Sabah, Borneo Custom Tour
18th - 30th October 2008
Leader: James Eaton
Participant: Keith Riding
Bristlehead, Danum Valley © James Eaton / Birdtour Asia
This Borneo custom tour recorded an impressive 283 including an excellent 42 endemics during our 12-days on the island. Highlights were many; Bornean Ground Cuckoo for the 11th tour running, breathtaking views of Bristlehead, all 8 possible species of hornbill, 7 species of broadbill including Whitehead’s and a wonderful Hose’s, 16 species of bulbul, 27 species of babbler, and two of the major targets for birders visiting Borneo; the ‘Whitehead’s trio’ and 5 species of pitta including phenomenal looks at all 4 endemics.
We commenced our Borneo tour with an evening arrival at Sepilok and the next morning set off into the forest famed for its Orang-utan rehabilitation centre. We had a productive early morning with Black Hornbill, Buff-rumped Woodpeckers, Crimson Sunbird, Black-and-red and Black-and-yellow Broadbills, Diard’s Trogon, Bold-striped Tit Babbler and Blue-throated Bee-eaters feeding all around us, but this ended abruptly as the heavens. We sheltered under some mid-storey canopy for more than an hour and still the birds appeared; firstly a White-crowned Forktail feeding on the road ahead of us along with a surprise Hooded Pitta which offered great views in the scope for 10 minutes as it fed unconcerned by our presence. Once the rain stopped we headed over to the newly constructed canopy walkway, a bit of an eyesore in the lush, green forest but certainly much more stable than walkways elsewhere! Though quiet after the early rain we picked up a group of Long-billed Spiderhunters chasing each other round along with squacking Slender-billed Crows and noisy Common Hill Myna. As we headed back to our chalets to pack for our mid-morning departure a White-fronted Falconet came dashing towards us, almost snatching a Crimson Sunbird from under our noses before perching nearby producing wonderful looks of this tricky endemic along with some raucous Long-tailed Parakeets.
Moving on through the Oil Palm-dominated landscape that stretches to all corners of Sabah we eventually reached our comfortable lodge situated on the banks of the mighty Kinabatangan River. A brief stop at Gomantong Caves en-route, still found a few nesting Black-nest, Mossy-nest and Edible-nest Swiftlets despite the recent harvesting of the swiftlet nests. Huge numbers of Wrinkle-lipped Bats were also impressive and around the cave entrance a small flock of the scarce White-bellied Munia was a welcome surprise along with our first of several Wallace’s Hawk Eagles. We also found some very tame Maroon Leaf Monkeys and a lone immature Orang-utan feeding close-by.
Our late lunch was interrupted by a calling Moustached Hawk Cuckoo though we didn’t mind the inconvenience with the views he soon produced, repeatedly perching in full view for us to admire. Following a short siesta we boarded our boat for the first of five trips along the banks of the Kinabatangan river. The pressure was on to make it 11 out of 11 on our tours to Sabah to see the once mythical Bornean Ground Cuckoo, one of Borneo’s most highly-sought endemics. Amazingly, at our first stop the distant, though unmistakable, cries of a ground cuckoo could be heard along one of the quiet tributaries, with some skilful manoeuvring by our trusted boatman we were soon admiring an ultra-close Ground Cuckoo more than filling our binoculars as he called, tail-pumping, from a perch by the riverside. He soon jumped down, walking slowly away along the forest floor and back into the darkness – what a start! After that performance everything else should have been an anti-climax but there was much more to come. Great views of Wrinkled and Oriental Pied Hornbills followed shortly after – our first of many of the next two days. A delicious dinner was followed by a night-cruise; Buffy Fish Owl performed in numbers – 8 this time – as did Asian Palm Civet and a Large Flying Fox munching on ripe figs. Just as we were about to turn round and head back a familiar cry emanated from the forest over the sound of the motor – Oriental Bay Owl! Jumping out of the boat and heading inside the forest interior soon saw us face-to-face with one of Asia’s very best night-birds, clinging onto a near-vertical branch we watched him for 10 minutes before walking away and back to bed for a well-deserved rest.
