VISITED SITES (by WH)

Most of the sites we visited are classic locations that are on most birder's itineraries through Sabah, and a lot of information about them is already available on the internet in various birding trip reports.We also used the siteguide Where to Watch Birds in Asia by Wheatley.

Sepilok

Although there are a lot of good birds in Sepilok, there is significant overlap in species with Danum Valley (where we were going to spend 9 days), so we only paid a brief visit here (one afternoon and one morning). The reason why we included Sepilok in the itinerary at all was of course the Bornean Bristlehead, since Sepilok is reportedly the easiest place to see them in Sabah. This turned out to be a good decision, because we saw a party of 3 birds at Sepilok and we didn't see any at Danum. We spent the first afternoon birding along the road near the Sepilok Forest Edge Resort (excellent lodging and food) and later in the forest proper, where we birded along an old logging road leading to an observation tower. The next morning we birded the garden trail of the resort.

Highlights: Bornean Bristlehead (along the logging road late afternoon), Green Broadbill (the only one of the trip, at the start of the garden trail), Changeable Hawk-Eagle, Bat Hawk (over the lodge at dusk), Cinnamon-headed Pigeon (a male flying past near the observation tower), Barred Eagle-Owl (flushed late afternoon near the observation tower), and many more. Also lots of leeches.

Kinabatangan Jungle Camp

KJC was our basecamp for exploring the floodplain of the Kinabatangan river and its tributaries. The place is best known for the Bornean Ground-Cuckoos that are regularly heard and seen around here, and we were lucky: a vocal bird had just occupied a territory about 50m (!) from the lodge. We could hear it calling a lot, and with effort we got reasonable views of the bird on two consecutive days.
During our stay we did two boat trips a day (early morning and late afternoon), and in between we walked the trail near the lodge. We stayed late on the river one night to try for Oriental Bay-Owl (dipped, wrong time of year) and Buffy Fish-Owl (water level too high, no exposed mudflats). Also we did an excursion one afternoon to the Gomantong Caves nearby, mainly to tick off the swiftlets.

Highlights: Bornean Ground-Cuckoo (see above, also 2 more birds heard but not seen along the river), Storm's Stork (c. 20 birds in total), Bat Hawk (a pair on their nest at the Gomantong Caves, Wallace's Hawk-Eagle, Brown Wood-Owl (by the lodge), 6 species of Hornbill (White-crowned Hornbill being the best one), Blue-headed Pitta (along the first main tributary to the right downstream from the lodge), Black-headed Pitta (along the trail by the lodge), and many others. At night a Malayan Civet (nicknamed "Tom" by Robert :) was visiting the lodge (looking for scraps). From the boat we saw 3 Orang Utans and several groups of Proboscis Monkeys. And did I mention the abundance of leeches?

Danum Valley - Borneo Rainforest Lodge

BRL has some great features: an excellent trail system, a canopy walk, great birds, perfect accommodation and more food than you can handle. Unfortunately it is also very expensive. Another disadvantage is the fact that there are a lot of visitors, which has resulted in the main target species having become unresponsive to tape playback in the vicinity of the lodge.
There are very few species which occur at BRL that are absent from DVFC. Pygmy White-eye is one of them, but we didn't get it. As such it is not really necessary to go to BRL at all. Bottom line: if you bring your girlfriend, you should spend at least some time in BRL; if you're with a group of die-hard birders you might skip it and go straight to DVFC.
We had pre-booked Wang Kong, a specialized bird guide, for the duration of our stay at BRL, and also for the first day at DVFC. Despite the fact that Wang Kong is highly applauded in many other birding trip reports, he disappointed us greatly. He looked very much demotivated and didn't show any sign of enthusiasm whatsoever during our stay. He tried to cancel one of the walks and initially he also did not want to come along to DVFC. On the positive side he did know his birds and their calls, but overall the balance was negative.

Highlights: Blue-banded Kingfisher (seen from the canopy walk by WH and JE, flying across a stream), Giant Pitta (glimpsed by HM), Banded, Blue-headed and Black-headed Pitta, Rufous-chested Flycatcher, Long-billed Blue-Flycatcher, Bornean Wren-Babbler (seen by HM), Black-throated Wren-Babbler, Rufous Woodpecker, both Philentoma's, Finsch's Bulbul, Diard's and Red-naped Trogon, etc etc. WH joined a night drive one night which was pretty unproductive - 1 Buffy Fish-Owl but no other owls or frogmouths, and a few deer. Along the trails we saw two porcupines (spec.) and one evening a Flying Lemur was seen flying across the river behind the lodge (pretty spectacular). Also, more leeches…

