Sabah, Borneo Custom Tour

19th - 29th November 2006

Leader: Rob Hutchinson

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

This 10-day custom tour to Sabah, Borneo was deliberately slow-paced allowing ample time to thoroughly explore and enjoy the wonderful areas visited in search of the diverse flora and fauna but with an emphasis on finding some of the most spectacular endemics birds and mammals. It was immensely successful with great views of all four endemic pitta species (Blue-headed, Black-crowned, Bornean Banded and Blue-banded), Storm’s Stork, a pair of the enigmatic Bornean Ground Cuckoo along the Kinabatangan River and fantastic views of Bornean Bistlehead. Mount Kinabalu gave great views of Whitehead’s Trogon and Whitehead’s Broadbill and the shy and rarely seen Everett’s Thrush, the ever-friendly Friendly Bush-Warbler at higher altitudes and the spectacular green and cobalt Hose’s Broadbill in the sub-montane forest of Poring Hot Springs.

Our tour began with an early morning flight eastwards across Sabah to Sandakan and our first destination; the famous Gomantong Caves with Rufous-bellied Eagle and Blyth’s Hawk-Eagle circling by the roadside and our first endemic Dusky Munia. The caves with their huge natural caverns carved into the limestone hillside are home to the amazing spectacle of thousands of roosting bats and nesting swiftlets – four species; Glossy, Black-nest, Mossy-nest and Edible-nest Swiftlets being identifiable here courtesy of their unique nest structures.
A Crested Serpent Eagle hunting at the cave entrance gave close views and the nearby forest gave our first White-browed Shama, Chestnut-backed Scimitar-Babbler, White-crowned Forktail (lowland race frontalis) and only Maroon Langurs of the tour.
Continuing onwards 3 Storm’s Storks by the roadside provided excitement before we arrived at our comfortable lodge on the banks of the famous Kinabatangan River, our home for the next 2 nights. Of course we saw many birds during our cruises along the river and tributaries but highlights included unforgettable views of a male endemic Blue-headed Pitta which came out to investigate us and proceded to call in full view from a fallen log at the riverside. Best of all however were a pair of the enigmatic Bornean Ground Cuckoo which responded to our imitations in the late afternoon of our second day and came right out to the shore giving great views as they called back with characteristic deep booming calls and monkey-like alarm notes. We were able to admire the electric blue-green eye-ring, shining blue upperparts and neatly barred underparts of these pheasant-sized birds – the third tour this year on which we have recorded this rare bird!

    

    Proboscis Monkey, Kinabatangan River           Hairy-nosed Otter, Kinabatangan River

We also saw ‘Bornean’ Black Magpie, Oriental Pied, Bushy-crested, Black and the rather localized Wrinkled Hornbills, Scarlet-rumped and Red-naped Trogons, Black-backed Kingfisher, Moustached Hawk-Cuckoo, Banded Bay Cuckoo, Long-tailed Parakeet, Blue-crowned Hanging-Parrots, Fiery Minivet, huge White-bellied and Great Slaty Woodpeckers, endemic Yellow-rumped Flowerpeckers, the distinctive orange-throated ‘Bornean’ Brown Barbet, Black-and-yellow and Black-and-red Broadbills. We also saw the distinctive Bold-striped Tit-Babbler which following the recently split of ‘Striped Tit-Babbler’ is now endemic to Borneo and Java.

Raptor highlights included several views of Grey-headed Fish Eagle, a single Osprey, great views of Wallace’s Hawk-Eagle including one bird calling loudly, perched close by and a Bat Hawk presumable late returning home after its overnight hunting as it circled overhead in the mid-morning.
We also had several encounters with wild Orangutans – one of the major targets here, many crocodiles during evening boat trips, bizarre Proboscis Monkeys and a pair of inquisitive Hairy-nosed Otters in broad daylight.
The night rides also gave great views of Large Red Flying Fox and furtive Malay Civets, roosting Blue-eared and Stork-billed Kingfisher, but the excellent close views of several Buffy Fish Owls hunting along the river banks stole the show.
Before heading back to Kota Kinabalu we over-nighted at Sepilok and scored a great success with a noisy group of strawberry-headed Bornean Bristleheads on our 1st afternoon - this is undoubtedly one of Borneo’s greatest stars and we enjoyed fanastic views as they fed overhead uttering their bizarre vocalizations.
The following morning was just as successful with Red-naped Trogon providing excitement but even this was overshadowed by an extremely confiding Black-crowned Pitta which whistled contentedly from its overhead perch as we admired him for more than an hour before we tore ourselves away as he continued his vigil.
We also enjoyed wonderful views of a group of howling Bornean Gibbons and later a visit to the orangutan rehabilitation centre gave great close-up encounters with these entertaining apes – complimenting perfectly the rather lethargic wild individuals on the Kinabatangan River.

