Likas and Kinabalu Park. End of May 2017

30th and 31st May is Harvest Festival in Sabah, we have two days public holidays, this year it falls on Tuesday and Wednesday, by taking Monday off, we have an extra long weekend of bird photography.

We drove from Tawau at 6 am on 27th May (Saturday) to Kota Kinablu in late afternoon to photograph our first lifer, which is non other than a poor stranded Common Coot. We later had an eating and drinking session with our local bird photography sifus before moving on to Kinabalu Park, where we managed to get hold of our room keys at 11.30 pm from the security guard as the reception had closed for the day many hours ago.

These were photographed during the trip.

 Common Coot Fulica atra is a vagarant of North eastern Borneo, so far only recorded from Western Sabah and Brunei. The last record was a lone bird in 1st February 2010 (Here).
Pictured here is a bird which is stranded in Likas, Kota Kinabalu this season. This poor coot has some form of feather disease where the barbs on its primaries and secondaries are mostly rotten, showing almost bare rachis when wings are stretched out. I would expect the poor cooty to be flightless for quite a while. Unlucky for the cooty, lucky for us, this is my #439 Bornean bird.

 Chestnut-hooded Laughing-thrush Rhinocichla treacheri, one of the commonest birds in Kinabalu, making puppy-like sound while foraging for insects in first light.

 Borneo Birdwing Troides andromache - male, a endemic of Bornean mountians, many of them seen foraging around.

 Temminck's Sunbird Aethopyga temminckii-male, foraging amongst blooms with Olive-backed Sunbirds Nectarinia jugularis.
Temminck's Sunbird is essentially a montane species, occasionally it is recorded in lower altitude, Olive-backed Sunbird is essentially a lowland species but occasionally recorded in montane settings.

 Juvenile Little Pied Flycatcher Ficedula westermanni, another approachable flycatcher of Kinabalu Park.

 Bornean Bald Laughing-thrush Melanocichla calva

Bornean Bald Laughing-thrush, the uncommon endemic laughing-thrush and one of the most sought after bird of montane forests in Borneo, lucky to meet this foraging party, this is my  #440 Bornean birds.

 Ashy Drongo Dicurus leucophaeus, a common roadside bird, often seen foraging from perches on high wires and tip of branch.

Mountain Treeshrew Tupaia montana

 White-throated Fantail Rhipidura albicollis another friendly bird of montane forests.

 Plantain Squirrel Callosciurus notatus, commonest squirrel in lowland also occur in montane forests.

 Jentink's Squirrel Sundasciurus jentinki is a montane species.

 Grey-throated Babbler Stachyris nigriceps, is a difficult bird to get a clear shot when it decides to keep foraging in thick bushes.

 Pale-faced Bulbul Pycnonotus leucops, a quite approachable bird with some resemblance to the common lowland Yellow-vented Bulbul Pycnonotus goiavier as both have yellow vent.

 Bornean Flowerpecker Dicaeum monticolum often foraging in low growing Pink Maisen Medinilla Speciosa bushes.

 Blyth's Shrike-babbler Pteruthius aeralatus female, quite abundant in montane forest.

 Little Pied Flycatcher Ficedula westermanni -male a striking cute white and black Flycatcher.

 Bornean Birdwing Troides andromache- female

 Sunda Bush Warbler Cettia vulcania, firendliest bird I have seen in montane forests.

 Bornean Green Magpie Cissa jefferyi, often seen in small party and making a lot of noise.

 Hair-crested Drongo Dicrurus hottentottus, I am still trying to get a shot of a bird with standing  hair crest.

 Sunda Cuckoo Shrike Coracina larvata, unmistakable big bird of the montane forests.

 Black and Crimson Oriole Oriolus cruentus, usually seen singly amongst mixed foraging flocks.

 Sunda Laughing-thrush Garrulax palliatus, another laughing-thrush of montane forests, usually in mixed feeding flock in small party.

 Chestnut-crested Yuhina Yuhina everetti commonest birds in Kinabalu Park, often foraging noisily from tree to tree in group.

 Mountain Tailorbird Orthotomus cuculatus common in areas around Kinabalu Park.

 Red Helen Papilio helenus

Bornean Black-banded Squirrel Callosciurus orestes

 Malayan Lacewing Cethosia hypsea

 Oriental Honey Buzzard Pernis ptilorhyncus torquatus, this bird is soaring at altitude well above 1,500 m around the Park area. Managed to see a soaring Mountain Serpent Eagle Spilornis kinabaluensis as well, but unable to take a photogrpah.

 White-browed Shortwing Brachypteryx montana - male

White-browed Shortwing - female.

