Trip report: Malaysian Borneo (and a Peninsular Malaysia postlude) (Part 1)
4th April 2010 – 19th April 2010
Nick Talbot and Philip Griffin
This trip to Sabah was a mixture of adventure tourism, family holiday and
bird-watching with two families of four including four children aged 5, 4, 3
and 2.
Borneo Birding Guides – We spent two days being guided by Azahari ‘Jason’ Reyes
who is based at Kota Kinabalu. Trips were made with Jason to Mount Kinabalu
(10/4) and Tambunan Rafflesia Information Centre/Crocker Range (13/4). We
heartily recommend Jason to any birders considering going to Borneo. He is
extremely diligent and capable and, in hindsight, we should have just paid his
expenses to get him over to Sepilok for the first part of our trip as well. As
it was, Jason was the only birding guide we had access to in Borneo. We did try
to book Johnny Lim at Sepilok Jungle Resort and did manage to catch up with him
for a chat but he wasn’t available to take us out birding during our stay. We
were assisted by really good tour guides on several trips particularly Joe
Harry at Kinabatangan River and the Sepilok Rainforest Discovery Centre.
Field Guides – The two new books (Susan Myers Birds of Borneo and Phillipps’
Field Guide to the Birds of Borneo) were really useful for the days we weren’t
with Jason. The art works and the maps in both guides are excellent. We both
have the MacKinnon & Phillipps Borneo, Sumatra, Java & Bali book but the
specific guides for Borneo were essential.
General Points – Our experience of Borneo as a birding destination was a
brilliant if frustrating one. We identified a total of 236 species (including
Peninsula Malaysia), the total for Sabah was 173 (3 of which were heard only).
We spent a lot of time in the rainforest hearing bird calls (some of which we
couldn’t identify) and catching inconclusive glimpses of birds.
Birding tourism in Borneo seems to us to be in its infancy and it was difficult
to find infrastructure at some sites.
The countryside seemed safe, the people were hospitable and many of them spoke
good English. We were careful not to drink the tap water but weren’t
particularly careful about where we ate and didn’t get sick. The weather was
unbelievably good (except if you have a problem with humidity). It rained
overnight once and once during the day we travelled from Sandakan to Kota
Kinabalu. All of our transfers between hotels and airports turned up and the
planes, buses and boats we were relying on didn’t break down. Even the
air-conditioning worked despite warnings about it at SJR.
It was mildly annoying to see that some sites, including the ORC, charged
non-Malaysians more to enter.
The amount of rubbish lying around, particularly plastic, is a bit disturbing.
The mornings were by far the best time to go birding. We did come across some
amazing ‘bird waves’ later in the day, but the general activity of birds seemed
to be greatest between 0630hr and 0900hr.
Birding lowlights –
Missing the Bornean Bristlehead after 5 attempts and seeing not one pitta or
night bird.
Birding highlights –
Bird waves on Mount Kinabalu including all three laughingthrushes as well as
Bornean Treepie and Short-tailed Green-Magpie in a single wave, seeing both
Mount Kinabalu partridges, Mountain Serpent-Eagle and the Whitehead’s trio of
trogon, spiderhunter and broadbill.
Seeing five species of hornbill at Sepilok.
Thanks to various Birding Aus contributors (including Laurie Knight, Carl
Clifford, Chris Sanderson and Alan McBride) for their postings on birding in
Sabah.
North east Borneo 4th April - 8th April
Sandakan (S)
Sepilok Jungle resort (SJR)
Rainforest Discovery Centre - Sepilok (RDC)
Orangutan Rehabilitation Centre - Sepilok (ORC)
Kinabantang River (KR)
Sandakan (S)
We didn’t do any birding trips here. We arrived and departed through the
Sandakan Airport, spotting a few birds around the airport and from the bus. We
also visited the town once making an unsuccessful attempt to find some
mangroves near the town. We eventually spotted some across the harbour but they
turned out to be on a nearby island.