Danum Valley - Field Center

As discussed under the previous section, the Danum Valley Field Centre (DVFC) is the low budget alternative for BRL. You basically have two accommodation choices: one is a guest house with private rooms, the other (which we opted for) is a dormitory. This was pretty crowded (lots of researchers here), so we had very little room to put our luggage, and there were many people walking in and out all the time. Also there's no secure place to put your valuables, and it's overpriced (17 EUR per night for a bunk bed!). And last but not least, it is quite far from the restaurant (800m or so, about 10 minutes walking). In hindsight the guesthouse might have been a better choice from a price/quality perspective.
The main trail system at DVFC is a grid (500x500m squares) that was created for research purposes. This makes it easy to walk around with little risk of getting lost. The downside is that the trails are cut straight across the hilly terrain, so there are a lot of steep climbs. Additionally there is another trail starting from behind the restaurant building (the Waterfall trail) and two longer trails that start from the edges of the grid: the Elephant Ridge and the Rhino Ridge trail. Bulwer's Pheasant is sometimes seen along these trails, but it remains very rare.
Trail maintenance is a bit of an issue at DVFC. The grid trails closest to the lodge are generally ok, but their condition deteriorates as you move farther away from the lodge, and the ridge trails are reported to be impassable sometimes due to being overgrown. The resident researchers repeatedly warned us that there is a real risk of getting lost, so watch out. With that warning in mind, we walked the Elephant Ridge trail one day but it had just been recut so we had no problems finding our way. Finding a Bulwer's Pheasant turned out to be more difficult (dipped as expected).

Highlights: Bornean Ground-Cuckoo (rather unexpectedly a bird was calling and subsequently seen on the grid near W10N0), Blue-banded Pitta (brief views for HM and WH in the gully below the Waterfall trail - to reach the spot, walk for about 2300m along the trail, to the highest point just before the trail starts to descend towards the waterfall, then descend down the slope), White-fronted Falconet (only bird of the trip from the restaurant balcony), Great Argus (1 female on the grid), Black-bellied Malkoha, Short-toed Coucal, Reddish Scops-Owl (heard only along the access road), Malaysian Honeyguide (W10-N3), Giant Pitta (2 different birds on the 4th day, near W10-N4 and W10-S5), Blue-headed, Banded and Black-headed Pitta, Pale Blue-Flycatcher (Waterfall trail), Bornean Wren-Babbler (great views along the Waterfall trail), Black-throated Wren-Babbler, Speckled Piculet (in a mixed flock along the Waterfall Trail), Orange-backed Woodpecker, Rufous-tailed Shama, etc etc. Also Barking Deer, another Orang Utan and a Malayan Civet, near the restaurant, and more leeches.

Rafflesia Center

After 2 weeks in the hot and humid lowlands, we flew to Kota Kinabalu and started off on the second leg of our trip. First stop was the Rafflesia Center, which is located along the main road from Kota Kinabalu to Tambunan (about 1.5 hours driving). Most of the birds here occur also at Poring Hot Springs or Mount Kinabalu, but there are a few species which are easier to get at Rafflesia and which make a visit to this site worthwhile.
If there is no Rafflesia flower in bloom when you are there (this is advertised by the entrance), then the Rafflesia Center itself isn't really worth a visit as it is very small and all important birds can be seen from the road. There is a small patch of forest in the garden of the centre though which holds Red-breasted Partridge and possibly Long-tailed Broadbill.

Highlights: Fruit-hunter (at least 5 birds seen), Mountain (Kinabalu) Serpent-Eagle, Blyth's Hawk-Eagle, Mountain and Bornean Barbet, Black-crested (Bornean) Bulbul, Blue-winged (Kinabalu) Leafbird, etc etc. No Whitehead's Spiderhunter unfortunately. No leeches.

