enjoying bornean endemics within 2 days

28th feb - 1st march 2008

when i received email from alastair who hailed from scotland few weeks ago, it seems impossible to see the main star of borneo i.e whitehead's spiderhunter, broadbill and trogon within the space of 2 days because some of the birds could be found only at certain trails, so it takes at least 3 to 4 nights for getting the most of bornean endemics :p

left kota kinabalu city at 5.30 pm where i met alastair (specialist for south african bird species) at jesselton hotel and drove for 2 hours to kinabalu national park where we checked in to fairy garden resort which is located about 3 minutes drive to the park hq.

then off for the 1st bird, mt. scoop owl was calling less than 5 metres but unfortunately i forgot to bring along my torch !

mt. kinabalu

off to the park the next morning and birding was done around timpohon gate where we saw bornean treepie, chesnut-hooded laughingthrush, indigo flycatcher and ashy drongo. walked along bukit ular trail for the everett's thrush but no luck.

breakfast at fairy garden resort then continued birding along silau-silau, and bukit burung trails where this time saw black and crimson oriole and bornean whistler. it rained during lunch, so decided to search for the dark-sided flowerpecker which were seen feeding nearby the restaurant :p

sunset seen from fairy garden resort and hoping for more birds tomorrow

came back to the headquarters around 8.30pm for the mt. scoop owl where al tried and imitated the called for nearly half and hour but luck wasnt on our side ...

last day for the endemic and had a go again for the everett's thrush at bukit ular trail. heard and al saw the crimson-headed partridge and eventually managed to get a full viewed with the scope, female whitehead's broadbill hahaha :)

left kinabalu national park and headed to kiansom waterfall to see the white-fronted falconet but it was drizzling when we arrived, no sign of the bird then stopped at likas lagoon and produced few more lifers to al such as striated grassbird and white-browed crake and his final lifer was the blue-naped parrot found at tanjung aru beach before i sent him to the airport.

endemic that were heard and seen;

• bornean treepie
• chesnut-hooded laughingthrush
• chestnut-crested yuhina
  
• bornean whistling thrush
  
• bornean whistler
• crimson-headed partridge (another pair seen at silau-silau trail before lunch)
• red-breasted partridge (heard)
  
• mt. wren-babbler
• whitehead's spiderhunter
• whitehead's broadbill
• mt. blackeye
• bornean stubtail
  
• dark-sided flowerpecker
• golden-naped barbet
• mt. barbet (heard)
  

with the endemic in al wish list, he managed to see 15 out of 44 endemics of borneo in such a short trip. he'll be back to sabah with his best buddies for another specialty of borneo i.e bornean ground-cuckoo and black-throated wren babbler.

happy birding and digiscoping :)