Red Giant Flying Squirrel

Red Giant Flying Squirrel Petaurista petaurista, a generally nocturnal mammal, becomes active only shortly before dusk. 

There is a small group resident in trees near the canopy walkway at RDC, Sepilok Sandakan. They will emerge from their nest holes shortly after the sun sets each evening and climb to a high branch to make their spectacular glides into the deeper forests. It is a daily event which most of the visitors would happily and patiently wait at the canopy walkway to observe.

The photographing of them is another matter altogether as the fast fading light level makes obtaining a decent photo a real challenge. These were taken there with high ISO with 500mm on a D300.

ISO 2000

ISO 2000

ISO 3200

A photograph of the same taken at night with flash will look like this.



Happy birding.