Susan Myers on the conclusion of her recent tour to Borneo
The 2014 Borneo trip was without doubt the best I’ve done out of many, many tours to this remarkable island. It seemed like almost every day brought one amazing bird or another! They included the "Hat Trick" (all three Whitehead’s), Giant Pitta, Blue-banded Pitta (a first), Oriental Bay Owl (another first), Fruit Hunter, all possible hornbills, Bornean Ground-Cuckoo, Bornean Ground-Babbler, both endemic partridges, and a whole bunch more.
We started in the mountains and soon located our first Bornean endemics in the form of feisty groups of Chestnut-crested Yuhinas and garrulous Chestnut-hooded Laughingthrushes. The hoped-for endemic barbets, Mountain and Bornean obligingly showed up, too. One of our most fervent wishes was to see the three Whitehead’s – the spiderhunter, trogon and broadbill. Pretty soon we happened upon a remarkable group of four Whitehead’s Trogons, two males and two females, which we watched to our hearts’ content,
The first of our "Whitehead's Trio," the trogon - Photo: David Fisher
and the spiderhinter followed shortly therefter. Two down and one to go! On our final morning we at last had an outstanding triumph in the form of a Whitehead’s Broadbill! I should also make mention of a personal favorite in the form of a fourth Whitehead’s, the Tufted Squirrel.
Across the island at Sepilok we arrived in time for a night walk and almost immediately found a stunning Oriental Bay Owl sitting low on the trunk of a nearby tree fixating on a tasty looking cricket or some such. Wow!
This handsome Oriental Bay Owl was a complete surprise - Photo: David Fisher
At the Gomantong Caves along the boardwalk in the forest a Black-and-crimson Pitta popped right up on the handrail and posed. Yet another breathtaking encounter. Later we found a young female Orang Utan with a baby and more Borneo wishes were fulfilled.
Exploring the Kinabatangan River and its tributaries by boat our incredible good luck continued as a Giant Pitta flew across the river and then posed up on a log to sing for us at length.
Going against form, this Giant Pitta sang and sang in full view - Image: David Fisher
A pair of Bornean Ground-Cuckoos showed so well we eventually decided to move off. Endangered Storm’s Storks were seen well on a few occasions and as always hornbills were a highlight of our stay here with all possible species seen – Bushy-crested, Oriental Pied, and Black were common and we had great sightings of Wrinkled, Wreathed and the remarkable Rhinoceros. Best of all were three outlandish White-crowned Hornbills that required a little more effort.
Danum Valley and Borneo Rainforest Lodge, in the heart of some of the world’s oldest and most impressive rainforest, never disappoints.
Borneo Rainforest Lodge, considered by some the best forest lodge in the world
We spent our time birding and naturalizing along the entrance road and the adjacent canopy walkway,
Borneo Rainforest Lodge's amazing canopy walkway
where we met with many very special birds and other animals including close looks at the secretive Bornean Ground Babbler. Five species of primate were seen – vocal Bornean Gibbons, beautiful Red Leaf-Monkeys and a boggle-eyed Bornean Tarsier being particular standouts.
The sublime Red Leaf-Monkey
One of the most exciting moments on a very exciting tour was our sighting of Blue-banded Pitta, which we were all able to enjoy in all its glory as it hopped around us and sat up to call in between bouts of feeding. Just a superb creature... And what better way to finish off a remarkably successful tour than with the enigmatic Bornean Bristlehead, the most mysterious member of an amazing cohort of very special Bornean avian delights!