North Sumatra, Sabah & Central Visayas 8th – 30th December 2015 (1 Viewer)

[dwatsonbirder]

Main areas visited:

Gunung Leuser National Park, North Sumatra

Sepilok, Sabah

Kinabatangan River basin, Sabah

Mount Kinabalu, Sabah

Loboc River, Bohol, Philippines

Pamilican island, Philippines

Climate:

During our the period of our trip we had expected to encounter heavy rain daily in all areas, as December marks the beginning of the monsoon period in Sumatra and Borneo, and the end in the Philippines. We were incredibly lucky on the whole during the trip, as the worst rain was encountered only in Sumatra, with occasional downpours or drizzle experienced in Sabah and the Philippines. The weather in Sumatra was rather extreme, with our base of Bukit Lawang experiencing the worst flooding since 2003, and we were evacuated one evening as the river level increased by 3 meters. Temperatures ranged between 28 – 42 degrees, and humidity was generally 95% or higher. Temperatures in Mt. Kinabalu were cooler than in the lowlands (particularly during the evening) and a lightweight fleece is recommended.

Transportation:

Flights to the area are widely available, we flew with Etihad via Abu Dhabi to Kuala Lumpur, and then from there we used AirAsia to move between the three countries. Flights with AirAsia were very reasonable (between £40 - £100 for one way flights) though it is worth upgrading to their premium flex fares, as these allow you to change flights (well worth it as we experienced delays on all our AirAsia flights!) and also include a meal.
If you are planning to undertake a similar trip on a budget, the transport links in all three areas visited were excellent. Public buses in both Sabah and Sumatra were cheap and relatively frequent, and we did on occasion use taxis which though more expensive, were considerably less pricy than in Europe. Tricyles and Jeepney’s are all very affordable for the slightly more adventurous, and scooters can be hired for under £10 a day on the Philippines – very cheap and convenient to bird at your own pace.

Other information:

We booked a few tours in conjunction with our accommodation – Gunung Leuser National Park and Kinabatangan River. These proved to be very good value, and we were lucky to have good guides for both, in particular during our time in the Kinabatangan basin. Guides can be hired, but the quotes I received were a bit above my budget (over £150/day), so as a result I birded alone using information taken from other trip reports or gen from friends. I suspect that if I had used specific guides I would have encountered more birds (particularly in Sepilok and Mt. Kinabalu) but the birding was excellent in these areas even without a guide.
I found the whole time in Gunung Leuser NP to be very hard going with very few birds in general, even when entering the forest before first light. Speaking with the guide I was told the area around Bukit Lawang is a lot quieter than other areas in the park (in particularly north towards Banda Aceh), so this is something to consider if visiting the area. I did enjoy it and was perhaps a bit unlucky, but the encounters with Orangutan in the forest more than make up for the lack of birds.
We didn’t encounter any problems with regards to leeches or ticks (much to my surprise) but mosquito repellent is a must.
I used Craig Robson’s “Birds of South East Asia”, Susan Myer’s “Birds of Borneo” and Kennedy et al “Birds of the Philippines”. I found the first two guides excellent, but I have to say that the plates in the Philippines guide are definitely outdated and overdue an update.
I did take a travel scope with me, but I found that I only used it a handful of times, and you could probably manage without one, particularly if carrying a bridge camera with a good zoom.

 

[dwatsonbirder]

Here we go. I'd been looking forward to this trip since we booked our flights back in February, and visiting Borneo to see wild Orangutan had been one of my life ambitions ever since I'd seen these incredible ginger primates on various Attenborough series some 25 years ago.

Our trip began with an early set back, and I had more than a suggestion of deja vu throughout. Upon arriving at Abu Dhabi airport, a call over the tannoy requested that all passengers traveling onward to KL make themselves know when departing the plane. This we did, and we were met with the news that despite our flight arriving 20mins late, Etihad were unable to honor our onward flight to KL. This was a frustrating start to the trip, but luckily we told we would be on the first flight in the morning, and would also be staying in a hotel free of charge.

We awoke the following morning and made our way to the gate. I had a few cursory glances out of the window and managed to pick up Common myna, Palm dove and House sparrow in the immediate surrounds of the airport.

Our issue with the flight to KL had a knock on affect – our onward flight to Medan was due to leave around 5pm and we would not arrive in KL until 7pm – we would almost certainly miss it. Undeterred upon arrival at KL international we headed straight for the AirAsia desk, where we were met with some fantastic (for us) news; the flight to Medan had been delayed by 4hrs, and we had just enough time to make a mad dash to board the flight!