Poring Hot Springs

The two main targets at PHS for any visiting birder are of course Blue-banded Pitta and Hose's Broadbill. The pitta was completely silent during our 3 day stay, which was particularly unfortunate for JE and CVA who hadn't seen it at DVFC. We were not too hopeful about scoring the broadbill either, because it is pretty rare and we didn't know of any recent sightings. We got lucky however - on our way up on the Langanan Waterfall trail, we met George Wagner who had just seen a pair of them at the 3100m marker! Needless to say we rushed further up the trail to the spot, but we were too late - the birds were gone. There was a fruiting tree though, so we hung around for a few hours, hoping that the birds would return, which they didn't. Mid afternoon we descended with a solid plan to return at first light the next morning.
Unfortunately it was raining very hard the next morning, which made it pretty much impossible to start the climb. Around 7.30 the rain stopped, so HM and WH decided to go up after all - JE and CVA stayed behind to bird around the lodge. After about 2 hours, HM and WH reached the broadbill stake-out, and… there it was, a fine male, in the fruiting tree, giving fine views for about a minute or so, then it disappeared. We stayed in the area for another hour but the bird didn't come back, so we went back down. During the descent, we were very surprised to stumble upon a cooperative female Giant Pitta near the 1400m marker.
On day 3 (no rain), we climbed the steep trail once again, and arrived too early as the broadbill wasn't there… yet! After an agonizing wait, JE and CVA were very relieved when the male finally flew in from behind us, giving absolutely brilliant views for half an hour or so. There was quite a crowd to witness the event, as we were joined by French birder Marc Thibault and two fellow travellers. Many thanks to George Wagner for the tip!

Highlights: Hose's Broadbill (1 bird at the 3100 marker), Malaysian Hawk-Cuckoo (1 bird just above the bat cave), Rufous-collared Kingfisher (heard only just above the bat cave - it was SO close), Giant Pitta (1 female near the 1400 marker), White-necked Babbler (2300m marker), Long-billed Spiderhunter (2 birds seen by HM and CVA at the 3100 marker), etc etc. A Giant Squirrel was seen near the 2000m marker. Less leeches than expected.

Mount Kinabalu

During our five day stay at Mount Kinabalu, we spent four days birding the trails between the HQ and the Timpohon gate, and one day on the summit trail. Our usual strategy was to drive with our own car all the way up to the Timpohon gate (about 10-15 minutes drive from the main entrance, going up 400m in elevation), and then walk down via the trail system. At the main entrance we would then get a taxi (5 MYR pp or so) to take us back to the Timpohon gate to collect the car and start over again.
The Bukit Ular trail starts right next to the Timpohon gate, so this was usually the first trail of the day. It is good for both partridges, and Whitehead's Trogon is often seen here as well (near the 500m marker), although we didn't see it there despite repeated attempts. From the end of the Bukit Ular trail, you can do some downhill roadside birding and then join the Mempening trail (a Thai birding group got Whitehead's Spiderhunter and Broadbill near the top end of this trail during our stay). Alternative you can continue down along the road a bit more and then take the Silau-Silau trail (left, good for Whitehead's Trogon and White-crowned Forktail), or the Kiau View trail (right, good for Whitehead's Broadbill and Spiderhunter).
On summit trail day, the weather was pretty bad at first, but the skies cleared around 7.30 so we set off after all. The idea was to go up as high as possible to have the best chance of seeing the higher altitude species. HM and WH managed to go all the way up to the Laban Rata resthouse (6 km one way) and back, JE and CVA took a slower pace and got as far as the 4.5 km marker. Ironically, the two "mountaineers" missed the Island Thrush, which is supposedly common high up, whereas JE and CVA saw one fly past at km 4.5 (and they scored a Pygmy Blue-Flycatcher too).

Highlights: Whitehead's Broadbill (seen twice along the Kiau View trail), Whitehead's Trogon (seen once along the Silau Silau trail, heard calling and subsequently taped in just before a heavy shower), Whitehead's Spiderhunter (seen once at the junction of the Kiau View and Pandanus trail), Red-breasted and Crimson-headed Partridge (both seen along the Bukit Ular trail), Mountain Scops-Owl (taped in and ultimately seen very well along the main road, about 250m beyond the turn-off to the Rajah Lodge), Everett's Thrush (feeding on the power station road at dawn near km 3.5 - the very first bird we saw at Mt Kinabalu!), Island Thrush (JE/CVA only), Bornean Stubtail (Bukit Ular, Silau Silau), Friendly Bush-Warbler (seen very well near and beyond km 3 along the summit trail), Eye-browed Jungle-Flycatcher (Kiau View, Pandanus, Silau Silau), Pygmy Blue-Flycatcher (summit trail), Black (Bare-headed) Laughingthrush (lower end of the Kiau View trail), Temminck's Babbler (near Timpohon Gate, Silau Silau trail - not quite as streaked as the image in the book suggests), Mountain Wren-Babbler (confiding family group along the Mempening trail), Mountain Black-eye (common at higher elevations, from the Timpohon gate up), … Virtually no leeches here.

Likas Bay

To fill our final hours prior to catching the return flight at Kota Kinabalu airport, we visited Likas Bay and the nearby Wetland Centre. We were there on a Monday (closing day for the centre) but the concierge let us in without any problem.

Highlights: Copper-throated Sunbird (1 female)