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Kinabatangam River
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In this series , I will be sharing my experiences of the last four days of my birding trip on Kinabatangan river and at the Rainforest Discovery Centre ( RDC) at Sepilok. Located in Sabah, it is an eco-tourism destination and known for its high biodiversity. The RDC is also a hub for nature tourism with 147m - long & 28m high , stable canopy walkway, botanical gardens, environmental education facility and conservation area to display Borneo's biodiversity. The steel canopy walk gives a breathtaking aerial view of the rainforest from treetops.
On 31, July , 2025 evening ( Day 6), after our visit to Gomotang caves, we took a short 10 min boat ride to cross the Kinabatangam river. We got off at the private jetty of Proboscis Lodge at Bukit Melapi , our stay for next two days. As we approached the large wooden jetty, the staff from the lodge welcomed us and carried our luggage to the main reception , which was made of rich wood. A local Malay lady welcomed us with a glass of juice and helped us check into our single room chalets/cottages. This riverside lodge seemed to be popular and an ideal place for tourists and wildlife enthusiasts for jungle trekking and boat river cruises. It is also a hotspot for spotting Borneo's big 5, including the Proboscis monkeys, Orangutans, and Pygmy Elephant. The open restaurant of Proboscis lodge was a huge wooden structure with pictures of the original owners who started this lodge in 1990s when the first eco-tourism wave began. It was dinner time and the place was buzzing with tourists. Before going off to our chalet , we had dinner of Malaysian cuisine. The place had a quaint offbeat feeling with the forest and river on either sides. Arka and Mirwan ( bird guide) had shared the list of target species for the next day and were hoping to sight the famous five hornbill species.
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| Tourists outside the Proboscis Lodge |
Next day morning (Day 7-August 01, 2025 ) , at 5.30am, we came to the reception area of the lodge to have some hot tea/ coffee and biscuits which were ready for all the tourists who were taking the morning boat cruise on the river. We started at 6 am on a speed boat; the cool, balmy air just after sunrise was fresh made me feel drowsy on the speeding boat. Both the banks of the river had thick forest with tall trees. Our guide Mirwan was hoping to catch the calls of the beautiful Rhinoceros Hornbill and Black Hornbill flying across the river.
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Boat safari on Kinabatangam river
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In the next three hours , we saw Storm's Stork, Sunda Crow, Javan Mynas , the lovely White-crowned Hornbill , Black Hornbill, Oriental Pied Hornbill and 37 other bird species. There was no sign of the spectacular looking Rhinoceros Hornbill. At some spots on the river there were rope bridges for the monkeys to cross over. By 9.30 am, we returned to the lodge, as the morning heat was unbearable outside with the rising day temperatures. After breakfast, we decided to explore the forested surroundings of Proboscis Lodge with Mirwan while others were relaxing in the room. For 30 mins, we walked around the Lodge and could get some good shots of Bold-striped Tit babbler. Back to our chalet, we tried birding from our balcony which was facing the forest but the humid conditions forced us back to the cool comfort of AC room.
After lunch , we left at 3.15 pm for the afternoon birding session. The heat in the equatorial forest during day time is so high that it is impossible to sight any birds. The high humidity felt hotter than the recorded outside temperature. Afternoon session was to look for the Hornbills, primates and other birds. When we took the boat, none of us knew that another adventure was awaiting us. After an hour on the Kinabatangan river, we sighted the Proboscis monkey, Silvery Lutung or Silvered Leaf monkey/ Silvery Langur, an old world monkey, Long-tailed Macaque( Crab -eating Macaque) and Pig- tail Macaque including a full grown Proboscis Alpha male relaxing on a branch of the tree and boringly looking down at us taking shots in pure excitement. We also saw a crocodile, completely hidden in the water, basking in the sun near the bank.
At one spot , Mirwan noticed the beautiful Scarlet -rumped Trogon, hidden in the lower branches of a tree covered by a labyrinth of hanging vines. While sitting on the bench of the boat, we could not see the Trogon , so I had to go to the floor of the boat to get a clear shot from a small window between the interwining of vines. The speed boat was nearly 5 feet from the bank. Suddenly, I heard a splash and Dibyendu who was sitting in front of me was in the water, and with his arms up in the air holding the camera. There was complete confusion. He was trying to keep afloat and hand over the camera to us. Once his camera was taken, Mirwan our guide and the boat man tried to pull him up ,without capsizing the boat. When they failed to haul him up, the boat was taken to the edge of the bank so that , Dibenydu can take support of the roots of the trees and get onto the boat. After struggling for 5 mins, finally he was pulled on to the boat. Meanwhile, Rajasekhar was busy video -recording the complete rescue operation. Dibyendu was in a shock and completely drenched. He was more in hurry and worried to dry his expensive camera gear. Luckily, the Trogon was sighted 500 mts away from the crocs , on the opposite side. With Dibenydu safe on the boat, and after taking some good shots of the Scarlet rumped Trogon, the boat moved ahead. Shots of "Rescue of Dibyendu" below.
