Once completely covered in primary rain forest there is now virtually none left. This huge island has been logged, burned and cleared of its once beautiful natural environment. The national park at Gunung Gadang is about the only trace left in Sarawak. It is preserved largely because of the rafflesia plant with it's huge flower. I would like to have spent more time here as I believe this is where the best birds would be found in Sarawak, however it is not really recognised as a birding destination. Most of the guides are ignorant of the riches around them, preferring to just march people to look at the flower when it is in bloom.
Primary Rainforest at Gunung Gadang N.P. Sarawak
Below is a shot of a Bornean Bearded Pig swimming across the Kalibantang River. We encountered this huy while on a boat trip and I must say it impressed me with the speed and strength of its swimming, fast and straight, using its longish snout as a snorkel.
Bornean Bearded Pig - sus barbatus
Cream-coloured Giant Squirrel - ratufa afinis
Squirrels are very numerous in the forests and woodlands on Borneo, here are a couple that I snapped while looking for birds.
Prevost's Squirrel - callosciurus prevostii
Striped Tree Skink - dasia vittata
Skinks are a faily common sight in the forests and I did record a couple, the Striped Tree Skink above and the nicely named Many-lined Sun Skink below. Named I presume because of the varied lines of coloured scales along its back.
Many-lined Sun Skink - eutropis multifasciata
The feature of the lizard below that attracted my attention was its very large blue eyes. This is a Bornean Anglehead Lizard, quite a handsome species.
Borneo Anglehead Lizard - gonocephalus bornensis
Blue-winged Leafbird - chloropsis cochinchinensis
Here are a couple of very poor shots of two birds that I did not include in the main blog. The Blue-winged Leafbird is worthy of inclusion as it was a lifer for me. I have seen White-breasted Woodswallows before but thought the photo was just good enough to post here.
White-breasted Woodswallow - artamus leucorynchus
This is not a bad shot of a Collared Kingfisher so I thought I would include it even though it's a common enough bird that I had already included in the main blog.
Collared Kingfisher - todiramphus chloris
If you have ever wondered what your black pepper looks like on the plant, well here it is, a stem of peppers that will change colour and dry out to end up being ground in a pepper pot.
Black Pepper stem
Finally a shot of our band of happy birders at Borneo Highlands. Elena and I on the left, Ron and Eileen, Bob and two friends complete the picture.
Happy Birders at Borneo Highlands
