Rhinoceros hornbill birds of paradise11/18/2023 ![]() ![]() Between Sundaland and New Guinea lies a deep sea chasm which has served to isolate the fauna of Australasia where marsupials, cockatoos and other unique creatures are confined.Īfter a day acclimatising to the debilitating heat and humidity of KK, we headed north to the foothills of Mount Kinabalu. Because of this geological link – broken at the end of the last Ice Age just 10 000 years ago when the oceans retreated – the plants and wildlife of Borneo have strong affinities with Asia, although a few Australasian elements have strayed west. It straddles the equator in a region known as Sundaland – a network of islands including Sumatra and Java which are surrounded by shallow seas, and were formerly linked to the Asian mainland. The world’s third largest island, Borneo is divided among three countries – Malaysia, Indonesia and the tiny sultanate of Brunei. ?KK’ – as it is known – is the gateway to Malaysia ‘s Sabah province which occupies the northern quarter of Borneo. So finally, in March 2002, we found ourselves touching down on Malaysia Airlines flight 2608 in the sprawling city of Kota Kinabalu, at the foot of a mysterious mountain of the same name, and on the shores of the South China Sea. ![]() And a land of brilliant birds – close to 600 species including spiderhunters, shamas, leafbirds and minivets. The land, too, of Wallace, Whitehead and O’Hanlon – explorers and raconteurs extraordinary. This is the land of head hunters, the Great Red Ape, the world’s largest flower, and snakes that fly. This was early morning out on the Kinabatangan River in north-eastern Borneo – a melting pot of biodiversity and a paradise for naturalists.įor as long as I recall, the idea of exploring the forests of Borneo had been an alluring but seemingly impossible dream. Back at eye-level, our attention was diverted by a tiny Pygmy Squirrel which leapt onto a sapling and forced a minuscule golden frog to spring into our boat.” They landed just below the canopy of a towering fig to jostle with a family of ornate Wrinkled Hornbills and a lone White-crowned Hornbill already gorging themselves on sweet figs. A whoosh over our heads, and a pair of gigantic Rhinoceros Hornbills flapped and glided into view. A little further on a family of pot-bellied Proboscis Monkeys stretched, scratched and yawned on the bare branches of a ghostly Mengaris tree. A Stork-billed Kingfisher launched out from its hunting perch to jet upstream, its electric-blue rump marking its progress. Our boat drifted silently around a bend, beneath the arching branches of a wild nutmeg tree all hung about with Entada vines. Out of sight, gibbons wailed and pheasants boomed in an ancient dawn ritual. “The mist was rising off the glassy surface of the broad river as the first rays of the sun illuminated the tree tops. ![]()
0 Comments
Leave a Reply.AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |