BY 2024 - Herman and Kit's 7th (!what?!) year

[Kitsafari]

162. Lesser Fish Eagle, Kinabatangan River

 

The only sighting and it was in flight. 

 

[Kitsafari]

163. Little Spiderhunter, RDC/Telupid

 

 

[Kitsafari]

164. Long-tailed Parakeet, Kota Kinabalu

 

On the Vulnerable list, this parakeet is gradually being pushed out in Singapore by the non-native ring-necked and red-breasted parakeets. so it was good to see them in a good-sized flock In Kota Kinabalu. 

 

 

[Peter Connan]

Some more really spectacular birds!

[PeterHG]

Beautiful set of additions!

[xelas]

So many great birds!

Edited May 27 by xelas

[TonyQ]

A really stunning collection from Sabah!

[BRACQUENE]

Excellent additions and some fantastic lifers , not in the least the Bornean Green-Magpie !

[Kitsafari]

@Peter Connan  @PeterHG  @xelas @TonyQ @BRACQUENE Thank you! 

I'm also amazed at the number of new birds and I still haven't gotten others too. A good reason to return. 

[Kitsafari]

Last sprint in Sabah!

 

starting with an EBC

 

165. Buff-vented Bulbul, Gomantong Caves

 

[Kitsafari]

166. Raffles's Malkoha, RDC

 

A beautiful non-parasitic cuckoo distributed in Southeast Asia from southern Thailand to Indonesia and Borneo. it's extirpated in Singapore. 

 

 

[Kitsafari]

167. Pygmy White-eye, Kinabalu Park

 

Also known as the Bornean Ibon and a Bornean endemic, a flock of these "Tiny hyperactive ping-pong ball of a bird" (eBird) was hanging around a tree at our accommodation Zen Garden Resort. Lifer for us. 

 

 

 

[Kitsafari]

a couple of repeats from Herman: 

 

White-throated Fantail

 

Rufous-backed Dwarf Kingfisher

 

 

 

[Kitsafari]

168. Rufous-winged Philentoma, Telupid

 

Another lifer for me, the forest-dweller flew silently into a dense and dark bush right at the back so getting a good shot was a major challenge. only one sighting. The bird, ranging from Thailand to Sumatra and Borneo, has a bluish head (some have more greyish head) and shoulder with rufous wings and a white belly. 

 

 

[Kitsafari]

169. Striated Grassbird, Kota Kinabalu padi fields

 

A highly nervous bird. we saw it a couple of times on the telegraph wires along the road but each time we got out of the vehicle, no matter how slow or quiet we were, it would just dash straight into the bushes.  The last sighting of it was on top of a bush some 200m away from the road, so far that the bird was not disturbed by us. 

Generally, a brown job but of medium size. well distributed from the Himalayan region down to Borneo, the Philippines and Java. 

 

 

[Kitsafari]

Now for the trogons. There are six species in Borneo of which we saw four. The ones we missed were the orange-breasted Trogon and the Cinnamon-rumped Trogon. 

 

170. Diard's Trogon, RDC

 

On the Near Threatened list, the Diard's trogon is found in Peninsular and East Malaysia, Sumatra and Kalimantan. Not a lifer for us but nevertheless, such a beautiful bird in both male and female, as are all trogons. I'm never tired of trying to see them repeatedly. we saw this species a couple of times. 

 

male

 

 

female

 

 

[Kitsafari]

171. Red-naped Trogon, road to Gomantong Caves

 

This species wears a white strip across its chest. Both males and females have bright blue eye-rings and bills. 

 

male

 

female

[Kitsafari]

172. Scarlet-rumped Trogon, Road to Gomantong

 

This trogon has a dark head but the black patch (male) does not extend to its chest. It has an extensive blue gape and a bright blue eyebrow. Unlike its close cousins, it did not show for long. Distributed from southern Thailand down through Malaysia (excluding Singapore) to Sumatra and Borneo. 

 

 

[Kitsafari]

Aikes, before I do the last Trogon (which comes in a separate batch), I realised I missed out a few other birds!

 

173. Sunda Bush Warbler, Kinabalu Park

Also known as Aberrant Bush Warbler, eBird classifies it as an Aberrant Bush Warbler Sunda of the vulcanis group. 