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| Scarlet -rumped Trogon |
We covered around 13 kms on the Kinabatangan river, including the small tributaries of the river in deep forest. On our way back, we could just catch a glimpse of the Rhinoceros Hornbill flying across the river. By 5.30 pm , we were in the restaurant, downed some beers to beat the humid weather and enjoyed a full discussion from all members piecing every small detail on the "fall and rescue" of Dibyendu. Arka had conducted many trips to Borneo and this was the first time one of his group members fell into the river, another reason for the animated discussions around the fall.
Our day 8th ( 2 August , 2025), the morning air was fresh and cool, by 5.30 am, we joined many groups of tourists having tea/ coffee before leaving on the boat safari. The roof of the restaurant is a play area for two Civets, quietly watching the tourists from the wooden plinths. We were in the boat by 6 am on the search for Rhinoceros Hornbill and Wreathed Hornbill. In 2 hours, we could see four Hornbill species with some beautiful sightings of male and female Rhinoceros Hornbill and close shots of Blue -eared Kingfisher. With sightings of 13 bird species, we were back to the lodge by 9 am for breakfast and ready to move to our next destination.
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| Rhinocerous Hornbill |
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Group Photo at Proboscis Lodge |
The rainforest habitat , the mangrove vegetation, the lush forest, the flowing river, the primates, everything about Kinabatangam gave me the feeling of being in an another world. After breakfast, we vacated the chalet and with the luggage loaded on to the boat , we left the Proboscis Lodge at Bukit Melapi with a hope that I would come again, some day with my family and friends.
In 10 mins, we crossed the river and got into our vehicle and left for Sepilok to the Rainforest Discovery Centre ( RDC) which was a 2 hr drive. On way, we stopped for lunch at a place which is also the known location for the Rufous -collared kingfisher( Kf). With no sign of the Kf we moved ,without wasting time to Sepilok.
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| B n B Sepilok |
We reached our B n B Sepilok, a five bedroom house for the last leg of trip. We left our luggage and quickly left for the RDC, which was a 10 min walk as Arka wanted to make use of the afternoon for birding.
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| View of the Canopy walk |
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| Black-crowned Pitta |
While we walked into the Rainforest Discovery Centre (RDC) in Sepilok , I was amazed at the view and sounds of the rainforest, a sea of green tall trees. It has a 620 meter long canopy walkway that rises up to 25 meters above the ground. This steel structure allows visitors to explore the forest canopy, with some sections reaching heights that offer spectacular views of the Kabili-Sepilok Forest Reserve. Just 10 minutes on the canopy walk , it started to rain, typical of a rainforest region. After an hour of downpour, there was bright sunlight. We barely had an hour to sunset and Mirwan wanted to take us down the trails to look for Blue-crowned Pitta. It was 4 pm and we walked down from one of the exits of the canopy walk towards the trails. The forest floor was covered with damp fallen leaves, wet and slippery. There was a spot where the Black-crowned Pitta can be seen. We reached the location in 30 mins and waited patiently for nearly 15 mins, sitting on the damp leaves. The Pitta appeared in all glory to feed on the worms placed as bait for it. We got some fantastic close shots; I tried all combinations of ISO and low shutter speed, hoping not to get grainy shots, due to low light conditions. With the sighting of Black crowned Pitta, a huge lifer , our afternoon birding was declared highly successful. We left RDC by 5.30 pm and stopped on way at the small restaurant by the name Kingfisher, which was attached with our B n B for food. The humidity at Sepilok was miserable that we were soaked in sweat and could not do without chilled beers.
The heady combination of our bonhomie, beer and good food made us very contented birders.
The next day at Sepilok, ( 3 August 2025 ) day 9 of our trip, we were ready by 6 am and walked down to RBC. At the entrance, we were enthralled with the sighting of Red-and -black Broadbill feeding on the lower branches of a huge tree under a wide canopy. After the spectacular sighting and we moved on towards the canopy walk to be greeted by Orangatuns both male and female swinging from the branches of the tall trees.
