BORNEO BIRDING, PART II (1/5/01)

We arrived at the Borneo Rainforest Lodge late at night after a bumpy, twisting journey that plunged uphill and down through incredible depths of mud, a ride that matched the most advanced that any amusement park offers. In this remote primary forest, we found comfort, good food and expert naturalists, all of which would make for a memorable stay. What lay ahead were leaping lemurs, flying lizards, humongous beetles and butterflies, and birds, birds, birds!

Just in case you are picturing primitive, let me describe our accommodations: Electricity all day, not a common commodity in other remote lodges where we have stayed; a ceiling fan which kept us sufficiently comfortable; a commodious private bathroom with hot water; a capacious closet that held all of our clothes; and a private balcony that allowed us splendid viewing of the Danum river and its attendant mammal and bird life. Who could ask for anything more?

While we were there, we met other guests from Sweden and Italy and learned that British were frequent visitors. It seems that Americans have been the slow ones to catch on to the refinement that Borneo has to offer. Although we appreciatived the amenities, it was the country’s birds that had brought us here, so we could barely wait for our first morning and the treasures we would find.

We were not to be disappointed. From the first to the last day, we were confronted with an array of birds that we considered unbelievable. All except our leader were neophytes to the lavishly colored, sometimes bizarre birds. The dining room put us up close and personal with many birds. Just on the other side of one window was a fruiting shrub that attracted two species of leaf birds, as well as orange-bellied flowerpeckers. Regulars in the yard were many, but the stand-outs were a white-crowned shama and a lesser cuckoo-shrike.

Each day at lunch, the largest butterflies we’ve ever encountered visited the flowering bushes at the edge of the porch and competed with the birds for our attention. Here’s where we also saw a flying lizard zoom from one side of the yard to the other to land on the side of a tree where we could study it through our binoculars.

Despite these distractions, birds were our primary purpose for being there. An easy walk along the entrance road to the lodge put us in close contact with numerous species. An Oriental dwarf kingfisher, diminutive and brightly colored, was usually our first bird of the day. Quickly thereafter, various broadbills, each more stunning than the last, barbets, woodpeckers, minivets, bulbuls of every brand (straw-headed, crested, puff-backed, stripe-throated, spectacled, red-eyed), Asian fairy bluebirds, , fantails, babblers, sunbirds of every brilliance, spiderhunters, hanging parrots, and munias filled our days, always with the booming of the often-heard but never-seen Argus pheasant in the background. My private encounter with a family of crested firebacks, one of the many stunning partridges in the area, will long remain in my mind’s eye.

Despite the wonders of all these birds, the hornbills — large, black or brown and white, arboreal birds with long, heavy bills — were undoubtedly the highlights of our days. Fortunately, their massive sizes of up to three feet in length and their tendency to perch in dead trees made viewing them a pleasure. They all had clarion calls, as well, so we were quickly alerted to their presence.

As I’ve said before, although this was primarily a birding tour, we enjoyed other wildlife as well: The monitor lizard that scared us nearly to death when it plunged from a log into the river; bearded pigs disappearing skittishly into the surrounding brush; gibbons, macaques and monkeys climbing and feeding in trees overhead; and the most appealing Orang Utans, found no where else in the world except Borneo and whose presence is protected in the area surrounding the lodge.

Snakes? Never saw one! Leeches? Yes, we had one day on a forest trail where we learned their nasty habit of attaching themselves to our skin and sucking our blood until they were so engorged that they dropped off, usually into our boots. Actually, there are worse pests in this world than leeches, as their point of attachment doesn’t hurt; it just continues to bleed for a while because of the anticoagulant that the leech excretes. A large supply of band aids covers the problem.

All-in-all, Borneo is an almost overwhelming experience and one that I hope to repeat. I recommend it to everyone who wants to enjoy a world almost beyond our imagination.

HORNBILL GRAPHIC BY DR. RICHARD KUEHN