Explorations of an Ecologist: November 2024

Thursday, 28 November 2024

Borneo: Quest For The Bulwer's Pheasant

The Bulwer's Pheasant was one of the first birds to grab hold of my attention when I first flipped through the pages of my Borneo field guide many years ago. This pheasant of Bornean hill forest is nearly unbelievable-looking (the male, that is). He has a deep maroon chest and a black body adorned with tiny iridescent bluish flecks that gives the appearance of a starry night sky. He has a bright blue wattle on his face, red legs, and an incredible plume of snow-white tail feathers behind him. At the time I realized that it would be unlikely that I would ever see a Bulwer's Pheasant. They are restricted to pristine hill forest and are extremely shy and skulky. Few birders had ever seen one, and usually it was the case of having incredible luck.

However, the Bulwer's Pheasant's mythical facade began to lift a few years ago. Some enterprising bird guides in the Trus Madi area not only discovered several territories of Bulwer's Pheasants, but they were successful in training several individuals to come in to feeding stations (hides) to eat cracked corn! In the last year or so the pheasants have become more reliable, though far from guaranteed.

I wasn't about to let a chance to see a Bulwer's Pheasant pass me by and so it was item #1 on my to-do list following the conclusion of the Borneo tour.

I organized our Bulwer's expedition via Calvin Ng, a local birding guide who seems to be the point man for organizing these sorts of things. We also had Calvin organize access for us at the Trus Madi Entomology Camp where we planned to stay for the night. Calvin wouldn't be able to join us (he was guiding a group in Sulawesi) but he arranged for his driver, Peter to pick us up in his 4x4 Toyota Land Cruiser at 4 AM from our hotel in Kota Kinabalu. Cavin said that the Bulwer's were unreliable at his hides near the entomology camp at the moment, so he instead arranged for us to visit some other hides near the Tambunan entrance to Trus Madi, run by a gentleman named CP Song.

Our early morning drive took us through the Crocker Range where Laura and I had birded way back on our first morning of the trip. As dawn broke we could see the Trus Madi Forest Reserve in the distance with Gunung Trusmadi (the mountain peak) hidden in the clouds. And by 6:00 AM, we had arrived at the hides.

CP Song's main hide - Trus Madi, Sabah, Malaysia

Visiting bird hides is a very popular activity in Asia, though for some reason it hasn't really taken off in the Americas. From within the hide you are essentially hidden from the birds. There are typically several water features, seed/cracked corn/rice for the pheasants and partridges, and mealworms for the other birds. Throughout the course of the morning various birds, squirrels and treeshrews will stop by for the buffet and incredible photographical opportunities can be had. It can be a little slow at times since you are sitting in one location for hours on end, but the photo and viewing opportunities are well worth it.

Yellow-bellied Bulbul - Trus Madi, Sabah, Malaysia

Asian Emerald Dove - Trus Madi, Sabah, Malaysia

We settled in to the hide and had been there only a few minutes until we heard a Bulwer's vocalize from somewhere down the slope! And a few minutes later, there he was. Incredible!

Bulwer's Pheasant (male) - Trus Madi, Sabah, Malaysia

He was everything I had imagined and more. What a ridiculous-looking bird! His visit lasted only a few minutes until he slunk back down the hillside.

Bulwer's Pheasant (male) - Trus Madi, Sabah, Malaysia

I was a little bit worried that I might have brought the wrong photography equipment for this hide experience. I only had two camera lenses with me in Borneo - my 90 mm macro and 500mm telephoto. Something in the 300mm range would have been ideal but I did not have space to bring that lens. Indeed, the Bulwer's Pheasant was a little bit too close to fit his entire tail into the frame, while the dark understory and early morning hour meant that there was very little light for photography. That being said, I have no right to complain about the photographic conditions when I was face to face with a male Bulwer's Pheasant!

Bulwer's Pheasant (male) - Trus Madi, Sabah, Malaysia

I was ecstatic to have connected with this near-mythical beast. That took the pressure off for the day, and anything else was just bonus!

Throughout the course of the morning we could hear the Bulwer's Pheasant calling every five or ten minutes or so from somewhere down the slope. He never reappeared. However, a female Bulwer's Pheasant stopped by soon after, and she made several additional appearances later in the morning when the light was better.

Bulwer's Pheasant (female) - Trus Madi, Sabah, Malaysia

Even with our Bulwer's vision satisfied, there were several other species of birds that had been coming regularly to these hides which I was keen to see and photograph. The main one was the Dayak Blue Flycatcher. The blue flycatchers of southeast Asia are surprisingly confusing, with a large number of species that look and sound very similar. The Dayak Blue Flycatcher used to be lumped in with Hill Blue Flycatcher of mainland southeast Asia but is now considered an endemic species of the hill forests of Borneo. I had never seen one before, one of the few remaining Bornean endemics for me that can be found in Sabah. Indeed, that was rectified when a female Dayak Blue Flycatcher appeared at the hide.