Black-crowned Pitta, Sepilok, Sabah                            © Rob Hutchinson / Birdtour Asia

After a single night in the capital Kota Kinabalu we headed early the next morning to the famous Mount Kinabalu, the highest peak between the Himalaya and Papua New Guinea. Our four full days on the mountain were blessed with good weather and gave us time to enjoy the fantastic montane forest against the backdrop of the magnificent granite massif.
Excellent birding started immediately with our first endemics seen in the car park on arrival– Chestnut-crested Yuhina, Black-sided Flowerpecker and Bornean Whistler – all to become familiar birds over the next few days. Highlights of the first day included of first Eye-browed Jungle-Flycatcher dropping down to feed on the road, bizarre looking Bare-headed Laughingthrushes with their ‘receding hairlines’ typically associating in mixed flocks with Sunda and Chestnut-capped Laughingthrushes, but best of all we found a pair of Black-breasted Fruithunters - a nomadic and unpredictable species which is usually difficult to locate.
We also began to familiarize ourselves with the core species of the mountain; raucous Bornean Treepies, Short-tailed Green Magpie, Black and Crimson Oriole, Yellow-breasted Warbler, Indigo Flycatcher, Black-capped White-eye as well as skulking Temminck’s Babblers and our only Sunda Cuckoo-shrike of the tour. We also heard our first Sunda Cuckoo but it was some time before we were to finally locate one a few days later.

    

Buffy Fish-Owl, Kinabatangan River                 ‘vaga’ Brown Wood-Owl, Mount Kinabalu

Our next few days birding along the roadside and exploring the wonderful system of forest trails. The birds continued to perform – the immense dazzling-green Whitehead’s Broadbill showed as early as our first morning as it cackled loudly overhead, and was followed by a pair a few days later.
At least 3 sightings of Whitehead’s Trogon – arguably the most beautiful of Asia’s trogons – included fine views of both male and female birds.
We were extremely fortunate to find a pair of Everett’s Thrush, and even more so to enjoy fantastic close views on two occasions as they fed close by, at times in the open on the trail and sometimes down to just a few meters!
The skulkers were difficult as always but with persistence we had some excellent views of the diminutive Bornean Stubtail, creeping mouse-like in the understory and a very confiding group of Mountain Wren-Babblers.
The endemic partridges were not very vocal and we never got close to seeing Red-breasted but a small covey of Crimson-headed Partridges gave good views as they scuttled along the trail ahead of us one morning.
Along the clear montane streams we found the interesting highland form of White-crowned Forktail and the endemic Bornean Whistling-Thrush – a recent split from sister species on Java and Sumatra.

   

Whitehead’s Trogon, Mount Kinabalu               Everett’s Thrush, Mount Kinabalu

On the summit trail we found a confiding Friendly Bush Warbler which lived up to its name for some time before becoming more elusive. A morning birding in the mossy higher elevation forests at Mesilau gave us Mountain Black-eye, Velvet-fronted Nuthatch (here with red feet), more excellent views of Bornean Whistling-Thrush, great views of Chestnut-capped and Sunda Laughingthrushes and more surprisingly a Mountain Serpent-Eagle. We had particularly good views here of the distinctive bornean race of Flavescent Bulbul which is perhaps better considered as an endemic species, ‘Kinabalu Bulbul’.
Several owling sessions produced plenty of calling Mountain Scops-Owls but we never managed more than flight views as they called from high in the canopy. We did however have excellent views of an impressive Brown Wood-Owl of the endemic montane race vaga. The distinctive rufous-face and upper –breast of this race along with vocalisations which are very distinct from the lowland Asian forms (including Borneo) would appear to indicate that this race should perhaps be treated as a separate species or as a subspecies of Bartel’s Wood-Owl which is endemic to the mountains of Java, Indonesia.
Our day-trip to the lower elevation slopes at Poring Hot Springs was extremely productive; Excellent views of the distinctive schwaneri ‘Bornean’ Banded Pitta and a wonderful male Blue-banded Pitta completed our set of 4 endemic pittas for the tour and would have definitely been outright winners of ‘bird of the day’ had it not been for 2 sightings of Hoses Broadbill; firstly a pair that appeared nearby and later a male feeding in a fruiting tree – the later also attracting a male Green Broadbill for an interesting comparison with its larger, Cobalt-bellied relative.
We also saw the subtle endemic Bornean Spiderhunter – a cryptic species whose identification, distribution and taxonomic status and all still little known.
Both Diard’s and Orange-breasted Trogons added splashes of colour and good numbers of frugivores included an entertaining pair of Rhinoceros Hornbills, Banded Broadbill, Gold Whiskered, Red-throated and Mountain Barbets while more subtle specialties included Brown Fulvetta.
We finished the tour with 30 ‘official’ bornean endemics and several other likely future splits amoung the 192 species recorded, an excellent total considering that we visited just two areas of this wonderful island.

   

Bornean Banded Pitta, Poring Hot Springs      Hose’s Broadbill, Poring Hot Springs