Kinabatangan 09Jun18 am

From KH

The Pygmy Elephants are more open today this morning.

Next up, an Estuarine Crocodile.

Then, a Water Monitor.

All the egrets we photographed turned out to be Great Egrets.

Long-tailed Parakeets and a Dollarbird on the bare trees.

This male Bornean Orangutan is so shy. First, he turned his back on us. Then, he covered his face with his palm...

A Crested Serpent-eagle flying away.

Noisy Bushy-crested Hornbills.

Oriental Darters are common here. Adult left, juvenile right.

So are Black-and-red Broadbills and White-chested Babblers.

Blue-eared Kingfishers were also common here, but the Bornean Brown Barbet was less common.

Malaysian Blue-flycatcher couple: male left, female with nesting material right.

A Plantain Squirrel joined in the fun.

Lastly, our only lifer for today - a pair of White-fronted Falconets: male left, female right.

1. 10 Oriental Darter
2. 5 Purple Heron
3. 15 Great Egret
4. 1 Crested Serpent-Eagle
5. 1 Gray-headed Fish-Eagle
6. 2 Greater Coucal - Heard
7. 5 Plume-toed Swiftlet
8. 30 dark swiftlet sp.
9. 4 Bushy-crested Hornbill
10. 2 Oriental Pied-Hornbill
11. 2 Blue-eared Kingfisher
12. 1 Rufous-backed Dwarf-Kingfisher
13. 1 Stork-billed Kingfisher
14. 1 Collared Kingfisher
15. 2 Blue-throated Bee-eater
16. 1 Dollarbird
17. 1 Brown Barbet
18. 2 Blue-eared Barbet - Heard
19. 1 Red-throated Barbet - Heard
20. 2 White-bellied Woodpecker
21. 3 White-fronted Falconet
22. 8 Long-tailed Parakeet
23. 1 Blue-crowned Hanging-Parrot
24. 3 Black-and-red Broadbill
25. 2 Black-and-yellow Broadbill - Heard
26. 4 Hooded Pitta
27. 5 Slender-billed Crow
28. 5 Pacific Swallow
29. 5 Ashy Tailorbird
30. 2 Yellow-bellied Prinia - Heard
31. 1 Bold-striped Tit-Babbler - Heard
32. 1 Chestnut-winged Babbler
33. 5 White-chested Babbler
34. 1 White-rumped Shama (White-crowned) - Heard
35. 2 Malaysian Blue Flycatcher

Sepilok 06Jun18

From KH

After a few hours drive from Mt Kinabalu, we reached Rainforest Discovery Centre.

The Canopy Walkway is a great place to see some of the common birds here.

Ashy Tailorbird


Chestnut-winged Babbler

Some of the Cream-vented Bulbuls here have red eyes! So care must be taken.

The Red-eyed Bulbuls actually have more orangey eyes here. Juveniles have dark eyes though.

The first endemic we encountered here was this male Yellow-rumped Flowerpecker.

Some of the sunbirds here included:

Juvenile van Hasselt's Sunbird


Female Brown-throated Sunbird

Some have split the Bornean Brown Barbet as a distinct species. It does look different from the Peninsular Malaysia ones, which are called Sooty Barbets after the split.

Saw this broadbill nest, but no idea who's it is.

Wallace Hawk-eagles were common here. This was a juvenile.

Another raptor we encountered today was this juvenile Brahminy Kite.

There were also a young Orangutan (right) and its shy mother around.

This Green Crested Lizard didn't want to show us it face.

Then, we heard a pitta call - Black-crowned Pitta!

1. 1 Wallace's Hawk-Eagle - Juvenile
2. 1 Brahminy Kite - Juvenile
3. 1 Greater Coucal - Heard
4. 1 Banded Bay Cuckoo - Heard
5. 30 Plume-toed Swiftlet
6. 30 dark swiftlet sp.
7. 1 Helmeted HornbillSensitive - Heard
8. 1 Bushy-crested Hornbill - Heard
9. 1 Black Hornbill - Heard
10. 1 Blue-throated Bee-eater
11. 4 Brown Barbet
12. 2 Blue-eared Barbet - Heard
13. 1 Maroon Woodpecker - Heard
14. 1 Blue-crowned Hanging-Parrot - Heard
15. 1 Black-crowned Pitta
16. 2 Malaysian Pied-Fantail
17. 10 Cream-vented Bulbul
18. 6 Red-eyed Bulbul
19. 1 Spectacled Bulbul
20. 2 Dark-necked Tailorbird
21. 2 Ashy Tailorbird
22. 1 Rufous-tailed Tailorbird - Heard
23. 1 Yellow-bellied Prinia - Heard
24. 4 Chestnut-winged Babbler
25. 5 Asian Glossy Starling
26. 1 Yellow-rumped Flowerpecker
27. 1 Van Hasselt's Sunbird - Juvenile
28. 50 Eurasian Tree Sparrow

Mt Kinabalu 02Jun18

From KH

After a misty morning in the Crocker Range, we drove for a couple of hours to Mt Kinabalu.

