The Birds of Tawau Hills Park - part 2

It has been slightly more than 4 years that I posted a summary of the birds of Tawau Hills Park.

Here are the other birds that I managed to photograph after the earlier posting.

Little Egret (Egretta garzetta), frequents the pond next to the head quarter building.

Jerdon's Baza (Aviceda jerdoni), often seen far away, but can be seen perch near park headquarter if you are lucky.

Rufous-bellied Hawk Eagle (Hieraaetus kienerii), another beauty, can be seen in area around the park.

Great Argus (Argusianus argus), can be encountered along trails and can be quite approachable.

Checker-throated Woodpecker (Picus humii), an interesting woodpecker that occurs in both lowland and montane forests.

Crimson-winged Woodpecker (Picus puniceus). 

Dusky Broadbill (Corydon sumatranus), a bird of the upper canopy in here.

Blue-banded Pitta (Pitta arquata), endemic jewel of the Bornean forests.

Borneo Banded Pitta (Pitta schwaneri), another endemic jewel of the Bornean forests.

Female Blue-headed Pitta (Pitta baudii), yet another endemic jewel of the Bornean forests.

Male Blue-headed Pitta (Pitta baudii), yet another endemic jewel of the Bornean forests.

Male Asian Fairy Bluebird (Irena puella).

Asian Fairy Bluebird (Irena puella).

Yellow-bellied Bulbul (Criniger phaeocephalus)

Grey-cheeked Bulbul (Criniger bres)

Male Rufous-tailed Shama (Trichixos pyrropygus)

Female Rufous-tailed Shama (Trichixos pyrropygus)

White-crowned Forktail (Enicurus leschenaulti)

Male Chectnut-naped Forktail (Enicurus ruficapillus)

Female Chectnut-naped Forktail (Enicurus ruficapillus)

Striped Wren-babbler (Kenopia striata)

Rufous-crowned Babbler (Melacopteron magnum)

Crow-billed Drongo (Dicrurus annectans)

Black Magpie (Platysmurus leucopterus)

There are other interesting birds recorded in Tawau Hills Park before, and I still in need of lots and lots luck to see them here. The list includes Bulwer's Pheasant (Lophura bulweri), Cinnamon-rumped Trogon (Harpactes orrophaeus), White-necked Babbler (Stachyris leucotis), Bornean Wren-babbler (Ptilolocichla leucogrammica).

Happy birding.

Photodocument of Wild Birds of Borneo.

Standard References for my blog.

Gunung Lucia of Tawau Hills Park, Part 2.

Here are the birds that I managed to photograph, the punishing terrains as well as the long jungle trekking preclude us from lugging our usual bird photography gears, hence most images are only good for record.

 Eyebrowed Wren-babbler Napothera epilepidota, my lifer,  scarce sub-montane and montane resident, a small terrestrial wren babbler with very short tail, seen once below Lucia Camp and once above. It can be distinguished from the similar endemic Mountain Wren-babbler Napothera crassa by white spots on tips of its wing covert feathers.

 Endemic Blue-banded Pitta Pitta arquata, one of the most sought-after pittas, my only other lifer for the trip,  an elusive slope specialist, saw it once and photographed under very dark forest cover.

 

 Red-bearded Bee-eater Nyctyornis amictus, resident near Lucia Camp.

 Endemic Bonean Spiderhunter Arachnothera everetti, another resident near Lucia Camp.

 Cinereous Bulbul Hemixos cinereus, feeding on trees next to the Helipad above Lucia Camp.

 Ashy Drongo Dicrurus leucophaeus, most probably the only place to see this sub-montane and montane bird in Tawau is here in Lucia and Magdelena.

 Spotted Fantail Rhipidura perlata, occurs from lowland to montane forests, my second encounter in Tawau Hills Park.

 Dark-sided Flycatcher Muscicapa sibirica above 900 m, a common northern winter migrant to Borneo, from my observation, it is commoner than Asian Brown Flycatcher Muscicapa dauurica.

 Orange-breasted Trogon Harpactes oreskios, a mainly sub-montnae species, quite a number of birds were heard above the Lucia Camp approaching the Summit, but not easy to take good photograph.

 A young Moustached Babbler Malacopteron magnirostre , feeding next to the Helipad above Lucia Camp, around 1,000 m.

 An evidently nesting Grey-chested Jungle Flycatcher Rhinomyias umbrantilis, between Lucia Camp and Summit, around 1,000 m, contrary to 500 m as stated  in Myers.

An endemic female Bornean Banded Pitta Pitta schwaneri,  it had been calling from its road side perch, I mistook its call for something else, as it sounded coarser than those on record.

Other birds heard or seen but not photographed are:-
Brown Fulvetta (heard almost along the entire journey,  to well over 1,000 m).
Yellow-rumped Flowerpecker (the only Flowerpecker seen, feeding infront of the Lucia Camp).
Great Argus (heard and seen a pair crossing the trail).
Spectacled Bulbul (seen feeding above Lucia Camp).
Brown Barbet (seen feeding above Lucia Camp).
Asian Paradise Flycatcher (seen feeding near Lucia Camp).
Verditor Flycatcher (seen feeding near Lucia Camp).
Bold-striped Tit Babbler (seen feeding near Lucia Camp).

Happy birding.

Photodocument of the wild birds of Borneo.

Standard references for my blog.

