Sungai Kinabatangan
Black-and-crimson Pitta, seen from the boardwalk behind the S.I. Jungle Lodge in Abai
Now that I have discovered the pittas I see and hear them all the time.
The flowers in the gardens attract many butterflies, like this Black-and-white Helen left and the Bornean Mormon right.
Common Iora, also seen near the lodge.
Skinks are always around when the sun comes out. Black-banded Skink.
The Orang Utangs, you cant help but love them. Specially when they look as friendly as this young female, who was hanging around the Jungle Lodge. She didnt appear afraid of the people who walked by, though she kept her distance, usually keeping a tree between us and her. She seemed quite interested in my umbrella, which I used both to hide from the rain and from her, so as not to scare her off when I came closer. Im sure she understood my tactics and watched almost bemused. The heavy monsoon rain didnt seem to bother her. Rather content she continued munching on her breakfast of young leaves, slowly moving from branch to branch, watching me as if I was a popular TV program.
A jungle mouse, we saw in the same bunch of trees as a white Moonrat and a bearded pig.
It is almost as if having to live so close together in this small pocket of forest the animals have become more tolerant. Of each other as well as of people.
This Stork-billed kingfisher is sitting on a fire hose bridge, set up for orang utangs to cross a river. They cannot swim and this way they could expand their territory. If it works? Nobody has ever seen them using it.
Proboscis monkeys, mother and daughter settling for the night.
The big alpha male has a soft appearance when he is at rest, but watch out when he comes in action!
Pigtail Macaques
A juvenile showing off its acrobatic skills.
Pigtail macaques are a lot bigger then longtails and have near-human facial expressions.
Yes, a VERY funny bum
Greater Coucal and Black Hornbill
In the fruiting season we saw a lot of animals munching away on all sorts of things, from small berries to big mangos It would make us feel hungry.
Edible or not? We didnt dare try.
Malaysian Blue flycatcher
Blue-throated Bee-eater
Purple Heron at the oxbow lake
2 Common Kingfishers
This Collared Kingfisher was sleeping on a low branch just above the water, we could nearly touch it.
Not the Buffy Fish-owl though. Hes wide awake!
A tiny orchid caught in the sun
Another creature of the night, our disputed Long-tailed Nightjar.
The crimson sunbird (above) and brown-throated sunbird (below) frequent flowers in the jungle as well as in gardens.
More Sunbirds, ever so colorful. They sometimes make me wait for hours, but the results are worth it.
Brown-throated sunbirds (above) and Copper-throated Sunbird at flowering ginger.
Things that sit on leaves, the Dark Bush Orange and the Golden-legged Bush Frog.
Waking up the neighborhood, a Brown Barbet.
There are 100s of different shrews and squirrells, (including cute Pygmy Squirrels, only 10-15 cm long from their head to the tip of their tail, which were too fast for the camera) this one most often seen.
More wings and few names
Dont know the huge moths official name and the club-tail neither, there are so many.
Large Palm King, indeed very large, 70 mm
Malayan Egg Fly
Tabin Wildlife Reserve
Mr and Mrs White-crowned Hornbill flew by the center twice: the first time just upon my arrival, the 2nd time when I got into the car to leave.
The newly named Rubycheek.
The red jungle fowl rooster lookes just like our domestic type, but for a small white patch on its cheek. And acts like it , too.
Painted Jezzebel
When we couldnt go out the staff helpt me find more critters inside and around the buildings.
Like these huge moths,
Big and small grasshoppers,
This fellow in the cooks frog pond,
A Crab Spider web in the yard and Horsfields Gliding Gecko on the ceiling.
Another Bornean white crown: the White-crowned Shama
Anyone wanting to see these up close: Tabin is the place.
Velvet-fronted Nuthatches were often seen in the trees at the entrance of the resort.
Left: West Viscount Right: Palm King
Brown Wood Owl
Only one orchid in bloom at the cafe, but many Dragon Tails around
Everybody's favorite, the Leopard Cat, comes out at night to hunt in plantations. Saw 4 of them on two occasions!
