NATURAL WONDERS of BORNEO : A Wildlife Photography Blog

The BIG Cat of Borneo

2010-11-19T08:38:00.000-08:00

My recent trip to the Lower Kinabatangan Wildlife Sanctuary produce an unexpected encounter with one of Borneo's rarely encountered feline. This is none other than the Bornean Clouded Leopard (Neofelis diardii). My last personal sighting of this feline in the Kinabatangan was approximately about a year ago and to see it back again - this time with one slightly decent photograph will be something

The Kingfishers of Borneo

2010-11-09T01:35:00.000-08:00

I was going through my external hard drive yesterday and found some old photo collections of Kingfishers that i have kept. A majority of this photos were taken with my previous Nikon D80 and ever trusted 70-300mm VR lens. Location wise - the photos were shot in the Sepilok Forest Reserve and also my favourite 'hunting' ground which is at the Lower Kinabatangan Wildlife Sanctuary. Kingfishers have

My "Consolation"

2010-10-26T21:37:00.000-07:00

The 2nd Borneo Bird Festival 2010 has just ended a few days ago, and due to my busy work schedule i was unable to be part of the organizing team - much as i would love to be part of. The only activity that i managed to partake in this year is the Bird Photography Competition. Here, i would like to congratulate all my fellow friends from the Borneo Bird Club, Rainforest Discovery Centre, Sabah

Borneo Bird Photography Competition 2010

2010-10-06T09:43:00.000-07:00

The hunt for the best bird photo at the 2nd Borneo Bird Festival 2010 has started since 4 days ago. Avid bird photographers and wildlife enthusiast will hope to 'Nail" thier best wild bird photo shot taken throughout Sabah before the dateline on the 17th of October 2010. With the lucrative prize money that is being offered to the best wild bird photo shot this year, it will certainly add to the

The 2nd Borneo Bird Festival 2010

2010-10-04T03:39:00.000-07:00

The 2nd Borneo Bird Festival will be held once again this year at the Rainforest Discovery Centre, Sepilok on the 15th - 17th of this month. This annual event is expected to attract not only birders and photographers alike but also all nature enthusiast and the general public. The 1st Borneo Bird Festival last year was such a huge success that it makes this years event the more so to look

Flat-headed Cat

2010-09-17T07:13:00.000-07:00

I just came back from an amazing 10 day volunteering trip in the Lower Kinabatangan Wildlife Sanctuary and was lucky to sight a Flat-headed Cat (Prionailurus planiceps) on one of my night excursions on the river. This nocturnal feline was observed hunting (in a sit and wait position) very close to the river edge most likely waiting patiently for either fishes or frogs. Its webbed feet and

The 'Snake Bird'

2010-09-03T22:51:00.000-07:00

The Oriental Darter (Anhinga melanogaster), sometimes called the 'Snake Bird' is a waterbird of tropical South Asia and South East Asia. It is a small family of only four species of cormorant-like birds, one in the Neotropics, one in Africa, one in Australia and one in Asia. The Anhingas chase fish and prawns underwater and spear them with thier beaks before eating them. Unlike the cormorants,

The Forest Dragons of Borneo

2010-08-31T09:14:00.000-07:00

The Forest Dragons that i am referring to are reptiles from the beautiful lizard genus of Gonocephalus. The Gonocephalus are a medium-sized genus of a distinctive looking agamids distinguished by thier quite unique head shape, which gives them the scientific and common name of "Angleheads". As with other species from the agamidae family, these lizards have a unique ability to change colour which

Thick-billed Green Pigeon (Treron curvirostra)

2010-08-25T23:03:00.000-07:00

The Thick-billed Green Pigeon (Treron curvirostra) is a common bird of Borneo's lowland rainforest and can be found up to an elevation of 1500m above sea level. This species has a wide distribution in around South East Asia stretching all the way to Hong Kong, Bangladesh and also to India. According to the IUCN Red List this species is evaluated as Least Concerned due to thier large range and

