Klias Wetlands, Sabah (1 Viewer)

Hi!

I'm looking for alternatives to birding destinations on the east coast of Sabah and stumbled across the 'Klias Wetlands' to the south of Kota Kinabalu. I can find little (birding) info online about this area, other than it has river cruises for Proboscis Monkeys and fireflies. On the map at least it looks like a pretty big and wild area, which surely must have a decent selection of birds.

Would anyone happen to know (i) if the area is readily accessible and whether or not you can move around a bit once you are there (i.e. can you do any birding from land) and (ii) what kind of bird species might be present in this area?

Thanks in advance for any replies!

SteveMM said:

Hi!

I'm looking for alternatives to birding destinations on the east coast of Sabah and stumbled across the 'Klias Wetlands' to the south of Kota Kinabalu. I can find little (birding) info online about this area, other than it has river cruises for Proboscis Monkeys and fireflies. On the map at least it looks like a pretty big and wild area, which surely must have a decent selection of birds.

Would anyone happen to know (i) if the area is readily accessible and whether or not you can move around a bit once you are there (i.e. can you do any birding from land) and (ii) what kind of bird species might be present in this area?

Thanks in advance for any replies!

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As there's been no reply to this question, I'll answer it myself as I'm now in more of a position to do so.

I visited the Klias River on Sunday (19th) as part of a group from Taiwan. We just turned up on spec in the morning and got a boat out for about four hours (roughly 08:00-12:00) no problem. It cost 400 MYR to hire the boat+driver, which was fine shared between six.

We specifically asked the 'driver' to take us for birds, and spent time up some overgrown creeks, which seemed to have plenty of birds in them. As none of us were especially hot on calls (first time in Sabah), I could not say exactly what was in there beyond what we actually saw, but I guess all the usual mangrove species would have been present. The area was pretty large, so I guess that, with better ears/tapes and a bit more 'targeted' birding, a decent trip list would be possible.

The area is accessed from the town of Beaufort and is well-signed from Highway 1 once you start getting nearer Beaufort coming from KK. The drive takes about 90 minutes from KK no traffic, but much longer with traffic.

We had no time to explore the area by land, but expect the mangroves would be very difficult to access by any means other than by boat. It would also only be worth going to Klias River as an independent group (and hiring your own boat for the morning) as the tour boats (evenings) only head out for a couple of hours and stay on the wider parts of the river, where birds are far fewer in number.

Hope this is of interest to somebody out there!

I did the Proboscis monkey/firefly boat tour & saw a few birds in the remnant forest along the river, but I didn't know about the wetlands.

Nice Steve. Did you see any Ibis at the smaller river?

horukuru said:

Nice Steve. Did you see any Ibis at the smaller river?

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No ibis. (Should there be any there?) The only thing we saw of that nature was half a dozen or so Lesser Adjutants, all of which were up soaring once it got hot.

SteveMM said:

No ibis. (Should there be any there?) The only thing we saw of that nature was half a dozen or so Lesser Adjutants, all of which were up soaring once it got hot.

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Vagrant based on record plus that place is less frequented by local birdwatchers. Usually they visit to Klias Peatswamp Forest Reserve which is on the other side of the road for Hook-billed Bulbul and also Red-crowned Barbet with Chestnut-bellied Malkoha. Recently got the Grey-breasted Babbler too

horukuru said:

Vagrant based on record plus that place is less frequented by local birdwatchers. Usually they visit to Klias Peatswamp Forest Reserve which is on the other side of the road for Hook-billed Bulbul and also Red-crowned Barbet with Chestnut-bellied Malkoha. Recently got the Grey-breasted Babbler too

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I had no idea about that place (hence the OP). We just had a day spare to spend in lowlands at the end of our trip and gave the general area a try based on nothing more than looking at a map. I guess the Peatswamp Forest Reserve can always be pencilled in for next time, and coupled with a river cruise it might make for a very decent day out!

Yes do in the morning at the reserve then river cruise late in the afternoon