For our second and final morning at the Rainforest Discovery Centre, we once again entered the reserve at 06:00 and headed straight for the canopy walkway. The birding was better than yesterday, but perhaps because we had an idea of what we wanted to do, we were better able to manage our time. Many of the species were the same as the previous morning, but in addition we added the Bornean Black Magpie and had great views of a Spectacled Spiderhunter. The mornings highlight however was a Bornean Gibbon, which we spotted feeding at eye-level in the canopy. It then proceeded to swing from tree to tree, again at eye level, offering simply incredible views. For some reason it had escaped me that this species could be found at this location, so we were buzzing with this.
After an 08:00 breakfast we decided to walk the Ridge Trail until the end, and then back again. The forest was fairly quiet, but we encountered a nice selection of species. An Orange-backed Woodpecker showed well, and we were able to get another Bornean endemic when we found the truly unspectacular Charlotte’s Bulbul. We finished off our morning here by walking back along the canopy walkway. It already being 10:00 by now it was quite hot so we did not see much, although I was able to add another of the Bornean non-descript Bulbuls with Spectacled Bulbul. We finished our visit to the site with a Horned Flying Lizard displaying next to the walkway. After this, at 10:30 we made our move, driving 2 hours to the Kinabatangan River.
We planned to visit the Gomantong Caves during the afternoon, stopping off as we drove past. However, it turns out the caves were closed until 14:00, so we first headed to our accommodation in Sukau and relaxed for a little bit before returning to the caves. Initially, we stopped and birded a bit along the entrance road to the caves, where the forest was nice. We had another Orangutang here, and this individual was much shier than the ones at Sepilok, as it immediately retreated to the canopy. Also on the entrance road we saw our first Wrinkled Hornbill and Sooty-capped Babblers.
Once we reached the cave, we found another Orangutang being watching the car park, which also kept to the tops of the trees. The cave itself was spectacular, but arguably more spectacular was the smell of the thousands of bats and swiftlets! Maddeningly I had forgotten the torch, so the only swift I could identify was a single Mossy-nest Swftlet than a passing group illuminated. Outside the cave the birds kept coming, with another new bulbul in Cream-vented Bulbul.
We returned to Sukau around 17:30, had lunch and then coordinated with our guide and boatman for the area, Romzi, about a night activity. Although the weather looked a little dodgy at first, by 20:00 Romzi still was able to take us out and we had a fantastic time tracking the areas nightbirds. The main nocturnal draw here is the Large Frogmouth, and we had great views of two different individuals. Oriental Bay Owl is another big draw, and Romzi also found that for us, with better views than in Sepilok. Buffy Fish Owl was common along the river, and we had a bonus Brown Wood Owl. Our first Saltwater Crocodiles came this evening, although they were only small individuals. All in all it was an excellent evening, the only drawback was being stung by two wasps that came to the light!
No comments:
Post a Comment