Sepilok, Sabah - June 2019 : Part 3

Day 5:

On our final full day at Sepilok, we decided to spend more time at RDC. Robert had to take another guest around the resort in the morning, so Jason went along with us to RDC. An Oriental Magpie Robin greeted us at the entrance, the male of race adamsi have all dark belly. An Oriental Darter was again at the lake, this time swimming in the water as we walked past it, sticking it's snake like head out of the water.

Oriental Magpie Robin - race adamsi

Oriental Darter

The first bird we encountered along the entrance of the canopy walkway was an interesting one; a brown bulbul with white eyes. If we were in Peninsular Malaysia I would have called this as a Cream-vented Bulbul, but since the Cream-vented Bulbuls in Borneo have red eyes, these white eyes individuals were a bit of an odd ones out. Until recently people had thought it was only a variation within the species, but recent studies had shown that Bulbuls with white eyes in Borneo is actually a distinct species, now known as the Cream-eyed Bulbul, the newest Bornean endemic added to the already impressive list of Borneo birds.

Cream-eyed Bulbul - the newest Bornean endemic

Another Bornean endemic came in form of a Bornean Black Magpie, this species was split from the Black Magpie and had been granted full species status. It differs from it's mainland cousin by not having any white on wings, it also have a long crest.

Bornean Black Magpie

A Lesser Green Leafbird came through, they are literally all green and you truly understand why they are called leafbirds...They have exactly the same colour with surrounding leaves! A male Black Hornbill came close to the canopy walkway and gave fairly good views.

Lesser Green Leafbird - female

Black Hornbill - male

We spotted a pair of Bornean Orangutans right next to the canopy walkway, they were a mother with her baby. They came so close that my 500mm lens could simply take close up portraits of the two! Adults have much darker face. The pair were taking wild Terap fruits, a local fruit that is native to Borneo and the Philippines.

Bornean Orangutan - eating Terap fruits

A male Diard's Trogon came through and gave excellent views, unfortunately I ran out of memory at just the 'right' moment...By the time I got my camera ready again it was gone. The female however was much more forgiving, and gave excellent prolonged views at close range.

Diard's Trogon - female

Along the canopy walkway we also saw a few Black-naped Monarch, a species very common at RDC, although getting a decent photo of this quick species is still not an easy task, I only managed a half decent record shot in the end.

Black-naped Monarch - male

We walked down towards the Kingfisher trail, bulbuls were extremely active around the fruiting trees. Of which Buff-vented Bulbuls, Streaked Bulbuls and Olive-winged Bulbuls were by far the most numerous along the trail.

Buff-vented Bulbul

Streaked Bulbul

Olive-winged Bulbul

The less common Spectacled Bulbul also showed briefly, it was however outshone by the even scarcer Grey-bellied Bulbul! This species is a widespread but scarce resident throughout Borneo, it was also a lifer for me.

Spectacled Bulbul

Grey-bellied Bulbul

Two species of Sunbirds were seen along the trail, including the Plain Sunbird and a few Ruby-cheeked Sunbird, of which I only managed a photo of the female.

Plain Sunbird - female

Ruby-cheeked Sunbird - female

Two species of Woodpeckers made an appearance, including a Maroon Woodpecker which gave a group of photographers a wild goose chase, I was lucky enough to be at the right place at the right time when it literally landed right in front of me! A few Buff-necked Woodpeckers were also present.

Maroon Woodpecker - female

Buff-necked Woodpecker - female

One of the most peculiar bird seen here was perhaps the Rufous-winged Philentoma, this single male showed brilliantly at close range, giving us front views and back views as we pleased. Philentoma is a bit of a taxonomy oddity, it was once placed with the Monarchs with good reasons, but recent studies had shown is more closely related the Vangas, which put it in the same family as Helmetshrikes of Africa! Other Asian birds now placed into Vangas includes the Flycatcher-shrikes and Woodshrikes.

Rufous-winged Philentoma - male

Along the trail Hoiling found a Banded Flower Mantis, a stunning species that is both incredibly bizarre and beautiful. A Gastercantha spider was also spotted.

Banded Flower Mantis

Gastercantha sp.