We eventually arrived at our hotel at midnight some 38hrs after leaving the UK, and collapsed into the bed. The next morning we awoke at half 6, and I had a peek out of the window, where I saw two ubiquitous species for the entire trip – Tree sparrow and Asian glossy starling. We left for Bukit Lawang around 11am and saw a few common species along the road on the four-hour drive – White throated kingfisher, Scaly breasted munia, Spotted and Zebra dove, Brown shrike and Pacific swallow.

We checked into our accommodation and sat on the balcony overlooking Gunung Leuser National park, and opened a couple of celebratory bottles of Guinness – we had made it!

As the sun began to drop we enjoyed hundreds of Black nest and Edible nest Swiftlets sweeping over the river and forest opposite. Several Brown backed needletail were mixed in with their number, along with Barn and Pacific Swallow. As a final treat we were treated to a family of Thomas’s leaf monkey going to roost in a nearby tree.

We had spent a long time traveling to reach this point, and we were rather knackered so we decided that we would turn in early so that we were ready to begin our 3 day trek into the National Park the following morning. We didn’t realize at that time but things were about to take a dramatic and very unexpected turn…

 

[foresttwitcher]

I'm gripped already!

 

[MKinHK]

me too - looking forward to more.

Cheers
Mike

 

[dwatsonbirder]

North Sumatra

Shortly after we saw the Thomas’s leaf monkey’s going to roost we felt a few spots of rain, which quickly transformed into a persistent shower. Hopefully it would stop before too long, as the hike into the national park would be difficult enough without plenty of mud being thrown into the mix!

At around half past eleven, we were awoken by loud banging on our apartment door, when I opened it I could barely hear what the hotel assistant was saying for the heavy rain on the nearby roof and a loud roaring – it became evident that this was the river, which had risen nearly 3 meters in 2 hours.
We were evacuated from our room and escorted up the side of a hill to a shelter, which had been built as a result of the floods of 2003, in which many people lost their lives. A dramatic start to our trip, and basically we stayed in the shelter until about half past three, when we were told the river level was dropping and it was safe enough to return to the village.

By the morning it transpired that luckily nobody had been injured, and everybody was accounted for in the village, but the after affects were pretty dramatic – several houses had crumbled into the river, and the main bridge into the national park had been badly damaged. Understandably, we would not be heading into the forest today, and due to time constraints we would only manage one night in the National Park.

We spent the day attempting to catch up on our sleep (it had now been 50 hrs since we had slept for more than 5 consecutive nights!), but I did manage to fit in a bit of light birding between naps. The main highlights were a very vocal Changeable hawk-eagle, which showed very well throughout the day, along with prolonged but more distant views of both Blyth’s hawk-eagle and Oriental honey-buzzards. A few small parties of Wreathed hornbill flew over the river and into the canopy, whilst the occasional Zebra dove and Little cuckoo-dove broke cover. Passerines were not well represented, with single Yellow browed and Arctic warblers, several Orange bellied flowerpecker, Grey wagtail and Blue throated bee-eater being more or less the grand sum of an entire day’s observations. The rain held off, and we opted for an early night ready to begin our trek bright and early the next day.

We left Bukit Lawang to head into the National Park at 06:30 sharp, our guide Ling was keen to get into the forest asap. I was surprised by the lack of birdsong at this time of the morning, and even up to 8am when it rapidly began to warm up, we heard little except for the occasional Rufous crowned and Sooty capped babblers. We continued deeper into the forest and after an hour we came across our first wild Sumatran orang-utan; an adult female with a very active youngster in tow. What an experience, and both Dr K and I were awestruck as we watched them feeding for about 30 minutes before they moved off into the verdant landscape. We learnt that many of the orang-utans in the surrounding area were reintroduced individuals from a nearby rehabilitation centre. These could be readily identified by the presence of a tattoo on the hand.
We continued deeper into the National Park and encountered a number of both wild and reintroduced individuals, most of which allowed close observation and excellent photographic opportunities. On the bird front, things were more on the quality than quantity side; Rhinocerous hornbill, whiskered treeswift and a perched Blyth’s hawk-eagle were the main standout birds, whilst we also heard Hooded pitta and Great argus calling nearby.
The main event of the hike came in the evening of the first day, when Ling located a massive male Sumatran orang-utan which was happily resting in a tree. Over the course of 40 minutes we crept closer until we were only 10 meters from this beautiful creature. We took a few photos and observed him for some 10 minutes, before we quietly crept away so not to disturb him. After a minute or two we heard a genuinely unnerving deep roar, and Ling told us to wait whilst he disappeared back up the trail. My thoughts were beginning to wander in the direction of “I wonder what a Sumatran Rhino or tiger sounds like…” when Ling burst through the undergrowth – “Move!”
We then began what is likely to be one of the most ridiculous chases in human-orang-utan history, as the bull was moving rapidly towards us, whilst we clamoured through the forest in 40 degree heat. After about 200 meters Ling told us to stop, and turned to check our pursuer. The massive male was now reclined on a fallen tree, apparently catching his breath! We continued on for a few minutes, until Ling once again disappeared and the whole process repeated itself once more, with the three of us fighting the heat and humidity, before once again having to rest after a few hundred meters. After about 1.5 km the male had clearly had enough fun with us, and gave up the chase.
We arrived at the camp shortly before nightfall, and after a wonderful meal, we enjoyed the sounds of the forest at night, whilst Ling regaled us with various tales from his 17 year career as a guide.

