I headed for the Lambir Hills about an hour’s drive from Miri and booked in for two nights at the Borneo Tropical Rainforest Resort.
A good place to stay with nice rooms, but the food can be a bit basic at times if you're not part of a big package group buffet. Plus take lots of bottled water as there are no shops nearby and water is not sold at the resort.
Birding in the main entrance carpark can be good at the right time of year, with pittas feeding at the jungle edges. The restaurant also has good views into the forest.
The large network of walkways is what makes the resort so good for birding, plus it's adjoins the Lambir Hills National Parks. When there are no package groups during the week, you basically have the place to yourself.
These beautiful Giant Black Bees were often flying along walkways, sounding like large bombers.
Amazing eyes.
The resort has this large pond, which had fruiting plants on the edges and attracted large numbers of birds, such as Grey-bellied Bulbuls and Yellow-rumped Flowerpeckers.
Some colourful dragonflys were also in the area.
One of the best birding areas was the walkway to the waterfall for birds such as woodpeckers.
The road to the waterfall was equally as good, as it runs along a ridge area which was attractive to hornbills and raptors.
The late afternoons always brought huge thunderstorms that rained most of the night. I almost got caught by this one at the waterfall, which was a good half hour's fast walk back to the resort.
When it's pouring outside, you can still go spot-lighting for animals under some of the covered walkways. This is a Smith’s Giant Gecko (Gekko smithii) found hiding in the hallway. The largest Bornean gecko, just over a foot long and with a loud yelp that sounds like a dog.
He was big and moved fast, so I didn't run around trying to catch him. He seems happy about that.
The night rain brought out this big two foot jungle earthworm.
He had nice yellow and black markings along the body.
A lot of the geckos were hiding along the rafters of the walkways, including this one.
He turned out to be one I have always hoped to see, a Horsfield’s Gliding Gecko (Ptychozoon horsfieldii). These geckos use the extensive skin folds on their bodies to glide between trees.
Chestnut-winged Babler
Fluffy-backed Tit-babbler
Blue-eared Barbet
Brown Barbet
Blue-throated Bee-eater
Black and Red Broadbill
Grey-bellied Bulbul
Hairy-backed Bulbul
Red-eyed Bulbul
Spectacled Bulbul
Yellow-bellied Bulbul
Emerald Dove
Greater Racket-tailed Drongo
Changeable Hawk-Eagle
Crested Serpent Eagle
Orange-bellied Flowerpecker
Yellow-rumped Flowerpecker
Asian Brown Flycatcher
Crested Goshawk
Black Hornbill
White-crowned Hornbill
Green Iora
Chestnut-bellied Malkoha
Red-billed Malkoha
Black-naped Monarch
Dusky Munia
Hill Myna
Velvet-fronted Nuthatch
Oriental Magpie-Robin
White-rumped Shama
Little Spiderhunter
Silver-rumped Spinetail (Needletail)
Purple-naped Sunbird
Ruby-cheeked Sunbird
Glossy Swiftlet
Ashy Tailorbird
Rufous-tailed Tailorbird
Crimson-winged Woodpecker
Maroon Woodpecker
Rufous Woodpecker
White-breasted Woodswallow
Mammal/Reptile list
Plantain Squirrel
Prevost’s Squirrel (subspecies caroli)
Treeshrew Sp.
Green Crested Lizard Bronchocela cristatella
Smith’s Giant Gecko Gekko smithii
Asian House Gecko Hemidactylus frenatus
Three-keeled Ground Skink Mabaya rudis
Many-scaled Litter Skink Sphenomorphus multisquamalus
Horsfield’s Gliding Gecko Ptychozoon horsfieldii
Malayan Softshell Turtle Amyda cartilaginea
6 comments:
The resort looks likea great place to stay!Some nice bird species seen too...
That gliding gecko is fabulous looking. Were those ants on the earthworm?
The resort would be fantastic at the right time of year!
Yes Wilma, the ants may have given the earthworm a bit of a hard time before I found him.
Came and Gone, was planning to visit Danum Valley later part of this year
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