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| Red-and-Black Broadbill |
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| Orangatun |
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| Bornean Gibbon |
We spent two and half hours on the canopy walk soaking in the view of deep green in every direction. One gets an aerial view from the 'view towers' of the dense and layered forest cover. The giant trees rise upto 40-60 metres high with the tallest tree at 70.4 metres. From the canopy walk , the thick roof of interlocking branches and leaves can be seen ,which is home to birds, monkeys and insects. I was fascinated by the view of the forest down from the canopy walk , to see the ocean of leaves, the understory with smaller trees, palms and young saplings. The vegetation below seemed mysterious with large leaves allowing limited sunlight. The canopy bridge gives an eye level view of birds and monkeys and we got some good shots of 18 bird species in the pre-breakfast session, including the Bornean Gibbon.
After an hour's break for breakfast at the restaurant , we went back to the RDC taking the canopy walk to the walking trails that was designed to give a close experience of the wild rainforest. We covered two kms in three hours to record 13 bird species. Our experienced guides would pick the slightest call of birds and we got some good shots of Diard'd Trogon and Raffle's Malkhoha. Our best sighting was the Maroon Leaf monkey in the canopy of one of the tallest trees.
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| Diard's Trogon |
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| Maroon Leaf Monkey |
After lunch at Sepilok's Kingfisher restaurant , we walked to the RDC by 3.30 pm for the afternoon birding. The sun was blazing hot, especially on the canopy walk. We spent some time on the 'viewing towers' and the canopy walk and found the bird activity was less. We also had a night walk after sunset, a guided 2 hour tour from 6pm- 8pm to spot the nocturnal wildlife. As we waited on the canopy walk for the sun to set , nearly 200 tourists gathered on the canopy walk for the night walk and the spectacle to follow. We had a guide from RDC to take us around. As the twilight emerged, the Red giant flying squirrels flew from the nests at the top of the trees gliding between trees to catch their evening prey for dinner. It was an incredible sight.
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| Waiting for the Night Walk |
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| Tourists for Night Safari |
We, then moved down to the walking trails to see the nocturnal life. Our first stop was at a spot to see the Keeled Pit Viper resting behind a tree trunk. As we walked on the trails, we saw a Slow loris feeding on leaves on a low branch of tree, a Lantern bug, Lowland Litter frog. The experience of night walk was exhilarating , walking on forest floor covered with fallen leaves, decaying wood and dampness and hoping not to step on any hidden life. After 2 hours, we were out of RDC to a new restaurant for dinner and celebrate our last day at Sepilok. Interestingly, none of the eating places in Sabah served lentils or wheat Rotis, only rice , noodles with eggs , seafood and some vegetables were available.
On our last day of this trip, ( 4 August, 2025 -day 10) , we woke up to a beautiful morning to lovely bird calls around our BnB. We packed our bags before leaving for morning session at 6 am. As we walked down to RDC , I was soaking in the beautiful views of the rainforest surroundings to cherish it forever in my memory. It was an overwhelming experience, like stepping into a living ecosystem with every layer having its own rhythm. Morning birding gave us some good shots of Zebra Doves at the entrance. We took the canopy walk and the walking trails. ( Below: Zebra Doves, Black-and-yellow Broadbill, Hairy -backed Bulbul)
Out of the 23 species seen, Purple-naped Spiderhunter and Ashy Tailor bird and some bulbuls gave good shots, including Provost's squirrel , building its nest. After three hours of birding, tired , we retuned for some breakfast and vacate the BnB. We went back to RDC for the afternoon session , as some target birds were not seen and Arka and Mirwan, both wanted to utilise the time left to make an effort to find them. We spent some time on the viewing towers and also around the walking trials.The afternoon session was not very encouraging with the high humidity and the birds hidden in the think canopy of trees. Sarabjeet madam , Dibyendu and I had to take the evening flight from Sandakan airport to Kaula lumpur and the next day early morning flight to Delhi. Rest of the three members of the group were spending a day in Sandakan to explore some historical places.
At 6 pm, as the sun went down, we bid goodbye to our wonderful group members for the fantastic birding trip of 10 days. Arka, also had agreed that we were one of the most cohesive groups with no bickering or disagreements. Our 10 day trip ended with 157 bird species sighted from the plains of Sabah to Kot Kinabalu National Park /mountain to river safari on the Kinabatangam rainforest to RDC. Out of 29 endemic species of Sabah , we sighted 21 species. Mirwan dropped us at the airport and we walked into the airport gates , already feeling nostalgic of the trip that was over too soon.
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| Slow Lorris |
Wonderful description of the trip. Keep it up Smt Neeraja
ReplyDeleteAll the best for your future endeavours
Thank you sir for reading it and giving your comments.
DeleteSuperb documentary with fantastic pictures. One of my hidden story has been published. 👌👌👌👌👌😂
ReplyDeleteThank you ! I hope u enjoyed your rescue part and your pictures.
ReplyDelete