Wildlife of S. E. Asia and S. America. A Photo Journal by Francis Burlingham.: 2024-02-18

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

Saturday, 24 February 2024

Living in a Rainforest, Crocodiles, Cobras and Lizards.

Living in Brunei has the advantage of being surrounded by forests. Because of this wildlife is easily seen if you know what to look for. My house is next to a forested area and as a result my garden sees plenty of wildlife. Virgin rainforest is les than an hours drive away in Temburong National Park. Even a trip to the supermarket can involve wildlife and the river next to the Supasave supermarket is home to a number of crocodiles of different sizes, pictured below.

Crocodylus porosus (Salt water crocodile) Bandar Seri Begawan Brunei

This night heron patrols the same river and is part of a nesting colony at the site.

Nycticorax caledonicus (Night Heron Juvenile)

Monitor lizards are a familiar site in Brunei and patrol both the river bank with the crocodiles and my garden.

Varanus salvator (Water monitor lizard) Brunei

Varanus salvator (Water monitor lizard) Brunei in my garden.

I have seen a few snakes in and around my garden. This cobra was hunting a monitor lizard that lives in drain near my front door. It was very active, moving swiftly in search of its prey. I managed to grab my camera and get these quick shots before it left.

Naja sumatrana (Equitorial spitting cobra) Bandar Brunei

Naja sumatrana (Equitorial spitting cobra)

My garden Bandar Brunei

Naja sumatrana (Equitorial spitting cobra) Bandar Brunei

There are plenty of other reptiles that can regularly be seen. These many garden fence lizards are particularly common and live in the plants around my garden.