May 6
On our final morning we left at 4am, driving for 2 hours to reach a private bird viewing location at 1800 m in the Crocker Range as the sun rose. The young family that operates this venue took an abandoned “home stay” complex and built a long covered porch overlooking a wooded slope. They added shrubs, water features, and logs on which to set out birdseed and grubs to attract the birds. Simple, attractive, and very effective.
While we did not see many new species, it was certainly a new experience to see them less than 3 feet away instead of high in the trees or running through the underbrush. There was a “hide” at the bottom of the hill dedicated to seeing partridges, so we got another chance at the roadside glimpse from yesterday of the Red-breasted Partridge. We also did a little roadside birding looking for specific mountain endemics. We got to watch a Mountain Barbet repeatedly bring food into its nest in the hollow of a large dead tree.
After lunch we departed to drive back to Kota Kinabalu. This is a 90 minute drive if conditions are good; however on a previous trip a landslide closed the road forcing an 8-hour detour, so our guides were taking no chances. As we started driving out of the mountains a heavy rainstorm began, lending some credence to the landslide idea. As we reentered the lowlands the rain stopped and the heat and humidity increased (but not nearly as high as earlier in the trip). Since we had no issues on the road, we had time for a quick birding stop by the beach in Kota Kinabalu, where we saw several new and beautiful birds, particularly the Blue-naped Parrot.
We have a bit more verification work to do in terms of our bird viewing lists, but our current estimate is that across the two trips / three weeks we saw over 300 new species of birds, 10 primates, 12 squirrel species, about a dozen other mammals as well as a few snakes, assorted insects, and dozens of amazing butterflies.
Malaysia is a very multicultural country. Unlike some countries where “multicultural” means that the different cultures are somewhat invisible in daily life, here the prevalence of Islamic and Chinese communities affects signage, what foods are served in restaurants, and the rhythm of the society. To our inexperienced ears, the Malay language sounds similar to Chinese, and in some communities the signage (particularly at restaurants), uses Chinese-like symbols, On other signs, the Latin alphabet is used to transliterate the Malay, a remnant of its history as a British colony. And in some communities Arabic symbols predominate, particularly on schools or houses of worship. Most of the restaurants we ate in served variants of Chinese dishes, with an occasional curry available. For most of the Peninsular Malaysia we noticed a high content of Islamic dress, reminders of the direction of Mecca on the ceilings of hotel rooms, and broadcast calls to prayer. Once we reached the Selangor area on that trip, the incidence of Buddhist temples increased. On our Borneo trip, we did not see a large Islamic presence except in Kota Kinabalu itself, but most restaurants did not serve alcohol, and advertised whether or not they were halal. As we moved into the mountains, every village had a Catholic Church. In the Danum Valley, the cultures of indigenous communities are particularly highlighted and protected.
The people of Malaysia with whom we interacted were kind, friendly, and everyone spoke at least some English. Younger people had excellent language skills. It is, in that regard, an easy country to visit.
Pictured: Blue-naped Parrot, Long-tailed Parakeet, Mountain Barbet (with debris from his breakfast), Bornean Leafbird, Red-breasted Partridge, Bornean Spiderhunter.
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