Dayak Blue Flycatcher (female) - Trus Madi, Sabah, Malaysia

She dropped in a few times, and eventually the male appeared as well. He is a stunning little gem of a flycatcher, and the views were fantastic!

Dayak Blue Flycatcher (male) - Trus Madi, Sabah, Malaysia

Two species of partridges that are endemic to Borneo's highlands are sometimes observed coming in to CP's hides as well. Though I had seen Crimson-headed Partridge on the trail system at Mount Kinabalu, I had never photographed it, while all of my encounters with Red-breasted Partridge were heard-only. We lucked out and saw several individuals of both species on numerous occasions throughout the day. The Red-breasted Partridges even performed a duet from just a few meters away.

Crimson-headed Partridge - Trus Madi, Sabah, Malaysia

Red-breasted Partridge - Trus Madi, Sabah, Malaysia

Red-breasted Partridges - Trus Madi, Sabah, Malaysia

Red-breasted Partridge - Trus Madi, Sabah, Malaysia

Crimson-headed Partridge - Trus Madi, Sabah, Malaysia

The morning just kept getting better. Another enigmatic species with a limited range in southeast Asia is the Rail-Babbler, the only member of its family. Laura and I had previously searched unsuccessfully for this species in mainland Malaysia. Imagine our surprise when one began singing from somewhere down the hillside! I managed some recordings, but despite our patience it would not come in to the hide and remained "heard-only". CP showed us a video on his phone that he had taken of the Rail-Babbler strutting through the open area a few weeks earlier. He said that he often hears it, but only occasionally sees it.

Rufous-chested Flycatcher (female) - Trus Madi, Sabah, Malaysia

We remained in the hide until it was around 11 AM. I was really holding out for a Bornean Banded Pitta but it was not to be. At times the banded pittas are regularly seen here, but not at the moment, unfortunately. However, there were many other birds to point my camera at; a few of them are shown here.

Gray-hooded Babbler - Trus Madi, Sabah, Malaysia

Rufous-chested Flycatcher (male) - Trus Madi, Sabah, Malaysia

Bornean Whistler - Trus Madi, Sabah, Malaysia

Siberian Blue Robin (female) - Trus Madi, Sabah, Malaysia

I was happy to see a few Temminck's Babblers as well, as this was another species that I had never photographed. They made quick work of the mealworms.

Temminck's Babbler - Trus Madi, Sabah, Malaysia

Though the hides are mainly set up for the birds, a nice variety of squirrels and treeshrews have been reported from here. We found Mountain Treeshrew (a lifer for Laura), Large Treeshrew (a lifer for both of us) and several common squirrel species.

Large Treeshrew (Tupaia tana) - Trus Madi, Sabah, Malaysia

Mountain Treeshrew (Tupaia montana) - Trus Madi, Sabah, Malaysia

At around 11:00 AM CP took us up the road a bit and into the forest on the opposite side of the road to a small hide that he had just set up. It was a much smaller setup that only fit a couple of people, and he said that we were the first birders he had taken to this site. He regularly sees Bornean Banded Pitta here.

Unfortunately, despite a couple of hours spent sitting here, the pittas did not make an appearance. But there were several other fantastic surprises.

A pair of Black-throated Wren-Babblers appeared at the small clearing to gobble down mealworms. This was a nice surprise for me and I didn't realize that this was even a possibility here. Evidently, all of my pre-trip eBird sleuthing was focused on the Trus Madi Entomology Camp and surrounding area, not this area by the Tambunan entrance.

Black-throated Wren-Babbler - Trus Madi, Sabah, Malaysia

This Bornean endemic was a lifer for Laura, while my only previous experience was of a singing bird at Tabin many years ago that I did not manage to see. Over the course of our multi-hour stay at this hide, the wren-babblers were in view quite regularly.

Black-throated Wren-Babbler - Trus Madi, Sabah, Malaysia

The flaming orange glow of an Orange-headed Thrush always catches me by surprise. We were treated to incredible views of this one coming in for the mealworms. This species winters in Borneo in small numbers and Trus Madi is a reliable site.

Orange-headed Thrush - Trus Madi, Sabah, Malaysia

Yet another unexpected lifer revealed itself. An Eyebrowed Wren-Babbler bounced through the clearing, but it did not stick around long enough for good photos. While most of the other wren-babblers of Borneo are found nowhere else in the world, this species is widespread in southeast Asia. It is the least common of the wren-babblers in Sabah.