White-fronted Falconet, Sepilok Oriental Bay Owl, Kinabatangan
During the next day and a half cruising the river the birding was often quiet though some real highlights made each outing exciting. Hornbills were an ever-present with repeated views of the scarce Wrinkled Hornbill, huge Rhinoceros Hornbill twice and best of all repeated fly-bys and perched pair of White-crowned Hornbill. A Maroon-breasted Philentoma put on a splendid performance as he sang from exposed branches, as did a gaudy male Scarlet-rumped Trogon, plenty of endangered Storm’s Storks perched in pairs, five species of eagle; Rufous-bellied, Changeable Hawk, Wallace’s Hawk, Lesser Fish and Grey-headed Fish Eagles, Dusky Broadbill, confiding Chestnut-necklaced Partridge, declining Straw-headed Bulbul along with prolonged views of Bornean Gibbon and troops of up to 50 Proboscis Monkey.
Driving south through ‘modern’ Sabah with the ever present Oil Palm plantations became rather monotonous until we hit the gravelled, logging road that takes us through to the wonderful Danum Valley conservation area, one of two areas set aside in the huge 1 million hectare Yayasan logging concession. We reached our wonderful lodge, the Borneo Rainforest Lodge, in time for our first of several excellent dinners in anticipation for the three full days laying ahead for us.
As pittas were notable by their absence along the Kinabatangan we were chomping at the bit for these jewels of the forest. Our first morning didn’t disappoint, no longer had we enjoyed views of one of the trickiest Bornean endemics – 4 Black-throated Wren Babblers busily scratching around the forest floor – that the first sound of a pitta drew our attention. Managing somehow to get through the thick, roadside vegetation we were soon eye-balling our first Black-crowned Pitta, whistling continually from an exposed branch just above our heads, occasionally peering down to us to see what all the fuss was about. Just an hour later we struck gold again as a Blue-headed Pitta revealed itself by its distinct call, heading off-trail once more we obtained great looks at a gaudy male which perched on an open liana before jumping back to the ground and hopping around us, disturbing some Grey-headed Babblers in the process. The afternoon proved rather quiet bird-wise but a visit to a fruiting tree was a wonderful experience as four huge Orang-utans fed on ripe figs overhead while occasionally stopping to peer down at us, a must-see for all visitors to Borneo.
As all birders who have visited Borneo will know, no trip is complete without seeing the enigmatic, unique Bristlehead, one of the islands most unpredictable endemics due to its nomadic nature. After missing them at Sepilok we were beginning to get a little worried but how wrong we were, because after obtaining outrageous views of a pair of ground-loving Bornean Ground Babblers quivering their wings at us we noticed four chunky ‘things’ swoop up into a nearby tree – Bristleheads! Some strategic manoeuvring soon saw us literally next to the birds as they approached so close to the canopy walkway that we daren’t lift our binoculars up in fear of scaring them! We were able to admire every single bristle on their black ear-patch and yellow crown for as long as we wanted until we let them disappear back into the jungle, what an experience for us both.
Moustached Hawk Cuckoo and Storm’s Stork, Kinabatangan
Our third morning on-site saw us visit a different area to the previous days, a minor change in terrain brought a whole new range of species that are more difficult to see in Sabah than in Peninsula Malaysia and Sumatra; these included a singing Grey-chested Jungle Flycatcher, dazzling Green Broadbill perched overhead, a pair of crazy Crested Jays pulling back the trigger as they unleashed their machine-gun like calls, softly-spoken Rufous-chested Flycatcher, a typically responsive Rufous-collared Kingfisher and most satisfyingly a ‘Bornean’ Banded Pitta hopping around us in search of the intruder. This yellow-banded form is strikingly different from its Malayan and Sumatran counterpart and to a lesser extent from the Java and Bali races. We returned to the same area on our forth, and final morning in the hope of two final birds – the first came with ease as the now familiar laughing-calls of the Helmeted Hornbill were much closer than previously and a pair of these regal birds soon flew in to investigate us before giving us a fly-by. Our second target led from frustration to jubilation as we heard the soft-whistle of a Blue-banded Pitta, one of Borneo’s most difficult endemics. Stalking him carefully we knew we were close when out of nowhere rain started pouring down and the pitta prompted shut-up and disappeared leaving us to get completely soaked in the process. With time running out we tried our luck as we realised the rain was going nowhere anytime soon, after just a few minutes we were amazed to see a red blob bounding along a nearby fallen log – Blue-banded Pitta! Our excitement continued as he showed himself for the next 15 minutes despite being as soaked as we were, a great way to end our terrific stay in the Danum Valley.
