October 11: Susan Myers on the Rail-babbler Extension to her tour, Borneo.
An early start saw us on the road through the unusually quiet streets of Singapore as we made our way on a holiday weekend to the border with Malaysia, just a short bridge hop over the Johor Strait. The process of going through immigration at the border was painless but nevertheless a bit of an adventure in itself. We were happy not to be traveling the other direction as we could see thousands of Malaysians making their daily trip into Singapore for work! Hard to imagine what it must be like on a normal work day…
Accompanied by Con Foley, the man whose name is synonymous with the reserve, we headed straight to Panti, an ever diminishing patch of lowland rainforest that still protects Tiger, Elephant, White-handed Gibbons that serenaded us upon arrival and a multitude of birds including our quarry – the shy and elusive Rail-babbler, as well as a plethora of other fabulous forest creatures. We met with early success in our search with brief sightings of a furtive bird as it hopped over logs and scuttled through tiny, sunlit patches of forest. But it proved too speedy for some and we all hoped for better views, but we would have to be patient.
White-handed Gibbon
Over the next couple of days as we explored this rich area our persistence paid off with never a dull moment. It helps that everywhere one looks there is some new little discovery to be made. We found mysterious insects, stunning butterflies, bizarre plants and fungi, and some very fancy mammals all while amassing a terrific bird list. Our favourite mammal sightings were the charismatic gibbons and a terrific Leopard Cat that crossed our path in the daylight. Dana was even lucky enough to see a Small-clawed Otter. Panti is an exceptional place for those Asian favourites, the babblers and we did very well with them on this visit. Notably we connected with Black-throated Babbler, White-necked Babbler and a very special bird, the very rare Grey-breasted Babbler.
White-necked Babbler
But we still hoped for better looks at the incredible Rail-babbler, now the proud owner of its own family, the Eupetidae. As we birded we were constantly alert to its almost indiscernible high-pitched single note call. We heard it a few times but never quite close enough until late in the afternoon of our second day one called close by in the dense roadside vegetation. With just a little bit of encouragement a bird peaked out of the vegetation, then came right out in the open to forage. As we joyfully watched another one joined and we watched them rapturously before, incredibly, they both flew across the road. Our hopes for a BVD were more than fulfilled. In fact, I’m not sure it would be possible to have better views!
Rail-babbler
Note: The above image, courtesy of our co-leader, Con Foley, was not taken on our tour but our views were almost as good...
Posted: October 11, 2016