Best Of Tabin Wildlife Reserve - 94 Species Of Birds In Single Day !

4th - 17th january 2008

I was invited by Tabin Wildlife Lodge management to update their birds list with CK for 4 days 3 nights. Took the early morning flight with MASwings from Kota Kinabalu at 0700hrs and arrived at small town of Lahad Datu around 0755hrs.

Transfered to Tabin Wildlife Lodge through gravel road for one and a half hour along the oil palm plantations which belongs to few private companies and managed to see 4 Raptors namely, Black-winged Kite, Rufous-bellied Eagle, Wallace's Hawk Eagle and Crested Serpent Eagle perched on a tree near with the main road.

Type of accomodation available at the lodge

Birding started after lunch around 1430hrs along the Tomanggong road which is excellence for forest birds as it is in between the plantation and secondary forest and trees that grows here around 40 - 50 metres in heights only and provides shades and more lights can penetrates into the floor of the forest, means good for photography too.

Scanning for Bronzed Drongo with local guides

1st day ended at 1800hrs with birds seen and heard around 50 species.

Early starts on the next day and birding was done on the same road like yesterday and main mission for today was to get at least 100 birds ! Good weather the whole day with blue sky helped us a lot to identify many birds especially Bulbuls and Sunbirds together with babblers as well Warblers. Videoscoped Dusky Broadbill nesting too

Jerdon's Baza 1st digiscoped bird !

By lunch time, recorded 73 birds and it breaks my own record as my last count was last week within a day was only 51. So another 27 more birds to go ...

Continued on the same road around 1430hrs, the driver dropped us next to the junction to the mud volcano and walked back slowly to the lodge until around 1830hrs.

Best place in tabin for birding about 26 km altogether

So did we see 100 birds that day ?

No! Only 94 birds. So another excuse to come again next time hahaha!

Moon taken from the lodge ...

Dusky Broadbill with nesting material, my lifer


Wallace's Hawk Eagle perched very low on a tree next to the restaurant while it was still drizzling


Scarlet-rumped Trogon


Female Scarlet-rumped Trogon


Malaysian Blue Flycather


Comfortable room offered by Tabin with attached bathroom and balcony overlooking the river


One of the highlight, Blue-banded Kingfisher ! With the helped of technology, able to see this bird after CK contacted me via cellphone


Pig-tailed Macaque came to the resort area after the rain

It rained on the 16th afternoon until we left the resort on the 17th january after lunch. So birded around the resort and saw 6 species of birds which we didnt see during the walked on the Tomanggong road

Big smile after finding the rare Blue-banded Kingfisher


Trying hard to identify another lifer of mine, Rufous-tailed Jungle Flycatcher which kept on hoping along the river bank


Time to go back ...

30 new species was recorded for the reserve and the last bird seen by CK on the 17th afternoon before lunch was a single White-crowned Hornbill and it completed the 8 species of Hornbills that could be found at Tabin Wildlife Reserve.

Main highlight;

• Malaysian Honeyguide
• Blue-banded Kingfisher
• 2 Rufous-tailed Jungle Flycatchers
• Crested Goshawk (The closest I could get with the scope's minimum close focus)
• White-crowned Hornbill

Number of species seen and heard according to the family;

• Pelicans and commorants - 1
• Storks, Ibises and Spoonbills - 1
• Osprey, Hawks, Kites, Eagles, Harriers, Buzzards and Hawk-Eagles - 7
• Megapodes and Patridges - 1
• Fireback Pheasants - 1
• Rails - 2
• Sandpipers - 1
• Green-Pigeons - 1
• Pigeons - 3
• Parrots - 1
• Large Cuckoos - 2
• Small Cuckoos - 3
• Malkohas, Coucals and Ground-Cuckoo - 5
• Swifts and Treeswifts - 4
• Trogons - 3
• Kingfishers - 4
• Bee-Eaters, Rollers and Hoopoes- 2
• Hornbills - 8
• Barbets and Honeyguides - 3
• Woodpeckers - 7
• Broadbills - 3
• Pittas - 2
• Larks and Swallows - 2
• Cuckoo-Shrikes and Fruithunter - 2
• Minivets - 2
• Leafbirds - 2
• Bulbuls - 8
• Drongos - 2
• Orioles and Fairy Bluebird - 1
• Crows and Bristlehead - 1
• Jungle-Babblers - 5
• Scimitar-Babbler and Wren Babblers - 1
• Tree-Babblers - 2
• Tit-Babblers, Fulvettas, Sibias, Yuhinas and Rail-Babbler - 4
• Shamas and Forktails - 3
• Flyeater, Leaf-Warblers and Reed-Warblers - 1
• Tailorbirds and Prinias - 4
• Jungle Flycathers and Flycatchers - 5
• Paradise Flycatchers, Fantails and Monarchs - 4
• Wagtails and Pipits - 1
• Starlings - 1
• Sunbirds - 6
• Spiderhunters and Honeyeaters - 1
• Flowerpeckers - 2
• Finches and Munias - 2
• Sparrows - 1

Non bird species;

• Orang Utan
• Bornean Gibbons
• Pig-tailed Macaques
• Striped bronze-backed Snake
• Barking Deers
• Wild Boars

Total species within 4 days 3 nights was 128 birds. Total lifer for myself was 6 species.

One of my best birding trip so far with the number of species seen during my stayed as it out numbered other well know birding sites in Sabah. What else can I say, Tabin Wildlife Reserve deserved to be acknowledged as another premier birding spot and a must visit for local and overseas birders.

I would like to extend my deepest thanks for the hospitality by Tabin Wildlife Lodge staffs during our stay and the warmth welcome given to us.

For more info, kindly log to their website at www.tabinwildlife.com.my

Ck's website www.borneobirds.com

Further reading about birding in Tabin, click Borneo's bodacious birding heaven

Pictures digiscoped with Nikon Fieldscope ED82, SRB-Griturn adapter and Fujifilm f31d

Happy birding !

digiscoped quarter moon

13th january 2008

while preparing my stuffs for tomorrow, lit a cigarette outside and when i looked up at the sky, saw this moon which i've been waiting since last month, so setup my scope and camera and took few frames.

tried few magnifications from 1-3x of my fujifilm f31d and this picture was on max zoom and been adjusted using CS3.

click at this pic to view the actual size !

i'll be off to tabin wildlife reserved tomorrow and hope can see my main target, bornean bristlehead which i've been searching with no luck since last year at danum valley and sepilok orang utan centre.

hope can post something from my trip while at tabin as i've been told by the manager that cellphone coverage is available with full bar at their lodge hahaha :p

good shot of brown shrike !

6th january 2008

woke up late today as had ceremony at my parents house last night and was undecided either go birding or continue surfing the internet. then i remembered that few birders at brunei found another vagrant from north asia, northern lapwing at wasan rice field !

only few sighting of this bird in borneo so left around 3 pm alone to tempasuk rice field again hoping who knows to get the same bird hahahah.

after spending few hours looking at some waders, managed to get quite closed with this brown shrike even though it kept on flying from one post to the other each time i walked toward the bird.

at last it perched for few less than a minute and sufficient enough for me to captured this brown shrike before it flew off again with the coming herd of oxes ...





digiscoped with nikon ED82, srb-griturn adapter and fujifilm f31d

and no northern lapwing today ...

happy new year !

4th january 2008

been busy with group from tourism malaysia and only today had chance for short birding after sending my lovely fiance back home from the office as the weather been cloudy since new year.

then drove to one of the rice field at tuaran where i saw the crow-billed drongo last november which is a migratory bird from north asia.

so target this year is; nocturnal birds of borneo !

have a nice new year n hope to see more lifers this year and i'll be off to tabin wildlife reserved for few days birding with my guru ck from the 14-17th january hahaha :p

black-headed munia together with a juvenile


digiscoped with nikon ED82, srb-griturn adapter and fujifilm f31d

where is the lesser adjutant ?

28th dec 2007

while browsing at one of local photographer blog last night, i stumbled upon one picture that really opened my eyes wide !

he got the lesser adjutant at likas wetland centre yesterday hahaha as few of my friends was chasing this bird at the same place last week hoping to get good pictures, but unfortunately not very lucky that day.

so birded at the centre this morning and while waiting at the hide for the lesser adjutant to appeared, saw another lifer, grey-faced buzzard flying very low and then perched on a bare tree without leaves. quite far even with my 30x eyepiece so i took few pictures of the buzzard that lasted for half and hour before it flew off again.

a winter visitor from NE asia


karim and andrew


this is jordan who photographed the lesser adjutant yesterday and a nice chap hehehe :)


main attraction for today as this common kingfisher despite the name, is difficult to get decent pictures hahaha :p

wrapped up in the afternoon hopefully would be able to see the adjutant next week after my tours ...

digiscoped with nikon ED82, srb-griturn adapter and fujifilm f31d

what a nice life !

8th dec 2007

came back from mt. kinabalu yesterday with a group of 35 members from another state in west malaysia, negeri sembilan or in english means, the ninth state which is lies on the south west of the peninsular and took about 45 minutes drive from the city of kuala lumpur.

stayed at sinisan homestay, visited the kinabalu national park and then at sabah tea :) had much fun and laughters and enjoyed my time together with them.

then went birding again this morning at lok kawi beach together with andrew and to my surprised, many red-necked stint today !

dedicated to mtpn group, thanks guys :D

greater sand plover


pacific golden plover


common ringed plover (uncommon for Borneo)


ruddy turnstone standing on the rock while red-necked stint was busy preening themselves ...

taken with nikon ED82, srb-griturn adapter and fujifilm f31d

then before i left, another agent called and booked me 4 birding trip next february with a group from japan, yahoo !

happpy birding and digiscoping :)

nice and warm day

3th december 2007

technology really helps birders especially when we saw lifer around the city :) andrew and sinooorita found and photograped bar-tailed godwit at tg aru water village opposite sutera harbour resort in the morning during low tide.

so went this morning and start shooting with them and saw the godwit not far from where i parked my car hehehe. walked slowly towards the bird and less than 50 metres, done ! captured live view and many shots of the bar-tailed godwit and few other waders too.

but found out, most of my shots wasnt sharp enough and some of them was overexposed ...

enjoy the pictures !

some of the great, little and chinese egrets gathering on the edge of the water


houses built on stilts where mixed tribes lives there


andrew taking pictures of the pacific golden plover together with the bar-tailed godwit


this grey-tailed tattler was heading towards me so i couldnt resist taking few frames of it even though it is really difficult to take pics while panning and focusing at the same time on the scope ...


one of my favorite shot today :p little-green heron less than 10 metres !


new addition to my list this year, bar-tailed godwit hahaha :)

thanks to andrew and karim today had much fun shooting under the blue sky

happy birding and digiscoping :o

taken with nikon fieldsc0pe ED82, srb-griturn adapter and fujifilm f31d

1st winter black-headed gull

8th december 2007

been looking for the black-headed gull since last year, i went to tg. aru water village opposite the sutera harbour resort. there was fire the engulfed the village last october few days before the Eid festival after ramadhan.

saw 2 1st winter gulls perched on the stilts on the 4th december together with great, chinese and little egrets, many whiskered terns and pacific reef egret.

then andrew sani came and start shooting with his new toys; 40D with 100-400mm IS L lens !

digiscoped with nikon fieldscope ED82, srb-griturn adapter and fujifilm f31d

happy birding !

new species again !

30th november 2007

weather has been bad recently where sabah was hit with two typhoons and didnt have chances to take pictures. then 2 nights ago met with ck, dennis and jollence talking about new adobe photoshop CS3.

then i asked them is there another possibilities that new bird might be blown off from its route to sabah, and they replied; "yes". hahaha then went birding the next day planned looking for the common kingfisher but didnt have the chanced to digiscope.

and today after sending my mum to the office, i drove again to my old patch, tuaran beach resort or known as sabandar bay resort where i used to work as a resident bird guide together with jollence few years back.

saw the common kingfisher, but too dark and again the peregrine falcon in flight then perched on the telecommunication tower same like yesterday. managed to get good pics of peacefull dove, white-breasted wood-swallow and juvenile yellow bittern.

on my way back home, stopped by at one of the marsh area and saw small flocks of pacific golden plover and suddenly one unidentified bird flew in and landed just in front of me and guess what ?

hahahahahahahahahaha my lifer, grey-headed lapwing (vanellus cinereus) !

juvenile yellow bittern

taken with nikon fieldscope ED82, srb-griturn adapter and fujifilm f31d

happy digiscoping !

some of my latest digiscoped pictures

26th november 2007

concentrated at tuaran rice fields and saw crow-billed drongo perched on the electric wires together with the spotted-necked dove and crested myna but unfortunately the drongo was fast and couldnt get picture of it, so this is few decent pictures of other birds :)

happy digiscoping !

little egret

common greenshank

striated grassbird


black-winged kite

digiscoping adapter

22rd november 2007

after waited for few months, at last my universal adapter arrived from srb-griturn 4 days ago and only today had chances to try it out at one of the popular beach, tg. aru where normally locals go 4 fresh coconuts, and picnic around the beach on weekends :)

birds can be seen around tanjung aru such as house swifts, java sparrows and green imperial pigeons. and i managed to get very good pictures of this blue-naped parrot after few rejected pictures being deleted from the card hahaha :o

nikon fieldscope ED82, DS30x eyepiece, srb-griturn adapter and fujifilm f31d


happy birding and digiscoping !