The next day I awoke early and headed into the jungle, with the hope of catching up with some more species. I was out for a couple of hours, and spent a considerable amount of time playing hide and seek with a Hooded pitta, which sadly didn’t give itself up. I had fleeting views of a Ficedula flycatcher which remained unidentified, but I eventually obtained good views of the aforementioned Babblers, as well as a Red eyed bulbul. We trekked in the forest for a while before lunch, where we encountered Pig tailed macaque, and more Orang-utan whilst we heard several Siamang calling from a distant canopy.

After lunch we opted the “tube-ing” method to return back to Bukit Lawang rather than an 8 km hike. The river was still in flood, and it was quite an experience flying down the river in an old tractor inner-tube whilst Ling guided our direction using an oversized pole!

That more or less concludes our time in Sumatra – quite low on birds, but very high on the excitement scale. On the way back to Medan I logged a few more species; Black winged kite, Eastern cattle egret, Purple heron, Long tailed shrike, Pacific swift and more Glossy starling, White throated kingfisher and Blue throated bee-eater. One last treat was in stall for me at the airport, where I watched a pair of Long tailed shrike feeding their young as we waited for our flight back to KL.

Next stop Sabah, and plenty of birds!

 

[dalat]

Chased by an Orang-Utan! Wow! That's on my wishlist now...

 

[stuartvine]

Being chased - cool. Being caught - not so much ;-) I'm really enjoying this report

 

[dwatsonbirder]

A bit of background to the Orangutan situation; In the early days of tourism in the NP the guides would coax the released individuals down for tourists using fruit. I guess this gave better chances of a close encounter and increased the visitor numbers. In time the guides have stopped the practice due to the detrimental impacts on the animals, but a few individuals require feeding as they apparently get aggressive without suplimentary feeding. In the case of the wild male, it is likely that at some point he has been fed and as such this behaviour is present but dormant without stimuli; I suspect that he must have smelt our food.
A very unusual bit of behaviour to witness, if a little frightening!

Thanks for the kind comments so far and I hope it is as enjoyable to read as it is to write.

 

[dwatsonbirder]

Sepilok

Our flight from KL arrived in Sandakan at lunchtime, and rather in a rather surreal turn, we were treated to a rendition of “jingle bells” echoing through the plane as we touched down. Still, it was better than an dubious announcement about not making a connecting flight!
We took a taxi directly from the airport to our accommodation at Forest Edge resort, just a stones throw from the Sepilok rehabilitation centre. The resort was excellent (even serving cocktails!) and very swanky in comparison to our usual digs on long haul trips, but best of all what was practically my first bird as I stepped out of the taxi; Yellow eared spiderhunter! This was more like it – a tricky endemic waiting to greet you at your hotel! More birds very quickly followed with the ubiquitous Asian glossy starling, Orange bellied flowerpecker, Yellow vented bulbul, Mossy, Edible and Black nest swiftlets, Crested myna and Oriental magpie robin (of the endemic and striking Adamsi form). After quickly depositing our bags at the room, I opted for a quick wander around the grounds before dinner. This produced a few more interesting species, with White breasted waterhen, Pied fantail, Chestnut capped bee-eater, Rufous tailed tailorbird, Chestnut Munia, Crimson sunbird and a cracking White bellied sea-eagle all putting in an appearance. I decided to earn some brownie points and headed to meet Dr K for an early dinner and a few rounds of Mojito’s, with the ambition of an early start the following morning…

The next day dawned clear and full of birdsong. All of the species observed the previous day were in attendance, with the added bonus of a few Sliver rumped needletail and Pacific swift zipping overhead. A noisy flock of Blue crowned parrot moved overhead, whilst in the bushes Thick billed and Little spiderhunter chased Brown throated, Crimson and Olive backed sunbirds around. A few Spotted and Zebra dove were dotted along the roadside wires, whilst a bit of pishing brought a group of Bold striped tit-babbler out of the vegetation. I headed back to the hotel for breakfast and to discuss our plans for the day, and picked out a couple more Bramhiny kite drifting over, whilst a dark phase Changeable hawk-eagle put in a brief appearance.