All thanks to Kim Chuah and his guide, Dennis, we got 2 out of the 3 Whitehead's Trios without much effort in Silau-Silau Trail.

This male Whitehead's Broadbill was feeding his chick. This species is much bigger than the Green Broadbill that we are used too!

On the other hand, the Whitehead's Trogon had fledged. The male (left), female (middle) and juvenile were all showing. What luck!

The other endemic bird we encountered was a Bornean Green Magpie.

We also heard a few other birds along the trail, namely the White-crowned (Bornean) Forktail, Yellow-bellued Warbler, Yellow-breasted Warbler and Mountain Tailorbird.

Other animals in the trail included this Jentink's Squirrel.

Johor 15-16Jul17

From KH

Con, Danny, JS, BJ and I went on this trip.

Male Black-and-yellow Broadbill wears a necklace!

Blue-eared Barbet zoomed past.

Brown Fulvetta: usually seen in bird waves, but this one was alone.

Rufous-fronted Babbler: another bird-wave bird.

How many Thick-billed Green-pigeons?

Mole Cricket hugging a rock.

The star of the trip was this foot-long Stick Insect, which we found crawling on the ground.

Fraser's Hill 20-22Mar09

It has been almost 2 years since my last visit to Fraser's Hill. 71 species were seen this time, with a number of lifers. Sighting highlights are:

1) 3 Malaysian Hill Partridges foraging at Hemmant Trail.
2) Bat Hawk in flight at Telecom Loop
3) Brown Wood Owl at its usual haunt
4) 2 species of large cuckoos (Large Hawk Cuckoo and Oriental Cuckoo) very vocal during this session
5) 2 species of Zoothera (Orange-headed Thrush and Siberian Thrush) on Jln Lady Maxwell near Hemmant Trail entrance
6) 2 species of trogons (Orange-breasted Trogon and Red-headed Trogon)
7) 2 Bay Woodpeckers at Telecom
8) Yellow-throated Marten at the entrance of Telecom Loop
9) 4 Wild Piglets at dawn

We dipped at the Mountain Peacock Pheasant, but we managed to see its relative. 3 Malaysian Hill Partridges were foraging in the undergrowth at Hemmant Trail!

I missed the Orange-breasted Trogon last trip, but got great view this time! It was really fortunate to nail it because it was sighted after The Gap when we were leaving for home.

This Blyth's Hawk Eagle was on the road when we were going uphill below The Gap.

Some other raptors encountered on this trip are the Black Eagle (1st photo) and Crested Serpent Eagles (2nd photo). The Black Eagle is a highland raptor, whereas the Serpent Eagle is common at low elevation.

A pair of Long-tailed Broadbills seem to be nesting at Telecom Loop. They were collecting nesting materials.

Fire-tufted Barbets are common and noisy birds of the Hill. Its cicada-like call is unmistakable. The photo on the right shows why it is so named.

This Dark Hawk Cuckoo was very vocal and it gave us a hard time searching for it. I actually walked pass it while it was calling above!

The male Sunda Cuckoo also very vocal. The one was calling at Telecom Loop and it was still sing away when we left it. ©Danny Lau

Black-browed Barbet - one of the most commonly heard bird at Fraser's Hill and yet difficult to see. ©Danny Lau

Really unexpected to find this lowland bird, Banded Woodpecker, at Maxwell. ©Danny Lau

Glossy Swiftlets are very common and most of the swifts you see flying around belong to this species. There are much less nests in the garage this time round.

The House Swift is larger with a prominent white rump. They are also nesting as can be seen by the returning parent on the right.

2 species of migrant thrushes - Siberian Thrush (1st photo) and Orange-headed Thrush (2nd photo) - were seen, but no Malayan Whistling Thrush...

We did not expect to see so many migrants at this time of the year, but there were quite a few Mugimaki Flycatchers around.

Grey-chinned Minivets are common in bird waves. The male is an unmistakable red and black, while the female is yellow and black.

Large Niltavas are also common. There is one pair at Hemmant Trail and they are very confiding. The male is a beautiful dark blue, while the female is brown. Both have a bright blue collar and cap.

We saw three pairs of Little Pied Flycatchers this trip. The male is a nice black and white bird, while the female is paler. The female on the right is carrying nesting material.

