In Search of the Monkey with the Funny Face

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Although a 5AM alarm is usually unpleasant, soon after I woke up I could hear gibbons calling from outside which got me up more quickly to go and investigate. It didn't take too long before I located the gibbons and there were two wild gibbons in the trees above some enclosures where captive gibbons - presumably rescued of similar - are kept. The wild gibbons in the trees were calling to the captive gibbons and it was a reasonably good and prolonged view of them. Gibbons calling in the rainforest, especially early in a cool misty morning, is always quite haunting, but I think these Buff-cheeked Gibbons sound more haunting than most with their call, it's really impressive. Gibbons are really awesome. Although they were attracted closer to the HQ by the captive gibbons, these ones are wild. The captive gibbons just make them easier to see.



I got a good 15 minutes of watching time until about 6 when when they moved off. I then went out onto the trails to see if I could find some early morning birds, although it was extremely quiet bird wise with very few birds seen. The trails are all extremely muddy, like actual slushy rivers of mud (although there are paved trails too, it's just that to see ground birds I think I'm better off on the muddy ones) and also filled with leeches once you get off the paved trails. Although that's to be expected for the time of year. I was rather unsuccessful with birds, although the one individual bird I saw was a rather good Heart-spotted Woodpecker. Mammals were not bad though, with Red-cheeked, Pallas', and Cambodian Striped Squirrels all seen with identifiable views as well as a Slender-tailed Tree-shrew as I came up to the restaurant for breakfast. Not bad at all for mammals, I'd call it pretty good for anywhere, especially Vietnam. Weirdly quiet for birds though, I probably saw half a dozen individual birds in about three hours starting just before dawn when I ought to see lots.



After breakfast I headed back down the road I went down yesterday, but this time I wanted to go beyond the ford that I stopped at. Getting wet was the only option (or hire an expensive vehicle for the day, but I wasn't about to do that). One thing that really strikes me about the forest here is the amount of bamboo. Yesterday I was thinking that the stands of massive bamboo was an indicator of highlight disturbed bits if forest but I'm not sure. I think it may be naturally a significant component of this vegatation type. Although birding was slow, I soon found a stunning Blue-bearded Bee-eater (a lifer) which showed very well. The humidity is making photography difficult though because every time I put the lens cap on, the camera mists up. I'm not sure why it's doing that here, normally it doesn't do that as much. Everything is extremely wet, including my lens cleaning tissues, and I mean absolutely everything is wet, but it doesn't feel any more humid than other places. It's wonderfully cool though, much nicer than the city.



When I got to the ford, referred to on the map as rapids, I did briefly question whether it was necessary to cross. It was neccessary. I attempted to cross with boots on, but this proved problematic so it was boots and socks off and trousers rolled up. This was a good moved, because the water was almost knee height in the middle and very fast flowing. One slip, and you'd be in the drink! (And probably bashed across rocks on the way) it's not slippery though and the bottom is paved. It's to fast flowing for anything to accumulate on the bottom.



A small bird wave and a few Slender-tailed Treeshrews right on the other side was my reward for crossing the rapids. The Treeshrews seem extremely common in the stands of bamboo, especially now that I've worked out the call. A particularly attractive little Treeshrew. A real bugger to photograph though.



It was good fun walking along the path looking for birds and mammals. I had bought a local sort of ice 'tea' from the restaurant before heading off which was obscenely sweet with a very strong honey flavour. In fact, if it was more viscous I'd have thought it actually was honey.



Only after an hour after the rapids, I heard a tree crash in a clearly primate way. I thought it was gone and then into view emerged a douc! More doucs soon followed, at least four of them with a youngish one! They sat in quite an exposed spot allowing for easy viewing and thankfully my lens decided not to mist up this time and I even got some pictures that seem not half bad. They sat there calling for a few minutes, and then from a tree a bit further along, something called back. Ten metres further down the path in another fairly exposed spot was as another group of doucs! They called back and fourth to each other and and I got a good ten-fifteen minute view before one suddenly looked down at me, was startled and they all crashed away deep into the forest. They continued calling from the distance though. Such amazing primates, Black-shanked Doucs are just so impressive. They've got those weird shaped faced x with the blue and the distinctive douc lips, and those big long white tails. They're really big too! They look much bigger up in the trees than captive ones.



They stopped called after a while and had clearly gone. I'm really pleased that my first douc sighting was a lovely prolonged one, bit just a crash in the trees. The birding was good generally and there were lots of cool rainforesty things. There were some nice plants like Begonias and Anubias - I wish I could grow Anubias like that, although it probably does so well because it's above water growing in marsh here - and also a massive black scorpion on one of the trails leading off. This scorpion was huge, bigger than the palm of my hand, and very typical scary scorpion like.