We decided that we would visit the Sun Bear sanctuary in the morning, and then head out for the afternoon feeding at the Orang-utan centre.

The boardwalk which had been put in place for wheelchair access to the Sun bear centre isn’t more than 30m in length, but it took me a good 40 minutes to reach the entrance: Somewhere in green landscape I could hear Black and yellow broadbill calling, and even better than that was a Hooded pitta which couldn’t have been more than 20m into the vegetation. I whistled at the pitta, but it seemed reluctant to come any closer. Another day perhaps. There were other good birds to delay my entrance to the sanctuary too; Black winged flycatcher-shrike, Black naped monarch, Dark necked tailorbird and more Red eyed bulbul put in appearances and eventually we made it inside and spent a while watching the captive Sun-bears going about their business.

We wandered over toward the entrance for Sepilok orang-utan rehabilitation centre, and had a much needed cool drink and some snacks. I happened to glance upwards and spotted a rather distinctive raptor circling overhead, black and white with a rusty belly – a cracking Rufous bellied eagle! I managed to get a few shots as it gained height and then disappeared into the distance.

The afternoon feeding was excellent, but I could help but feel that it couldn’t match our experiences in Sumatra. We saw a good range of ages and it was very interesting to watch the interactions between individuals – not an easy thing to witness in the wild given their more solitary habits. There were a few birds in the general area, with perhaps the most interesting species being Raffle’s malkoa, Greater green leafbird and Little green pigeon. After a very enjoyable day in the field we headed back at dusk to the sound of Malaysian eared nightjar giving its distinctive three note call, before enjoying another fine meal and a few more cocktails.

The next morning was our last at Sepilok, and I awoke very early with plans of heading straight to the Rainforest Discovery Centre (RDC) in a pot-luck attempt at jamming in on Bornean bristlehead. Unfortunately the weather had other ideas, with torrential rain hammering down until half past 9. I have to admit this put me in a bad mood as I had really wanted to get to RDC early, and as I expected we arrived too late for the ultimate BB (pun intended). There were plenty of other birds on offer, and the canopy walkway is well worth a visit even if just for a unique perspective on the forest. A few Long tailed parakeet cast distinctive shapes overhead, dragging their obscenely long tail-streamers behind them like a dog on a lead that’s overpowered its owner. A subtle Brown barbet showed well from the Bristlehead tower, and they shared the canopy with Green Iora, Lesser and Greater green leafbird, whilst a group of Chestnut rumped babbler made their way through the lower vegetation. Kathi glimpsed a “red trogon” briefly, but I was too slow to get onto it sadly. By the entrance an Oriental darter was busy catching fish and showing well, until I got out my camera when it suddenly became uncooperative.

Once again we were in store for a final treat: a female Orang-utan and her young were showing well in the canopy. We spent about half an hour watching as the mother tucked into Darien fruit, then demonstrating how to eat it to the youngster. We noted that the female had a tattoo – showing that she had been released, whilst the youngster did not – here was a formerly captive individual showing its entirely wild offspring how to survive in the forest, and it was a truly beautiful thing to witness.

We returned back to the accommodation to gather our belongings and to prepare to leave for our next destination, wishing that we had more time to spend in the area. Hopefully we can make it back again in the not too distant future.

Next stop the Kinabatangan basin!

 

[dwatsonbirder]

A few more from Sepilok

Here are a few more images from Sepilok, including the view from the Bristlehead tower.

 

[dwatsonbirder]

Kinabatangan River

Our taxi left Sepilok and we began the 3-4 hour drive to Sukau which would act as our base for our time in the Kinabatangan basin. Pulling away from Sepilok and onto the main road we quickly became aware of the extent of the palm oil industry in Sabah, with more or less the entire drive consisting of the seemingly endless rows of palm trees. Despite the massive amount of habitat loss, Sabah is still (apparently) heavily forested and hopefully more areas will receive official protection from the Malaysian government in the future.
Ironically it is the very existence of the palm oil industry that makes Kinabatangan such an excellent area for wildlife – with the plantations reducing the amount of habitat and creating a very compressed and relatively densely inhabited area of lowland dipterocarp forest.

