Best of Borneo Aug 06—19, 2010
Posted by Susan Myers
Susan Myers
Susan Myers absolutely loves birding and traveling in Asia. As she says, "The combination of incredible and diverse wildlife, ancient and fascinating cultures, and the...Related Trips
Borneo is without doubt one of the best and most enjoyable birding destinations in the world, and this tour again lived up to high expectations. There were many, many birding, wildlife, and natural history highlights, of course, but there was also the pleasure of experiencing this wonderful island.
Borneo is quite rightly regarded as one of the great storehouses of our planet's incredible biological diversity. Charles Darwin called Borneo, "one great, wild, untidy, luxuriant hothouse made by nature herself." What a fabulous summation of this remarkable place! It succinctly conjures an image of a Henri Rousseau jungle painting. In reality, much of the rich and verdant rainforest of Borneo has been lost forever, given up to our greed for fuel and comfort. This third largest island in the world is rapidly being taken over by oil palm plantations and timber companies. The Malaysian state of Sabah in the north harbors the largest remaining tracts of lowland and montane rainforest in Borneo. From here the towering spinal mountain range dominated by Mount Kinabalu emanates, and the teeming, complex rainforests still fan out below to the lowlands and ultimately to the coast. The wildlife of this remarkable island is incomparable. With a host of enticing birds (including 51 endemics), a charismatic mammal fauna, many strange and unusual reptiles, the world's largest flower—the rafflesia, and the largest collection of carnivorous pitcher plants, it's not surprising that naturalists are irresistibly drawn to the island.
We visited the three major birding and wildlife sites of Borneo: Mount Kinabalu, the Kinabatangan River, and the Danum Valley. Mount Kinabalu is one of those truly memorable mountains that seem to burst from the ground. It dominates the west coast and is pivotal to the identity of the local people. The cool montane forests on the slopes of Kinabalu and the surrounding Crocker Ranges are home to most of Borneo's endemic species. By contrast, the meandering passage of the lazy Kinabatangan River feeds the low-lying swamp forests that harbor rambunctious troops of the unlikely proboscis monkey, gibbons, and leaf-monkeys, and a vast array of wonderful birds including eight species of hornbills. At the Gomantong Caves we had a couple of sightings of the amazing red ape, the truly wild orangutan. To complete the picture, we traveled to the remote Danum Valley, one of the largest remaining stands of primary forest in Borneo, where luxuriant forests host a dazzling cast of pittas, babblers, trogons, barbets, broadbills, and many other very exciting birds!
We started our trip by heading up to the Crocker Ranges via Tambunan and then to the spectacular Mount Kinabalu. We spent the next few days in cooler climes tracking down some of the very special Bornean montane endemics. Of special note on Mount Kinabalu and at Tambunan were many outstanding and rarely seen birds, including breathtaking views of Mountain Wren-Babbler, Short-tailed Green Magpie, Bornean Treepie, Eyebrowed Jungle-Flycatcher, and more. One particular standout sighting was that of a group of the endemic Red-breasted Partridge almost at our feet!
At Sukau we took it easy, as we boated around the Kinabatangan River and its tributaries. In this magical area we had more wonderful sightings including Lesser Fish-Eagles, a number of species of hornbills, many Stork-billed Kingfishers, and that improbable endemic primate, the proboscis monkey. A side trip to the Gomantong Caves was very successful with great sightings of orangutans and Rhinoceros Hornbills, as well as Bat Hawks and others.
Danum Valley is one of the premier birding and wildlife destinations in Asia, so our long stay here offered a rare opportunity to experience the intricacies of this most complex of ecosystems—the Sundaic tropical lowland rainforests. Every day brings new discoveries here. Certainly there was never a dull moment! There were just too many amazing birds, mammals, reptiles, butterflies, and other insects to detail them all, even in this full list of sightings, but some of the more memorable moments included great sightings of brilliant Blue-headed and Black-and-crimson pittas; an amazingly cooperative Great Argus; some gorgeous Red-naped Trogons; Raffle's Malkohas; and a tricky Black-throated Wren-Babbler. Of course, there were also hornbills, spiderhunters, and babblers, as well as remarkably close Bornean orangutans and red leaf-monkeys. The backdrop to all this was, of course, the simply amazing and beautiful forest itself.