Eyebrowed Wren-Babbler - Trus Madi, Sabah, Malaysia

We lucked out with one final encounter with the star species. We heard a Bulwer's Pheasant calling, and then a few minutes later a young male and a female walked through the area. They were extremely shy and skittish, running back into the dense undergrowth as soon as they detected that something seemed off. CP said that these ones need more time to become habituated to the hides, as they are still nervous of humans.

One final colourful bird species dropped in before we wrapped up for the day. This Rufous-backed Dwarf-Kingfisher was only in view for a few seconds.

Rufous-backed Dwarf-Kingfisher - Trus Madi, Sabah, Malaysia

With a long drive on a very rough road ahead of us, Laura and I decided to call it quits around 2:15 PM. Somehow, over 8 hours had passed! We thanked CP, Peter fired up the Land Cruiser, and we were on our way.

Selfie with CP Song - Trus Madi, Sabah, Malaysia

My next post will cover our visit to the Trus Madi Entomology Camp. We found a few tricky bird species (including a scarce Bornean endemic!), a snake, and had the single best night of mothing we have ever experienced in our lives. Stay tuned.

Wednesday, 20 November 2024

A Quest Nature Tour To Borneo: Tabin Wildlife Reserve And Danum Valley

We left the Kinabatangan River behind and transferred to our next destination, the Tabin Wildlife Reserve. This is the largest swath of protected forest; an area of lowland primary and logged forest that is home to iconic species like the Bornean Pygmy Elephant, the Sun Bear and formerly, the Bornean Rhinoceros (they are, sadly, now extinct). We stayed in beautiful cabins alongside a picturesque river that is home to Malaysian Blue-banded Kingfishers, Asian Water Monitors and Small-clawed Otters.

Tabin Wildlife Reserve, Sabah, Malaysia

Asian Water Monitor (Varanus salvator) - Tabin Wildlife Reserve, Sabah, Malaysia

Southern Pig-tailed Macaques (Macaca nemestrina) - Tabin Wildlife Reserve, Sabah, Malaysia

Red Giant Flying Squirrel (Petaurista petaurista) - Tabin Wildlife Reserve, Sabah, Malaysia

Afternoon and evening drives provided many of the highlights here, many of which were mammals. We found four Sunda Leopard Cats, a Sabah Grizzled Langur, several species of civets, a Moonrat, Bornean Orangutans, Slow Loris, Sunda Colugo and two species of flying squirrel. Hornbills were often seen in the evening, while we also found Brown Wood-Owl and Buffy Fish-Owl at night (and a bonus Sunda Frogmouth). One night, as we rumbled along the gravel track in our safari truck, we heard the distinctive trumpeting of Bornean Pygmy Elephants! I had already accepted that we would miss this species on our trip, since we hadn't found any at the Kinabatangan River (the only site where I had seen them previously). It was quite a surprise to watch a group of 30-plus elephants feeding on vegetation beside the road at night! We returned the following afternoon and had prolonged, amazing views of the group. The next day, they were gone.

Dusk drive at Tabin Wildlife Reserve, Sabah, Malaysia

Bornean Pygmy Elephant (Elephas maximus borneensis) - Tabin Wildlife Reserve, Sabah, Malaysia

Bornean Orangutan (Pongo pygmaeus) - Tabin Wildlife Reserve, Sabah, Malaysia

Philippine Palm Civet (Paradoxurus philippinensis) - Tabin Wildlife Reserve, Sabah, Malaysia

Moonrat (Echinosorex gymnurus) - Tabin Wildlife Reserve, Sabah, Malaysia

Sunda Frogmouth - Tabin Wildlife Reserve, Sabah, Malaysia

Sunda Leopard Cat (Prionailurus javanensis) - Tabin Wildlife Reserve, Sabah, Malaysia

Brown Wood-Owl - Tabin Wildlife Reserve, Sabah, Malaysia

Small-toothed Palm Civet (Arctogalidia trivirgata) - Tabin Wildlife Reserve, Sabah, Malaysia

Sunda Colugo (Galeopterus variegatus) - Tabin Wildlife Reserve, Sabah, Malaysia

Bornean Pygmy Elephant (Elephas maximus borneensis) - Tabin Wildlife Reserve, Sabah, Malaysia

Trefoil Horseshoe Bat (Rhinolophus trifoliatus) - Tabin Wildlife Reserve, Sabah, Malaysia

Southern Pig-tailed Macaques (Macaca nemestrina) - Tabin Wildlife Reserve, Sabah, Malaysia