This pair was seen crossing the trial and I waited for them to cross again with a pre-focused spot, too bad, as they must have noticed my presence and were dashing across at high speed, only managed to get record shots. This is my #441 Borneo birds. 

Checker-throated Woodpecker Picus mentalis, an interesting bird that occurs both in lowland and montane forests.

Whitehead's Broadbill Calyptomena whiteheadi, lucky to encounter two birds perch just next to the trail.

Happy birding.

Photodocument of Wild Birds of Borneo.

Standard References for my blog.

Mahua Waterfall

Mr. Kong Ket Leong and I drove to Rafflesia Information Centre on 14th December 2013 to photograph the Whitehead's Spiderhunter Arachnothera juliae, which story will be told in another episode.

This posting is about Mahua Waterfall and the birds we managed to photograph there, it is 6 km detour from Kampung Patau along the Tambunan Ranau road. (Rafflesia Information Centre is along Tambunan Penampang Road).

On recommendation of Sifu Chee Su Ken we stayed at Hostels in Mahua, aptly called Mahua Rainforest Paradise for the night before our return to Tawau the next day. It has good accommodation with electricity supply, in contrast to Gunung Alab Resthouse (the place we used to put up while photographing birds in Rafflesia Reserve) which supplies electricity using its own generator for the earlier part of the night only.

Mahua Waterfall is 1000m above sea level, about the same altitude of Gunung Lucia in Tawau Hills Park and Crocker Range Park near Keningau. It is at this zone that we see the coexistence of both montane and lowland bird species, however, the density of montane/submontane species is more than lowland species in this altitude zone.

Here are some of the pictures taken during the trip.Unless otherwise stated, they all taken at Mahua.

 Endemic Mountain Barbet Megalaima monticola, calling from the top of a faraway tree.

 Leucistic Pacific Swallow Hirundo tahitica, taken along the way from Tambunan to Tawau, infront of Maliau Basin, you will not miss it if it is flying there with the other swallows.

  Leucistic Pacific Swallow Hirundo tahitica, side view of the same bird.

 Male Whiskered Treeswift Hemiprocne comata, taken along the way from Tambunan to Tawau, along this stretch of road, there are many Whiskered Treeswifts perch on the telephone wire, oblivious to the passing traffic.

 This is Female Whiskered Treeswift along the same stretch of road.

 Silver-rumped Spinetail Rhapidura leucopygialis, taken in Maliau Basin entrance, one of my few shots of this species showing its rump.

 This is either a female Oriental Cuckoo Cuculus optatus or Himalayan Cuckoo Cuculus satararus from Rafflesia Reserve,  I am not sure which as it was silent. For a discussion of these two Cuculus species in Borneo, please see my earlier post here.

 Mountain Imperial Pigeon Ducula badia, a lone bird perched at the tip of a bare branch early in the morning, however, many individuals were seen flying overhead later.

 Male Grey-chinned Minivet Pericrocotus solaris, common and approachable bird in montane forests.

 Female Grey-chinned Minivet.

 Female Blue and White Flycatcher Cyanoptila cyanomelana

Grey Wagtail Motacilla cinerea, wintering species commoner in montane habitats in Borneo, Yellow Wagtail Motacilla flava is commoner in the lowlands. An easy way to tell them apart is by looking at the color of the feet, the later has dark legs.

 First winter male Mugimaki Flycatcher Ficedula mugimaki, my last lifer for 2013, my number 393 bird photographed in Borneo. This is another migrant that prefers montane to lowland forests here.

 Black-and-Crimson Oriole Oriolus cruentus, this bird just refused to come lower.

 A group of wintering Eyebrowed Thrush Turdus obscurus, they prefer montane and hill forests here during winter.

 Hair-crested Drongo Dicrurus hottentottus

 Endemic Bornean Treepie Dendrocitta cinerascens,

 Checker-throated Woodpecker Picus mentalis, a species found from lowland to montane forests in Borneo.

 Endemic Bornean Ibon Oculocincta squamifrons, submontane species.

 Grey Wagtail Motacilla cinerea, this individual was foraging downstream of Mahua Waterfall.

 Ochraceous Bulbul Criniger ochraceus, commonly seen in montane forests.

 Grey-headed Canary-flycatcher Culicicapa ceylonensis, found also in lowland forests in Tawau Hills Park.

 Endemic Bornean Whistler Pachycephala hypoxantha, another common inhabitant of montane forests.

 Sunda Laughing-thrush Garrulax palliatus.

 Grey-throated Babbler Stachyris nigriceps, commonly seen in bird wave in montane forests.

Happy birding.

Photodocument of the wild birds of Borneo.

Standard references for my blog.