Borneo - waterside
One of the best ways to see wildlife in the rainforest is to use the waterways – their openness creates light and allows one to see into the canopy. I was able to get out on the water along the magnificent Sungai Kinabatangan (Sungai means River) and in a few other places near the coast.One of the most remarkable species that lives along these waterways is the Proboscis Monkey. The large nose of the male that gives this species their name acts as a resonating chamber when they issue their warning calls. The fat belly is a product of a complicated stomach specialized bacteria to digest the leaves that make up their diet (leaves that would be unpalatabl

Borneo - Danum Valley 2
There are more than just birds in the rainforest canopy. While walking a long trail at Danum I came around a bend only to face this male Bornean Orangutan feeding in a fruit tree. He immediately climbed higher and began to sound as threatening as he possible could. Of course I tried a few photos but when he started breaking off small branches and throwing them at me I had to leave him alone. Apparently female Orangutans in this situation prefer to throw their own excrement at you – an even more effective strategy I guess. Not so long ago, most people considered the Orangutan to be a single species endemic to Borneo and Sumatra. These days most taxonomist recognise two gen

Borneo – Danum Valley
The lowland rainforest of Borneo is another place of wonder and beauty. There are fewer endemics in the lowlands than on the mountains and many of these species can also be seen on the Thai-Malay Peninsula. Nonetheless, there are some sites in Borneo that offer superb opportunities to view some of the most secretive species of the dark Sundaic lowland rainforests. One such place is Danum Valley, where most of the following photographs were taken.It is very humbling to stand beneath the tall canopy of this rainforest. The canopy itself is like a sold green wall 50m above the ground and, in addition, massive emergent trees of the dipterocarp family (Greek: di – pteron – karpos

Borneo - Kinabalu
OK, so as promised, here is a little trip to Borneo. The only pity is that these old scanned slides don’t do these birds any justice whatsoever. Borneo is a place of great wonder and beauty and home to many endemic bird species. I though I’d start off on the majestic Mount Kinabalu. At over 4000m ASL, this mountain contains a variety of life zones and among the highest plant diversity of any site in the world. Borneo’s isolated high peaks shelter many endemic species, i.e. species found nowhere else. Borneo looks isolated on a map of the world but it is important to remember that she was connected at some points in her history with other parts of the Greater Sundas when glaciation cyc

An old story - where it all began
Posting all those fruit eaters from around the world made me think of some of my favourite old birding haunts. I thought I should dig out some old slides and post a small series on Borneo, one of my favourite places. I am never satisfied that I can reproduce the quality of slides on screen, which is why I haven't done many post from South East Asia, the place where I learnt to bird. Thinking of posting about the Sundaic rainforests however made me realise that the best place to start might be at the beginning! That is, I should tell the story of where all this began, a story of a bird encounter that changed my life... As a kid, a chunk of my early childhood was spent in Australia and I