We went back to the Black-crowned Pitta spot and waited for a little while but it wasn't there, so we decided to head back to the resort to rest. To our delight, the fig tree near the car park had ripened within the few days we were here. It went from attracting no birds to attracting lots of birds, including many Olive-winged Bulbuls and Cream-eyed Bulbuls. It was even more delightful when we found another Grey-bellied Bulbul feeding in the tree! This time giving much better views.

Olive-winged Bulbul

Cream-vented Bulbul

Grey-bellied Bulbul

Although the bird that stole the show was no doubt the many Black-eared Barbet that had came in for the fruits. This small barbet is extremely common at RDC, where you often hear them throughout the day, but getting a decent view is not easy. With fruiting fig trees such as this one, these colourful barbets will often become quite approachable. The Black-eared Barbet had been split recently with Blue-eared Barbet, I am not at all surprise by this as you can hardly see any blue on the ear coverts on Bornean birds.

Black-eared Barbet

After a few days of outdoor excursions, everyone was tired. We took a long break after lunch, I decided to sit around the restaurant waiting for birds, a male Scarlet-backed Flowerpecker showed well, while a few Dusky Munias finally stopped long enough for me to grab a photo. The resident Brown-throated Sunbirds were dancing around the flowers.

Scarlet-backed Flowerpecker - male race nigrimentum

Dusky Munia

Brown-throated Sunbird - male

At 3pm we went back out to RDC again, a male Olive-backed Sunbird greeted us at the car park. As were a few Blue-throated Bee-eaters.

Olive-backed Sunbird - male

Blue-throated Bee-eater

We heard from other birders that the Black-crowned Pitta had returned, so we decided to give that a try, along the way we added Grey-cheeked Bulbul and a pair of Black-and-Red Broadbill.

Grey-cheeked Bulbul

Black-and-Red Broadbill

The Pitta was already calling when we arrived, Jason put down a few meal worms on a log on the other side of the stream and we waited. Sure enough the Pitta came in and gave brilliant views on the log. It is a truly mesmerising bird no matter how many times you've seen it. It later flew higher up onto a tree and sang from that perch for a few more minutes before flying off into the forest.

Black-crowned Pitta stakeout

Black-crowned Pitta

Since lights were fading, we headed up to the canopy walkway, a flock of birds were jumping making warning calls, obviously stressed out by something. I thought it could be an owl, but could not find anything in the trees, it could have also been a snake. A few Buff-vented Bulbuls were present, as well as a few Red-throated Sunbirds.

Buff-vented Bulbul

Red-throated Sunbird - male

Red-throated Sunbird - female

We managed to join the night walk organised by RDC, their tours are quite popular amongst tourists and often over booked. Luckily the nine of us were able to get a private tour. The local guides started the tour at the canopy walkway to look at the Red Giant Flying Squirrels again, fortunately for us they were out earlier than usual and were more active. A pair were chasing each other, and this time I was able to get a photo of one inflight!

Red Giant Flying Squirrel

We actually saw very few nocturnal animals, but we did saw an Oriental Dwarf Kingfisher and the Rufous-collared Kingfisher at roost. I was hoping that the Oriental Bay Owl would make an appearance but we didn't even hear it. We got a pair of Sunda Scops Owls calling nearby, but they did not want to come out and did not respond to our play back.

Oriental Dwarf Kingfisher

Rufous-collared Kingfisher - male

The best find of the evening came in form of a Bornean Slow Loris! This was one of our main target at RDC and I am glad we managed to see one on our last evening. Unfortunately we never found a Western Tarsier, but just before the tour ended we added a Mouse Deer. That evening we were all too tired to do anymore walking, so we just relaxed at the restaurant.

Bornean Slow Loris

Day 6:

Our flight was scheduled at 9:30am, so we decided not to do any birding in the morning. We had breakfast and said our goodbyes to Jason and Robert, their warm hospitality had made our trip so wonderful, and I certainly is looking forward to my next visit to this incredible location!

Overall I would rate our trip as quite successful, not only did we managed to connect with most of our target species including the Bornean Banded Kingfisher, there were quite a few nice surprises along the way to make this trip even more memorable! A total of 132 species of birds were seen throughout the trip, quite a good count considering we only visited a very small area. We also managed many great encounters with many unique wildlife of Borneo, although going out both day and night was quite tiring, it was worth the effort.

A huge thanks again for Jason and Robert for their help throughout the trip, for anyone visiting Sepilok I highly recommend the Sepilok Jungle Resort.

	Species	Note
1	Great Argus	Heard at SJR
2	Feral Pigeon	Common around towns
3	Spotted Dove	Very common
4	Asian Emerald Dove	Commonly heard and seen
5	Zebra Dove	Very common
6	Little Green-Pigeon	A few perched on high tree of SJR
7	Pink-necked Pigeon	A few seen at SJR
8	Thick-billed Pigeon	A few seen at SJR
9	Jambu Fruit-Dove	One female seen at a fruiting tree along Kingfisher trail, another female seen at SJR
10	Green Imperial-Pigeon	Common around Sepilok
11	Greater Coucal	Commonly heard at SJR
12	Raffles's Malkoha	Common at SJR and RDC
13	Chestnut-breasted Malkoha	Only one seen at RDC along Kingfisher trail
14	Violet Cuckoo	Seen well on canopy walkway of RDC, heard at various places
15	Plaintive Cuckoo	A few heard at RDC
16	Square-tailed Drongo-Cuckoo	Heard at RDC
17	Indian Cuckoo	One heard at RDC
18	Plume-toed Swiftlet	Very common
19	Black-nest Swiftlet	Very common
20	White-nest Swiftlet	Big flock seen at Labuk Bay
21	Asian Palm-Swif	A few seen at RDC
22	Grey-rumped Treeswift	A few seen at RDC
23	White-breasted Waterhen	Common around Sepilok roadside
24	Oriental Darter	One bird seen at RDC lake on two separate days presumed to be same bird
25	Purple Heron	One seen at Labuk Bay
26	Intermediate Egret	Commonly seen by roadside
27	Black-winged Kite	Two seen enroute to Labuk Bay
28	Changeable Hawk-Eagle	One perched at SJR
29	Wallace's Hawk-Eagle	Common at RDC
30	Rufous-bellied Eagle	One adult at RDC, a juvenile at SORC
31	Crested Goshawk	One seen at RDC canopy walkway
32	Brahminy Kite	Fairly common throughout
33	White-bellied Sea-Eagle	One seen at SJR
34	Oriental Bay-Owl	Up to two heard clearly at SJR, came closer but never showed
35	Sunda Scops Owl	Two heard clearly at RDC, close but no show
36	Barred Eagle Owl	One heard at SJR
37	Brown Boobook	Two heard at SJR, came closer but no show
38	Red-naped Trogon	A pair seen at SJR, one male seen along Kingfisher trail
39	Diard's Trogon	One seen at SJR, another pair seen along RDC canopy walkway
40	Helmeted Hornbill	One large hornbill with long tail flew past, no calls heard but long streamers could only be of this species
41	Rhinoceros Hornbill	One flew overhead at SJR
42	Bushy-crested Hornbill	A few heard and later seen at SJR
43	Black Hornbill	Singles or pairs seen throughout
44	Blue-eared Kingfisher	Fairly common at SJR and RDC
45	Rufous-backed Dwarf-Kingfisher	Commonly heard at RDC, one seen perched during RDC night walk
46	Banded Kingfisher	A pair seen near 'back door' of RDC
47	Stork-billed Kingfisher	Common at SJR and lake of RDC
48	Collared Kingfisher
49	Rufous-collared Kingfisher	A male constantly seen along Kingfisher trail, possibly nesting nearby
50	Blue-throated Bee-eater	Common around Sepilok
51	Dollarbird	A few seen at SJR
52	Bornean Brown Barbet	Common at SJR and RDC
53	Black-eared Barbet	Common at SJR and RDC, many seen at fruiting tree at RDC car park
54	Gold-faced Barbet	One heard at RDC
55	Rufous Piculet	Fairly common at RDC, one seen at SJR
56	Grey-and-buff Woodpecker	Fairly common at SJR, a pair seen at RDC
57	Maroon Woodpecker	One seen along Kingfisher Trail at RDC
58	Buff-necked Woodpecker	Very common around Sepilok
59	Common Flameback	One heard at Labuk Bay
60	Crimson-winged Woodpecker	Heard only at RDC
61	Banded Woodpecker	A few seen at RDC and often heard
62	White-bellied Woodpecker	Two seen on separate days at SJR