Birding was top-notch at Tabin as well. Fruiting trees near the lodge gave us excellent views of Asian Fairy-Bluebirds, Scaly-breasted Bulbuls, Yellow-vented Flowerpeckers and Little Green-Pigeons alongside North Bornean Gibbons. We found 7 species of hornbills highlighted by a Helmeted Hornbill that produced its incredible laughing call from a roadside tree. A walk to the mud volcano was quite birdy with a Bornean Banded Kingfisher, Striped Wren-Babbler and a Blue-headed Pitta that just wouldn't come out of the thick understory. White-bellied Munia is a Tabin specialty and we easily found some with mixed munia flocks along the roadside, along with a rare migrant Tiger Shrike (just the second record for the reserve). A memorable morning was spent in the unlogged "core area" where we found highlights such as Gray-and-buff Woodpecker, Great Slaty Woodpecker, Black-crowned Pittas at a feeding station, a roosting Blyth's Frogmouth and the first record of Ferruginous Flycatcher for Tabin. On our drive back to the lodge we found another new species for the reserve - a migrant Chinese Sparrowhawk. And our Storm's Storm luck followed us here from the Kinabatangan River, as we found a solitary individual sitting on top of a tree next to the reserve.

Striped Wren-Babbler - Tabin Wildlife Reserve, Sabah, Malaysia

Rhinoceros Hornbill - Tabin Wildlife Reserve, Sabah, Malaysia

Tiger Shrike - Tabin Wildlife Reserve, Sabah, Malaysia

Bornean Banded Kingfisher - Tabin Wildlife Reserve, Sabah, Malaysia

Bushy-crested Hornbills - Tabin Wildlife Reserve, Sabah, Malaysia

Chinese Sparrowhawk - Tabin Wildlife Reserve, Sabah, Malaysia

Buff-rumped Woodpecker - Tabin Wildlife Reserve, Sabah, Malaysia

Black-crowned Pittas - Tabin Wildlife Reserve, Sabah, Malaysia

Charlotte's Bulbul - Tabin Wildlife Reserve, Sabah, Malaysia

Blyth's Frogmouth - Tabin Wildlife Reserve, Sabah, Malaysia

Oriental Pied-Hornbill - Tabin Wildlife Reserve, Sabah, Malaysia

Greater Coucal - Tabin Wildlife Reserve, Sabah, Malaysia

Blue-throated Bee-eater - Tabin Wildlife Reserve, Sabah, Malaysia

Storm's Stork - Tabin Wildlife Reserve, Sabah, Malaysia

Not to be outdone by the mammals and birds, we also had a few reptile and amphibian highlights at Tabin, including an unruly Black Copper Rat Snake that I helped off of the road. Overall, our visit to Tabin was one of the trip's highlights for us. This reserve is not regularly visited by tourists since it is a little bit off the typical route, but the wildlife sightings never fail to disappoint.

Black Copper Rat Snake (Coelognathus flavolineatus) - Tabin Wildlife Reserve, Sabah, Malaysia

Borneo Forest Dragon (Gonocephalus bornensis) - Tabin Wildlife Reserve, Sabah, Malaysia

Sphenomorphus sp. - Tabin Wildlife Reserve, Sabah, Malaysia

Double-spotted Gecko (Gekko monarchus) - Tabin Wildlife Reserve, Sabah, Malaysia

Dark-eared Tree Frog (Polypedates macrotis) - Tabin Wildlife Reserve, Sabah, Malaysia

Wrangling a Black Copper Rat Snake - Tabin Wildlife Reserve, Sabah, Malaysia

We concluded the tour in the heart of the Danum Valley at the Borneo Rainforest Lodge. This is a world-class ecolodge surrounded by pristine lowland and lower hill forest, home to most of the iconic species found in Borneo. Our days were filled with exploration along the trails and on the extensive canopy walkway, while after dark we embarked on night drives and short hikes in search of frogs, reptiles, mammals, owls and more.

Danum Valley, Sabah, Malaysia

Pyrops whiteheadi - Danum Valley, Sabah, Malaysia

File-eared Tree Frog (Polypedates otilophus) - Danum Valley, Sabah, Malaysia

Fringed Flying Dragon (Draco fimbriatus) - Danum Valley, Sabah, Malaysia

Great Orange Awlet (Bibasis etelka) - Danum Valley, Sabah, Malaysia

The canopy walkway was fantastic this year in part due to the presence of a fruiting Ficus next to one of the towers. While waiting for Bornean Bristleheads to make an appearance, we had non-stop bird action with highlights like Pale Blue Flycatcher, Thick-billed Green-Pigeon, our eight (and final) hornbill species (Wrinkled Hornbill), Short-toed Coucal and eye-level barbets and broadbills. We lucked out with a group of three Bornean Bristleheads that appeared near one of the towers; after 5 minutes they were gone, never to be seen again.