We arrived shortly after half 3 in the afternoon, and had just enough time to store our bags in our comfortable room before we headed out on our first river cruise at 4pm. I feel like I should make a special mention to our accommodation here; we stayed at Greenview Sukau which not only provided an excellent base, but also a very good value package with 5 cruises/excursions over 3 days and all meals and accommodation for approximately £120 per person. Our guide Sukie was also very knowledgeable and also a very keen birder.
Our cruise kicked off with a bang, in the form of a showy Crested serpent eagle which allowed good perched views at first, before taking off and circling over the forest for a while. In the trees below several Ashy breasted wood-swallow were routinely catching insects, whilst a Dollarbird was perched atop a nearby dead tree. Pacific swallows joined the throngs of Swiftlets, and a couple of Brown backed needletail gave excellent views whilst perfectly demonstrating their mastery of the air.
We headed for one of the smaller channels where we quickly encountered a showy group of Proboscis whilst our only Silvery langur of the trip feed on fruits nearby. Intermediate and Great egret as well as Stork billed kingfisher were present along the edges, whilst a familiar high pitched call produced the first Common kingfisher of the trip. A bit further up the channel whilst watching more Proboscis we picked up activity in the trees; White breasted babbler, Black headed bulbul, Black napped monarch and Bold striped tit-babbler were present, whilst I also picked out the only Rufous piculet of the trip. The best was yet to come, as I picked out the now familiar call of a Hooded pitta, this time not too far from the riverbank. Our guide played the call back on his mp3 player and for roughly 30 glorious seconds a stonking Hooded pitta alighted on a tree stump just a few meters from the boat. I was very happy about this, as I have always wanted to see any pitta, and hadn’t been successful in Thailand last year despite my efforts. This was certainly the highlight of the first cruise, and I didn’t even mind when we arrived just a moment too late to see a Bornean pygmy elephant crossing the channel. Overhead more Long tailed parakeet were noted along with several Green imperial pigeon. As we made our way back to the main river we had excellent views of a pair of Blue eared kingfisher, another new bird for me.

Our first evening cruise was enjoyable enough, with several immature Saltwater crocodile, and an adult seen briefly before sliding into the water. We spot-lamped for a good hour but only caught the occasional flash of unidentified small mammals in the light, though we did obtain good views of roosting (or attempting to when not being lamped) Blue eared kingfisher. A very successful first cruise was rounded off by a good portion of Chicken adobo, then an early night ready for our early morning cruise.

The following morning I awoke to a raucous calling from the trees outside our room – a cracking pair of Oriental pied hornbill were showing incredibly well in the soft early morning half-light. We headed down the same channel shortly after sunrise and we were not to be disappointed; Black and yellow as well as Black and red broadbill were calling loudly, and we managed very good views of both after a little while. To add to our hornbill tally were both Wreathed and Wrinkled hornbill, crossing over the main channel heading for feeding areas elsewhere. More activity in the waterside foliage produced a similar mix of species to the previous day, with the added bonus of a showy Malaysian blue flycatcher. As we were watching, various alarm calls began as a Racket-tailed Drongo perched up, allowing my best views of this species. We encountered a Crested goshawk which was preening in a tall tree – another new species for me – and during the course of the day we also added Changeable hawk-eagle, Oriental Honey buzzard, White bellied fish eagle and Brahminy kite to our raptor tally. What was presumably the same Hooded pitta was calling from the same area as yesterday evening, but didn’t investigate the tape today. We were also lucky enough to see a wild Orang-utan feeding on fruits. Other birds that were encountered included Blue bearded kingfisher, Dollarbird, Brown barbet and a lovely Scarlet rumped trogon as we slowly made our way back for breakfast.
Our next excursion was a guided walk in the forest opposite our accommodation. This was very interesting as we learnt about the different uses various plants had, but also brought a few more species to the days proceedings. A White crowned shama was singing in the undergrowth, but we only obtained poor views as it skulked in the dense undergrowth. Another good species was Ruddy kingfisher which called persistently and we eventually pinned down as it sat on a twig. As is often the case, by the time I’d turned on my camera the bird had long gone but it was still great to see. Other interesting birds were further Brown barbet, Lesser coucal and a confiding group of Black headed bulbul.
Our afternoon cruise took us to the ox-bow lake, as we wanted to make an effort to see elephant, and also I was feeling guilty that it had been so ornithologically focused thus far! We saw plenty of evidence of elephants – footprints, recently broken vegetation and even still steaming faeces – but sadly it wasn’t to be. At least we have a valid excuse to head back! The area around the lake was productive for birds, with several egrets seemingly attracting other cicconiformes most notably Purple and Great billed heron as well as a female Yellow bittern which broke cover as our boat moved through the reedy fringes. There were a few interesting land birds too, with Kathi picking out Greater coucal, and Hill myna in the canopy. As we headed back for dinner we saw a group of Proboscis feeding, so we stopped a while to observe them. This group contained a very impressive male, and we managed some good footage of some of the younger individuals performing spectacular leaps between the trees. A short distance further down stream we caught sight of a group of hornbill flying to the top of a tree, and sped towards them. It soon became apparent that these were Black hornbill, our fifth hornbill species of the trip! A very enjoyable afternoon cruise ended with a monster – I picked out three stork soaring over the canopy some 500m away and once again the boat hurled towards them at high speed. We were soon watching roughly 0.75% of the world population of Storm’s stork preparing to go to roost. What an end to the day – surly it couldn’t get better?