The Long Tail Parrots of Borneo

2010-07-18T06:08:00.000-07:00

The well-known parrot family is poorly represented in the island of Borneo with only 4 species found. Those found are the Long Tail Parakeet (Psittacula longicauda longicauda), the Blue-rumped Parrot (Psittitus cyanurus), the Blue-crown Hanging Parrot (Loriculus galgulus), and the Blue-naped Parrot (Tanygnathus lucionensis). In comparison to the other parrot family species such as the Cockatoos,

Maroon Langur (Presbytis rubicunda)

2010-07-09T09:23:00.000-07:00

World Cup fever is over and a big big Congratulations to Spain on thier great achievement this year. Looks like its gonna be another 5 years to wait before the next World Cup comes around the corner. The past 1 month of exciting football with a lot of surprising upsets ~ albeit the late nights and early morning start just to see it has really made me needing "extra time" to recuperate. I guess

JEWELS of the bornean rainforest floor : The PITTAs

2010-04-02T02:17:00.000-07:00

No other bornean rainforest bird will claimed the title of being the JEWELS of the rainforest floor other than the elusive and simply beautiful Pittas. Pittas, from the family Pittidae inhabits mainly the humid tropical rainforest regions of South East Asia and Australasia even though pittas can also be found in both Africa and India. The name pitta is said to have been derived from the Telugu

Global Warming?

2010-04-02T00:12:00.000-07:00

It has been awhile since i last updated my blog (thousand apologies on that).. and it has also been awhile since we last had any "REAL" rain in Sabah (not my fault though). This ongoing drought that we have been experiencing since the last 7 weeks have seen changes in our natural landscape in particular our rivers are slowly receding in its water levels, soil surfaces are cracking due to the

The Helmeted Hornbill (Buceros vigil)

2009-09-11T23:55:00.000-07:00

"Imagine being on the tropical island of Borneo and drifting quietly down a steam in a dug-out canoe. The giant trees of the rainforest rise on each bank like cathedral spires, and the creepers which festoon them form cloisters that conceal the dark damp interior. Raindrops pattering on the foliage and distant rumble of a retreating thunderstorm form a backdrop of sound, though which penetrates a

Part 1 - In Search of the BB

2009-09-08T08:08:00.000-07:00

Word of mouth by some of my fellow birder friends of the reappearance of the BB (our acronym for the rare Bornean Bristlehead) in our favourite birding backyard motivated me to wake up early last sunday and rushed to our patch to go in search of it. Frankly speaking, my last personal sighting of the BB was somewhere around the second week of January this year and I haven’t seen the BB since then.

The Flying Dutchman of BORNEO

2009-08-23T00:11:00.000-07:00

Hmm.. A Flying Dutchman in Borneo? Doesn’t it sound very much like Captain Davy Jones warship in the movie Pirates of the Caribbean? Well, before delving deeper into this subject and to avoid it from being to confusing and complicated, I think it is best that I clear the air on this mysteriously title post of mine. The Dutchman that I am referring to is none other than our enigmatic Proboscis

Our Gentle Giant : The Bornean Pygmy Elephants

2009-08-01T08:03:00.000-07:00

I was thinking of what to post on my blog to kick start its inaugural edition when it suddenly came into my mind that i should start it out with posting wildlife images of the BORNEAN PYGMY ELEPHANTS. For me personally, the pygmy elephants are a real joy to observed in the wild and i can definetely sit or even hide for hours just to observe and photographed them in thier natural behaviour. The

Natural Wonders of BORNEO : A Wildlife Photography Blog

2009-07-31T01:26:00.000-07:00

Today marks the official start of me entering into the blogging world. I have always been interested in starting out a blog of my own but surprisingly i have not given much effort in really doing it (simple reason : being so damn Lazy.. :-P ) What probably spurred and ignited me though will certainly be the recent Bird Course conducted by MNS that i attended and by constantly reviewing and going