Mt Kinabalu 04Jun18

From KH

With Alim's tip, we managed to see 2 endemic Everett's Thrushes near Silau-Silau Hut at about 6am.

The Bornean Treepie is a common endemic, very noisy, but usually high up.

This endemic Bornean Whistler caught a stick insect!

While this endemic Bornean Stubtail was hiding in the undergrowth under low light condition...

Chestnut-hooded and Sunda Laughingthrushes were seen, but no sign of the Bare-headed Laughingthrush.

This Chestnut-hooded Laughingthrush was removing the green gooey stuff from the caterpillar before swallowing it.

Here's a comparison between the Bornean (left) and Plume-toed Swiftlets.

How many bands can a Chestnut-crested Yuhina wear?

How about a Black-capped White-eye?

And Grey-throated Babbler?

This pair of Little Pied Flycatchers were apparently still building nest. The female (left) was carrying nesting material.

The juvenile Snowy-browed Flycatcher (left) has already fledged, and the Indigo Flycatcher came down to check us out.

The other common birds included:

Female Temminck's Sunbird. Sunda Bush Warbler.


Ochraceous Bulbul


Hair-crested Drongo. Ashy Drongo stigmatops subspecies.

Some of the squirrels here included the Brooke's Squirrel and the Bornean Mountain Ground Squirrel.

We had another Trilobite Beetle today.

There was a blackish caterpillar and another stick insect.

1. 5 Red-breasted Partridge - Heard
2. 3 Crimson-headed Partridge - Heard
3. 2 Little Cuckoo-Dove
4. 2 Sunda Cuckoo - Heard
5. 1 Bornean Swiftlet
6. 30 Plume-toed Swiftlet
7. 2 Golden-naped Barbet - Heard
8. 1 Gray-chinned Minivet - Male
9. 2 Bornean Whistler
10. 1 Blyth's Shrike-Babbler - Male
11. 1 Ashy Drongo
12. 1 Hair-crested Drongo
13. 2 White-throated Fantail
14. 4 Bornean Treepie
15. 3 Ochraceous Bulbul
16. 1 Bornean Stubtail
17. 4 Mountain Tailorbird - Heard
18. 2 Sunda Bush Warbler
19. 4 Mountain Leaf Warbler
20. 5 Yellow-breasted Warbler
21. 20 Chestnut-crested Yuhina
22. 4 Black-capped White-eye
23. 3 Gray-throated Babbler
24. 1 Temminck's Babbler
25. 2 Sunda Laughingthrush
26. 5 Chestnut-hooded Laughingthrush
27. 2 Indigo Flycatcher
28. 1 Bornean Whistling-Thrush
29. 1 Snowy-browed Flycatcher - Juvenile
30. 2 Little Pied Flycatcher - A pair
31. 2 Everett's Thrush
32. 1 Bornean Leafbird - Heard
33. 2 Temminck's Sunbird

Sabah 29Mar-10Apr08

From Con

Saw (or heard) about 170 species of birds in Sabah and several mammals, but dipped on Black and Crimson (Garnet) Pitta despite trying three days, fellow was calling very close, but wouldn't show himself.

For me, the bird of the trip was the Whitehead's Trogon, endemic to a few high mountains in Borneo. Here's one attached, more to come :-)

No ticks, only 1 leech bite. No leeches on Mt. Kinabalu!

For the first time that I'm certain I've really seen Greater & Lesser Sand-plovers, see this series of photos. Notice the obvious size difference. Taken in Likas Bay, Kota Kinabalu.

From the left, what I think we have got are: Common Sandpiper, LSP first winter, LSP assuming breeding plumage, GSP, LSP first winter.

Female Oriental Cuckoo seen at Mt. Kinabalu.

Here are two views of a Bornean Whistler we saw one morning at Mt Kinabalu, it was feeding on insects or caterpillars, about 7am near the cabins we were staying in at park headquarters about 1500 meters altitude.

There is also this very interesting website on birds of Sabah: http://elibrary.unm.edu/sora/om/om052.pdf