Those sightings of the megas were just the tip of the ice-berg, during our four-nights at the Borneo Rainforest Lodge we encountered a whole array of fantastic species including some tough endemic and near-endemic species; both Bornean Blue and Large-billed Blue Flycatchers performed superbly along the trails singing their distinctive sweet songs, a pair of Striped Wren Babbler fed unconcerned in the leaf-litter, Rhinoceros Hornbills gliding-by, a gaudy male Red-naped Trogon, another showy Moustached Hawk Cuckoo, several White-crowned Forktails on the road (or the same individual everyday flying further along the road!), a Black-backed Kingfisher obtaining full frontals of some of us as we rushed out of the shower to see it perched on the chalet walkway, Whiskered Treeswifts just a metre above our heads, Brown Wood Owl perched by the road, tame Bornean Fireback, and a host of babblers, with whacky Fluffy-backed and head-nodding Chestnut-rumped being the pick of the bunch.
On the mammal front we did better than usual; 4 Orang-utans clambered about in a huge fruiting tree overhead including a huge ‘old man’, night-time produced Malay and Banded Palm Civets, Thomas’s and Red Giant Flying Squirrels and to top it all off, a Bornean Pygmy Elephant wandering off the road and into the dense thickets during our drive back to Lahad Datu.
Blue-banded Pitta and Black-crowned Pitta, Danum Valley
After flying over to Kota Kinabalu we set-off on our final-leg of the tour visiting the Raffelsia Centre both on the way to, and back from Mount Kinabalu. Our morning visit coincided with thick, swirling fog and a damp feel to the place, not what we were hoping for but we still plugged away and came away with an impressive list of new endemics; Bock’s Hawk Cuckoo’s were vocal as dawn approached though remained hidden on the distant hillsides, Bornean Treepie, Black-sided Flowerpecker, Temminck’s Sunbird and Bornean Bulbuls were conspicuous as were Bornean Leafbirds (both recent splits from Black-crested and Blue-winged respectively). Interestingly following a visit to East Kalimantan James found both Blue-winged and Bornean in the same valley, replacing each other attitudinally. Sunda and Rufous-hooded Laughingthrushes were equally common on both visits though Streaky-breasted and Whitehead’s Spiderhunter gave us the run-around with only brief views of both obtained. While watching the latter fly-past it led us to a nicely-perched juvenile Blyth’s Hawk Eagle, seemingly too wet to take to the wing.
The two endemic barbets were tricky on our morning visit but the return visit on the final afternoon of the tour led us to a huge fruiting tree brimming with Mountain Barbets along with a few Bornean Barbets, so often a difficult bird to come to grips with. As the sun shone beautifully in the late afternoon, feeding flocks passed-by with one such flock containing two tiny Pygmy Ibon’s, an inconspicuous endemic that so often feeds in the canopy. Rusty-breasted Cuckoo, a scarce bird in Sabah posed close-by while wintering migrants were well-represented by large numbers of Blue-and-white Flycatchers along with Grey-streaked and Asian Brown Flycatchers.
Unfortunately our trip to Mount Kinabalu proved a rather wet and misty experience for the first day and a half, obviously making the birding rather difficult. We did pick up the vast majority of the easier species and a couple of goodies including Bare-headed Laughingthrush displaying overhead, with their backs fluffed out as they produced their deep ‘booms’ from their blue throat pouches. A few showy Eye-browed Jungle Flycatchers, a family of ultra-tame Mountain Wren Babbler, feeding Bornean Stubtails and best of all a covey of Red-breasted Partridge feeding by the road oblivious to our presence and offering views down to 3-4 metres. Species such as Temminck’s Sunbird, Indigo Flycatcher, Black-sided Flowerpecker, Black-capped White-eye, Sunda Cuckooshrike, Short-tailed Magpie, Bornean Whistler and Yellow-breasted Warbler all showed fine just in lower numbers to usual. A quick check at a swiftlet colony produced the recently-split, green-glossed, Bornean Swiftlet. These birds are only identifiable at the nest and in the hand and the purple-glossed Glossy Swiftlet is also present on the mountain so extreme care is required to identify the birds.
