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Borneo and Singapore - in search of Bristlehead, Pittas, Broadbills and Trogons - Sept 2015

David and Sarah Blair ( dviblair@gmail.com )

This trip was originally meant to be Philippines part2 http://www.birdforum.net/showthread.php?t=274794

but we just couldn’t make arrangements for Mindanao and tie it into a relatively comfortable and special

location to celebrate a big Wedding anniversary. So we decided, influenced by some of the great trip

reports on bird forum last year that it was time to

get back to Borneo and to this time do Danum

Valley and Kinabatangan River as well as a bit

more time on Mount Kinabalu and Sepilok with

three days in Singapore to finish.

To set the scene some words from the guide

“The mention of ‘Borneo’ alone is enough to

summon a sense of adventure and excitement.

The rainforests here are among the most bio-

diverse in the world and, in particular, the

northern state of Sabah holds a legendary status amongst naturalists. The Danum Valley is an

extraordinary place in which to experience genuine primary rainforest. Another Sabah treasure is the

Kinabatangan River system which presents excellent mammal and birding opportunities while silently

cruising along the tranquil waters”. So itinerary went like this...

Day 1 travel

Day 2 Arrive Singapore – little bit of local birding

Day 3 Morning flight to Kotu Kinabalu day around Tanjung Aru

Day 4 Early flight to Lahad Duta then transfer to Borneo Rainforest Lodge at Danum

Day 5 6 and 7 at Danum

Day 8 transfer to Sukua lodge on Kinabatangan River

Day 9, 10 around Sukua and visit Gomatong caves

Day 11 after morning at Sukua transfer to Sepilok

Day 12 Sepilok

Day 13 transfer to Hill Lodge Mount Kinabalu

Day 14 and 15 Mountain Trails

Day 16 afternoon flight to Singapore

3 nights in Singapore

We used Phillips’ Field Guide to Birds of Borneo

(occasionally looked at Myers and older McKinnon and

Phillips Birds of Borneo, Sumatra and Java) and A field

guide to the Mammals of Borneo (Payne, Francis and Phillips) and had Birds of South East Asia for

Singapore if needed. Bold is to highlight sighting Red Bold = lifer.

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Day 1 - So on arrival in Singapore not a great deal of birding just a short walk in the Gardens, where we

saw common birds such as Yellow-vented Bulbul, Magpie Robin, Olive-backed Sunbird, Pink-

necked Pigeon, Common Myna before our first new bird of the trip a couple of Java Myna which are

now pretty common in Singapore. Only other birds seen were Glossy Swiftlet, Scaly breasted Munia,

Asian Starling and a surprising Grey Tree Swift. It was then off to get changed for drinks and dinner at

Shangri-La: Blue (unidentified raptor from Blue bar on 24th floor) and then dinner at the Line restaurant.

Early flight the next morning got us to Kotu Kinabalu and checked in while it was still morning. We stayed

at Tanjung Aru a nice enough place with good grounds a

mini golf course and access to the beach and some trees.

We didn’t see a great deal as we took the chance to relax

before our trip to Danum with just a couple of short walks.

That said there were some good birds such as Blue-naped

Parrot, Striated Heron, White-breasted Wood Swallow,

Collared Kingfisher, loads of Green Imperial Pigeons and

surprisingly two fly in Grey Imperial Pigeons (this is first

time we have seen these away from the near shore Islands).

Only other birds were Zebra Dove, Chestnut and Dusky

Munia and Tree Sparrows.

Trip to Danum - Up at half past ridiculous as Sarah calls it, to get to the Airport at 04.30. Airport was in

darkness, they had a power cut but emergency systems were working, but Self Service check-in was

not: still at that time on a Sunday morning place was

pretty empty and we were checked in and at the Gate

in plenty of time for our six o’clock flight, luckily we had

a packed breakfast as all the restaurants and stalls

were closed. Anyway early flight would hopefully pay-

off with arrival at Lahad Duta by 7.15 and arrival at

Danum Valley by 10.30 giving us nearly a full day here.

On the journey to Danum we spotted a Provost’s

Squirrel and a Tufted Ground Squirrel and even

managed an ID shot through the car.

On arrival, fortunately we had been upgraded to a deluxe room with a plunge bath on the balcony. We

were introduced to Theo our guide for the next 4 / 5 days. We would be going out with him at 15.30 but

had the rest of the day at leisure. Theo asked us each for the Top 20 birds we would like to see so we

gave him some obvious things like 5 out of six Pitta’s (we have seen Hooded) and some ridiculous ones

we knew were unlikely like Rail Babbler and Ground Cuckoo, he just wanted to plan logistics and give us

a chance at key targets. Round the Lodge it was easy to see and photograph Bornean Spiderhunter,

Little Spiderhunter, Yellow-rumped Flowerpecker, Yellow-vented and Spectacled Bulbul and

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Pacific Swallow with the chance of Forktails and Kingfishers from the balcony on the river. Fortunately

the first downpour at Danum came and went by 15.00.

15.30 arrived and off we went, plan was to stick mainly to the path, that didn’t last long as we heard a

Giant Pitta calling, and as we entered into the forest it seemed to be responding before it just went silent

as we approached the area, better luck next time.

We did start to see some decent birds including a

few lifers; Black and Yellow Broadbill, Bornean

Brown Barbet, Brown Fulveta and Scaly-

breasted Bulbul, with some other trip birds like,

Grey-cheeked Bulbul, Moustached Babbler,

Black Eagle before we heard our second Pitta of

the day, there then followed an hours pursuit of the

Black-Headed (aka Crimson and Black) Pitta, we

seemed to be right on top of it times but just

couldn't see it in some really muddy and overgrown

terrain, when I took a tumble slipping on a wet trail we agreed to go back to the main trail and head back

to the lodge.

On the way back we added, Rufous-crowned Babbler, Dark-sided Flycatcher, Yellow-breasted

Flowerpecker, Red-eyed Bulbul and Glossy Swiftlet. Theo left us with a warning not to sit in the front

seats seat on the night drive as there is a danger of a wasp sting as they are attracted to the spotlight,

sure enough on our trip tonight someone was stung on the face (on his eyelid).

Trip was going ok with Prevost’s Squirrel, then a couple of Red Giant Flying Squirrel’s before I

shouted "STOP CAT" on our side of the truck was a Leopard Cat, I’m not sure if everyone on the truck

saw it before it ran into the forest but sure nice for those who did.

I did ask about protocol to stop the truck, there isn’t one,

guy with the spotlight is meant to see things but that

doesn’t work when he is looking high in the trees and

there is something on the ground.

Only other sightings were another flying squirrel

and an Owl SP (probable Brown Wood Owl) but

as that would be a lifer we want to be certain, we

will look again tomorrow, still we went to bed

reasonably happy, albeit me with a swollen elbow

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and a few bruises and bumps.

First full day at Danum (30th Anniversary - note - Sarah was a child bride)

A lot of rain fell overnight but by first light there was an ethereal mist but the day looked set fair for a

memorable wedding anniversary. Before breakfast I

heard both Buffy Fish Owl and Bay Owl but neither

approached when I called them from the balcony in

the half light. We did though see a nice Red-bearded

Bee-eater on the way to Breakfast.

