And then it was gone! Where just a few days ago a mass of pleasing pink apple blossom adorned the tree, now there is just greenery. A graphic example of how quickly the season progresses, how transient these elements are. We sit in our centrally heated homes shaking our heads at the grey winter skies,…
I’m just back from a few hours listening to one of the UK’s most enigmatic, elusive and enchanting birds, the Nightingale – beautiful songsters that have just arrived back from their winter grounds of sub-Saharan Africa. The venue for the best part of 5 hours tracking down these newly arrived birds was Westleton Heath in…
Islands hold a particular mystique, they capture our imagination and hold it prisoner, filling our heads with romantic notions of shipwreck, isolation, escape and abandon. Who hasn’t entertained the notion of being able to own an island, be master of your own domain and sever ties with the everyday world? Well, some lucky people can…
We’re now at the end of an all too brief visit to Honolulu, a 5 hour leap from Japan, rendering our body clocks somewhat confused. No sleep on the flight from Tokyo, too much spicy airline food, together with the aforesaid time differential initially resulted in feelings of nausea, lack of balance and general malaise. …
Back to blogging from a mile high, this time en route to Honolulu (someone has to do it). Thing is we’ve just spent 3 hours in the lounge at the airport guzzling wine and playing cards, so there’s every chance I’ll fall asleep. If this blog suddenly ends you’ll know why. In the meantime here…
By way of change I’m writing this blog from the comfort of a fast moving train, the Shinkansen, better known as the bullet train. We’ve spent the past few days in Japan, firstly Kyoto and, until 30 minutes ago, Hiroshima. Tokyo beckons – we head that way at 200mph. This is the cultural section of…
We have left Sabah and are arrowing through a very cloudy sky on a B737-800 back towards Kuala Lumpur where we spend a night before moving further east to Manila, so its bye bye, Borneo. There has been so much to see and record that it would take hours to set it all down, but…
As I was sitting typing the last blog, something landed with a thwack on the floor beside me. It was a little gecko that had somehow fallen from the ceiling. I wondered if it was injured, but as soon as somebody came close it sped away to seek cover. There’s not many places I know…
Hornbills are large, impressive birds with some serious adornments to their thick decurved bills. There are eight species of hornbill in Borneo and the blurb of travel websites and brochures teasingly speculate that you might stand a chance of seeing them all. It’s good PR, but my friends, we know its not that easy. Nothing…
In the grounds of Tabin Wildlife Resort, in fact dominating the entrance to the communal dining area, is a fruit laden tree. It is positively alive with wildlife of all kinds. This morning at 6am (we’re getting used to these early starts), twenty Rhinoceros Hornbills were feasting on the bounty, flipping the small red fruits…