Another pre-breakfast visit
to the walkway at the Rainforest Discovery Centre was interesting as the forest
was really quiet for the first hour but bird activity slowly increased and we
saw Bornean Bristlehead again, along
with Brown-throated Sunbird, a brief
Maroon Woodpecker, the Grey-streaked Flycatcher was still
present on its usual stump and Common
Hill-myna flew by, but the Black-and-yellow Broadbill that flew in and landed
8 feet away from us was the star sighting. No matter how often I see them, I’m
constantly dazzled by their beauty – what a bird.
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| Black-and-yellow Broadbill |
After breakfast we returned
to RDC and walked the trails for an hour and saw a Plaintive Cuckoo, Yellow-bellied
Prinia, Orange-bellied and Scarlet-backed Flowerpeckers, and
finally we found the endemic Yellow-rumped
Flowerpecker.
Then we left on the drive
towards the Kinabatangan River, stopping for lunch along the way. We also
visited Gomantong Caves where Edible-nest,
Black-nest and Mossy-nest Swiftlets can be seen on their distinctive nests – and
hence you can tick them off with pride (apparently). So it’s really hard to
identify these birds in the field and the only reliable way is to see their
nests – oh come on, why not lump the lot of them and move on with our lives!
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| Hooded Pitta |
But the walk to the caves was through lovely forest and held a calling Hooded Pitta,
in fact we saw two different birds, plus a Black
Hornbill, Scarlet-rumped
Trogon, Angle-headed Lizard
and a flying lizard sp flew right over our heads and landed on a tree in front
of us.
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| Scarlet-rumped Trogon |
The walk out was sort of better with a female Orang-utan with a youngster clinging to her belly at eye-level
right next to us. An absolutely amazing experience to see them but she soon
disappeared back into the dense foliage. I was also very pleased to see a pair
of White-crowned Hornbills here as
well – a much-wanted lifer. At the car park a Bat Hawk looked very majestic in the scope, as it sat on its perch
at the top of a leafless tree.
Upon arrival at the river we
said goodbye to Sam, our excellent driver and hopped into a boat for the 10
minute ride to our excellent lodge. We literally just dumped the luggage into
our rooms, well after being instructed how to construct the sari we were
supposed to wear for dinner – oh dear! With that done we set of along the river
and what a time we had with another Black
Hornbill, 2 sightings of Wrinkled Hornbill (another lifer!), Oriental Pied Hornbill and flocks of Bushy-crested Hornbill being a major
highlight.
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| Wrinkled Hornbill |
The Kinabatangan River is rather wide and surrounded by excellent
mature forest and with the number of hornbills present it must be a very rich
and lush environment. We had been on a roll with our animal list expanding
rapidly, so when we came across a herd of Bornean Pygmy Elephants everyone was very excited
indeed.
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| Bornean Pygmy Elephant |
There were also Long-tailed
Macaques, and eventually a troop of Proboscis
Monkeys were seen lounging in the riverside trees.
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| Proboscis Monkey |
At least 2 Storm’s Storks were around as well,
whilst Changeable Hawk-eagle and a
fine adult Rufous-bellied eagle were
flying over the forest in the increasingly clearing skies. We also had Pink-necked Green-pigeon, a perched Indian Cuckoo, Dollarbird, and an Orange-backed
Woodpecker came out of its nest-hole.
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| Storm's Stork |
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