Birding in Borneo

Kinabatangan River

February, 2012

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We left the Sepilok Forest Reserve and drove through more depressing, monotonous oil palm plantations, headed for the Kinabatangan River.

Kinabatangan Ridge No Oil Palm
Remnant Forest Ridge
Note Oil Palms in Front of Trees,
to Left of Road, and on Far Right

We didn't quite make it. There was a bridge we had to cross, and it was out. It was not unexpected, however, and as C.K. parked the van and we got our stuff out we were met by a couple of guys from the Myne Resort, where we would be staying.

Kinabatangan Bridge Out Kinabatangan Bridge Out
Kinabatangan Bridge Out Kinabatangan Bridge Out

Just before we got to Myne Resort, we passed a big concrete building with no windows except a small square opening way up high. It looked like a maximum security prison of sorts, but C.K. informed us it was a commercial factory where they raised swallows and swifts so they could harvest the nests to sell for use in birds' nest soup.

Kinabatangan Bird Nest Soup Factory
Bird Nest Soup Factory

We were welcomed at Myne Lodge with a great fruit drink, which I'll admit was hard not to guzzle. I'm a guzzler by nature, and can down a mug of water in about two gulps when I'm hot and thirsty. We settled in to our new digs and then since it was already afternoon, we headed out to explore the river. Our boat was a great platform for wildlife observation. Ram manned the bow gun, and Dawn and I balanced out on the sides.

One of the big benefits of using C.K. as a bird guide is that we got our own boat. C.K. figures his job is to help us find birds, and he knows that you don't see as much when you try to do birding in a boat full of regular tourists. So all of our activities with C.K. were with just us, or in this case, us plus the boatman.

Kinabatangan Myne Resort Ram Kinabatangan Boat Ram Dawn
Ram Cooling Off Ram and Dawn

The river did not disappoint us; there were a lot of different hornbills, raptors, egrets, kingfishers, and broadbills.

Kinabatangan Bird Oriental Darter Kinabatangan Bird Oriental Darter
Oriental Darter Oriental Darter
Kinabatangan Bird Great Egret Kinabatangan Bird Great Egret Kinabatangan Bird Great Egret
Great Egret Great Egret Great Egret

Kinabatangan Bird Crested Serpent Eagle
Crested Serpent Eagle

Kinabatangan Bird Oriental Pied Hornbill
Oriental Pied Hornbill
Kinabatangan Bird Oriental Pied Hornbill Kinabatangan Bird Oriental Pied Hornbill
Oriental Pied Hornbill Oriental Pied Hornbill

We were hoping to see some primates. While seeing the Orangutans at Sepilok was fun, it was a bit like being in a zoo. We were hoping for a glimpse of one along the river. Towards evening, we came upon a tree full of Proboscis Monkeys. They are found only in Borneo, and boy, are they ... appropriately named!

Kinabatangan Proboscis Monkeys
Proboscis Monkeys

Kinabatangan Proboscis Monkey Kinabatangan Proboscis Monkey Kinabatangan Proboscis Monkeys
Proboscis Monkey Proboscis Monkey Proboscis Monkeys
Kinabatangan Proboscis Monkeys Probiscis Monkey With Child
Proboscis Monkeys Proboscis Monkey with Child

The hornbills were everywhere, and many were not too shy and allowed us to observe them for a fair amount of time. We also found an occasional woodpecker, but they were not nearly so obliging. Usually all we got of them was a glimpse, and they would either fly off or disappear around the back side of their tree. The kingfishers were similar, flying off as soon as we got close enough to see much of them, although occasionally one would linger a bit longer.

Kinabatangan Bird Rhinoceros Hornbill Kinabatangan Bird Rhinoceros Hornbill
Rhinoceros Hornbill Rhinoceros Hornbill

Kinabatangan Bird Stork Billed Kingfisher Kinabatangan Bird Stork Billed Kingfisher Kinabatangan Bird White Bellied Woodpecker
Stork Billed Kingfisher Stork Billed Kingfisher White Bellied Woodpecker

We stayed out until sunset, and usually saw a tree full of primates of one sort or another on the way back.