63	Long-tailed Parakeet	Commonly seen flying past at SJR and RDC
64	Blue-crowned Hanging-Parrot	Commonly seen at SJR
65	Green Broadbill	One seen behind SJR
66	Black-and-red Broadbill	Common around SJR and RDC
67	Black-and-yellow Broadbill	More often heard, seen a few times at SJR and RDC
68	Black-crowned Pitta	One at RDC on two days, presumably same bird
69	Hooded Pitta	A few seen at SJR
70	White-breasted Woodswallow
71	Black-winged Flycatcher-shrike	Common at RDC
72	Rufous-winged Philentoma	One seen along Kingfisher Trail at RDC
73	Common Iora	One seen at SJR
74	Green Iora	Common at RDC
75	Fiery Minivet	A few seen at RDC
76	White-bellied Erpornis	A few seen at RDC
77	Greater Racket-tailed Drongo	Common at RDC
78	Malaysian Pied-Fantail	One nest observed outside RDC, common throughout
79	Black-naped Monarch	Common at RDC
80	Bornean Black Magpie	A few seen at RDC
81	Slender-billed Crow	Fairly common throughout
82	House Crow	Seen at KLIA
83	Pacific Swallow	Common
84	Velvet-fronted Nuthatch	Up to three birds seen along canopy walkway at RDC
85	Black-headed Bulbul	One seen briefly at Kingfisher trail
86	Spectacled Bulbul	One seen briefly at Kingfisher trail
87	Grey-bellied Bulbul	One at Kingfisher trail, another seen at RDC carpark
88	Yellow-vented Bulbul	Very common throughout
89	Olive-winged Bulbul	Common around Sepilok
90	Cream-vented Bulbul	Common around Sepilok
91	Cream-eyed Bulbul	One seen at RDC canopy walkway
92	Red-eyed Bulbul	Common around Sepilok
93	Hairy-backed Bulbul	A few seen along Kingfisher trail
94	Grey-cheeked Bulbul	A few seen along Kingfisher trail, one at SORC
95	Yellow-bellied Bulbul	A few seen along Kingfisher trail
96	Streaked Bulbul	Common around Sepilok
97	Ashy Tailorbird	Common around Sepilok and Labuk Bay
98	Rufous-tailed Tailorbird	Common around Sepilok and Labuk Bay
99	Yellow-bellied Prinia	Seen around SJR and Labuk Bay
100	Bold-striped Tit-Babble	A few seen at SJR and a pair at Labuk Bay
101	Chestnut-winged Babbler	Common around RDC
102	Rufous-fronted Babbler	One heard at RDC
103	Chestnut-rumped Babbler	A few seen at RDC
104	Black-capped Babbler	Common around RDC
105	Asian Fairy-bluebird	One seen at SJR
106	Oriental Magpie-Robin (adamsi)	Common throughout Sepilok
107	White-crowned Shama	Common at SJR, a few seen at RDC
108	Asian Glossy Starling	Common
109	Common Hill Myna	Common at SJR
110	Common Myna	A few seen at KLIA
111	Javan Myna	Common
112	Greater Green Leafbird	One seen at RDC
113	Lesser Green Leafbird	A few seen at RDC canopy walkway
114	Yellow-rumped Flowerpecker	Common around Sepilok
115	Orange-bellied Flowerpecker	Common at SJR
116	Scarlet-backed Flowerpecker	Common at SJR
117	Plain Sunbird	A few seen along Kingfisher trail
118	Ruby-cheeked Sunbird	A few seen at RDC
119	Brown-throated Sunbird	Common at SJR
120	Red-throated Sunbird	A few seen at RDC canopy walkway
121	Van Hasselt's Sunbird	Seen from Bristlehead Tower
122	Copper-throated Sunbird	One seen at RDC car park
123	Olive-backed Sunbird	A few seen at SJR and RDC
124	Crimson Sunbird	Common at SJR
125	Long-billed Spiderhunter	One at SJR
126	Little Spiderhunter	A few seen at SJR and RDC
127	Purple-naped Spiderhunter	One seen at RDC
128	Spectacled Spiderhunter	One seen at RDC canopy walkway
129	Eurasian Tree Sparrow	Common at SJR
130	Baya Weaver	A few colonies around RDC and Labuk Bay
131	Dusky Munia	Common at SJR
132	Chestnut Munia	Common at SJR