A flowerpecker that couldnt get enough of the little red berries in the flower of Elephants Ear after the rain. He was starving.
Left the gibbons, right the leaf monkey that seemed to be living with them.
No episode without the colorful Crimson Sunbird
A Goulds Frogmouth sitting 3m above and allowed us a good look for a few seconds.
Fast asleep, this little Tailorbird
Rainforest Discovery Center, Sepilok
Verditer Flycathers
Cauliflower fruiting tree, and thats really what it was called...
Female Banded Kingfisher
Left: Bornean Bristlehead Right: Banded Bay Cuckoo
Red-bearded Bee-eater
Green Iora
Skinks. Red-throated above, Common Sun skink below
Female Rubycheek
Grey-and-buff Woodpecker
Black-and-red Broadbill
Horned Spiders
A Greater Leafbird taking a bath
Maroon Leaf Monkey
Violet Cuckoo, male and female
Buff-necked Woodpecker
Lantarn flies or bugs
Weird fruit and a 'who knows what' beetle
Left: Diards Trogon Right: Blach Hornbill
Just a pretty bug
Edable Cantarelle? I guess not
A bit of sunlight in a very dark rain-forest
Red-sided Keelback snakes - not poisenous
Crested Goshawk
Black-winged Flycatcher-shrike pair
Tree shrews and squirrels
Rhinoceros Hornbills
Red Spotted Duke
Wildlife of Kudat
Common Iora, looking for a mate
Richards Pipits on the golf course
Female Olive-backed Sunbird building a nest.
Colared Kingfishers
Black-winged Kite, the Brahminis cousin
Palawan and Busuanga, Philippines
Here I was, thinking Id left all the good birding behind me in Borneo, the first thing I saw was this Japanese Sparrowhawk, more concerned with a pair of drongos than with me.
Not long after that I saw this Chestnut-breasted Malkoha. Seen them before, but not often up close.
When the Blue Paradise Flycatcher crossed my path I knew I was hooked again.
Left: a Yellow-throated Leafbird, endemic of Palawan.
Right: a very common Zebra Dove, I like them, they seem so delicate.
Left: Ashy Drongo, Right Spangled Drongo.
Thank you Roger for helping me out with these.
Olive-backed Sunbirds, doing it upside down.
The O-b Sunbird in Palawan has a very flash looking orange line on his breast.
There is the Pied Fantail again. Not as shy as in Sabah.
And the Common Goldenback, seen in groups of 4 or 5, making the noise of 10
Another acquientance, one I never managed to catch on film: the Plaintive Cuckoo.
The ripe apple-type fruit of Cashew nuts attract flowerpeckers. These look like Crimson-breasted Flowerpeckers, but later I was told they are the endemic Palawan Flowerpeckers.
Will call him Paflow for short.
A Hooded Pitta! At that lovely Ditatayan Island it was seen every day at the same spot.
Another endemic: the White-vented Shama.
Tabon Scrubfowl, or Megapods, whatever you want to call them. They would not let me get closer. Too many ended up in the cooking pots, I suppose.
Ah, Black-naped Orioles again. Ohisashiburi!
Mostly seen as just a fast fluttering of green feathers, the Emerald doves on Ditaytayan Island roam around on the ground in the early morning like any other dove or pigeon, not at all acting secretive. First time ever I got a decent photo.
Mum and dad Rufous Nightheron built a home in the mangroves near the hotsprings of Coron.
Grey-streaked Flycatcher, I guess.
White-breasted Woodswallow
Calauit Island
Left: the Palawan Cherryblossom, Right: some orchid related parasite that we saw a lot on the island and in Fish Bay as well.
Native Calamian Deer
Kawaii desu ne.
Left: Colared Kingfisher again. They are everywhere! Right Black-naped Oriole.
Ashy Drongo
The following images dont really belong here. But then, were do they?
Bye bye!