We headed out for our last cruise a little later this evening, and we were not to be disappointed. I reflected to Kathi that this had been some of the best birding, and should we see a certain piscivorious owl I wouldn’t bother birding once we reached the Philippines… We picked out a young Saltwater crocodile at a good distance and even managed a few photos. A few Blue eared kingfisher were once again seen roosting in the overhanging branches, but both were overshadowed by a very showy Buffy fish owl which seemed oblivious to the spotlight and the very excited twenty something birder just a few meters away. Our cruise ended with a small felid on the far bank of the river, sadly it was just a brief view but Sukie thought it was most likely Flat headed cat due to its small size and plain appearance, but as I only obtained a glimpse I didn’t see any detail. What an end to a terrific day.

The last morning we decided that we would skip the early morning cruise and have a much needed lay in, but I awoke earlier than expected and decided to have a wander around the river bank. I encountered much the same species as had been seen over the previous few days, but I also caught up with Dusky munia – a common endemic which I had so far overlooked. The pair of Oriental pied hornbill was back in the tree outside our room again, and I spent a good hour enjoying their courtship behavior.

Our time in Sukau came to a close all too quickly, and we were soon on the road again, this time heading north and west towards the magnificent Mount Kinabalu.

 

[dwatsonbirder]

Mount Kinabalu

From Sukau we headed towards the junction, where we would catch a public bus heading westwards and onto our final destination in Sabah; Mount Kinabalu.

This area has a very well earned reputation as one of the top locations for birding in Sabah, with birds such as the Whitehead’s trio (Trogon, Broadbill & Spiderhunter), Fruithunter and Mountain serpent eagle all possible sought after species. To be frank, I didn’t encounter any of these species save for hearing Whitehead’s trogon, but that didn’t stop me enjoying some of the finest birding I’ve had anywhere in the world.

The public bus took approximately 4 hours to reach Mount Kinabalu, and by the time we boarded all the seats had been taken. This led to the two of us (and a few others) having to sit on child-sized plastic chairs next to the toilet, not an experience that I can recommend too highly. The journey was very enjoyable, with the bus weaving its way up into the hills above the palm oil plantations, with stunning vistas and a backdrop of steaming forest the undesirable seating arrangement was soon forgotten about.

We were dropped off at the HQ, and we walked the 200m to our accommodation. On route I couldn’t help notice a few exciting species, with groups of Chestnut capped yuniha calling noisily by the roadside, with a few Black capped white-eye and Golden bellied gerygone mixed in with their number. A smart Ashy drongo was perched on the wires outside of our hotel as we unpacked our belongings.
Unfortunately today wasn’t to be a birdy day, as we had a mission to locate a cashpoint – the nearest available we had been told was in Kundasang. We had just driven through on the bus and had seen the town was holding it’s annual Cabbage festival (strange but true!) and we thought we would attempt to walk back.
Just beyond the HQ I happened to see a group of thrushes fly out of some trees and across the road, a quick scan revealed a flock of 7 Eyebrowed thrush in the pines, great stuff! A few birds were feeding nearby, with more Chestnut capped yuniha, but this time there were other goodies too; a pair of Grey chinned minivet as well as a smart male Scarlet minivet for direct comparison, Temminck’s sunbird, Ashy tailorbird and a brief view of a Mountain leaf warbler.
The rest of the day wasn’t quite as eventful, with the exception of being stung by a wasp which rivaled being stung by a bullet ant in the pain stakes. Our mission for an ATM was a success, and we stopped for dinner at the restaurant in front of the HQ. Once again I saw the group of Eyebrowed thrush here, and a strange call alerted me to the presence of a Bornean treepie – this was a cracking bird and we enjoyed some great noodles whilst watching the bird preen. After another day of travelling we opted for an early night to enable a dawn start in the national park the next day.