Some trash birds :)

Greater Yellownape. Little Cuckoo Dove

Lesser Racket-tailed Drongo. Black-and-crimson Oriole

Green Magpie. Large Cuckooshrike

Black-eared Shrike-babbler. Mountain Fulvetta

Chestnut-capped Laughingthrush. Chestnut-crowned Laughingthrush

Mountain Bulbul. Silver-eared Mesia

Blue-winged Minla. Long-tailed Sibia

Mountain Tailorbird. Streaked Spiderhunter

1	Crested Serpent Eagle	2 below Gap: 1 while going up and 1 while coming down
2	Blyth's Hawk Eagle	1 on road below Gap while going up, 3 in flight on Fraser's Hill
3	Black Eagle	1 at Pines
4	Bat Hawk	1 at Telecom flying from West to East
5	Black-thighed Falconet	1 below Gap
6	Malaysian Hill Partridge	3 foraging at Hemmant
7	Mountain Imperial Pigeon	1 at Hemmant
8	Little Cuckoo Dove	common
9	Large Hawk Cuckoo	1 very vocal at Maxwell
10	Oriental Cuckoo	1 at Jln Lady Guillemard, 1 at Telecom
11	Drongo Cuckoo	1 heard below Gap
12	Collared Owlet	1 heard at Telecom
13	Brown Wood Owl	1 at Mager
14	Glossy Swiftlet	common
15	House Swift	common
16	Orange-breasted Trogon	1 male below Gap
17	Red-headed Trogon	1 female at Jeriau
18	Red-bearded Bee-eater	1 heard
19	Fire-tufted Barbet	common
20	Black-browed Barbet	many heard, 2 seen at Telecom
21	Greater Yellownape	common
22	Lesser Yellownape	common
23	Banded Woodpecker	1 at Maxwell
24	Bay Woodpecker	2 at Telecom
25	Long-tailed Broadbill	2 at Telecom
26	Pacific Swallow	common
27	Bar-winged Flycatcher Shrike	1 at Maxwell
28	Large Cuckooshrike	occasionally in bird waves
29	Grey-chinned Minivet	common
30	Orange-bellied Leafbird	1 at Jelai, 2 at Maxwell
31	Yellow-vented Bulbul	common at Jeriau
32	Ochraceous Bulbul	2 at Jeriau
33	Mountain Bulbul	2 at Maxwell, 1 at Telecom
34	Bronzed Drongo	common
35	Lesser Racket-tailed Drongo	common
36	Black-and-crimson Oriole	occasionally in bird waves
37	Green Magpie	1 at Pines, 1 at Telecom
38	Large-billed Crow	common
39	Blue Nuthatch	occasionally in bird waves
40	Golden Babbler	common
41	Chestnut-capped Laughing Thrush	common
42	Chestnut-crowned Laughing Thrush	common
43	Silver-eared Mesia	common
44	White-browed Shrike Babbler	1 male at Telecom
45	Black-eared Shrike Babbler	common
46	Blue-winged Minla	occasionally in bird waves
47	Mountain Fulvetta	common
48	Long-tailed Sibia	common
49	Oriental Magpie Robin	common
50	Slaty-backed Forktail	1 at Jeriau
51	Orange-headed Thrush	1 at Hemmant
52	Siberian Thrush	1 at Maxwell
53	Chestnut-crowned Warbler	occasionally in bird waves
54	Yellow-bellied Warbler	common
55	Arctic Warbler	occasionally in bird waves
56	Mountain Leaf Warbler	occasionally in bird waves
57	Common Tailorbird	1 heard at Maxwell
58	Mountain Tailorbird	common
59	Asian Brown Flycatcher	1 on way down Jeriau
60	Mugimaki Flycatcher	1 male below Gap, 3 female on Fraser's Hill
61	Rufous-browed Flycatcher	1 at Telecom
62	Little Pied Flycatcher	1 pair at Pines, 2 pairs at Telecom
63	Large Niltava	common, including 1 pair at Hemmant
64	Grey-headed Flycatcher	2 heard at Telecom
65	White-throated Fantail	common
66	Brown Shrike	1 at Pines
67	Tiger Shrike	1 at Jalan Lady Guillemard
68	Black-throated Sunbird	common
69	Little Spiderhunter	1 at Jalan Lady Guillemard
70	Streaked Spiderhunter	common
71	Buff-bellied Flowerpecker	occasionally in bird waves

Finally, on the way to Bentong while going home, Danny spotted a pair of Grey-headed Fish Eagles circling.

Other animals encountered include:

White-thighed Surili. Grey-bellied Squirrel

Trapdoor Spider. Rhino Beetle