Kinabatangan Sunset Kinabatangan Long Tailed Macaques Sunset
Kinabatangan Sunset Sunset, Long Tailed Macaques

There are a bunch of Bearded Pigs around, and the resort throws out a bunch of kitchen scraps in the evening to draw them in for their customers. I guess it's the Borneo equivalent of feeding the deer. The resort folks didn't seem to be too concerned about them. We were more careful, always aware of the fact that wild animals can be unpredictable.

Kinabatangan Myne Kinabatangan Bearded Pig
Myne Resort Bearded Pig

Kinabatangan Bird Xxx Hawk
Xxx Hawk

Our second day we had a great time -- a big orangutan was hanging out in a tree on the bank, munching some kind of fruit for lunch. Occasionally we would see an orangutan nest, but we never saw an orangutan actually resting in one. They look pretty flimsy, but if you're only staying for one day the way the orangutans do, you don't want to put too much time into building it.

Kinabatangan Orangutan Kinabatangan Orangutan Nest
Orangutan Orangutan Nest

We found quite a few groups of long tailed macaques, and they seemed pretty used to tourists like us. They pretty much just hung out, and we could ease the boat up to within a few meters of them.

Kinabatangan Long Tailed Macaque Kinabatangan Long Tailed Macaque Kinabatangan Long Tailed Macaque
Long Tailed Macaques Long Tailed Macaque with Child Long Tailed Macaque

Kinabatangan Long Tailed Macaque Kinabatangan Long Tailed Macaque Kinabatangan Long Tailed Macaque
Long Tailed Macaque Long Tailed Macaque Long Tailed Macaque

Kinabatangan Bird Great Egret Kinabatangan Bird Storms Stork
Great Egret Storms Stork

There are oil palm plantations all along the river, and they have left only about 50 m of jungle by the river. Apparently the orangutans don't like to get wet, so where a tributary comes in, it blocks the orangutan from moving further down (or up) the river. To get around this problem and allow the orangutans to move around more widely, conservationists have built rope crossings.

Kinabatangan Primate Crossing
Primate Crossing

Kinabatangan Bird Xxx Kinabatangan Bird Xxx Sunbird Kinabatangan Bird Xxx Sunbird
Xxx Xxx Sunbird Xxx Sunbird

There was a big praying mantis on one of the shrubs at the resort; s/he was pretty cool.

Kinabatangan Praying Mantis Kinabatangan Praying Mantis
Praying Mantis Praying Mantis
Kinabatangan Ram Shooting Praying Mantis
Ram Shooting Praying Mantis

We didn't see many butterflies, which was a disappointment.

Kinabatangan Butterfly Xxx Kinabatangan Butterfly Xxx
Butterfly Xxx Butterfly Xxx

Before I left for Borneo, Tom Martin had sent me a picture he had taken of Pygmy Elephants along the river. There are only a few of them left in Borneo, mostly because of habitat destruction. We were all hoping to see some, but when we arrived at the lodge the word was they were not back yet. They migrate from one place to another, depending on the time of year. They were expected "real soon now." On our second afternoon C.K. gathered us up to go out again; he had gotten word from some Brits staying at the lodge that the elephants were back, and they had seen them that morning. Most of the boats on the river were heading downstream, but this time we went up.

Kinabatangan Mosque
Village Mosque

... And there they were! We found them in amongst someone's weekend retreat, generally raising havoc, eating the leaves off the roof and taking things apart to see what might be in them. I've never seen a full-grown African or Indian elephant in the wild, and I haven't seen one in a zoo for ages, but I know they're big. These Pygmy Elephants were ... well, pygmy. About two meters tall, which is still a big animal, but not a giant. And I certainly wouldn't want one to charge me or put its foot down on mine.