The following morning I awoke to cooler temperatures and mist in the half light. I left Kathi at the accommodation to chill and to allow a few hours birding before breakfast. I paid the fee at the entrance and I was ready to go. As an aside, you can enter the park at any time, and the box office was manned at 05:45 when I entered. I looked at the map of trails and decided that I would hit the Liwagu trail first, as this had been recommended as a good option for a few hours. Immediately around the HQ there were birds to be seen though; Dark sided flowerpecker, chestnut hooded laughing thrushes, Mountain imperial pigeon, Golden naped barbet and the usual Yuniha/White-eye flock.
I began down the trail and soon picked out a familiar bird - Grey wagtail -feeding along the roadside. I spent a bit of time watching this, and reflecting on the fact that only a couple of weeks previously I’d been watching one on the gutter of my office in Warwick – that seemed like a long way and time ago now!
A vocal group of Sunda laughing thrush were encountered near the start of the trail, and after a bit of playback showed well. A few birds responded well to pishing as I neared the stream, with Grey throated babbler and Mountain leaf and Yellow breasted warblers all coming to investigate. In the distance I could hear Whitehead’s trogon calling, but sadly I didn’t manage to lay eyes on this stunning endemic.
As I neared the stream I caught a glimpse of a dark shape bounding off upstream, it looked like it may be of interest so I sat on the bridge and waited. After some 20 (birdless) minutes I noticed some movement near some stones, and was eventually rewarded with great views of a female Bornean whistling thrush as it hunted for insects. This was a great bird to watch with its quirky habit of fanning and dipping its tail every so often. I began to slowly make my way back to HQ and onward to breakfast. I was treated to great views of a Hair crested drongo, which was dispatching a rather large spider. As I got back onto the road, I stopped to watch a Grey chinned minivet when I noticed some movement higher in the trees; at first I saw a shape flicking in and out and then slowly I located the bird as it perched motionless in the foliage. I uttered a few profanities as I clocked an adult male Blue & White flycatcher in the morning sunshine. What an absolute stunner, and a species I have longed to see for many years. I can only kick myself that I’d decided to bring my scope and not my camera this morning – I wouldn’t make that mistake again today!

After a quick breakfast, Dr K had decided that she would be happy to spend the day reading and taking in the view from our balcony, which was fine with me as I could explore the National park for the entire day without worrying that I was pointing out too many lbj’s to a waning partner!
I opted to walk up the road to the 2.5km marker, as I’d been informed by a local birder that there had been a showy Orange headed thrush present earlier. The birding began rather slowly, with many of this morning’s species encountered again, but unlike earlier a fine drizzle had set in for the day. I added Arctic warbler to the days proceedings, as well as White throated fantail, Mountain tailorbird and rather oddly a male Black naped monarch by the café. As I approached the Botanical garden, it became a veritable ficedula-fest!
First up was a stunning male Rufous chested flycatcher, which was promptly seen off by an equally beautiful Mugamaki. In another tree was a dream trio of Indigo, Little pied and White tailed flycatchers, and as if that wasn’t enough, just a bit further up the road were singles of Brown and Ferruginous flycatchers. Phew!

There was no sign of the “showy” Orange headed thrush at the 2km marker, but I can’t say I was particularly surprised by this – whoever heard of a showy zoothera?! I didn’t mind as I was having an absolutely brilliant time so far, and besides I’d seen 7 species of flycatcher today!

I decided that I’d take a cab up to Timphon gate, even though I had heard this was best early morning, after all, there seemed to be a lot of activity and it might just pay off…
As I got out of the taxi I clocked a stunning Eyebrowed thrush foraging in some leaves by the power station entrance, but my eye was drawn to a bird sat on the barbed wire fence. At first I couldn’t quite place it, as at range it looked a bit like a plump hirundine that wasn’t enjoying the rain. As I got closer it became apparent that my initial impression couldn’t have been more wrong. I looked at the bird and my pulse quickened; pink legs – check. Short blue tail – check. Ultramarine blue wings – oh crap, check. For the second time today I audibly swore at a blue bird – this time it was a 1st winter male Siberian blue robin. I felt such a massive buzz, and it was almost like I’d found it in some coastal scrub in my native Norfolk, rather than tropical cloud forest in its wintering range in South East Asia. I soaked the bird in for a good 30 minutes much to the amusement of a group of Malaysian teenage girls. It must have been an odd site, a scruffy bearded westerner getting drenched in the rain whilst smiling manically and staring at some small brownish bird.

