Wildlife of S. E. Asia and S. America. A Photo Journal by Francis Burlingham.

Introduction

Over the last few years I have been lucky enough to live in Thailand, China, Malaysia, Vietnam, Colombia and now Brunei. In my spare time I have had the opportunity to travel fairly widely, camera in hand, in search of wildlife. In these posts I aim to share some of these experiences and show you some of the extraordinary wildlife that can be found in these regions. All of the photographs you see within the posts and pages here are my own unless otherwise stated. Copyright © Francis Burlingham 2015

Wednesday, 23 September 2026

Flying Frogs and Horned Frogs in Temburong.

Last night a couple of friends invited me on a night walk to look for unusual frogs in Temburong near the Malaysian border. We spent several hours on a trail into the jungle and came across upwards of 15 species of frog.

Leptomantis rufipes (Red-legged Tree Frog) Temburong Brunei Borneo

I was lucky enough to take advantage of my companions keen eyesight and experience as I would have walked past many of these cryptic frog species. My main wish was to see a flying frog for the first time and I was not disappointed.

Rhacophorus pardalis (Harlequin Flying Frog) Temburong Brunei Borneo

The beautiful harlequin flying frog was one of the first species that we encountered.

Rhacophorus pardalis (Harlequin Flying Frog) Temburong Brunei Borneo

Shortly after the flying frog we came across this huge file-eared tree frog sitting in the middle of the trail.

Polypedates otilophus (File-eared Tree Frog) Temburong Brunei Borneo

Another specimen was found in the trees by the trail.

Polypedates otilophus (File-eared Tree Frog) Temburong Brunei Borneo

Next we came across a rather rarer flying/tree frog species mating by a puddle.

Leptomantis rufipes (Red-legged Tree Frog) Temburong Brunei Borneo

In the same puddle were a pair of mating sticky frogs and a crested toad.

Kalophrynus pleurostigma (Black-spotted Sticky Frog) and friends

The sticky frogs had laid many single eggs which were floating in the pool.

Ingerophrynus divergens (Crested Toad) Temburong Brunei Borneo

We found the Red legged tree frog pair had moved from the branch to the puddle on our return journey, where clinging to the bank they displayed the vivid red webbing between the toes.

Leptomantis rufipes (Red-legged Tree Frog) Temburong Brunei Borneo

The next unusual frog we encountered was the charismatic horned frog. A creature superbly camouflaged in the leaf litter and sporting a number of incredible horns and spikes that give it a unique appearance. We saw both a male and female.