Some recent lifers from Tawau Hills Park

When you reach a sufficient number in your photographed bird list, it gets harder and harder to get a lifer, as the  commoner and easier birds have all been photographed, the harder birds are either too far away,  too remote or simply too difficult to approach.

I have photographed 385 species of wild Bornean birds so far, mainly from Tawau and nearby areas. Lately, we have not been able to produce any new bird from our usual bird photography playgrounds anymore.

We have no choice but to try out more difficult places for lifers, the nearest place in Tawau and relatively underbirded by us is Tawau Hills Park (THP). For reason stated here, we consider THP not very productive, but under these circumstances, THP seems to be the only logical choice if I want to up the number in my photographed bird list.

My first lifer for 2013, Blue-banded Kingfisher, was photographed in THP.

Male Bornean Blue Flycatcher Cyornis superbus, which has a song that is quite close to the later species is quite often seen, this one just refused to pose side way for me to take a profile shot. It can be quite indifferent to you while you take its photos. Its field identification mark is the lack of dark chin.

Male Bornean Blue Flycatcher

The male Large-billed Blue Flycatcher Cyornis caerulatus, which is a very similar looking and sounding bird to the preceding species, can be found here co-inhabiting the same habitat. It is distinguished from Bornean Blue Flycatcher by its dark chin, however, care must be taken not to confuse this with the male of Mangrove Blue Flycatcher Cyornis rufigastra, which also has a dark chin and happens to occur in THP as well.

Male Large-billed Blue Flycatcher



Striped Wren Babbler Kenopia striata, a rare and vocal skulker, a tough bird to photograph. I have to track 6 kms going up over 600 meters in THP's trail to Mt. Lucia to take an image which is just sufficient to positively put an ID tag on this elusive bird. Hope to go back there to take better shots in time to come.

Striped Wren-babbler



These three new birds make my photographed bird list go up to 388.

Happy birding.

Photodocument of Wild Birds of Borneo.

Standard References for my blog.

30th August 2009

Edited on 30 March 2018 text with green background.

6.00 am on 30th August saw us arrived at Power Station, a lot of activities were seen happening there at the wee hour. First, we were greeted by the Bornean Whistling Thrush Myophonus borneensis, formerly Sunda Whistling Thrush Myophonus glaucinus  (split by Collar 2005), which was busy feeding on moths and insects on the ground.

Bornean Whistling Thrush

Fruits and insects brought along Golden-naped Barbet Megalaima pulcherrima (now Psilopogon pulcherrimus), Indigo Flycatcher Eumyias indigo, Short-tailed Green Magpie Cissa thalassina (now Borneo Green Magpie Cissa jefferyi), Bar-winged Flycatchershrike Hemipus picatus, Mountain Black-eye Chlorocharis emiliae (now Zosterops emiliae), Temminck's Sunbird Aethopyga temminckii, Ashy Drongo Dicrurus leucophaeus, Bornean Treepie Dendrocitta cinerascens, White-browed Shrike-babbler Pteruthius flaviscapis (now Blyth's Shrike-vireo Pteruthius aeralatus), Sunda Bush-warbler Cettia vulcania (now Horonis vulcanius), Sunda Laughing-thrush Garrulax palliatus (now Sunda Laughingthrush Leucodioptron palliatum), White-breasted Woodswallow Artamus leucorhynchus, Pacific Swallow Hirundo tahitica and Swiftlets (looks like Glossy Swiftlet Collocalia esculenta (now Plume-toed Swiftlet Collocalia affinis)).

Golden-naped Barbet

Short-tailed Green Magpie

Mountain Black-eye

 Temminck's Sunbird

Sunda Laughing-thrush

Went to have brunch at the Koporasi's Canteen across the road from KP head quarter, both their food  and price were acceptable. Went to Liwagu trail immediately after brunch and was rewarded with a pair of Whitehead's Trogon Harpactes whiteheadi, the male bird would always perch on a branch that would never enable us to get an unblocked view for photograph. This is my second Whitehead's bird and what a delight to have them on the sensor of my camera. The other Whitehead's bird that I am after is the Whitehead's Spiderhunter Arachnothera juliae, which I am sure I will be rewarded if I try long and hard enough. Here are the Trogons;

Whitehead's Trogon male

Whitehead's Trogon Female.

Further along the trail we were greeted by the incessant singing of a small group of endemic Mountain Wren-babbler Napothera crassa (now Turdinus crassus), indeed another bonus for the trip.

Mountain Wren-babbler

The  Bornean Whistler is also endemic to Borneo.

The Bornean Forktail Enicurus borneensis (Split by Moyle et al 2005), exist in rocky streams in Montane primary forests, where it replaces the very similar lowland White-crowned Forktail Enicurus leschenaulti (now Malayan Forktail Enicurus frontalis) . We waited for two hours for it to show and we were eventually rewarded  when it showed up along the Liwagu River. Light level was not ideal inside the dark under-storey along the river, I was forced to use ISO 1600 for the shots, as flashing the feeding Forktail would guarantee its immediate departure.

Bornean Forktail

Bornean Forktail

Left Liwagu river after shooting the Bornean Forktail and to our delight we found that Mount Kinabalu, which was usually covered by low lying clouds in the afternoon,  was clearly in view.

 

Mount Kinabalu

Mount Kinabalu

To be continued and happy birding.