Finally our last day on the mountain produced little rain so we attempted to make the most of the weather. Before breakfast we notched up a stunning Orange-headed Thrush feeding on the road then White-browed Shortwing – one of the many vocally distinct forms of this species in Asia and a young male Siberian Blue Robin, quivering on the trail. Following another hearty breakfast we hit the trails determined to find the mountains best endemic, it didn’t take long before we were watching an adult and immature male Whitehead’s Trogon feeding by the trail offering wonderful looks, then just 15 minutes later we came across another pair of trogons, talk about London buses! A Golden-naped Barbet joined a feeding flock overhead while higher up the mountain we had several encounters with Bornean Whistling Thrush which were feeding on the roadside as were a pair of Pale-faced Bulbul, a certain split from Flavescent, and this time we only had to walk a mere few hundred metres before a Friendly Bush Warbler popped into view on an open branch, singing away! Rather amusingly though we had to keep walking a bit higher up before the usually easier nectar-loving Mountain Black-eye popped into view. Finally, as dusk approached on our final evening while waiting by the roadside an immature Mountain Serpent Eagle circled low-overhead then a nearby screeching sound led us to our last bird on the mountain as a young Bartel’s Wood Owl sat low by the roadside before flying back into the forest. The Brown Wood Owls on Mount Kinabalu and presumably the other Bornean mountains, share the same vocalisations and morphology as the Bartel’s Wood Owl which was previously considered endemic to montane Java so would be best considered part of this species.
Bornean Swiftlet and Friendly Bush Warbler, Mount Kinabalu
As we had been so successful on the mountain we decided to spend our last full morning at Poring Hot Springs and try our luck there for Whitehead’s Broadbill. The early morning walk uphill to our desired location proved a little hot and a little tiring though a smart Bornean Banded Pitta feeding ahead of us gave extra energy to keep heading up. A huge feeding flock was full of Brown Fulvetta, Orange-sided Flowerpecker, White-bellied Erpornis, Yellow-bellied Warbler, Grey-cheeked Bulbul and a showy pair of Red-throated Barbet. Heading round the next corner we heard a sound that had been missing from the mountain – Whitehead’s Broadbill. A quick run round and there it was, feeding high in a distant tree. Not picture-book but a prolonged view of a Whitehead’s Broadbill was exciting enough as he kept flying around the same tree, perching occasionally. Next up ‘Please to meet you’ called from below us, a quick snatch of tape and one of the most elusive of the sundaic babblers came into check us out for as long as we wanted, a beautifully-marked, pearl-necklaced White-necked Babbler. Realising that our decision to divert to Poring had been justified we wanted more, and near the end of the forest trails, Poring’s most-wanted species suddenly popped-up in front of us; a gorgeous male Hose’s Broadbill, strongly defending his territory as his flicked his wings aggressively, move from side-to-side and flying closer and closer to us for 10 minutes, green and blue shimmering in the dark foliage. What a result and a suitable time to turn round and call it a fine morning!
After relaxing back in Kota Kinabalu for our final night we spent the first hour of light the following morning at Likas Bay for some rather dudey birding with a few added extras; a lone Chinese Egret fed amongst 7 other species of Heron, also including a lone Rufous Night Heron. Cinnamon Bittern, Wandering Whistling Duck, White-browed Crake and Grey-tailed Tattler added to the early morning excursion before our late morning flights called us away from the birding and back into reality.
White-necked Babbler and Hose’s Broadbill, Poring Hot Springs
The tour total of 283 species included 10 which were heard only. An exceptional 42 endemics were seen.
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White-crowned Hornbill, Kinabatangan River © James Eaton / Birdtour Asia