Kinabatangan Pygmy Elephants Kinabatangan Pygmy Elephants
Pygmy Elephants
Kinabatangan Pygmy Elephant Youngster Kinabatangan Pygmy Elephants
Pygmy Elephant Youngster Pygmy Elephant with Radio Collar

Kinabatangan Pygmy Elephants Kinabatangan Pygmy Elephants
Pygmy Elephants Pygmy Elephants

Kinabatangan Pygmy Elephants
Pygmy Elephants

Kinabatangan Pygmy Elephant
Pygmy Elephant in River Muck

When we headed home we came across some bee-eaters feasting on some big moths. It was pretty dark and we could barely see them. Sometimes we could look up in the sky over the river and spot a moth, and about the time we did we would see one of the bee-eaters take off and nail it. The moths looked almost too big for them to eat, but they managed.

Kinabatangan Bird Blue Throated Bee Eater Kinabatangan Bird Blue Throated Bee Eater Kinabatangan Bird Blue Throated Bee Eater
Blue Throated Bee Eater Blue Throated Bee Eater Blue Throated Bee Eater
with Moth

Kinabatangan Sunset
Sunset

C.K. took us out for a night trip on the river, spotlighting the bank to see what we could find. We slid right up to a kingfisher which I guess was asleep. I could have reached out and grabbed it, but I didn't. We found a couple of owls, a bittern, and the elephants. But in general I was disappointed; I had hoped to find more. I think I must always have unreasonable expectations of these night trips, as I never see as much as I think we should.

The next day we went down to one of the tributaries, the Menuggal, and worked our way up it a little ways. It runs through a sanctuary so there is more jungle on both sides of it than the main river.

Kinabatangan Tributary Kinabatangan Tributary
Tributary Tributary
Kinabatangan Tributary Primate Crossing Kinabatangan Tributary Primate Human Crossing
Primate Crossing Primate and Human Researcher Crossing

On the way down we saw a female Orangutan with a baby, and another one in a different place.

Kinabatangan Orangutan Mom WKid
Orangutan Mom with Kid

Kinabatangan Orangutan Kinabatangan Orangutan Kinabatangan Orangutan
Orangutan Orangutan Orangutan

On the way back we found a big male orangutan hanging out in a tree, munching on some kind of round fruit. He was happy to just hang out while we watched and took pictures.

Kinabatangan Orangutan Kinabatangan Orangutan Kinabatangan Orangutan
Orangutan Orangutan Orangutan
Kinabatangan Bird Black And Red Broadbill Kinabatangan Bird Black And Red Broadbill Kinabatangan Bird Black And Red Broadbill
Black And Red Broadbill Black And Red Broadbill Black And Red Broadbill

Kinabatangan Xxx Nest Kinabatangan Xxx Gecko
Xxx Nest Xxx Gecko

It is a real travesty that more of the riparian corridor has not been preserved. Almost everywhere we went, you could look through the jungle trees along the bank and see oil palms behind them. In places, they came right down to the river, and there was not riparian habitat left at all. It struct me as a place badly in need of a Nature Conservancy big scale conservation effort like some of the things they have done in Montana. If you could preserve a kilometer on each side of the river and its major tributaries, it would have a huge beneficial effect. So I asked C.K. about the economics of Oil Palms, to try to get a handle on what it would cost. He told me oil palms bring in about $10,000 per acre per year. They don't yield anything for the first three years, but after that they are a money-tree of the first order until they are about 20. I did a quick check and saw prices for 20,000+ acres advertised from $7,000 to $10,000, so the price C.K. stated are in the ballpark. Ugh! At those prices, purchasing land to conserve it is out of the question. If you could get enough of it and get the price down to about a tenth of that, it might be workable. Don't buy anything with palm oil in it!

Kinabatangan Oil Palm
Oil Palm

Kinabatangan Oil Palm Kinabatangan Oil Palm
Oil Palm Oil Palm

On our last evening at Myne on the Kinabatangan, C.K. took us for a long drive to the Gomantong Caves, where they gather birds nests for birds' nest soup.

Kinabatangan Myne Lodge Kinabatangan Myne Lodge
Myne Resort Myne Resort

The next morning the river was shrouded in mist. After our usual great breakfast, we headed out for the last place we would visit with C.K., the Tabin Wildlife Reserve.

Kinabatangan Morning Mist Kinabatangan Morning Mist
Morning Mist Morning Mist

Kinabatangan Morning Mist Kinabatangan Foggy Morning
Morning Mist Foggy Morning