Birdtour Asia Sabah, Borneo tour 3rd-15th June 2007

Sabah, Borneo

3rd – 15th June 2007

Leader: Rob Hutchinson

Participants: Frank Bills, Sharon Bostick, Rob Goldbach,
Norman Maclean, Jean Maclean, Aidan Moore

Bornean Bristlehead, Sepilok, Sabah © Rob Hutchinson / Birdtour Asia

Highlights of our first 2007 Sabah tour included amazing views of a pair of Bornean Ground-cuckoo’s which kept us waiting until the very last moment on the Kinabatangan River. The river also gave us endemic White-fronted Falconet and Black-crowned Pitta at nearby Gomantong Caves.
The lowland rainforest at Danum Valley is incredibly rich in birdlife and among an assortment of bulbuls, babblers, spiderhunters, malkohas, trogons and broadbills, highlights included; Great Argus, Blue-headed Pitta, Bornean and Large-billed Blue-Flycatcher, Yellow-rumped Flowerpecker , Pygmy Ibon, Black-throated Wren-Babbler and Bornean Ground-Babbler.
Mount Kinabalu doesn’t give up its birds easily but with perseverance we found most of the specialties; Golden-naped Barbet, Sunda and Bare-headed Laughingthrushes, Bornean Whistling Thrush, the diminutive Bornean Stubtail, Friendly Bush-Warbler, Eye-browed Jungle-Flycatcher, Bornean Whistler, Bornean Treepie, Mountain Wren-Babblers, and even great views of the skulking Everett’s Thrush. We saved the best until last with a quite superb final morning where after days of flogging the trails with no joy, the ‘Whitehead’s trio’ of the Spiderhunter, Broadbill and Trogon all appeared within an hour!
Two visits to the Rafflesia reserve at Tambunan produced Mountain and Bornean Barbets, two recently recognised species; Bornean Bulbul and Bornean Leafbird, another Whitehead’s Broadbill, and an all too brief Fruit-hunter gorging in a fruiting tree proved to be the final bird of the tour.
These are just of few of the highlights from our total of 283 species included not only 34 officially recognised endemics but a host of likely future splits.
Other special birds included all 8 possible hornbills, Storm’s Stork, Great-billed Heron, Bat Hawk, Wallace’s Hawk-Eagle, Barred Eagle-Owl, Buffy Fish-Owl, Great-slaty Woodpecker and Hooded Pitta.
We also enjoyed memorable encounters with three special primates; comical Proboscis Monkeys, Bornean Gibbon and that ‘Old man of the forest’, the Orang-utan.

Buffy Fish Owl (left) and Great-billed Heron (right), Kinabatangan River
© Rob Hutchinson / Birdtour Asia

With morning arrivals from various points of the globe, birding began almost on arrival with the airport runways home to Little Terns, Common Terns, Intermediate and Cattle Egrets and the town proper held House Swift, Asian Palm Swift and Crested Myna. Some also arrived in time for profitable birding in the lush surroundings of our hotel where widespread Asian species such as Oriental Magpie Robin, Pied Fantail, Common Iora, Olive-backed Sunbird and Chestnut Munia were joined by Pink-necked Green-Pigeons, a surprise Grey-chested Jungle-Flycatcher, our first endemic Dusky Munias and Bold-striped Tit-Babbler, the latter restricted to Borneo and Java following its recent elevation to full species status.
We spent our first afternoon with some gentle introductory birding close to Kota Kinabalu city. The Kota Kinabalu Bird Sanctuary protects a nice area of mangroves and marshy pools which can be explored using an excellent and well maintained boardwalk. Here we found more Pink-necked Green-Pigeons and larger Green Imperial-Pigeons and nice views of the Purple Heron breeding colony complete with some particularly cute juveniles. The mangroves held Ashy Tailorbirds, Pied Fantail, Pied Trillers, White-breasted Woodswallows, Large-billed Crow, awesome Stork-billed Kingfisher and Brahminy Kite overhead.
We finished the day birding the marshy coastal lagoons at Likas Bay finding many more egrets and herons with Cinnamon Bittern and Pacific Reef-Heron new for us. The marshy pools attracted the expected Black-crowned Night-Heron, White-breasted Waterhen and Common Moorhen but a group of six Wandering Whistling Ducks was more of a surprise. A perched Black-shouldered Kite and a pair of Striated Grassbirds completed an excellent first day.
The next morning we took an early flight east across Sabah to Sandakan and eager to start some serious birding made a stop in a productive forest patch near Sepilok. This proved to be a great stop as we almost instantly located one of Borneo’s most desirable endemics – the truly unique Bornean Bristlehead. This individual was very obliging and we soaked up the views as it sat, fed and preened right above our heads for more than 30 minutes. The significance of finding this amazing bird so easily probably didn’t sink in for many but certainly became apparent during our remaining time in the lowlands where we had neither sight nor sound of any other individuals.
Continuing onwards, our next stop was the famous Gomantong Caves, home not only to huge numbers of bats but also 4 species of breeding swiftlet including the Edible-nest Swiftlet whose nests are sustainable harvested here for sale to lucrative Chinese markets. Three of the swiftlet species – Black-nest, Edible-nest and Mossy-nest – are only safely identified by virtue of their unique nest-structures and we were lucky to identify all three nest with attendant adult birds. The large concentrations of bats and swiftlets provide easy pickings for Bat Hawks but they only usually gather towards dusk as the bats begin to leave their daytime roost so we considered ourselves very fortunate to enjoy scope views of a nice adult Bat Hawk perched in a large tree in broad daylight!
The extensive secondary forest here holds many interesting species and among the commoner birds we had a brief Black-backed Kingfisher which wizzed past in a blur of colour, astounding close views of an adult and immature Black-and-yellow Broadbill and our first pitta in the form of an endemic Black-crowned Pitta which once located behaved impeccably, singing and posing in the scope for as long as we wanted. Other new birds included Spectacled Spiderhunter, Purple-naped Sunbird and Cream-vented Bulbul. Overhead we noted several Crested Serpent Eagles and a nice Rufous-bellied Eagle.
Another short drive and an exhilarating boat ride bought us to our secluded Jungle Lodge, in a perfect setting along the banks of the Kinabatangan River. After settling in and enjoying our first scrumptious meal we took to the boats again for our first explorations of the Kinabatangan and its tributaries. Cruising the river we soon located our first ‘wild’ Storm’s Stork having been greeted by an entertaining habituated individual at the lodge. The river here is probably the easiest place in the world to see this declining lowland species. The wide vista from the boat cruises is excellent for spotting raptors and we found still more Crested Serpent Eagles, two Wallace’s Hawk Eagles which perched up for nice views, two Crested Goshawk and our first Lesser Fish-Eagle which was to become a daily acquaintance. Other new species were Black-and-Red Broadbills, Raffles Malkoha, Common Kingfisher, Gold-whiskered Barbet and two Wrinkled Hornbills for one of the boats. Mammals are one of the main draws here and the primates in particular occur at very high densities – one of the popular attractions here are the bizarre-looking Proboscis Monkeys which win many hearts with their large tummies and comically long noses. We enjoyed several troops of these but also Silvered Langurs, Crab-eating and Pig-tailed Macaques and an instance highlight of the tour were two separate sightings of wild Orang-utans comprising a lone male and a female with young.
After dinner we again took for the river for an evening spotlighting cruise. The only mammals which we located were three Common Palm Civets but the three Buffy Fish-Owls hunting along the rivers edge were fantastic and a single Black-crowned Night-Heron was seen.

The next day we made both morning and afternoon boat cruises along the river and its tributaries trying without success to locate the Bornean Ground-Cuckoo, the areas most enigmatic specialty. During our time we soon became familiar with many of the regular species; Oriental Darters, Great, Intermediate and Little Egrets all thrive in this riverine environment, Crested Serpent Eagle, Brahminy Kite and Lesser Fish-Eagle are regularly seen and we enjoyed daily sightings of Oriental Pied Hornbill, Black Hornbill, Black-and-Red Broadbill, Green Imperial-Pigeon, Little Green Pigeon, small groups of Long-tailed Parakeets, Blue-crowned Hanging-Parrot, Violet Cuckoo (but never perched!), Asian Drongo Cuckoo, Stork-billed Kingfisher, Blue-eared Kingfisher, Blue-tailed Bee-eater, Dollarbird, Red-eyed Bulbul, Spectacled Bulbul, Buff-vented Bulbul, Pied Fantail, Black-naped Monarch, Slender-billed Crow, Ashy and Rufous-tailed Tailorbird, Ruby-cheeked Sunbird and Crimson Sunbird. Highlights of our cruise this morning were fantastic views of the universally-scarce Great-billed Heron, two more Storm’s Storks, an impressive 20 Black-crowned Night-Herons, two White-bellied Sea-Eagles, Black-and-Yellow Broadbill, a single Large Green-Pigeon, no less than three Banded Bay Cuckoo’s seen, close views of four charming Buff-necked Woodpeckers, White-chested Babbler, a single Black-winged Flycatcher Shrike and a party of Brown Barbets, here of the distinctive orange throated race tertius which is perhaps better considered a full species in its own right.
Returning to the Lodge for lunch and a rest from the midday heat we were greeted by five Lesser Adjutant Storks circling over the jetty and we found some interesting birds in the close vicinity of the lodge including endemic White-crowned Shama’s which were easily seen without even leaving the restaurant veranda. Those who did venture onto the nearby trails found a Maroon-breasted Philentoma, a group of Buff-rumped Woodpeckers, Chestnut-winged Babblers and a diminutive Rufous Piculet.
In the afternoon we headed upriver, further inland to a section of river usually good for hornbills. This soon looked very promising and frugivores were prominent including a double-figure count of Blue-eared Barbets and more Brown Barbets. The hornbills kept us waiting but birds were all around and we added Olive-winged Bulbul and Fiery Minivets to our tally together with a nest of Wallace’s Hawk-Eagle attended by both adults.
Right on cue the hoped-for Wrinkled Hornbills appeared and they didn’t disappoint with no less than 7 individuals seen in flight and perched beautifully alongside the boat, a great encounter with this rare and declining bird.
After dinner we again took to the water for another night cruise. The only mammals of note were Small-toothed Palm Civet and Slow Loris but we did enjoy fantastic views of no less than 8 Buffy Fish-Owls and both Brown Wood Owls and Reddish Scops Owls were heard but not seen.

Striped Wren Babbler (left) and Bornean Blue Flycatcher (right), Danum Valley
© Rob Hutchinson / Birdtour Asia

Our final morning was again focussed on the ground-cuckoos and things looked much more promising when within 10 minutes of mooring for the first time we picked out the distant calls of a bird further along the river, so we quickly made our way further along close to where the bird seemed to be calling. We called back again and when the bird went silent there was a strong sense of anticipation as we awaited the birds approaching us through the forest. Unfortunately as we waited, and waited, and waited it became apparent that the birds were showing no interest and we eventually had to put plan B into action. Moving further along the river towards Sukau, we found our first of three Hooded Pittas for the morning, a first group of Bushy-crested Hornbills, single flyover Storm’s Stork, Grey-rumped Treeswifts and spotted a nice White-fronted Falconet perched atop of a dead snag on the riverbank which gave great views hawking dragonflies before returning to the same perch to consume its meal.
Making our way along a quiet tributary produced several Blue-eared Kingfishers, White-chested Babblers and Malaysian Blue Flycatchers, and a stunning male Asian Paradise Kingfisher which gave a wonderful performance as it floated overhead several times with long white tail streamers in full flow. Calling Banded Broadbills responded extremely well to playback and we were soon admiring three birds giving their amazing calls from right over our heads.
Making our way deeper into the forest we continued to try for the ground-cuckoo but things were not looking promising until right at the last moment, just before we needed to head back, we picked out the distant calls of the ground-cuckoos. Mooring in a concealed position on the riverbank we crossed our fingers and called back to the birds. The birds immediately went quiet and for the second time that morning we waited with nervous anticipation. Fortunately this time our luck was in, and when the birds began to call a few minutes later they had approached much closer and before long we had found them, sitting a few metres above ground and giving their deep booming calls with head and body pumped with each note. The birds were a little obscured but we could clearly see the neatly barred underparts, dark hood and blue-green bill and orbital ring on these pheasant-sized birds. Before long they dropped to the floor and performing like true stars, they paraded in clear view across a big opening on the forest floor, even pausing in a shaft of sunlight so that we could appreciate the violet-green iridescence of the upperparts in all their glory.
More than satisfied with our last-minute success we returned to the lodge, again seeing Lesser Adjutants from the jetty, and enjoyed our final yummy buffet lunch before sadly leaving this wonderful area.

In the afternoon our drive to Lahad Datu produced little but Slender-billed Crow and a Striated Grassbird on roadside wires were noteworthy. The next leg of the journey took us along extensive logging roads into the heart of the Danum Valley logging concession with two Chestnut-naped Forktails and a few Black Hornbills from the vehicle and a productive stop for perched Whiskered Treeswifts and Silver-rumped Needletails feeding low overhead.
We arrived after dark but the huge biodiversity of the area was immediately apparent when we found a large, beautifully pattern Bornean Python making its way along the balcony as we made our way to the rooms! The evening night drive produced spotlight views of two roosting male ‘Bornean’ Crested Firebacks, but few mammals with only Sambar Deer and Malay Civet of note.

Orang-utan (left) and Bornean Gibbon (right), Danum Valley
© Rob Hutchinson / Birdtour Asia

As is typical for the first day at a new site, the next morning was filled with new birds as we came to grips with a variety of babblers, bulbuls and other lowland forest species. In the morning we visited an area of steep hill slopes where we heard our target – the rare Blue-banded Pitta – but unfortunately it remained far from reach down the steep slope and we never really came close. We did however enjoy great scope views of Red-naped Trogon in this area and nice views of Purple-naped Sunbird, Spotted Fantail, Chestnut-backed Scimitar-Babbler and Buff-necked Woodpecker. A flatter area adjacent to the river produced more thrills with a calling Blue-headed Pitta taped in for fine views, as it even slowly crossed the trail right in front of us. While watching the pitta we also located another elusive species as a pair of Striped Wren-Babblers fed unobtrusively in the leaf litter. Making our way back along the road we saw our only Dark-necked Tailorbird of the tour and a canopy feeding group held Velvet-fronted Nuthatch, Plain Sunbirds and the diminutive Pygmy Ibon – yet another Bornean endemic. A midday interlude at the resort produced a pair of Large-billed Blue-Flycatchers in the adjacent forest, White-bellied Erpornis and a female Yellow-rumped Flowerpecker in a flowering tree. In the afternoon we headed out along the access road soon seeing a pair of enormous Great-slaty Woodpeckers which put on an amazing performance as they danced around the canopy calling loudly with wings spread. We then paid our first visit to the famous Canopy Walkway, an awesome construction which takes visitors more than 40 meters into the rainforest canopy giving an unprecedented insight into this fascinating world. The walkway was particularly productive today and at times it was difficult to know where to look with so many birds on show; Violet Cuckoo, Rhinoceros, Bushy-crested and Wreathed Hornbill all flew over while the adjacent tree-tops buzzed with birds including Crimson-winged, Checker-throated, Grey-capped Pygmy and charming Grey-and-Buff Woodpeckers, Thick-billed and Spectacled Spiderhunter, Blue-crowned Hanging Parrot, Green Iora, Greater Green Leafbird, Lesser Cuckooshrike, Whiskered Treeswift, Oriental White-eye the unique opportunity to observe canopy species such as Black-and-Yellow Broadbill and Diard’s Trogon from above! On the way back to the lodge we added a smart group of Dusky Broadbills and a female ‘Bornean’ Crested Fireback around the Lodge chalets.
The evening night drive produced two different Buffy Fish-Owls and two exciting mammals; a Thomas’s Flying Squirrel and a Slow Loris.

Great Argus, Danum Valley, Sabah © Rob Hutchinson / Birdtour Asia

The next morning began with a calling Bornean Gibbon located right outside the lodge before we took a ride out to the start of the entrance track into the lodge seeing a pair of White-crowned Forktails en route. Almost immediately we heard the sound of the endemic Black-throated Wren-Babbler, they are often difficult to see on account of their skulking habits but these birds were very well behaved and we all soon enjoyed good views of this bulky wren-babbler. While watching the birds we also picked out the distant calls of a Bornean Wren-Babbler and obviously wasted no time in attracting this one in as well. It wasn’t quite as well behaved and it took some time before we all connected but we all eventually enjoyed views of this tail-less beast with its striking white throat and neatly striped underparts, not only this but with the Black-throated still around we were able to enjoy both of these endemic lowland wren-babblers almost side-by-side. While we were watching the birds the calls of a Blue-banded Pitta could also be heard on the opposite side of the road so satisfied with our wren-babbler feast we set off into the forest. Unfortunately the Blue-banded and a calling Banded Pitta were unresponsive and both soon went frustratingly quiet.
Our attention was attracted by the rather distant booming calls of the more elusive of Borneo’s hornbills – the White-crowned Hornbill. Eager to try for this we continued on and on along the forest trail until finally we reached an overgrown clearing and could continue no further. With the birds still quite distant but with nothing to lose we played the tape again and suddenly there was the bird flying straight towards before gliding up and landing in plain view in a large tree ahead of us, giving great views before gliding back again.
Other birds in the forest were Chestnut-winged Babblers, Chestnut-backed Scimitar-Babbler, Asian Paradise Flycatcher and a stunning Black-backed Kingfisher which flew in and perched just a few feet away before noticing us and disappearing again.
Our walk back to the lodge produced good roadside birding including Raffles and Black-bellied Malkoha, Banded Bay Cuckoo, Puff-backed Bulbuls, Bronzed Drongo and two wonderful white male Asian Paradise Flycatchers. Grey-rumped Treeswift, Crested Serpent Eagle and Rufous-bellied Eagle were all overhead and making use of the forest trails on the last section back to the lodge produced perched Rhinoceros Hornbill and both Large-billed and Bornean Blue-Flycatchers. We also found a group of Dusky Broadbills and soon noticed that they were building a huge nest suspended high in the canopy above our heads and we watched fascinated for some time, particularly interested to note that at least three individuals were participating in the construction.
During lunch sharp eyes picked out a huge shape flying down the river and we were able to enjoy views of yet another Great-billed Heron as it settled to feed right in front of the lodge restaurant. The hotel grounds also attracted Grey-rumped Babbler, Grey-breasted Spiderhunter, Red-throated Sunbird and male Yellow-rumped Flowerpecker.
In the afternoon we walking out again to the canopy walkway but were distracted en route by a calling Helmeted Hornbill which took some time to locate as it sat motionless in the canopy but once found gave fantastic scope views and was easily identified as a female by virtue of the rather ugly, wrinkly, blue neck-skin. In the same area a calling Crested Jay dashed across the road and a little further along the previous days Great-slaty Woodpeckers again performed. We were then waylaid by Chestnut-necklaced Partridges calling close by the roadside. The roadside scrub made views impossible but by sneaking into the undergrowth we had clearer views and soon found this bulky partridge calling quietly from the ground nearby. The canopy walkway was again productive; Black, Rhinoceros and Wreathed Hornbills were all logged and new species among the canopy flocks included a single Banded Broadbill (viewed from directly above!), Lesser Green Leafbird, Long-billed Spiderhunter, Asian Fairy Bluebird, a flyover ‘Bornean’ Black Magpie, and the Malaysian Bronze-Cuckoo heard the previous day was attracted in several times and was seen perched in the very highest branches of the forest giants. A group of three Maroon Langur’s found the suspension cables of the walkway an ideal lookout and we enjoyed good views of these attractive primates.
The next morning we finally all had good views of both Diard’s and Scarlet-rumped Trogon along the road along with our first Chestnut-breasted Malkoha, Meanwhile the trails gave up our only Emerald Dove sighting of the tour and we had exceptional views of a singing Striped Tit-Babbler. Biggest surprise of the day came when a huge dark shape hiding in the leaves overhead turned to study us and proved to be a Barred Eagle-Owl, it soon moved off but remained active, as some time later a big commotion drew our attention to presumably the same bird, again flying through the forest.
At lunch the Great-billed Heron was still present, sharing its river with a Grey-headed Fish-Eagle. Nearby an Asian Drongo Cuckoo gave unusually close views as it fed at eye-level, Black-capped Babbler showed to some in the adjacent forest and several Rufous-tailed Tailorbirds were conspicuous in the lodge grounds.
Our now daily pilgrimage to the canopy walk found Helmeted Hornbill alongside the now expected Rhinoceros, Black and Bushy Crested Hornbills. Gold Whiskered Barbet was amazingly our first Danum barbet sighting and Buff-rumped Woodpecker, Scarlet Minivet, Black-winged Flycatcher Shrike and Blyth’s Hawk Eagle were also new here. The steel walkway cables also provided a good, and very conspicuous perched for us to enjoy a singing male Bornean Blue Flycatcher in the afternoon. Arguably the highlight however was a fascinating encounter between a horny male Orang-utan and a female with young baby which kept us enthralled for quite some time.
The day-birding finished with nice views of two male, and a female, ‘Bornean’ Crested Fireback again feeding around the lodge grounds.
The night-drive tonight was the best of our stay with no less than seven individual flying-squirrels seen, comprising four species; Black, Thomas’s, Red Giant and Spotted Giant Flying Squirrel. Calling Reddish Scops Owl and Blyth’s Frogmouth were also noted during different stops.
Our final day began with great views of a pair of ‘Bornean’ Crested Firebacks along the road and we soon added calling Black-capped Babbler which had only been seen by a few before, although this bird was rather skittish. Entering the forest we were pleased to finally hear the sound of a Green Broadbill, our only one of the tour and some got good views of this elusive bird. Continuing down the trail we finally found our target, after days of searching there it was - a fabulous male Great Argus, sat slap-bang in the middle of the trail for all to see. The bird wasn’t shy and we enjoyed some really fantastic views of this huge bird as he paraded around, guarding over his nearby dancing ground. Even as we left, and were forced to walk passed his position he stood steady and we enjoyed awesome views down to just a few meters as he preened, apparently unconcerned by our presence – and what an amazing bird to complete our stay in this wonderful rainforest. As a fitting climax our walk back to the lodge produced our best encounter yet with two male Orang-utans and Bornean Gibbons gave fantastic views from the lodge as we enjoyed lunch.
In the afternoon we again made the trip back to Lahad Datu town, boarding an almost deserted plane for our trip back to the capitol, Kota Kinabalu and rounded the night with another delicious seafood meal and a few celebratory tiger beers.
The next morning we arrived at Tambunan Rafflesia Reserve just after dawn. This reserve in the Crocker Mountain range is set at an elevation between Mount Kinabalu and Poring Hot Springs and is host to several species which are difficult or absent from these sites.
We concentrated hard here on locating Barbets seeing several Gold-whiskered and Red-throated Barbets but while the endemic Mountain Barbet was seen well without difficulty the other endemic, Bornean Barbet proved trickier and although we saw a few the views were never very satisfactory. We also paid particular attention to bulbuls here and found the two species of interest; firstly the endemic Bornean Bulbul – a recent split from the Black-crested Bulbul and secondly the endemic connectens race of Ashy Bulbul, often known as ‘Cinereous’ Bulbul which is likely to follow suit. Our final major target here, and yet another bird to recently gain full-species recognition was Bornean Leafbird and we enjoyed several of these, noting the complete yellow border to the face mask, bright blue wing-patches and large, bright blue moustachial stripe as differences from Blue-winged Leafbird with which it formerly resided.Red-breasted Partridges unfortunately remained invisible despite calling close to the roadsides on a few occasions
Other species encountered were a single Yellow-bellied Warbler, at least four Ruddy Cuckoo-Doves among the abundant Little Cuckoo-Doves, Grey-rumped Treeswift, Scarlet Minivet, our only Golden-bellied Gerygones of the tour, Ashy Drongo’s of the pale grey stigmatops race, Black-and-Crimson Oriole and Verditer Flycatcher. Others such as Yellow-breasted Warbler, Indigo Flycatcher, Bornean Treepie, Black-capped White-eye, Chestnut-crowned Yuhina, Streaked Bulbul, Chestnut-capped Laughingthrush, and Sunda Laughingthrush were to become very familiar during our days higher on Mount Kinabalu.

Our first afternoon on the mountain was fine and we took advantage with a walk along the road producing a confiding Pygmy Blue-Flycatcher and a spectacular Short-tailed green-Magpie before driving to the top of the paved road to be greeted by a smart Flavescent Bulbul at the top – another bulbul belonging to a distinctive endemic subspecies here, which many believe should be considered a full-species. We then opted for exploring some of the forest trails. Bird activity was quite low but we made up for the lack of quantity with a great quality bird. Trying our luck for the elusive Everrett’s Thrush, one was seen briefly by the leader hopping through the thick undergrowth and we quickly repositioned in the hope that it might continue across the trail ahead of us. Playing-back the barely audible calls of the birds we waited for a response but they didn’t appear and things weren’t look promising until Frank announced that he could see the bird. Fortunately we were all soon enjoying great views of the bird which rather than cross the trail had flown up and perched at eye level right in front of us! This was really a great start to our time here, with one of the most elusive and difficult to find endemics under our belts in our first few hours of birding. The rest of the day was taken with a pleasant walk back down the road which gave us our first views of many common species that were to become very familiar over coming days; Little Cuckoo-Dove, Mountain Imperial-Pigeon, Ochraceous Bulbul, Sunda Bush-Warbler, Mountain Tailorbird, Mountain Leaf-Warbler, Yellow-breasted Warbler, Snowy-browed, Little Pied and Indigo Flycatcher, White-throated Fantail, Bornean Whistler, Grey-throated Babbler, Chestnut-capped and Sunda Laughingthrushes, Hair-crested Drongo, Bornean Treepie and Black-capped White-eye.
The next day an early morning walk in the lower parts of the mountain again found many of the widespread species but we also added a skulking Temminck’s Babbler, Short-tailed Green Magpies, flyover Black Eagle and an obliging Sunda Cuckooshrike calling right outside the restaurant.
After breakfast accompanied by fantastic views of Temminck’s Sunbirds and Black-sided Flowerpecker from the restaurant balcony we took to the forest again, this time a nice trail through beautiful tall montane forest down into a valley with rushing, crystal-clear river at the end. A group of Wreathed Hornbills flew over with one bird glimpsed through the canopy, we had the best views yet of Short-tailed Green Magpies and completed our set of endemic wren-babblers with amazing close views of a group of Mountain Wren-Babblers which bounced around our feet at too-close-to-focus range. We finished the morning with an agitated Besra which sat guard over the trail as we passed and was presumably guarding a nest, and also brief views of White-crowned Forktail on the river – here of the upland race borneensis which overlaps considerably with the lowland frontalis – perhaps another case of a cryptic species waiting to be unravelled.
With no sign of the low cloud and rain that so often hampers afternoon birding here, we took a chance this afternoon and hit the summit trail at Mesilau. The trail is well maintained if a little steep and it took some time before we finally heard the distinctive scratchy song of our target – the endemic Friendly Bush-Warbler. The bird was only moderately friendly, coming in close to us but always remaining well hidden so that we had to piece together various body parts visible through the vegetation, nevertheless we were please to connect as this bird has become increasingly unfriendly to the large troops of tourists using these summit trails to Kinabalu. Here we also added our first endemic Golden-naped Barbets and close views of Mountain Black-eyes. The car park here had a confiding immature Bornean Whistling Thrush and as we prepared to leave a tiny bird grubbing around in an open drain amazingly morphed into a Bornean Stubtail – a usually skulking bird that rarely ventures into the open.

Black-sided Flowerpecker (left) and Mountain Black-eye (right), Mount Kinabalu
© Rob Hutchinson / BirdtourAsia

The following morning we made a big drop in altitude to visit Poring Hot Springs, a popular tourist attraction for people visiting to bathe in the hot, sulphurous waters. Fortunately they rarely venture far from the baths and we enjoyed the forest trails all to ourselves. One of the first birds we heard was a Rufous-collared Kingfisher which sadly remained hidden but the Crested Jays in the same area were much better behaved, finally giving fantastic views to the whole group – certainly one of Asia’s more bizarre looking birds.
As we made our way up the rather humid trail towards the Langanan Waterfall we saw many lowland species familiar from our time at Danum including White-crowned Shama, White-bellied Erpornis, Moustached Babbler, Sooty-capped Babbler, Chestnut-winged Babbler, Bold-striped Tit-Babbler, Hairy-backed, Yellow-bellied and Grey-cheeked Bulbul. More excitement came from Maroon and Rufous Woodpeckers, two different pairs of Diard’s Trogons, at least 15 Chestnut-backed Scimitar-Babblers, Yellow-bellied Warbler and two Bornean Spiderhunters Reaching a particularly attractive-looking bamboo filled valley the distant calls of one of Poring’s big specialties were heard – a Blue-banded Pitta, but apparently far down the valley. Using playback the bird eventually began to approach until quiet close by but was difficult to see. Sadly although the bird called for more than an hour and we spent much time clambering around the steep gully, the bird remained elusive calling almost continuously and often circling us but was very difficult to see and was destined to remain a leader-only bird despite our best efforts. Reaching our furthest point we found Red-throated Barbet, Asian Fairy Bluebird and our only Brown Fulvetta’s of the tour. The walk back gave us two new flycatchers in the same productive gully; firstly a smart Rufous-browed Flycatcher then a singing White-tailed Flycatcher was elusive but drew our attention to two juveniles of that species feeding nearby.
Our afternoon explorations of the higher parts of the mountain again produced Flavescent Bulbul but a Bornean Leafbird with a mixed feeding flock was surprising at this altitude. Best birds were a pair of endemic Eye-browed Jungle-Flycatcher feeding next to, and even on the road!
The whole of the next day was spent exploring various trails on the high mountain and among the now expected species we found another Besra sitting in the road in the early morning, White-crowned Forktail, another Temminck’s Babbler and great views of a Maroon Woodpecker feeding unconcerned in the open on the forest floor. Bird of the day however went to a diminutive Bornean Stubtail which gave great views as it crept through the nearby bamboo giving its extremely high-pitched, barely audible call.
The next day was unfortunately our last of the tour and things were feeling a little tense with some species still absent, notably the Whiteheads ‘trio’ of endemic specialties. We started well picking up our first new endemic before breakfast when we tracked down the distinctive booming calls to a pair of Bare-headed Laughingthrushes in the nearby canopy and we had ‘nice’ views of this species with its receding hairline exposing its rather unattractive yellow facial skin! We also notched up amazing views of an adult Eye-browed Jungle-Flycatcher which just sat and sat at close range for as long as we wanted while its recently fledged juvenile fed happily nearby.
After breakfast we again hit our favourite trail and had quick success when a calling Sunda Cuckoo decided to come in and investigate us, a great one to finally see after hearing them every day, and while watching we enjoyed 4 magnificent Wreathed Hornbills flying directly overhead. Continuing deeper into the forest, the birds were rather quiet until we happened upon a feeding flock which turned out to be the best that we had encountered during our whole time on the mountain; Golden-naped Barbet, Maroon Woodpecker, Crimson-winged Woodpecker, Grey-headed Canary Flycatcher, Grey-chinned Minivets and two Sunda Cuckooshrikes all joined the more regular flocking species and best of all we located two Whitehead’s Spiderhunters – a particularly striking bird with its brown plumage covered with white stripes and striking yellow rump and undertail coverts. This, the first of the Whitehead’s specialties started a rather surreal chain of events, for just minutes later as we continued on the trail the leader spotted the distinctive red, black and grey head pattern of a male Whitehead’s Trogon among the foliage but it almost immediately took flight and promptly vanished. Since the bird didn’t seem to fly far we waited to see if it might reappear and almost soon heard the distinctive calls of a Whitehead’s Broadbill close by. We tried the tape expecting a good response as is typical from this species but got nothing and some surely started to wonder if this wasn’t to be our day. Patience did prevail however and some time later the broadbill appeared right in front of us, at eye level, and we enjoyed great views of this huge, luminous-green broadbill. With still no sign of the trogon but knowing they were in the area, we carried on searching finding a second Whitehead’s Broadbill in the process, before finally the trogon was relocated far down in the gully. It was rather a slippery journey down the steep valley side but this was well rewarded as when we all reconvened in the gully bottom the trogon was still performing nicely and completed what was described as a “Hollywood finish” to our time on the mountain, with the spectacular Whitehead’s trio of spiderhunter, trogon and broadbill appearing within an hour of each other.
After a celebratory lunch we finished the tour with another visit to the Rafflesia Reserve at Tambunan and rounded off in style. In the late afternoon bird activity was high around the headquarters and included Mountain Barbet, Bornean Leafbirds, Streaked and Cinereous (Ashy) Bulbuls and great views of another emerald-green Whitehead’s Broadbill. Even better however were the three Bornean Barbets, perched together in the top of a bare tree and finally giving the satisfactory views which we had been waiting for. Amazingly there was still time for more and the very last bird of the day turned out to be a Fruithunter, a nomadic and difficult to find endemic which was a fitting end to a great tour.

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