After breakfast we started up the main road directly

away from the lodge and came across a newly fruiting

strangler fig, the biggest surprise was to see an Adult

male Helmeted Hornbill keeping everything away

from his domain. What a first bird and lifer he looks

positively prehistoric, we then had two more hornbills in Wreathed also new and Rhinoceros. The

smaller birds were also pretty good with Blue-crowned Hanging Parrot, both Lesser and greater

Leafbirds, and then in neighbouring tree we quickly added Spotted Fantail, Asian Fairy Bluebird

before adding a couple of most sought after lifers in Chestnut-backed Scimitar Babbler and a

Bornean Blue Flycatcher as things quietened down we made our way towards the canopy walk way.

I should mention that when I awoke this morning my

knee was badly bruised and my right elbow had a

lump the size of a cricket ball and I couldn't even

carry my camera in my usual style, so I elected to

leave the extender, spare body, monopod etc. back

in the room and travel light (hopefully you will see

the relevance later), anyway back to the birds and

we connected with Gold-whiskered and Red-

throated Barbet before we heard the

unmistakeable sound of Bristlehead, but despite

calling it repeatedly we couldn't see the bird, but it

seemed to be high on the trees near the upper

walkway, an agonising climb was soon forgotten

about when we quickly saw a juvenile bird albeit quite distantly from the second platform. Theo pointed

out there was 4 or 5 birds but they were only visible from mid-way (anyone who read our trip report to

Ghana from earlier this year will know that Sarah missed some Brown cheeked Hornbills in just this

situation but she wasn't about to do that here) and sure enough halfway across the walkway we could

see the birds well and even get a distant record shot despite the swaying. Other birds on the canopy

were Bushy-crested Hornbill, Fiery Minivet and Thick-billed Green Pigeon.

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On the way down we heard Diard's and Scarlet-naped Trogons but neither came close we were more

successful with Babblers and we saw Scaly-crowned, Chestnut-rumped and Fluffy-backed Tit

Babbler.

It was then time to try for another Pitta. There was two birds calling and they seemed to come closer as

we tried calling them, Theo said the bird must be in this area and squatted down to try to see it, Sarah

tried the same technique but with my sore knee I

couldn't bend so I just risked a muddy bum and sat

down, and right there in front of me under a fallen log,

so not visible to those looking down was a glorious male

Blue-headed Pitta I watched and described where the

bird was, how it looked but I couldn't get Sarah and

Theo on it, I even tried using a laser pointer but I was

useless with it, pointing aimlessly as I didn't want to take

my bins off the bird, it slowly disappeared but all was

not lost on the other side of the path a female appeared

but shot off when I turned giving Sarah only a flight

view, she wasn't happy at this point.

Fortunately the birds were coming thick and fast and a Banded Broadbill and Crimson-winged

Woodpecker, both new, followed by Rufous Piculet and Dark-necked Oriole. Then the Pitta called

again and Theo was determined to get Sarah properly on it. After much calling he lay his phone on the

far path and tried to coax the birds across a little inter-section, first the female hopped across the

opening in 5 bounds, photos were taken but in low light I didn't hope for much with no camera support

and a relatively slow shutter speed but one has turned out OK, then the male decided to join the female

but flew over with just a very brief landing and disappeared into the vegetation. With that we started back

for the lodge and even a late morning downpour didn't dampen our spirits. After lunch I photographed

the Bornean Spiderhunter on the wild banana flowers near our balcony. We also added Grey Wagtail,

Blue-eared and Stork-billed Kingfisher from the river edge.

Our walk was due to start at 15.30 and as you have to put

on boots, Leach Socks and refill water bottles in the

outside area, no shoes indoors BRL, we got down 10

minutes early, I had just booted up when I heard someone

say Fireback, I quickly ran over scanned and saw three

adult Crested Fire-backs out in the open, I thought about

taking some photos but as this was a bird Sarah really

wanted I ran back and got her, fortunately just in time to

see them before they went into the forest. We did see

them again briefly on the boardwalk trail but this was easily

the best sighting.

(Any observant readers will note I ran, it’s amazing what a long soak in the outdoor bath, some anti-

1Yellow-rumped Flowerpecker

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inflammatories and co-codamol will do when coupled with effect of chasing a new bird).

It was a bit overcast and humid this afternoon and it was noticeably quieter than this morning but still

quite a few birds on the fruiting tree and nearby, best

among them were Scaly-crowned Babbler, Black-

headed Bulbul, Orange-bellied Flowerpecker and

Great-racket-tailed Drongo. Up the road we had a nice

Buff-necked Woodpecker which posed nicely. There

were now a few claps of thunder and some distant

lightning so we decided against the Canopy walkway

and decided to find a troop of Maroon Langurs (Red

Leaf Monkey) we heard earlier, so on we went up the

hornbill track but only got a hundred yards before we

found a stunning and very obliging Red-naped Trogon

that sat and let me take photos handheld in the forest understory until I had the settings right, we never

did see the monkeys that day as in this area we also heard then saw Rufous-winged Philentoma, a

White-crowned Shama, a Brown Fulvetta, Black-naped Monarch, Striped Wren Babbler and Bold-

striped Tit Babbler a really nice spell of birdwatching before the heavens opened.

For other wildlife we added Frilled-tree Lizard, Plain Pygmy Squirrel, Horse-tailed Squirrel and our

first Tiger Leach (unfortunately on my leg at the end of the walk despite leach socks), despite horror

stories of Tiger Leaches at Danum we didn't have a major problem with just this one and one that I

pulled off Sarah the next day and a few others seen but fortunately not on us, the socks largely worked.

That said there seemed to be some people really obsessed by them.

We decided not to do a walk or drive tonight as the lodge had arranged a bottle of fizz and a nice meal

for us.

NOTE: I would never have thought of Danum and BRL as a romantic destination but there were quite a

few couples on Honeymoon or celebrating occasions, so if you are in Malaysia you could easily

persuade a non-birding partner to come for the Orangutan, monkeys and Spa treatment while you enjoy

a few days of extra-ordinary birding.

Danum in search of Pitta and Broadbill

After torrential rain all night it was a bright dry dawn with just some lingering mist as we set off. Theo and

I had joked last night that the best weather for seeing Pittas was in morning sunlight after heavy rain as

they like to re-advertise their territory with all the changes due to fallen trees, new streams etc. Anyway

we were about to put that to the test as we set off to find a calling Blue-banded Pitta.

3 Green Broadbill

2Red-naped Trogon

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We were warned it would be a tricky hike after the rains with a climb up past the viewpoint and Coffin

Cliff and then down to an old stream and climb to the top

of the next hill (see trail map). Incentive as well as the

Pitta was chance of Green Broadbill, for some reason I

can't explain, it is higher on my target list than

Whitehead's. So off we went and it all started well with a

little group of Maroon Langur teaching the young to

move from tree to tree they simply throw them and the

youngster grabs the next tree -great fun! We had a nice

Banded Broadbill on the climb up not as nicely marked

as Black and Yellow but very photogenic. It was then

very quiet until we descended into the valley where we

had three lifers in a row firstly a White-crowned Forktail that flew back and forth then a Rufous-

chested Flycatcher before a Bornean Banded Kingfisher did a fly-by unfortunately we couldn't find

the perched bird.

Better still we could hear two pittas calling up the hill. One

of the things I love about Pittas is that so many of them

have a whistled call that can be easily learned and

impersonated, that said despite whistling to lots of birds my

success rate in actually seeing them is not great but that

doesn't stop me trying. I could hear a Blue-banded Pitta up

towards the top of the hill so off we went as quick as we

could, but as we got closer we now heard a second bird

just below us, but I commented to Theo it sounds like a

person trying to call it but Theo said it was actually a Black-crowned Pitta calling to the Blue-banded, so

we carried on trying to track the first bird, off we went on a very narrow side trail, I would never have

spotted the bird but through a clump of leaves Theo spotted the bird, but the path was only wide enough

for a single person, so I crawled forward and got on the Blue-banded Pitta, had a quick look at

predominantly a red bird with his breast band of bright

blue and then gave Sarah a look, a poor image was

grabbed and the bird moved off but no sooner than we

got back on the path than a pair of Green Broadbills

perched up on a tree just above us, what a morning. I

was trying to get some decent shots of the Broadbill

but the lighting was poor when Theo disappeared off

to have a cigarette break further up the hill. He then

suddenly whistled us and waved, we went up as

quietly as we could and he pointed to the Pitta sitting

on an branch in reasonable light and with almost no

leaves in front, I couldn't believe my luck and got some

OK shots of this fabulous Blue-banded Pitta, now we could see the green on the back, poor Theo had

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left his camera back in his pack and the bird had moved down into the undergrowth by the time he got

back. Unbelievably the Black-crowned Pitta was still calling as we walked back down the trail, one

whistle and he was on a log posing for a photo, we just looked at each other and thought the gods are on

our side today. This was further emphasised by seeing a nice group of Orangutan on the walk back to

lunch with two mothers holding young babies. This was certainly one of the most memorable nature

watching sessions I can remember.

Danum afternoon and evening

So after this morning’s great show I guess anything was

likely to be a little bit of an anti-climax. We headed back to

the canopy walkway via the fruiting fig tree. We had a very

nice male Rufous-winged Philentoma, a Yellow-vented

Flowerpecker, a Rufous-fronted Babbler, and the usual

set of Bulbuls, including Spectacled, Red-eyed, Hairy-

backed and Black-headed before we got a very bright

Gold-whiskered Barbet and then some fly over Hornbills,

Bushy-crested and Wreathed before a Rhinoceros

Hornbill landed but allowed only partial photographs. The other birds in abundance from the walkway

were barbets, with Bornean Brown, Blue-eared and finally Yellow-crowned Barbet, a bird Theo said

he had only seen twice here. With claps of thunder not that far away we decided to head back to the

lodge along one of the trails where we added Ferruginous Babbler, Grey-headed Canary Flycatcher,

Verditer, Grey Tree-Swift and Red-Throated Sunbird, then the heavens opened but fortunately we

had taken umbrellas so did not get too wet. We did see a Rufous Shama on the way back.

We arranged a night walk subject to weather but at the

appointed time it was still raining so heavy it was flooding

part of the dining room, so we agreed to meet 30 minutes

later when amazingly the rain had just stopped. Targets

were owls and anything else active, we didn't have to go

too far for the Buffy Fishing Owl as incredible views

were had of two birds fishing together on the edge of the

river, and the birds just waded along and grabbed a fish

or a frog and then waited again, a great lifer. We were

trying for Bay Owl, which I had heard a couple of times

and which Theo had seen a few days before but despite an exhaustive search there was no sign, Theo

thought with the severe rain and large number of branches falling the bird had probably found a new

roost / hunting spot. More disappointing was the lack of the Brown Wood Owl said be a certain tick

around the football field or recycling area where they regularly hunt for rats, but tonight nothing not even

a call, so hopefully it will be dry tomorrow.

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On the way back we did find two more Buffy Fishing Owls in the trees hear the new chalets, we also had

beautiful sleeping Malaysian Blue Flycatcher. Other wildlife included a Tarantula, Horse-Tailed

Squirrel and a Plain Grass Frog.

Some details on guides at BRL. Included in the

rate is the service of a guide but you could be

grouped with general guests, one pair of British

birders were very disappointed that their guide

would not even try for good birds like Pittas and

Broadbills because they were only of interest to

birders not the whole group (they did get

Bristlehead though, as because of the unusual

call that was of interest to the group), so better to ask up front to be paired with a birding guide and some

other birding clients or just pay a little extra and get a guide for exclusive use.

A relative let down

The good luck had to end and I guess this was our bad

morning although everything is relative. We left early by van

to get to a Great Argus display site near the entrance gate

and a nearby Banded Pitta territory. Theo had taken an old

guy with not great eyesight to see the Argus and he had

heard the Pitta at the same time, this was 8 days ago, so

were very hopeful. Things started very fruitfully with a pair of

Chestnut-naped Forktails, we had heard this bird but this

was a good lifer, we then had a pair of Diard's Trogons

always a bird family to keep Sarah happy. However as we approached the display area I was stung by a

wasp (bloody painful for an hour or so) and Theo was

covered in Tiger leeches, a braver man than I, he lets

them feed fully before dropping them into the leaf litter to

breed - I pulled the ones we had off with a wet wipe

immediately we spotted them.

We were still seeing birds Striped Wren Babbler,

Rufous Winged Babbler, Bornean Flycatcher but

eerie silence from the area we were heading to, then we

heard the call of the Great Argus but instead of being

really close behind a log 40m away it was a good

distance away in the other direction, we walked up to the display area and far from being completely

clear of leaves there was quite a few leaves and sticks around, Theo reckoned the display area had

been abandoned for two days at least, a big disappointment as a lot of recent birders here had

connected - so yet another heard only.

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That was better than the Banded Pitta despite spending 3 hours looking and calling we did not hear even

a distant call, in fact only the Giant Pitta was heard and he was very distant and did not respond to our

whistles. As I said earlier success is all relative in birding and a Rufous Piculet, Buff-necked, Crimson-

winged and Olive-backed Woodpeckers alongside, Greater Leafbird, Rhinoceros and Wreathed

Hornbill and Dark-sided Flycatcher were all good birds.

The best sighting of the morning was probably Hose's

Langur (Grey Leaf Monkey), we were looking at some

Bushy-crested Hornbills, I said to Theo there are

some Grey monkeys in that tree, they then showed

really well a whole family and they swung around then

vocalised, Theo was really excited as this was only the

second time he had seen this monkey at Danum and

he had never heard it. He waved down a car leaving

the lodge to show the passengers these rare monkeys,

he then apologised for being so excited but I was really

happy for him as I know how exhilarated we had been on some sighting he had helped us with.

This afternoon we were heading to the area around the Jacuzzi pond to pick up some birds we hadn't yet

seen but with nothing specific in mind. On crossing the bridge we had nice views of some playful Red-

leaf Monkeys, they were playing leapfrog on the bridge,

there were also some Long-tailed Macaques. It was

time for both Pale-blue and Large-billed Flycatcher to

be added to the life list, then I heard a Black-crowned

Pitta call I whistled back a couple of times and the bird

was quite close but Theo asked me not call it in as his

friend was going to try to get the bird for some Japanese

photographers who hadn't seen one yet. I was OK with

that as we had seen another or perhaps the same bird

yesterday but they didn't get the bird anyway; as it didn't

respond when they tried to call it later. What it did show

is that the guides as well as trying to keep clear of

each other were agreeing not to target birds that were

on someone else’s schedule. Anyway on we go and

we add Scaly-fronted Babbler, Black-bellied

Malkoha, Blue-eared Kingfisher and a nicely

perched Whiskered Tree Swift before finishing on

Rufous -backed Kingfisher (Now split from Oriental

Dwarf) but both would be new.

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We agreed to go for a walk to try for Wood Owl after

dinner rather than a drive, another passenger had

been stung last night. Theo said that if the Owl

showed he would interrupt our dinner otherwise it

was off at 8pm.

Before dinner we actually head the Owl the other

side of the river so I wasn't that hopeful. No one had

seen the Owl on the earlier night-drive or walks but

just as we started up the main path, a driver coming

back to the lodge told Theo the bird had been seen.

So upshot of conversation was that driver of night drive vehicle had spotted the owl just 10 minutes away

and thought it should be still there, sure enough after a sweaty 10 minute hike at pace we found the

Brown Wood Owl perched on a electricity cable, good to

see and photograph but more natural when he flew in to a

tree. We did not get the Bay Owl he seems to have moved

territory but we did see a Buffy-fish Owl near the river

and other wildlife included Giant River Frog, Long-

legged centipede, Bearded pig and Lowe's Squirrel.

Also forgot to say we found Bornean Wren Babbler in

Jacuzzi area.

TRAVEL DAY

We had no guided walk planned so we just went out before breakfast for a short walk, no new trip birds

but the comic situation of me calling to a Giant Pitta, it returning the call and getting closer, and closer

and so on, until a guide came out of a side trail and we just smiled at each other. A good reason why I

don't put heard only on the life list.

We really enjoyed Danum and were pleased to hear an

amount of the spend goes to school and various eco

projects, it is expensive but once there all soft drinks

including those in the fridge in the room are free and food

was excellent. Alcohol was actually cheaper than a number

of other places. If you are going with Borneo Nature Tours

BRL then they pick you up at Lahad Datu airport and

afterwards took as back to their office to have a packed

lunch, with Borneo Ecotours who own Sukua Lodge on the

Kinabatangan River they made arrangements to have us

picked us and they arrived at the handover point with just a half hour delay in the BRL office. We were

introduced to our guide Nexter who would be our guide here and would accompany us to Sepilok. Nexter

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was very young and a keen birder if not that experienced a guide but as we were mainly on water along

the river that didn't matter too much.

Sukua Regime:- The routine for birding trips is pretty set, breakfast at 5.30, out on boat at 6.00 return

around ten. Then walk around boardwalk, relax, lunch, then off at 15.30 until 18.15.

Other wildlife trips are usually of much shorter duration

about 2 hours each twice a day.

If you are staying more than two days you usually go

to Gomatong Caves one afternoon.

There are optional after dinner boat trips each day but

not a lot had been seen recently and wasn't when were

there so we gave these a miss.

Before we arrived at Sukua we learned that the

Bornean Ground Cuckoo always a difficult bird to see

but a big target for all birders had not been heard for 2

months by any of the Ecotour guides and not seen for almost 3, during a relatively dry spell. We would

try to call the bird in the normal spots and elsewhere but expectations were well and truly managed and

to put people out of their suspense we had no sign, not even a distant call to raise hopes despite lots of

attempts at calling the birds. Disappointingly we

heard later that another birding group staying in a

differnt lodge had heard the birds recently but

Dexter wasn’t aware of it.

In the interests of brevity I will just give a quick

overview of each trip as I realise that Danum was a

bit of a ramble.

Day 1 Sakua evening trip - as well as being keen

birders we also want to see other wildlife, so we set

off up river to see a herd of 20 or so Bornean Pygmy Elephants, we see the elephants well but the fact

that there is 4 other boats lined up watching makes it feel like an African safari, but the benefit of longer

boat trip is shown when we come back later and have

3 elephants including a baby in the water all to

ourselves a great experience.

Birding is pretty good with new birds in Storm Stork,

Black and Red Broadbill, Wallace’s Hawk Eagle,

Mossy Nest Swiftlet on the nest, Wrinkled Hornbill,

and others including good photographs of Yellow and

Black Broadbill, Blue-eared and Stork-billed

Kingfisher, Purple Heron, Darter, Little Egret and

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Red-headed Tailorbird. We also saw Proboscis Monkey, Long-tailed Macaque and Red Leaf

Monkeys.

For those interested in the Night trip - they got sleeping Orangutan, Proboscis Monkey and a Reticulated

Python plus Owl (probably Buffy Fishing) and sleeping Stork billed Kingfisher.

Day 2 - morning. On the way to breakfast we saw a Silver Langur, after breakfast and on to the boat

where we wanted a White-crowned Hornbill to

complete the set of all 8 hornbills and this was the first

bird of the morning and it was a lovely long sighting,

second up was the Black and Red Broadbill we just

loved these photogenic brightly coloured birds with

their huge pale blue bills, I'll post a few of the better

photos, when I get the chance to resize them for the

forum, next bird was a White-chested Babbler and

then bird number 4000 for me a Scarlet-rumped

Trogon a very good bird to mark this milestone, things

then slackened off before we added Jerdon's Baza

and the usual Egrets, Purple and Striated Heron, then White-bellied Sea Eagle and Grey-headed

Sea Eagle, it was interesting to the see the Wallace's

Hawk Eagle to tick off ID differences with the Baza,

apart from Stork-billed Kingfisher that was it for the

trip.

Back at the lodge we saw a mother and baby Orangutan

just yards from the boardwalk although fairly high in tree,

she was there three of the four days were there and is

said be a regular, unfortunately the large male who often

stops by didn't put in an appearance.

Afternoon Session - most of the same birds but added Crested Goshawk and Blythe's Hawk Eagle

but afternoon session was especially good for large

male Proboscis Monkeys with 7 seen well and a

number of Harems with females and youngsters

nearby.

I should mentioned boats have a silent mode where an

electric motors allows you to move quietly amongst the

wildlife, great for birding but as we were getting close to

some Bushy-crested Hornbill suddenly this male

Elephant surfaced right in front us I don't know who

was most surprised the Bornean Pygmy Elephant or

the Boatman whose face was a picture. The Elephant reacted first made a huge roar and then

14

fortunately for us headed for the bank away from us and climbed ashore.

We also tried spot in the oxbow lake for Borneo Falconet - but not seen.

Trip to the bat cave

Usual set up for the morning but we were spending

most of the day where Ground Cuckoo was last heard,

we did hear and tried to call in Bornean Neck-laced

Partridge and thought we were succeeding, we even

went ashore but bird just stayed hidden.

We did get two Bat Hawks, on a nest tree and had

some good fun with 4 Hooded Pittas, that responded to

whistles and flew in and out of view and across the

narrow channel, frustratingly I didn't get a decent photograph of one, we had good views of Black and

Red Broadbill, Grey-headed Fish Eagle, Blue-

eared Kingfisher and White-breasted Babbler.

First new bird today was Long-tailed Parakeet,

then we had Little Green Pigeon, before I

spotted a lifer for Nexter a Bay-banded Cuckoo

(he was really excited to be moving towards the

Borneo400 club). Other birds as we went back to

try for the Falconet on the oxbow, were Greater

Coucal, Black-bellied and Raffles Malkoha,

then a new one Chestnut-breasted Malkoha

(only one more to go). Fortunately when we got

to the bare tree at the end of the lake there was not one Bornean Falconet (the world’s smallest bird of

prey) but 4 of these awesome little Falcons. For background there were lots of Proboscis Monkeys

Playing nearby.

Once back at the lodge I tried calling the Black-headed Pitta but instead of that I got another Hooded

Pitta, it showed then flew off, 5 in one morning, of a bird we had only seen twice before, we also had

Hairy-backed and Yellow-bellied Bulbul and Rufous-winged Philentoma.

The Orangutan mother and baby also swung into their usual area.

Afternoon at Gomatong Caves, I had high hopes for

Gomatong as people have seen some very good birds in

the forest near the caves, it just didn't work out that way

for us. For those who don't know about the caves they

host three type of echo locating Swiftlets in large numbers

and around 3 .5 million Horseshoe bats. The smell from

the main cave is picked up about a mile away and in the

caves you daren't touch a handrail, thousands of

15

cockroaches and stinging centipedes and a smell that is really

powerful, you also need to keep your mouth closed when you

look up (hopefully this needs no explanation), there are also

the rats running around amongst the guano, so a lovely place,

not!. We only actually counted Black and Mossy Swiftlet as

all the White nests were recently harvested, so while they

were there and building new nests we could not positively

identify them from the others in flight.

We did see Horsefield's Babbler, Bornean Wren Babbler,

Bold-striped

Tit Babbler, Purple-naped sunbird and Wallace’s and

Rufous-bellied Hawk Eagles, but no Owls, Pittas, or

Trogons were seen. We finished with a few Bat Hawks

as they had the bat hunting to themselves.

Trip to Sepilok

We had no boat trip today, so just had a walk

around the boardwalk where we finally got nice

views of a Ruddy Kingfisher, then Red-headed

Tailorbird, Spectacled and Red-eyed Bulbul and

fly over Rhinoceros Hornbill. Including within

Sakua package is transfer back to Sandakan by

boat or road return to Lahad Datu, we took the

speed boat to Sandakan. It was not really a wildlife watching trip but we did see a few things: a last

Pygmy Elephant, Whiskered Tern, then 3 Lesser Adjutant Stork, and as we got to see some Black-

headed Gulls and then a surprise Brown Booby

(only 2nd seen by guys who do this trip a few times

a week). After lunch in Sandakan we had a short

drive to Sepilok Nature Resort, only a few steps

from the Orangutan Rehabilitation Centre (we

wouldn't visit this time during the day). Area around

our chalet 23 was really good for birds but it is

furthest from reception and the restaurant,

something to think on when it is pouring down.

Before our 3.30 walk we had Raffles Malkoha,

16

Pied Fantail, Magpie Robin, Little Spiderhunter and

Rubycheek from the area around the room.

On our walk it was clear that Nexter wanted to get Blue-

banded and Chestnut-coloured Kingfisher as much for

himself as for us, but as they were birds we wanted

particularly the ghost bird, the female of which looks so

much like the Philippine Spotted Wood-Kingfisher a

favourite bird of mine. That meant we tried the

Kingfisher trail and first part of the Pitta trail a few

times, but all we got were Verditer Flycatcher, Rufous-backed Kingfisher, Blue-eared Kingfisher,

Rufous-winged Philentoma, a nice singing White-crowned Shama and then we made for the canopy

walkway, we had just got up there seeing a Blue-throated Bee-eater and Scarlet-backed

Flowerpecker before there was loud clap of thunder and the first drops of rain, we decided to head back

to the Trogon Tower to shelter - we saw Green Imperial Pigeon, Malaysian Honeyguide, and Black

and Wreathed Hornbill. However rain was now pretty bad and so we decided to go back to resort and

then make a call about our planned night walk.

10 minutes after planned start time the guide from SORC decided we could go as rain was now fairly

light, we did start to see a few things, firstly a White-bellied Reed Snake, then Prevost Squirrel, before

we reached the nursery building and had the sad site of three Orangutans sheltering from the rain under

an AC unit, a bit of roof and under the guttering, the guide said they are released into the wild and need

to learn things like nest building from other older Orangutans but they will not be allowed back into the

nursery. Here we found some Red Giant Flying Squirrels still prepared to glide, one managed over 150

metres. Then we had Lesser Mouse Deer before rain

came back on heavy, with that went chance of Tarsier

or Loris, so remaining sightings were Agamid Lizard,

Tree-hole Frog and a Pit Viper.

Hopefully it would be dry by morning.

Sepilok and the Chestnut-collared Kingfisher

One of the nice things about Sepilok Nature Resort is

the early morning Hornbill display, as we were finishing

breakfast around 5.45 a birding tour group arrived to

witness the movement of 10 Black Hornbills, 2 Rhinoceros and 6 Bushy-crested Hornbills, a nice

start to the day as we finished our coffee.

It was then off to the RDC. We headed straight up to the canopy walkway, there wasn't much showing

but we did get Green Iora, Brown Barbet and the same three hornbills we had seen earlier, the birding

17

group headed off when there was no sign of the

Bristlehead, frustratingly we could hear two Pittas Black-

headed and Giant and a Diard's trogon of course as soon

as we went down they stopped calling. We were still on a

mission to get the Kingfishers but with no luck, however we

did get a Buff-rumped Woodpecker and a cracking

Maroon Woodpecker and then a couple of Epornis and

the last new bird of the morning Black-throated Wren

Babbler.

Other birds were Wrinkled Hornbill, Blue-breasted Bee-

eater, Little Spiderhunter, Green Imperial Pigeon and a nice Rubycheek.

Back at the resort after lunch we again had our local Raffles Malkoha and Yellow-eyed Spiderhunter.

Following lunch I told Nexter that he should stop obsessing about the Kingfishers and just enjoy what we

see. We briefly tried for Giant Pitta near the Pitta trail but it stopped calling before we got close, we then

had some Bornean Black Magpies, Fluffy-backed Tit Babbler, Buff-vented Bulbul before in following

a Hairy-backed Bulbul into a thicket we found ourselves looking at a gorgeous female Chestnut-

collared Kingfisher (in my view the female is a better looking bird), I did say told you so as only when

he stopped looking where the bird should be did we find one, it was on Tarsier Crossing trail.

We then spent some time at the front if the RDC getting Sunbirds and Flowerpeckers, we had Red-

throated Sunbird, Crimson Sunbird, Purple-throated Sunbird, Olive-backed Sunbird, Plain

Flowerpecker, Orange-bellied Flowerpecker and Scarlet-backed Flowerpecker.

Dry night at Sepilok

Fortunately the rumble of thunder passed by and we

went straight out for our night walk. Before we

started we found another group of Bornean

Falconets and heard but couldn't find a Boobook.

The better weather gave us hopes of some night

mammals and maybe a few owls.

The Giant Red Flying Squirrels were really doing

their thing gliding from the highest tree behind the

nursery and flying over 180 metres we estimated to the entrance area giving really good views as they

crossed the open area. Next spot was Lowe's Squirrel, before we were inundated with various huge

months, stick insects and beetles. We tried really hard for a Tarsier but despite better conditions we just

couldn't find one, also no Orangutan tonight as with better weather there was no need to come close to

the centre.

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We again found a Pit Viper, almost certainly

the same snake before the star of the show

put in an appearance it was the Slow Loris,

this cat sized primate was happy to just

slowly move up his tree allowing me some

good photos

No owls seen and no trace of the Bay Owl.

Sepilok to Mount Kinabalu

We just had time for a couple of hours at

RDC before breakfast and the trip to the airport. We spend most of the time on the canopy walkway, not

a lot new to begin with Dollarbird, Violet Cuckoo, Blue-crowned Hanging Parrot and Little Green

Pigeon the best birds on offer but things then picked up with two White-bellied Woodpeckers flying

into a high tree, then a Velvet-fronted Nuthatch before a surprising group of 4 Cinnamon-head Green

Pigeons flew in (Nexter reckons these were heading for the nearby mangroves as he had never seen

them here before).

It was then a short flight to Kota Kinabalu where we

were picked up by Osman who would guide us in the

mountains, we were due to have Adrian as a guide

but due to a bereavement he had to call off and we

got Osman (I was happy with this I had heard good

things about him – he is member of the Borneo 400+

club). We reached the edge of the park about 13.30

where we had a little lunch, we then had just enough

time to unpack at Hill Lodge (just inside the park

near HQ) before being ready to get out at 15.00.

Sods law what had been a nice sunny afternoon was

now turning to rain, still it wasn’t too heavy so we decide to what up the road and come back via a trail.

Birding wasn’t quick but we were seeing some good birds first up was an Ochraeceous Bulbul, then a

Bornean Whistler, before a target bird a male White-browed Short-wing just sitting on a log, we then

caught a little wave of Bulbuls but alongside was a

couple of Black-capped White-eyes, just when

things were looking good with an Indigo Flycatcher

joining the mix the heavens opened and we decided it

was prudent to sit behind the Ligwani restaurant to

bird in the dry. The only bird we saw from here was

Sunda Laughing Thrush before after about 45

minutes we lost patience and on hearing some

partridge nearby decided to do a bit of the Silau-Silau

trail. It was a good call as although we couldn’t see

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the Partridges we found a Bornean Whistling Thrush, then I called Forktail as a lovely Bornean

Forktail flew in and carried on up the stream. So not a great start weather wise but a few nice birds to

kick off our time in the mountains. (We decided not to visit Crocker Range and Poring as we had visited here

before and only two birds that we needed that we might have got here were Banded Pitta that we hoped to get at

Danum and Hose’s Broadbill)

Full day at Mount Kinabula NP - Being based in the park has its advantages, not least that you can be

at the Power Station and Gate in 10 minutes from leaving the front door (where a Hair-crested Drongo

was hawking moths by the Chalet light each morning). Out approach was to drive up to the Power

Station and then walk back, only stopping if we saw something on the way up, we had two stops one for

a mixed laughing thrush flock, it only contained Sunda and Chestnut-headed Laughing Thrush and

then for the endemic Eye-browed Jungle Flycatcher, which was sitting right next to nest with a

Bornean Swiftlet on it (good to see it on the nest and be certain it was not a Glossy) on arrival at the top

there was no sign of the sought after Everett’s Thrush despite looking on the start of various trails and on

the road (see trail map).

So we went to the viewing area above

Timpohon Gate, here we got Temminck’s

Sunbird, Mountain Leaf Warbler and a

nice group of Mountain Black-eye and

from a group of Chestnut-crested Yuhina

one landed and showed well, lastly we

had a flyover group of Waterfall Swifts. It

was then time to start walking down the

road and when we stopped for a Bornean

Whistler very common on our trip, we

then saw the first Whitehead but it was a

Pygmy Squirrel not a bird, fortunately we

quickly were joined by a very nice bird

wave, first up was a Checker-throated

Woodpecker with its almost luminous

crest, then Ochraceous Bulbul, Golden-

naped Barbet, Black-capped White-

eyes, Yellow-breasted Warbler then into

view and stopping on a branch for just

long enough to get a decent shot of one of

them was a pair of Whitehead’s Broadbill

– despite what I said earlier a great bird! It was then time for a Sunda Bush Warbler and after we heard

and saw the first one they were pretty common all the way down the road.

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We then went back down to breakfast via the Mempening trail – Eyebrowed Jungle Flycatcher

photographed, before walking back up to our room where the Medinella Berries outside were a good

place to see flower-peckers but none were about at this time but we did hear and then find the first of

many Bornean Treepie in the trees opposite our room. Decision time what trails to walk and where to

start, we did the Silau-Silau trail for a bit and picked up

White-throated Fantail, then a Snowy-browed

Flycatcher by the stream before we quickly changed

direction and moved towards a pair of calling Trogons

unfortunately just as we thought we were very close we

came across a group of birders who were using

playback. The first decent view of a Bornean Short-

tailed Magpie was some consolation. Osman suggest

we try the Bukit Burang trail for the Trogon as he felt he

could find then without any calling as he knew a pairs

territory, after what seemed like a long bird-less walk we

came to the area and there sitting a tree showing reasonably well was a male Whitehead’s Trogon. I

would have preferred a closer totally unobscured

views but good enough to grab a few shots, we then

found the female sitting lower down and she was not

hidden but unfortunately kept her head tucked down

so not the greatest of phots but a least we had seen

a pair of this very desirable bird. On the climb to the

shelter we discussed the calling of birds and birding

approach – Osman says he tries to avoid playback

and certainly won’t use it if birds are nesting or sitting

on territory, his approach is to get people in the right

place at the right time and give maximum opportunity

to see the bird. He will use playback if he thinks it will deliver results and in his view isn’t disturbing the

birds but we didn’t resort to that too often.

At the shelter we had Mountain Tailorbird and Ashy Drongo. We then decided to go for a chance of

Ibon at a place that does lunch just outside the park, we

saw a Grey-throated Babbler but no Ibon.

Lunch was good and when we were asked for our main

target – fortunately we both agreed on Bornean

Fruithunter.

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So we drove up to the Power Station and started walking back down the Liwagu Trail, first bird was

Mountain Imperial Pigeon, then I spotted a Pale-face

Bulbul a bird I thought we might struggle to see without

access to the summit trail, then another good bird in Blyth’s

Shrike Babbler, I then thought I had found the fruithunter

when a bird flew in at great speed to a nearby tree, but the

bird I had in my binocular view was a Little-cuckoo Dove

then I found a Sunda Laughing Thrush both birds had just

enough colour to give hope that I was looking at a female

Fruithunter for a micro second. Then Osman came over all

excited and said I have the male in that tree and just as I

looked up the beautiful male Fruithunter popped out into

the open and sat still long enough to allow me to fire off

a series of shots – to even change cards and start

again. The female meanwhile which I thought I had

seen fly into the first tree also revealed herself but

stayed largely hidden and un-photographed.

We then decided to bird the lower trails as we were

starting to feel a little tired as we had been walking the

trails and roads for about 9 hours, so we went for the

Bornean Flowerpecker in the bushes near the Liwagu

restaurant and were successful and also added Bar-

winged Flycatcher Shrike. It was then back to the room

where we added Grey Wagtail and Tree Sparrow to the daily

list.

We heard Mountain Scops Owl quite close to the road on the

way to dinner but had been warned that it doesn’t respond to

calling and no surprise it didn’t.

