology. BORA are now pinning their hopes on techniques such as in vitro fertilisation. Further information can be found here: http://www.borneorhinoalliance.org/featured/danum-rhino-rescue-shows-that-drastic-measures-are-needed-to-save-the-species/

We drove past her enclosure on the way.

[TonyQ]

Thanks@@kittykat23uk

I enjoyed seeing the gibbons, the jungle cat and the wide variety of birds and insects. That rhinocerous hornbill is very spectacular.

I am pleased you got to see an elephant

The sequence of youn macaque plaing on the vines is excellent!

[kittykat23uk]

Thanks @@TonyQ not much more to go now. We are almost at the end of this epic adventure!

 

As we drove we stopped by the river for a showy blue-eared kingfisher and headed up past the BORA rhino enclosure deeper into the reserve. We spotted a few birds, including rufous woodpecker, Raffles's malkoha, hairy-backed bulbul, buff-rumped woodpecker , bronze drongo, Asian paradise flycatcher and hill mynah. We got down to walk along the road for a bit, Paul going further than me and spotting some grey leaf monkeys which I missed. In the meantime I spotted another tree-shrew, which I couldn't identify, a sambar deer and some pig-tailed macaques.

P4035620 blue-eared kingfisher by kittykat23uk, on Flickr

P4035624 Asian water monitor by kittykat23uk, on Flickr

As we returned we were excited to see that Iman was standing on a hill within her enclosure, offering us a tantalising glimpse of the top of her body that just peeked out over the high fence which surrounded her enclosure and which usually provides an effective screen that blocked our view of this rare creature. Mohammed was stoked! Not even the guides have the privilege of being involved in the programme so this was also his first look at the rhino. We were not allowed to stop so it was basically a brief drive by sighting. A picture of Iman enjoying her mud wallow is included in the above-linked press release.

On the way back we also had a few bearded pigs run across the track at dusk.

sunset Tabin by kittykat23uk, on Flickr

A common palm civet emerged as night took hold just by camp and we also spotted a red giant flying squirrel in the trees near the restaurant.

P4035633 by kittykat23uk, on Flickr

P4035639 common palm civet by kittykat23uk, on Flickr

P4035645 red giant flying squirrel by kittykat23uk, on Flickr

[kittykat23uk]

We had time for a quick dinner before we took to the road again for our night drive. Another group saw elephants, but of course we were not so lucky this time. Not for elephants, but we did have some more special sightings. Firstly we spotted more common palm civets, two youngsters and an adult just near the entrance to camp. Mohammed tried to tell us that one of the adult common palm civets was a masked palm civet on account of the black tip to the tail but we have since discounted this as another false ID of common palm.

P4035657 adj by kittykat23uk, on Flickr

Another three leopard cat sightings of at least two different individuals added to our tally but then Mohammed spotted movement high up in a tree. This turned out to be a delightful Bornean slow loris, unhurriedly making his way along the branches feeding as he went. Mohammed said there was another one further down but this one was more obscured so I focused on watching the one that was out in the open. This was another of the mammals that I'd really hoped to see so I was ecstatic! Finally, two more adult common palm civets were seen as we pulled back into camp.

P4035660 adj Bornean Slow Loris by kittykat23uk, on Flickr

P4035666 Slow loris by kittykat23uk, on Flickr

P4035667 Slow loris by kittykat23uk, on Flickr

loris2 copy by kittykat23uk, on Flickr

P4035669 common palm civet by kittykat23uk, on Flickr

[graceland]

@@kittykat23uk

 

I sat today and started again at the beginning. What an amazing adventure in Borneo...something I really had not thought of but Dh has become somewhat of a back yard birder in preparation for our next Africa trip and I wanted him to see along with me.

 

Very enticing!

 

So much to see; I am in overdrive.

Thanks for so much effort in the reports you always do so well!

[kittykat23uk]

Thanks @@graceland

 

One thing I forgot to mention was as part of the package one afternoon we were invited to the spa to have one of Tabin Wildlife Resort's famous rainforest foot soaks. First you are invited to cover your face in a pack of Lipad volcano mud. Then as this dries you are served hot herbal teak as you soak your tired feet in a bowl of warm herbal water. The exact herbal concoction varies with the availability of the herbs and they also line the bowl with river stones to assist with ex foliation. It was just what I needed after an arduous rainforest trek!

[Pennyanne]

@kittykat23uk I have been really enjoying this report and have re read it from the beginning. You saw an impressive amount of birds and mammals, especially the leopard cats, civets, macaques, gibbons, slow loris and orangutans. We have to go there.

 

I love your painting too. Thanks so much for sharing.

[kittykat23uk]

Thanks @@Pennyanne. Paul has sent me a mammal list and he counted around 53 mammal species. This includes his pre trip extension in poring and the Crocker range the grey leaf monkeys and an otter that I didn't see. But doesn't include the Malayan Weasel or the Banded Linsang that I saw. So I think my mammal total is roughlly around 47 different species.

[Kitsafari]

@@kittykat23uk gosh, I am so so jealous. Leopard cats, civets, linsang, Pygmy elephants?! Rhino. Life is so unfair.

 

You are a charm. Can I tag along with you on your next trip and have that luck rub off on me please?

[TonyQ]

@@kittykat23uk

Thank you for this report - I have really enjoyed it (and it has been very useful in informing our planning)

You give a real feeling of what it is like to be there (including the heat and humidity!)

You had great sightings and have given us many great pictures (photos and paintings)

I really liked the "bugs", and the squirrels, the flying proboscis monkey, the macaque playing - too many to mention

I think you earned the Tabin foot-soak at the end

Edited June 23, 2014 by TonyQ