I slowly began my decent down the mountain, and had something of a surprise about 200m from Timphon gate – a Black bellied malkoa was calling from some roadside trees, and after I played the call the bird briefly appeared. I didn’t think very much of it, but I later posted on the Borneo Bird Club facebook page, and there was interest in the record as this is potentially an altitudinal record for the species.
On the descent I saw another Bornean treepie, and encountered a raucous group of Chestnut headed laughing thrush, their calling attracted other birds in, and I noted a lovely Short tailed green magpie moving unobtrusively through the trees. I added a couple more species to the days proceedings, including my 8th flycatcher species of the day - White browed. A group of Ocherous bulbul brought a fantastic day to a close, and I met Kathi back at the restaurant for dinner.

The next morning we had just enough time to squeeze in a morning wander, and I persuaded Kathi to join me. After taking some touristy photos of the mountain itself (showing well in the sun unlike yesterday!), we took a taxi up to Timphon gate and walked back down to the HQ. It felt a lot quieter, with fewer waves of birds moving, though we still managed to see some interesting bits and bobs. Yesterdays Siberian blue robin and Eyebrowed thrush combo didn’t appear to be present at Timphon, which although expected was still a touch disappointing. From the viewpoint I picked up a medium sized raptor circling over the hillside. It was a bit too far for my optics, but I could just make out a white band on the tail and wings. It was a Serpent eagle spp., but I couldn’t get any more detail on it sadly.
On our walk down we enjoyed great views of Sunda bush warbler feeding in roadside vegetation, as well as White faced bulbul in a mixed group with Ocherous bulbul, White throated fantail, Yellow breasted and Mountain leaf warblers. We saw very showy males of both Little pied and Mugamaki flycatchers by the botanical garden, whilst another male Blue & White flycatcher only allowed brief views, and sadly no photos. Overhead we picked up another raptor – a Crested goshawk cruising over the canopy. The final new bird of the morning didn’t give itself up easily – Maroon woodpecker - though it called frequently and seemingly responding to my impressions, I only managed flight views as it moved from tree to tree.

Soon enough we were once again back on road, this time splashing out on the luxury of a taxi to KK airport – no more sitting by the toilets for us! We had had a fantastic time in Borneo, and I had enjoyed some of the finest birding I’ve done so far too. As was becoming customary, the airport held one final avian parting gift, this time I got to watch a fishing Osprey whilst we waited for our (delayed) flight on to Manila.

 

[dwatsonbirder]

A few more from Kinabalu

A couple more pics of variable quality

 

[Mark Harper]

Enjoyed reading the report, having been in Borneo in November it brought back good memories.

Not sure if the first photo on post 12 is supposed to be the Siberian Blue Robin, but that looks like an immature male Blue-and-white Flycatcher.

 

[Larry Sweetland]

Enjoyed reading the report, having been in Borneo in November it brought back good memories.

Not sure if the first photo on post 12 is supposed to be the Siberian Blue Robin, but that looks like an immature male Blue-and-white Flycatcher.

Enjoying it too :t:. Agree with Mark's id by the way, but presumably not same bird as leg colour not pale pink as mentioned

 

[dwatsonbirder]

Thanks for pointing that out, I meant to upload the robin but selected the wrong thumbnail! Thanks for the comments, will work on Philippines section in the next few days.

 

[hampers]

Excellent, thank you.

 

[MKinHK]

Sounds like you did pretty well. Your Blue-bearded Kingfisher is I presume a typo for the Bee-eater, and the Brown Barbet is apparently a Bornean endemic!

Looking forward to the Philippines . . .

Cheers
Mike

 

[dwatsonbirder]

Hi Mike, apologies yes appears that there are a few typos. I did mean bee-eater (not claiming a new species!) and I didn't realise the Barbet was an endemic either. Explains why I didn't see it elsewhere... I've done a rough systematic list and I believe I saw/heard a minimum of 195 species, not bad considering it wasn't a dedicated birding trip! Will hopefully post Philippines and Kuala Lumpur parts over next few days. Cheers for the kind comments folks!

 

[KenM]

A fantastic trip....needless to say I couldn't identify most! Particularly the 1st image in post 11, looks superb whatever it is?.... and that orang-utan...almost to "die for". :t: