Birders Of Sabah Borneo Island: December 2024

Sunday, December 22, 2024

Tufted Duck and White-faced Plover?

5-6th December 2024

Upon receiving the bird alert via Sabah Bird Alert page regarding the arrival of Tufted Duck, Alizah, a good friend of mine from Brunei decided to flew last minute despite the severed weather! When we got on the site at Tempasuk Plain, Kota Belud, the ducks were resting on the first plot of the rice field in the rain.

Tufted Duck considered a rare migrants from North Asia for Sabah with inconsistent sightings over the years including Northern Pintail and Cotton Pygmy-Goose. After Tempasuk Plain, visited Kuala Abai and Lok Kawi Beach for the shorebirds

Bird list at eBird:

Tempasuk https://ebird.org/checklist/S204504265
Kuala Abai https://ebird.org/checklist/S204582235
Penampang https://ebird.org/checklist/S204582513
Lok Kawi Beach https://ebird.org/checklist/S204584166

Testing the new Swarovski Optik AX Visio

Tufted Duck identified by the AX Visio

Looking at her lifer through the Swarovski Optik ATC56 scope

Got the Large-tailed Nightjar too!

Identified by the AX Visio

Morning from Tempasuk Plains, Kota Belud

At Kuala Abai

Watching the Sandpipers, Plovers and Egrets with the Swarovski Optik BTX95 scope

Penampang rice fields

Cath joined the fun and looking at the might be vagrant White-faced Plover at Lok Kawi Beach

Could this be the White-faced Plover?

Good birding!

Seabirds Identification Workshop

22-24th November 2025

Held at University Malaysia Sabah, the course was attended by bird guides and other tourism players from Sabah, Labuan, Singapore and Melaka conducted by the well known shorebirds expert, Dave Bakewell from Miri, Sarawak. For the field training, we visited Mantanani Island and saw Christmas and Lesser Frigatebirds including the resident Mantanani Scops Owl

I have the new Swarovski AX Visio binocular and it was awesome with its identification features for birds found in Sabah. Identifications were breeze even in flight for the Oriental Honey-Buzzard, Peregrine Falcon, Germain's Swiftlet and other species seen during the workshop!