Other wildlife included Jentink’s and Mountain Ground Squirrel

and Mountain Treeshrew.

Last Day in the Mountains

Up nice and early and we drive up to Bukit Ular trail to try for the Everett’s Thrush. In the gloom just

about a 1KM before the trail entrance I shout “stop Thrush”. The driver stops immediately after passing

the bird, by then I had recognised that it was Orange-head Thrush, not new, but a nice start to the

morning as we all see him well. Then it was onto the trail, on the walk as far as the closed trail sign (you

can’t walk down to the power station or up to the viewpoint due to earthquake damage and mud slides)

we did not see a single bird, all very different from yesterday where the mountain forest seemed to be

dripping with birds. Fortunately as we retraced our steps back down the trail we heard the call of

Mountain Wren Babbler, at least 3 birds were calling but we just couldn’t get on one, as we tried to

22

whistle one in another target Bornean Stubtail suddenly made an appearance and we were right on top

of him, literally he was in the bush 2 feet away and when I bent down he was within 2 or 3 feet of my

nose, way too close for a photo but we had great views

of this little skulker. While we were distracted by the

Stubtail one of the Wren-babblers had obviously decided

to check us out and when we looked at where the bird

was now calling from he was very close but still in a

tangle of vegetation, fortunately the bird came out for a at

least one good look and Mountain Wren Babbler was

the last of the 3 Bornean Wren-babblers endemics we

saw on the trip.

We could then hear close-by both Partridge species

calling, we headed to the closest call and managed to see a female Crimson-headed Partridge walk

across the trail unfortunately none of the other birds in the groups joined her. It was still pretty slow going

and all we added were Eye-browed Jungle Flycatcher, Sunda Thrush and Bornean Whistler as we

made our way down the road and on to the Mempening trail, here we heard some Red-breasted Hill

Partridge and went off trail to try to get them. The call seemed to be immediately below us and three or

4 times we thought we had them as Ground Squirrel, Smooth-tailed Treeshrew and Emerald Dove

came into view as we scanned the likely area, after being

encouraged down a steep slope to get the birds we still

couldn’t see them and gave up eventually and went to get a

very late breakfast.

We decided after breakfast to try for Whitehead’s

Spiderhunter (not a lifer as we saw them last time) and

Bornean Laughing Thrush up near the view point where

there were some fruiting bushes that the Spiderhunter was

said to frequent between 10-11.00 but it didn’t show and a

bird flying in that I tried to turn into Sunda Cuckoo-Shrike

turned out to be just a Ashy Drongo, only other birds we saw on this really slow morning were Imperial

Pigeon, Bornean Treepie, White-throated Fantail another

Whistler, and Yellow-bellied Warbler.

We had to check out of our room by 12.00 so we threw our

bags in the van and driver handed in the keys to reception

whilst we walked down later to claim back our key deposit,

the walk down offered us only a Temminck’s Sunbird,

Bornean Flowerpecker and Glossy Swiftlet.

By 13.00 the fog had really came in and by 13.30 the rain

looked like it was on for the afternoon so we decided to wrap

it up and head for the coast at Tanjung Aru where we had a

23

night’s accommodation booked before our flight to

Singapore tomorrow. On route to the hotel Osman

suggested a 5 minute detour for Rufous and Black

Crowned Night Herons which were in a tree just

minutes from the hotel.

Other birds seen in the warm afternoon sunshine on the

coast were Magpie Robin, Green Imperial Pigeon,

Asian Glossy Starling, White-breasted Wood-

swallow and Yellow-vented Bulbul.

Morning to Borneo and Flight to Singapore

Just time for a quick walk before breakfast. In the

gardens were the usual Asian Glossy Starling, House

Sparrow, Magpie Robin, Pink-necked Green Pigeon

and the what appears to be occasional Blue-naped

Parrot. I then spotted a photographer on the beach trying

to get close to some waders and had to have a look there

was a dozen Lesser Sand Plovers and a single Greater

Sand Plover in nice breeding plumage. Last birds in

Borneo were Glossy Swift and Cattle Egret at the

airport.

Singapore

We arrived in Singapore just before the F1 Grand Prix qualifying began, we didn’t realise it was on when

we booked flights and hotel but the Island was pretty busy with motor racing fans and all the hotels and

restaurants were busy with F1 themed events. We decided to embrace the occasion and pretty much

acted as tourists for our three days with just a little bit of birding in Botantic Garden, the Gardens in the

Bay and around our hotel the Shangri-La.

We saw quite a few birds including a Rufous

Woodpecker, Crimson Sunbird, Scarlet-backed

Flowerpecker, Olive-backed Sunbird, Pied Fantail,

Java Myna, White-breasted Waterhen, Pacific Swift,

Oriental Honey Buzzard, Blue-throated Bee-eater,

White-bellied Sea Eagle and Black-naped Oriole,

There were even a couple of migrants coming through

in the form of Arctic Warbler and Dark-sided

Flycatcher.

24

Summary

So the trip was about getting the Bristlehead, and seeing a good number of Pitta, Trogon and Broadbill

species.

We got the Bornean Bristlehead, acceptable views and even a few record shots. On Pitta’s we hoped for

five but got four we just new we wouldn’t get all 6 but had said in advance that we would happily settle

for good views of three new species. Blue-headed, Blue-banded and Black-crowned were all seen and

photographed, we heard Giant a few times but who knows where the Bornean Banded was hiding.

On Broadbills we did better than expected although we missed out on Dusky it didn’t respond to calls in

a few likely places but we had great views of Whitehead’s, Green (a real bonus), Black and Yellow,

Black and Red and Banded – all photographed.

The Trogon haul was just about acceptable with great views of Whitehead’s, Diard’s, Scarlet-rumped

and Red-naped but disappointed to have missed Cinnamon-rumped and the Orange-breasted.

The Bornean Fruithunter was an unexpected bonus.

We got all 8 Hornbills with good views of all of them, 4 Malkoha’s, 11 Woodpeckers, although not the

Great Slaty, 7 Kingfishers, 8 Barbets and almost cleaned up on Flycatchers, Babblers and Bulbuls for

the areas we were in; in all a total of 268 birds seen and 10 heard.

We also did really well with primates and squirrels.

So definitely a successful trip.

25

List of Birds and Animals

Seen

Bornean Crested Fireback Greater Coucal Sunda Woodpecker Yellow-breasted Warbler

Crimson-headed Partridge Black-bellied Malkoha Black and Red Broadbill Yellow-bellied Warbler

Storm's Stork Chestnut-bellied Malkoha Black and Yellow Broadbill Sunda Bush Warbler

Lesser Adjutant Raffles Malkoha banded Broadbill Bornean Stubtail

Rufous Night Heron Chestnut-breasted Malkoha Green Braodbill Striated Grassbird

Black-crowned Night Heron Buffy Fish Owl Whitehead's Broadbill Black-capped Babbler

