We got up at 4:45 and had our bags outside before breakfast. We climbed onto our spacious bus for the next week and drove to another part of the Rainforest Discovery Center, walked into the forest on a wide trail and climbed the very high Hornbill Tower. Rose Ann played the call of the Great Slaty Woodpecker, the largest woodpecker in the world. A pair flew in immediately and went from tree to tree all around us noisily calling and climbing up trunks while flapping their wings in a warning display against invading pairs! Soon afterwards we spotted the Gray and Buff Woodpecker, the smallest WP of Borneo with a black and white checked back, very short tail and a very large scarlet crest for the size of its body - a real cutie!
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| Slatey Grey Woodpecker pair |
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| Fruit pod - about 12" across |
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| Hornbill Tower |
A Crested Serpent-Eagle landed on a distant tree and with the help of John’s scope and his guidance in digiscoping, I managed to get some photos - although it’s harder that I would have thought to coordinate the scope and the camera.
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| Crested Serpent Eagle |
We returned to our hotel for lunch. The Academy Awards were going on in LA, and we managed to find out about the supporting actor winners before we had to say farewell to this lovely hotel and head south in our bus. After a short ways we entered palm oil plantations that extend for miles in every direction. They are like ghost towns of nature: vast areas of one type of palm, with ferns and weedy vines around them. We passed few houses and towns; we didn’t see any workers in the plantations either, so the industry doesn‘t seem to employ many people, or maybe just on a seasonal basis. (note: I learned that the workers labor from 6 AM to 2 PM whidh is why they seemed empty).
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| Leaf Bird |
We were glad to turn off the highway and drive into a primary forest again as we headed to the Gomantong Caves. We’re going to return in a few days and actually go into the caves, but for now we birded along the entry road. In addition to birds, we spotted a family of Orangutans! A mother and a young one calmly munching leaves and fruit. A short distance away we saw a large group of Leaf Red Leaf Monkeys: small reddish monkeys that spend a lot of time cavorting though the trees! The young ones, at least, seemed to fall on purpose, catching a limb to break their fall and swinging up again to chase a companion.
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| Red Leaf Monkey |
At dusk we sat on an overlook and eventually saw small clouds of bats crossing the sky. The clouds expanded, contracted, became ribbons, and then the Bat Hawks arrived swooping down, grabbing a bat, and eating them on the wing!
About 6:30 we left, driving 20 minutes more until we arrived at a dock at the town of Sukau where we climbed into small motor boats and were whisked down river in the dark, arriving at the brightly light open wooden pavilion of the Sukau Rainforest Lodge. We climbed some stairs, found our luggage and walked up a dark path to a lovely open-air hotel and were greeted with small ceramic jugs of a delicious cool lime drink! Bob and I got Room 2 near the lobby (great for internet) and walked into a small but very elegant room with a ceiling fan and beautiful bathroom with a jungle view. We dropped our stuff as dinner was being served and dashed back to the pavilion for a delicious buffet dinner on the river. Shrimp curry and several beers later we convened in the lobby for the list and to bed!
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