Wildlife of Tanjung Puting National Park, Borneo

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I've been trying to catch up with some video editing from the summer, and getting this one done was high on my priority list. This is a film of some of the wildlife that can be seen at Tanjung Puting National Park, which is in Indonesian Borneo. The main draw to the very few people who manage to get there are the orangutans - the park has the greatest population of wild orangutans found anywhere on Earth. It is also home to Camp Leakey, where until over 12 years ago rehabilitated orangutans were released back into the wild. At Camp Leakey, these individuals and their 'bicultural' offspring still receive daily supplementary feeds. Orangutans have been studied at Camp Leakey for 40 years, and the existence of the park in no small part is a result of the work of the founder of Camp Leakey and the Orangutan Foundation, Birute Galdikas.

The peat swamp forest is also home to a range of other primates, birds, reptiles and amphibians, some of which are shown here. It's difficult to do Tanjung Puting justice - it really is one of the finest places to study wildlife in the World, and I feel privileged to spend time there each year.

Fog and drizzle in Dorset

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The weather forecast was for fog everywhere, so in an irrational spirit of optimism I headed off to Weymouth, hoping that the fog would lift by the time I got there. No chance of that - as I wandered through Radipole, typical views were like this (black-headed gull, Chroicocephalus ridibundus)...



Nevertheless, I lugged the camera around in the hope of getting something out of the day. Two bitterns flew over, providing good views, but the highlight was a pair of bearded tits (Panurus biarmicus), visible through the Phragmites feeding on reed mace.



Not much else to show, apart from this robin (Erithacus rubecula; I hadn't realised just how displeased with the world they look!) and the traditional shot of the resident hooded merganser (Lophodytes cucullatus).




After Radipole, next stop was Lodmoor, where the fog was turning to heavy drizzle. It was difficult to pick out much that was more than a hundred yards away. There were good numbers of duck and lapwing, as well as a small flock of dunlin (Calidris alpina). In among the dunlin the long-staying long-billed dowitcher (Limnodromus scolopaceus) finally showed. I managed a few record shots in the rain, but the views were worth the discomfort.




As the drizzle intensified, and the visibility declined, the sensible thing to do would have been to call it a day, but instead I aimed for Portland Bill, for a view of the sea and perhaps a black redstart. No black redstart, but instead some superb views of a purple sandpiper (Calidris maritima; and a turnstone, Arenaria interpres) feeding on the rocks at the end of the Bill. Accompanied by the chest-vibrating sound of the Portland lighthouse fog-horn, the fog lifted a little and the sandpiper foraged among the crevices.






An excellent end to the day, which while the weather was foul, turned up some really special species - well worth the gamble.

Freezing in Barnes

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A brief trip to the Wetland Centre - my first visit in over a year - where most of the water was frozen over. Very quiet, with good numbers of wigeon and teal, a couple of greater black-backed gulls, a small flock of redpoll and wrens (Troglodytes troglodytes; click any image for larger) ticking from the denser vegetation. The highlight was some very distant views of two bitterns (Botaurus stellaris), foraging at the edge of the Phragmites.

No decent photographs, and only 10 taken all day - a wren and a bittern record shots at best.

Waxwings at Whiteknights

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My first brief foray into bird photography for months - prompted by a flock of up to 40 waxwings (Bombycilla garrulus; click any image for larger) which settled in a tree across from my office window at the University. They were attracted in by the berries of an exotic small tree (a Sorbus perhaps?) and stayed a day and a half. The light was atrocious, and some fill-in flash was a necessity. These are part of what will be remembered as one of the finest waxwing years - thousands must be in the country, driven by a lack of food and a good breeding season in Scandinavia and northern Russia. The first image is of an adult, with the rest being juveniles.







Several other species, including song thrush, robins and blackbirds (Turdus merula) competed for the berries...