Explorations of an Ecologist: 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.