 

[Kitsafari]

174. Van Hasselt's Sunbird, RDC

a brilliantly-coloured sunbird - in the right light! 

 

 

[Kitsafari]

175. Yellow-eared Spiderhunter, RDC

 

It stayed only at the back of the fruiting tree. A lifer for me. The yellow eye ring and a yellow patch on the cheek were diagnostic. 

 

[Kitsafari]

Top of the birdwatcher's list for Bornean birds is the Whitehead's Trio - all Bornean endemics that can be seen in the Kinabalu Park. A lot of the birders and photographers never get all three in one trip, hence Sabah gets a lot of repeat visits so that the birders and photographers can complete the Grand Slam. 

The birds are named after John Whitehead, a British explorer who collected many of the first specimens of the majority of Borneo's endemic wildlife. 

Herman and our two friends had been to Sabah a year ago, but they dipped on the Whitehead's Spiderhunter.

This time, even my guide was stunned that my beginner's luck not only got us the Grand Slam in this trip, but also got us the bare-headed laughing thrush and the fourth Whitehead's species. All are lifer species for me, while the latter two were Herman's lifers. 

Kicking off the whitehead's species is the spectacular

 

176.  Whitehead's Trogon, Kinabalu Park

 

The male trogon showed very well and he was calling a lot, presumably looking for his mate but the female didn't appear. The stunning bird is rather stocky and both males and females have a distinctive silver bib. The trogon can only be found in Borneo's north-central mountains, and Kinabalu Park is the safest bet to find it. 

 

 

 

 

 

Edited May 28 by Kitsafari

[Kitsafari]

177. Whitehead's Broadbill, Kinabalu Park

 

A bright green broadbill but surprisingly tough to see when it blends in so well with all the greenery in the forest, the whitehead's species is much larger than the common green broadbill. The male, which appeared ever so briefly, is heavily streaked on the underparts. Our timing was not perfect as a pair of chicks had just fledged, making it harder to predict where the birds were. It was actually thanks to another guide with a Causasian couple who drew our attention to the two chicks that huddled together, and the female adult coming in to feed. No thanks to the low light and dense branches, it was a challenge getting good clear shots. We did our best!

 

The chicks waiting for parents to feed them.  

 

female

 

male

[Kitsafari]

178. Whitehead's Spiderhunter, Kinabalu Park

 

This is the toughest of the trio to get because they only appear if a tree flowers, so one just has to hope the trees in accessible areas would flower. We heard there was a flowering tree close to the cafe where we would lunch every day. When we arrived just before lunch, a group of HK photographers said they had been waiting for 2 days and that was their third day of waiting and still no spiderhunter. Just as we were setting our things down on the table, the spiderhunters made an appearance. The HK group was so excited and thanked us for bringing the birds out. It was quite a jovial celebration!

This Bornean endemic, found only in the highlands, is unlike  other spiderhunters in Malaysia. It has brown upperparts with bright white streaks on the underparts and a bright yellow vent. 

So this rounds up the Whitehead's trio. But for us, there was a fourth, and that will come in the next post.

 

 

Thanks to this flowering tree, the spiderhunter emerged. there were about 3 of them, but typically this bird forages very high in the trees. 

 

 

[Kitsafari]

179. Bornean Stubtail, Kinabalu Park

 

This tiny ball of a warbler is not regularly seen, especially during dry periods as it seems to like damp and moist weather. A Bornean endemic, it is actually named after Whitehead but only in its scientific name Urosphena whiteheadi. It was only at our second try, coming after a storm overnight, that the cute ground-dweller popped up. Sitting on a perch, it posed for a bit before hopping down. it hung around, so we did too. Then it popped up again, and to our delight, did a little jig on the perch even though we didn't know the purpose of the little dance. Its call is a high-pitch incredibly thin song: “tzin-tzin-tziiiiiinn”, as described by eBird. Hear for yourself in the video especially after the 40th second (too much interferences from camera shutters so you may miss the really thin call)!

 

So this cute bundle of tininess made it a Great Grand Slam of "Whitehead'ses" in Sabah! we were very happy.