Black-and-yellow Broadbill - Danum Valley, Sabah, Malaysia

Wrinkled Hornbill - Danum Valley, Sabah, Malaysia

Thick-billed Green-Pigeon - Danum Valley, Sabah, Malaysia

Black-naped Monarch - Danum Valley, Sabah, Malaysia

Pale Blue Flycatcher - Danum Valley, Sabah, Malaysia

Lesser Green Leafbird - Danum Valley, Sabah, Malaysia

Maroon-breasted Philentoma - Danum Valley, Sabah, Malaysia

Bornean Bristlehead - Danum Valley, Sabah, Malaysia

Unidentified wasp - Danum Valley, Sabah, Malaysia

Orange Gull (Cepora iudith) - Danum Valley, Sabah, Malaysia

Lasippa monata - Danum Valley, Sabah, Malaysia

Mammals were well-represented at the Borneo Rainforest Lodge. There are ten species of primates possible on our route in Sabah; by finding several Red Leaf Monkeys, we had completed the set with all ten species observed. We also had incredible eye-level views of a mother and juvenile Bornean Orangutan from the canopy walkway on our final morning.

Philippine Palm Civet (Paradoxurus philippinensis) - Danum Valley, Sabah, Malaysia

Sunda Colugo (Galeopterus variegatus) - Danum Valley, Sabah, Malaysia

Bornean Orangutan (Pongo pygmaeus) - Danum Valley, Sabah, Malaysia

Least Pygmy Squirrel (Exilisciurus exilis) - Danum Valley, Sabah, Malaysia

The birding highlights in the Danum Valley were almost too numerous to mention; in addition to the species mentioned above, they also included Sunda Blue and Malaysian Blue Flycatchers, Whiskered Treeswifts, some rare Cream-eyed Bulbuls, and even a heard-only Bornean Ground-Cuckoo on the final morning.

Red-bearded Bee-eater - Danum Valley, Sabah, Malaysia

White-fronted Falconet - Danum Valley, Sabah, Malaysia

Bornean Spiderhunter - Danum Valley, Sabah, Malaysia

Cream-eyed Bulbul (Pycnonotus pseudosimplex)

Bornean Black-capped Babbler - Danum Valley, Sabah, Malaysia

White-crowned Forktail - Danum Valley, Sabah, Malaysia

Sunda Blue Flycatcher - Danum Valley, Sabah, Malaysia

Horsfield's Babbler - Danum Valley, Sabah, Malaysia

Whiskered Treeswift - Danum Valley, Sabah, Malaysia

Moustached Babbler - Danum Valley, Sabah, Malaysia

We succeeded with finding a high diversity of snakes during our time at the Danum Valley and finished with ten species! Part of our success was due to the frequent rain that the Danum Valley had been experiencing (more rain = more snakes in my experience), but also because we had snake-finder extraordinaire Laura on this tour. One of our favourite snakes from our time here was a gorgeous Sumatra Pit Viper alongside the road at night.

Sumatra Pit Viper (Trimeresurus sumatranus) - Danum Valley, Sabah, Malaysia

Blunthead Slug Snake (Aplopeltura boa) - Danum Valley, Sabah, Malaysia

Dog-toothed Cat Snake (Boiga cynodon) - Danum Valley, Sabah, Malaysia

White-spotted Cat Snake (Boiga drapiezii) - Danum Valley, Sabah, Malaysia

Gray Bronzeback (Dendrelaphis caudolineatus) - Danum Valley, Sabah, Malaysia

Oriental Whipsnake (Ahaetulla prasina) - Danum Valley, Sabah, Malaysia

Common Mock Viper (Psammodynastes pulverulentus) - Danum Valley, Sabah, Malaysia

Elegant Bronzeback (Dendrelaphis formosus) - Danum Valley, Sabah, Malaysia

Red-tailed Green Rat Snake (Gonyosoma oxycephalum) - Danum Valley, Sabah, Malaysia

Night drives were a highly anticipated part of our visit to the Danum Valley. Highlights included an active Sunda Colugo in the treetops, a Thomas's Flying Squirrel that glided right over our heads, a singing Reddish Scops-Owl and a huge diversity of lizards and snakes, several of which I had never seen before. Laura and I also led a night walk, while we did some exploring of our own after dark before and after the group activities. Our three nights at the Borneo Rainforest Lodge were incredible and we all could have happily stayed for another three nights.