Sepilok Jungle resort (SJR)
We were based here for four nights. It is a short walk from the ORC and a short
car trip to the RDC (costing abut 2RM per person, less than a dollar, each way
from the SJR). The birding in the gardens at SJR is exceptional. While looking
after our kids at the pool we saw three species of hornbill (Oriental Pied,
Bushy-crested and Black) on various days and a little clump of bushes outside
one of our rooms yielded three species of sunbird, Greater Coucal,
Blue-throated Bee-eater, Buff-rumped Woodpecker, Ashy Tailorbird and several
others. Some other highlights there included Raffle’s Malkoha, Brown-throated
Sunbird, Lesser Green-Leafbird, Dusky Munia, Blue-eared Kingfisher,
Stork-billed Kingfisher and Olive-winged Bulbul.
SJR has a lot of ponds that are good bird-watching spots. You mainly use raised
wooden walkways to get around SJR and these are pretty good vantage points as
well. They were working on replacing some of the wood around SJR with concrete
because the wood rots so fast in that climate.
As a place to stay, we would recommend SJR for birders and adventure tourists
but not for people with young children. The rooms are basic but reasonably
priced, the mood is casual and everyone staying there is really focused on
getting out on tours. We found the food basic but good (particularly the jam!)
and the staff friendly (despite what it says in Lonely Planet). They went out
of their way to send-on a parcel after we had left for Kota Kinabalu.
There is quite a lot of garbage in the gardens, we particularly noticed piles
of broken asbestos roofing material that made us uneasy. Some of the rules (and
there are lots of rules) were puzzling. It has a great pool but it costs 5RM
(nearly $2) per person per day to use it. The pool is the only thing for
children to do. The gardens aren’t great for children to play in (particularly
because there are no railings on some of the wooden walkways going over water)
Rainforest Discovery Centre - Sepilok (RDC)
We did three organized trips here with Joe Harry from SJR and several on our
own. The trips included a spotlighting walk on our first night that yielded no
birds at all, although Joe Harry did find us a Slow Loris and several other
interesting nocturnal inhabitants.
Our main target at RDC was the Bornean Bristlehead which we failed to find. The
best site for them is at the Bristlehead Tower - part of the canopy walkway -
but noisy construction work was going on at this site every time we visited
(except the night walk) and we saw very few birds there as a result.
We did bump into Ooi Beng Yean, Malaysian digiscoper of note, on three
occasions at RDC. He and a mate were spending a week from dawn till dusk at
the centre and they got onto several birds that we didn’t see including Bornean
Bristlehead (but away from the tower), Chestnut-winged Babbler and Red-naped
Trogon.
Among our highlights in the less noisy parts of the rainforest were
Rufous-tailed Shama, Crested Serpent-Eagle, Long-billed Spiderhunter, Greater
Racquet-tailed Drongo, Plaintive Cuckoo, Rhinoceros and Bushy-crested Hornbills
in the same tree. We also saw a large flock (approx 20) Bushy-crested Hornbills
flying to a roost near SJR on the way back from RDC. A purple patch near the
suspension bridge across the lake brought Blue-eared Kingfisher, Red-and-black
Broadbill and White-crowned Shama. Joe Harry also found us a clearing on the
Pitta Trail that contained our only Scaly-breasted Bulbul and Red-bearded
Bee-eater of the trip. A possible Red-billed Malkoha (with blue-grey tail with
white tips, blue-grey underwing and reddish underparts) was also at the same
clearing but we couldn’t be positive on the ID.
RDC is an exceptional bird-watching site, particularly the canopy walkway in
the early morning when workers aren’t whacking the metal poles repeatedly with
hammers. The main trails were easy to walk and well maintained but the
footpaths, like the Pitta Trail, were hard going. Other good sites were where
the forest meets the lake near the entrance and along the tracks when they go
through open areas such as the grasslands around the Hornbill tower or where
trees have fallen to make clearings along the other rainforest trails.
Orangutan Rehabilitation Centre - Sepilok (ORC)
We visited this site twice on the same day. On both occasions the main target
was the Orangutan at the feeding times. We saw a couple of Orangutans on each
visit. We also did a walk on one of the trails and picked up several birds from
the Orangutan viewing platform. On the first visit, Joe Harry, who was guiding
another tour group, pointed out our first Brown Barbet of the trip, we also got
Verditer Flycatcher and Rufous-tailed Tailorbird. Slightly frustratingly, Joe
also saw a bristlehead at the ORC, but we weren’t in the vicinity. On our
second visit, two raptors were flying far overhead, Philip took a couple of
quick photos (using a Nikon D300s) of them before we concentrated on the
Orangutans. They turned out to be a Crested Serpent-Eagle and a possible
Changeable Hawk-Eagle. We either identified or confirmed identifications of
quite a few species, particularly raptors, by reviewing photos that we had
taken in the field.
Kinabatangan River (KR)
This was an eight hour trip leaving Sepilok at around mid-day and getting back
to the resort after 2000hr. Despite the long bus ride there and back (two hours
each way) it was the tourism highlight for the entire trip including for the
children. We were expertly guided by Joe Harry who played the various roles of
tour guide, boat driver, animal spotter and all-round entertainer. He really
engaged with the children and found the Long-tailed Macaques and Proboscis
Monkeys that everyone was after without compromising our opportunities to watch
birds. Quite a balancing act.
The birding highlights were Jerdon’s Baza, Rufous-bellied Eagle and Wallace’s
Hawk-Eagle (spotted by Eve, Nick’s two year old daughter, who came up with her
first ever ‘There’s a bird daddy!’), a flock of eight White-bellied Woodpecker,
six Oriental Darter, three groups of Black-and-red Broadbill, each one with a
nest hanging over the water and then two Rhinoceros Hornbill (bringing the
tally to four species for the river trip) and a Stork-billed Kingfisher.
North west Borneo 9th April - 14th April
Kota Kinabalu (KK)
KK has a lot of places for waterbirds including the harbour and mangroves. We
were based at the Shangri-La Rasa Ria resort which is about 40 minutes north of
KK next to the Dalit Bay Golf Club and we travelled through the mangroves each
time we went into town. We picked up Cattle, Great, Pacific Reef and Little
Egrets in these areas as well as many Collared Kingfisher and Black-winged
Stilt.
Rasa Ria Resort (RR)
This is a real resort. You could spend a week at Rasa Ria without leaving the
grounds and not be bored (or even realizing you were in Borneo). It is
beautiful, safe, well run and has everything families with children are after.
It also has some reasonably good birdwatching including Pied Triller,
Olive-backed Sunbird, Blue-throated Bee-eater, Chestnut Munia, Zebra Dove,
Brown-throated Sunbird and Oriental Magpie-robin in the gardens,
Chestnut-breasted Malkoha, Greater Coucal, Striated Grassbird, Dusky Munia and
Yellow-bellied Prinia in the horse riding area, Tabon Scrubfowl, Bold-striped
Tit-babbler, Olive-winged Bulbul and Asian Palm-Swift in the Nature Reserve and
Yellow Bittern and Purple Heron at the Golf Course. Apparently the grassland
near the golf course is a site for Paddyfield Pipit as well but we didn’t get a
chance to look for it. The resort has a bird list and a 0630hr bird watching
tour of the nature reserve several mornings a week.
Mount Kinabalu (MK)
Jason picked us up from the resort at 0500hr and drove us to Mt Kinabalu with
the aim of getting us to the Bukit-Ular walk near the Power Station at exactly
0630hr. This is the best time and location for the hard-to-find endemic
Everett’s Thrush. He succeeded in getting us there on time (including rushing
us past a Chestnut-hooded Laughingthrush and an Ashy Drongo) but we didn’t find
the thrush. That was just about the only dip of the day. He knew the species we
were after, their calls, the best places to look for them and the best way to
see them once you got close enough to one to have a chance. After a frustrating
time in Sepilok this was fulfilling and exciting birding. Here’s the full list
of what he found between 0630hr and 1500hr with a couple of breaks to eat -
Bornean Whistling-thrush, Chestnut-hooded Laughingthrush, Ashy Drongo,
Red-breasted Partridge, Mountain Wren-Babbler, Sunda Bush-warbler, Mountain
Tailorbird, Besra, Chestnut-crested Yuhina, Grey-chinned Minivet, Black-capped
White-eye, Mountain Black-eye, Little Pied Flycatcher, Mountain Leaf-Warbler,
Bornean Whistler, Crimson-headed Partridge (three including one juvenile),
Bornean Treepie, Little Cuckoo-Dove,
White-throated Fantail, White-browed Shortwing, Bornean Forktail (two including
one juvenile), Grey-throated Babbler, Snowy-browed Flycatcher, White-browed
Shrike-babbler, White-bellied Erpornis, Mountain Serpent-Eagle, Yellow-breasted
Warbler, Ochraceous Bulbul, Sunda Laughingthrush, Eye-browed Jungle-Flycatcher,
Short-tailed Green-Magpie, Black-sided Flowerpecker, Whitehead’s Trogon and
Bare-headed Laughingthrush.
Apart from the Bukit Ular trail he mainly used the Silau Silau and Mumpening
Trails. He used calls to attract some of the birds but mostly he found the
correct habitat and knew the calls of all the species in the area. He found the
Mountain Serpent-Eagle by picking up the call just as we were coming to a
clearing that enabled us to see it soaring above the mountain.
Tambunan Rafflesia/Crocker Range (TR)
Jason picked Philip up at 0500hr at Rasa Ria and went to the Tambunan Rafflesia
Information Centre in the Crocker Range. By 0640hr they were at the gates of
the centre and were birding the road nearby. Sunda Cuckoo-shrike, Temminck’s
Babbler, Mountain Barbet (only heard at Mount Kinabalu but seen here), a
seemingly never-ending flock (at least 13) of Long-tailed Broadbill flew across
the road as well as two near a nest, Yellow-bellied Warbler to go with the
Yellow-breasted from Mount Kinabalu, Whitehead’s Broadbill, Whitehead’s
Spiderhunter, Asian Brown Flycatcher and several other species were seen from
this section of road. Having seen the Whitehead’s Trogon at Mount Kinabalu a
few days previously, Jason was very pleased to have found the Whitehead’s trio.
We tried several other places for amongst other things, Fruithunter, but the
only other new bird after several hours here was Gold-naped Barbet. Jason went
and asked about any flowering Rafflesia, but there sounded like there was a
tired specimen on its last day and it would have cost some AU$40 for a look.
We moved to the Sugud Forest Reserve where Jason soon passed a group of his
friends out birding, digiscoping and taking more conventional (DSLR)
photographs.
I thought these extra eyes might improve our chances of finding out something,
but the information highway was moving in the other direction, and the newly
met guys took advantage of Jason finding several birds such as Black-and-yellow
Broadbill, Red-crowned Barbet and to general acclamation, a Banded Kingfisher.
Glimpsed briefly were a Diard’s Trogon, Maroon-breasted Philentoma, Green Iora
and a few others.
We then headed down to the coast, hoping to find Malaysian Plover at Lokawi
Beach. They were there, along with Kentish, Lesser Sand, Grey and Pacific
Golden Plovers; also Terek and Common Sandpipers, Ruddy Turnstone and the other
target for this area, Chinese Egret.
On a roll, we headed to Tanjung Aru Beach, to find a Blue-naped Parrot, which
showed itself before we’d even left the car in the carpark. It was surprising
how big the parrots were in real life. On the way back to the Rasa Ria, we
stopped at a couple of the many wetlands in the Kota Kinabalu area, adding a
few birds for the trip but not of any particular consequence other than that.
Manukan Island (Man Is)
This was primarily a snorkeling trip but we did see a large flock of Whiskered
Tern on the way and Asian Glossy Starling on Manukan. We looked briefly for the
Mangrove Whistler and Tabon Scrubfowl on Manukan but didn’t find either.
Mamutik Island (Mam Is)
We had a little more time for birding here and saw Green Imperial-Pigeon and
Zebra Dove. The snorkeling was excellent here, and our guide said we’d see many
“Nemo-fish”. He wasn’t wrong, which went down well with the younger members of
the entourage.
Peninsular Malaysia 15th April - 19th April (Philip Griffin alone)
Forest Research Institute of Malaysia (FRIM)
After saying goodbye to his wife who flew back to Adelaide at the end of the
Borneo leg, and then Nick and his family the following morning prior to their
flying back to Melbourne, Philip and his 3 & 5 year-old sons stayed in
Peninsular Malaysia for another 4 nights at the famous Fraser’s Hill.
We were picked up at the KL airport hotel by a taxi which I’d organized through
the accommodation that I’d booked at Fraser’s Hill. The taxi driver knew I
wanted to drive to Fraser’s via FRIM, and had directions from Google Maps
printed off so that he could find it. A good plan, but it didn’t quite work,
and the driver stopped perhaps 8 times to try and find someone who knew where
FRIM actually was, each time getting back into the taxi more incredulous at
people’s ignorance of FRIM’s whereabouts and increasingly frustrated that FRIM
wasn’t properly marked by roadsigns.
He found it eventually, but it was pretty hot by this stage and the boys and I
went for a walk along a trail and up some pretty challenging rocky slopes to a
very narrow and precarious tree-top walk. Birdwatching was not the main focus,
although a gorgeous Black-headed Bulbul was nice.
If a) you could find it, b) you could get there earlier than 1100hr c) you had
some familiarity with calls, FRIM holds some real promise for birdwatching.
Fraser’s Hill (FH)
I wouldn’t have gone here were it not for reading in Wheatley’s Where to watch
birds in Asia that March/April were the best months to visit Fraser’s Hill
(Bukit Fraser). So even though it meant being alone with the boys and the
complexity that brings to birdwatching; we’d booked tickets to Borneo, we were
flying in and out of KL, it was April.
It was such a contrast to the forest birding in Sabah, and unlike the Rasa Ria,
which could have been any number of tropical paradise resorts around the world,
this was definitely Malaysia, and we hardly saw any Anglos in the five days
that we were there.
The birding was magnificent and all possible on foot. The local guide, Durai,
is a great character, generous, funny, engaging, excellent company and knows
Fraser’s Hill like any part of his anatomy you care to mention. My boys
sometimes came with me, and sometimes hung out at Durai and his wife Mina’s
house, who have an 8-year-old son. Durai’s son’s English is slightly better
than my two sons’ totally non-existent Tamil, so they had great fun.
Durai only accompanied me on two walks, but they were terrific. As ever the
key to his usefulness was his knowledge of vocalizations.
The fact that I’d already had 10 or so days in Borneo was very helpful by this
stage.
Fraser’s had the Lesser Racket-tailed Drongo to go with the Greater that we’d
seen in Sepilok and the Rasa Ria; here was White-rumped Munia rather than Dusky
and Chestnut of Borneo; here Common Green-Magpie rather than the Short-tailed
seen at Mount Kinabalu.
And on it goes.
It would have been different if I’d been there alone, but my boys got heaps out
of the experience and that’s probably even more important, plus I got to see
some great birds anyway.
It’s a totally fascinating place, Fraser’s Hill. From parts of it you can see
the Genting Highlands in the distance, which look like part of Surfer’s
Paradise transplanted to a denuded ex-forest hill-top. Fraser’s is from
another time, there’s a fairly strong movement – of which Durai is part – to
retain the relatively undeveloped feel of the place.
Long may it remain as it is.
Kuala Selangor Nature Park (KS)
On our final day, with a late-evening flight to Adelaide from KLIA, I thought
we should spend the time at Kuala Selangor. The same taxi driver as before,
this time he knew the way very definitely.
Again, it was too late in the day to be perfect, but the boys and I wandered
around the tracks, searched for crabs and pittas on the mangrove boardwalk,
climbed towers and ran out of drinking water (well I did, by giving them all of
mine).
We were dropped off at 1130hr and picked up again at 1530hr, which gave us
enough time to get a good sense of the park.
Birding highlights were a male Ruby-cheeked Sunbird fighting its reflection at
the ticket office, Lineated Barbet, Black-capped Kingfisher and Golden-bellied
Gerygone.
Non-birding highlights – 3 Silvered Leaf-monkeys and an astounding array of
crabs, fiddler and otherwise, in lurid blue, reds and a brilliant yellow.
(For a list of species seen during the trip see Part 2)
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