I did quite a bit of the way towards crocodile lake and back, about 6kms each way, and although it got hot in the middle of the day - as it tends to do - birds did slowly keep appearing. There were tremendous numbers (and diversity) of butterflies on the road too which is nice. The road was rather muddy though, and my shoes and trousers soon became plastered with mud. Oh well. It got really hot from about 11, and I could really feel the water rising up from the ground and plants around me, a real sense that the forest was a rising column of steam into the clear blue sky that obviously wouldn't stay that way for long. Although being here is the middle of the wet season has its inconveniences, all this water around does give the forest some interesting character. The leeches are an annoying part of the character though and they're not just terrestrial leeches either with some that are similar to tiger leeches in Borneo but not quite as colourful. It's taken a lot of being bitten on this trip, but I'm not totally unconcerned by leeches . I find then less concerning than mosquitos, which is probably correct given that mosquitos are deadly and leeches certainly aren't, but leeches seem(ed) repulsive in a way mosquitos aren't. I'm over that now thought, you just slide them off with a finger when you notice them and flick them away.



I headed back in the early afternoon for a midday rest and then lunch. The only way I can maintain waking up at dawn and spotlighting until late is with a rest in the day. Of course this meant shoes and socks off to cross the rapids again which feels all explorerey.



I also got my transport to Crocodile Lake sorted for tomorrow and I'll be going to the lake tomorrow morning and coming back the evening of the next day, spending one night there (I don't believe I'll have any connection there, so no blog tomorrow). Transport up to the trailhead for the lake costs 250k each way so half a million for drop of and pick up the next day, which feels extremely expensive for Vietnam although in real terms, it £17, and well worth it if that's the price.



After a late lunch/also dinner I headed out towards the grassland area. I had been down this path yesterday, but only got into the bamboo forest and not to the grasslands proper because they're a fair way away if you're on foot. I only got to the grasslands with about 20, minutes before sunset and I'll have to be back in the day one of these other days since it's supposed to be a very good spot for green peafowl - I've still not seen any Gamebirds or Pittas, but I've got the two Crocodile lake days and 2D3N afterwards back at the HQ still. I did hear an unmistakable Green Peafowl call several times just at dusk though, which was cool. So, the grasslands are a large area of tall grass with forest behind and as well as having good birds in the day are also supposed to be good for spotlighting with the possibility of gaur. They run night drives too into the grasslands, but I don't think they're particularly good and are also very expensive unless there are more people to split the cost.



The birding going up to the grasslands was very good with highlights like Asian Woollyneck Stork, Racket-tailed Treepie, Pale-headed Woodpecker, etc. This is despite the fact that it was raining pretty much constantly, although mostly not heavy. I walked along the grasslands in what was left of the day and of course spotlighted zoo as well as all the way back which was a good couple of hours.



Spotlighting the grasslands was quite productive with sambar, several gaur (quite far though - mostly big black shapes with eyeshine), as well as what is technically called a cute widdle bunny wabbit lying low in the long grass (Burmese Hare). I'm quite pleased the gaur was not too close to be honest, because unlike the night drives in a big truck, I was on foot. I don't think gaur would attack me on a path with them in the grasslands and their forest escape being away from me, but I think it's important to have a healthy fear of big and potentially dangerous mammals. There are elephants in the park too, but not anywhere near the parts where I'll be. I do worry about elephants at night. That and domestic dogs. I will admit that the gaur put me a bit on edge until I left the grasslands. I knew logically that they wouldn't come up to the path, I'd hear them moving if they did, and their path to retreat would be away from me and into the forest. But they're very big, powerful animals, and if one decided it didn't like me, there's nothing whatsoever I could do. Unarmed humans on foot don't win flights against gaur. There was no actual risk though.



Apart from some muntjacs, the rest of the walk back was uneventful. Lots of bats and frogs and fireflies though. I went briefly to spotlight the rainforest bit too to try for loris, although I only went as far as the rapids. I will cross them at least one night, but when I do that will be the sole focus of that night. So no pygmy loris yet, but I'm only slightly behind my average number of nights required to find a slow loris. At Bukit Fraser it was my third night, it was my second night each at Taman Negara and Sepilok, and my first night at Danum.



In other news, a massive and extremely loud tokay gecko has taken up residence in the rafters of my room.



Yesterday:



New birds:



Crested Treeswift

Rufescent Prinia

Grey-eyed Bulbul

Great Eared-nightjar



Mammals:

Indian Giant Flying Squirrel

Common Palm Civet



Today:

New birds:

Heart-spotted Woodpecker

Blue-beared Bee-eater

Chestnut-tailed Starling

Great Iora

Tickell’s Blue Flycatcher

Puff-throated Babbler

Rufous Treepie

Green-billed Malkoha

Vernal Hanging-parrot

Asian Woolly-necked Stork

Red-vented Barbet

Common Woodshrike

Pale-headed Woodpecker

Sooty-headed Bulbul



Mammals:

Buff-cheeked Gibbon

Slender-tailed Treeshrew

Cambodian Striped Squirrel

Red-cheeked Squirrel

Black-shanked Douc

Burmese Hare

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