Monday 24 June 2019

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


6 comments:

  1. Great series of images, Matt. You do visit some interesting places.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thank you David, Sepilok is wonderful, I highly recommend it, provide some good quality lowland birds of Borneo in a fairly relaxing setting.

      Delete
  2. Another great report- that squirrel in flight picture is amazing! Also jealous of the slow loris.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thank you Forest, we were so lucky with the Slow Loris, but they seemed to be frequently encountered at RDC.

      Delete
  3. The orangutan looks inquisitive. It's interesting that those birds have eyes that color. Your photos are lovely.

    ReplyDelete