Purple Heron Brown Wood Owl Blue-banded Pitta Short-tailed Babbler

Striated Heron Pacific Swift Blue-headed Pitta Horsefield's Babbler

Little Egret House Swift Black-crowned Pitta White-chested Babbler

Cattle Egret Grey-rumped Treeswift Hooded Pitta Ferruginous Babbler

Intermediate Egret Whiskered Treeswift Green Iora Moustached Babbler

Pacific Reef Egret Waterfall Swift Lesser Green Leafbird Sooty-capped Babbler

Chinese Egret Bornean Swiftlet Greater Green Leafbird Rufous-crowned Babbler

Great Egret Glossy Swiftlet Bar-winged Flycatcher Shrike Grey-breasted Babbler

Brown Booby Black-nest Swiftlet Bornean Whistler Scaly-crowned Babbler

Darter Mossy-nest Swiftlet Velvet-fronted Nuthatch Bornean Wren Babbler

Rufous-bellied Hawk Eagle Brown Needletail Long-tailed Shrike Striped Wren Babbler

Changeable Hawk Eagle Silver-rumped Needtail Black-throated Oriole Mountain Wren Babbler

Wallace's Hawk Eagle Diard's Trogon Black-naped Oriole Black-throated Wren Babbler

Blyth's Hawk Eagle Whitehead's Trogon Asian Fairy Bluebird Chestnut-rumped Babbler

Jerdon's Baza Scarlet-rumped Trogon Ashy Drongo Chestnut-winged Babbler

Oriental Honey Buzzard Red-naped Trogon Bronzed Drongo Rufous-fronted Babbler

White-bellied Sea Eagle Chestnut-collared Kingfisher Hair-crested Drongo Grey-throated Babbler

Lesser Fish Eagle Collared Kingfisher Greater racquet-tailed Drongo Chestnut-backed Scimitar Babbler

Grey-headed Fish Eagle Ruddy Kingfisher Bornean Black Magpie Bold-striped Tit Babbler

Black Eagle Blue-eared Kingfisher Slender-billed Crow Fluffy-backed Tit Babbler

Crested Serpent Eagle Stork-billed Kingfisher House Crow Brown Fulvetta

Bat Hawk Bornean Banded Kingfisher Bornean Green Magpie Epornis

Bornean Falconet Rufous-backed Kingfisher Bornean Treepie Chestnut-creasted Yuhina

Crested Goshawk Blue-throated Bee-eater Bornean Bristlehead Blyth's Shrike Babbler

White-breasted Waterhen Red-bearded Bee-eater Barn Swallow Sunda Laughing Thrush

Lesser Sand Plover Dollarbird Pacific Swallow Chestnut-hooded Laughing Thrush

Greater Sand Plover White-crowned Hornbill White-breasted Wood Swallow Black-capped White-eye

Common Sandpiper Bushy-crested Hornbill Red-headed (Ashy) Tailorbird Mountain Black-eye

Black-headed Gull Oriental Pied Hornbill Mountain Tailorbird Javan Myna

Greater-crested Tern Asian Black Hornbill Yellow-bellied Prinia Crested (chinese) Myna

Whiskered Tern Wrinkled Hornbill Red-tailed Tailorbird Comon Myna

White-winged Black Tern Wreathed Hornbill Black-headed Bulbul Hill Myna

Little Cuckoo Dove Rhinoceros Hornbill Black and White Bulbul Asian Glossy Starling

Zebra Dove Helmeted Hornbill Grey-bellied Bulbul Fruithunter

Spotted Dove Golden-naped Barbet Olive-winged Bulbul Orange-headed Thrush

Emerald Dove Yellow-crowned Barbet Yellow-vented Bulbul Oriental Magpie Robin

Thick-billed Green Pigeon Gold-whiskered Barbet Cream-vented Bulbul White-crowned Shama

Cinnamon-headed Green Pigeon Red-crowned Barbet Red-eyed Bulbul Rufous-tailed Shama

Little Green Pigeon Red-throated Barbet Spectatcled Bulbul Bornean Forktail

Pink-necked Green Pigeon Bornean Brown Barbet Hairy-backed Bulbul White-crowned Forktail

Large Green Pigeon Malaysian Honeyguide Steaked Bulbul Chestnut-naped Forktail

Green Imperial Pigeon Olive-backed Woodpecker Yellow-bellied Bulbul Eyebrowed Jungle Flycatcher

Grey Imperial Pigeon Maroon Woodpecker Buff-vented Bulbul Dark-sided Flycatcher

Mountain Imperial Pigeon Rufous Woodpecker Finsch's Bulbul Grey-streaked Flycatcher

Long-tailed Parakeet White-bellied Woodpecker Grey-cheeked Bulbul Snowy-browed Flycatcher

Blue-naped Parrot Crimson-winged Woodpecker Ochraeceous Bulbul Rufous-chested Flycatcher

Blue-crowned Hanging Parrot Checker-throated Woodpecker Pale-faced Bulbul Dark Blue Flycatcher

Blue-rumped Parrot Rufous Piculet Scaly-breasted Bulbul Bornean Blue Flycatcher

Violet Cuckoo Buff-rumped Woodpecker Arctic Warbler Pale Blue Flycatcher

Bay Banded Cuckoo Buff-necked Woodpecker Mountain Leaf Warbler Large-billed Blue Flycatcher

26

Seen continued

Malaysian Blue Flycatcher Plain Flowerpecker Oliver-backed Sunbird Yellow-eared Spiderhunter

Indigo Flycatcher Scarlet-backed Flowerpecker Eastern Crimson Sunbird Bornean Spiderhunter

Verditer Flycatcher Orange-bellied Flowerpecker Temminck's Sunbird Scaly-breasted Munia

White-browed Shortwing Bornean Flowerpecker Purple-naped Sunbird Dusky Munia

White-throated Fantail Scarlet-breasted Flowerpecker Plain Sunbird Chestnut Munia

Spotted Fantail Yellow-rumped Flowerpecker Red-throated Sunbird White-bellied Munia

Pied Fantail Yellow-breasted Flowerpecker Brown-throated Sunbird Grey Wagtail

Grey-headed Canary Flycatcher Yellow-vented Flowerpecker Rubycheek Eurasian Tree Sparrow

Black-naped Monarch Purple-throated Sunbird Little Spiderhunter Yellow-eared Spiderhunter

Rufous-winged Philentoma Copper-throated Sunbird Spectacled Spiderhunter Bornean Spiderhunter

Heard only

Oriental Bay Owl Giant Pitta

Red-bellied Partridge Bornean Necklaced Partridge

Great Argus Plaintive Cuckoo

Mountain Scops Owl Jambu Fruit Dove

Mountain Barbet Boobok

Other Wildlife

Leopard Cat Whitehead's Pygmy Squirrel Flying Tree Lizard Giant Tree Squirrel

Red Giant Flying Squirrel Plain Pygmy Squirrel Wolf Snake Lesser Treeshrew

Prevosts Squirrel Beared Pig Bornean Pygmy Elephant Jentink's Squirrel

Tufted Giant Ground Squirrel Horse-tailed Squirrel Plantain Squirrel Mountain Ground Squirrel

Long-tailed Macaque Frilled Tree Lizard Horseshoe Bat Kinabalu Squirrel

Pig-tailed Macaque Agamid Lizard Brown Rat Mountain Treeshrew

Organgutan Monitor Lizard Tree-hole Frog Smooth-tailed Treeshrew

Maroon Langur (red leaf) Tiger Leech Lesser Mouse Deer

Hose's Langur (grey leaf) Tarantula White-bellied Reed Snake

Silver Langur Giant River Frog Pit Viper

Proboscis Monkey Lowe's Squirrel Gecko

Slow Loris Long-legged Centipede Stick Insect