Blue Eyed Birder: Borneo for Bird's Wildlife & Nature - Day 9

It was to be a very long day at Sepilok RDC. In fact I am trying to recall the sequence of walks. The first two were pre and post breakfast but the ‘what we saw when’ has sort of merged into a big sweaty mess! We began on the impressive canopy trail where we saw the Flying Squirrels the night before and it was even more impressive in the daylight being the best part of 100 feet up and with trees towering over 160 feet above that! There was plenty at eye level too and there were clearing to look down into.

Pig-tailed Macaques were in control of the walkways for a time and the signs wisely suggested that you stay back and let them go about their business. A male Red-bearded Bee-eater was watching the world with yellow eyes and a singing Greater Racket-tailed Drongo was found displaying to his mate with those amazing tail appendages waggling along behind him. A Banded Bay Cuckoo came into a tree next to us and I think this was the second Cuckoo that I only heard in Sri Lanka whilst there were a host of other new birds to be had with small Raffle’s Malkohas clambering around the trees along with Black-eared (no longer Blue) Barbets, White-bellied Erpornis, and several Babblers with Fluffy-backed Tit-Babbler and a brief but singing Black-throated Babbler.

Red-bearded Bee-eater

Pig-tailed Macaque

Spiderhunters seemed particularly common with Little complemented by a selection of new ones with Long-billed, Yellow-eared and the ex-Sunbird – Purple-naped. The smaller ones are especially tricky to actually watch for more than a second before they move on to the next bloom much in the same way that White-tipped Sicklebill Hummingbirds do in Costa Rica. There were a few Sunbirds with Crimson and Brown-throated but we did see Plain and Ruby-cheeked too.

Brahminy Kite - juvenile

Banded Bay Cuckoo

Yellow-vented, Spectacled and Asian Red-eyed Bulbuls moved through the canopy in gangs and a male Diard’s Trogon with his pink neck boa stared at us for a while before dropping from view. There were birds everywhere but much was mobile and you had to be quick. Swiftlets zoomed around and amongst them were a couple of smartly turned Silver-rumped Spinetails with paddle wings.

I think that breakfast happened at some stage because my Stork-billed Kingfisher pics from that time came next and they were taken whilst eating!

Stork-billed Kingfisher

Cannonball Tree - Couroupita guianensis

Dillenia suffruticosa

After heading back out there were some specific targets in the jungle and a trail took us to where we could already hear the plaintive whistles of Black-crowned Pitta. The rapid fire of shutters told us that he was there and we timed it right for him to pop in to visit his mealworm feeding station on an appropriately photogenic log. What a stunning bird. He hopped up and down singing occasionally and then nabbing the odd wiggler. Even in the dark jungle understorey he glowed.

Black-crowned Pitta

A microscopic male Rufous-backed Dwarf Kingfisher posed for everyone by a small stream and like many such colourful birds here, managed to blend in with ease.

Rufous-backed Dwarf Kingfisher

Nevin had gone on ahead scouting and we soon followed after the Pitta had moved away. Suddenly he was scampering back towards us and we could hear angry hooting and grunting up ahead. He had stumbled on a female Bornean Orangutan with a very young infant and older youngster close to the path and she was not happy about the proximity and started breaking off branches and getting agitated so he hastily came away.

We stayed back until she had moved further in and cautiously continued until we could see that we had got past her. Strangely enough she soon followed us through the trees and settled down silently; almost keeping an eye on us and allowing us all some quality time before she decided to take the family off into the trees with much swooshing of branches.

Mum's foot and baby's hand

It was here that we found our Sabah Partridges and two males blithely walked up to us on the track before singing from just a few feet away in the verges. There previously used to be a screen and feeding station but the birds over time worked out that anyone on the upper trail would probably have food with them!

Sabah Partridge

Even more bizarrely a Black-capped Babbler started singing and then appeared at Lee’s feet for a few mealworms all the while producing his melancholy refrain. The tress above suddenly had a feeding flock of in quick succession we had more Raffle’s Malkohas, Ashy Tailorbirds, Velvet-fronted Nuthatches, Lesser Green Leafbirds, a dinky barred Buff-rumped Woodpecker, several Grey-hooded Babblers, Rufous-winged Philentoma and Grey-cheeked Bulbuls.

Black-capped Babbler

And the Sabah Partridge came back for another sing!

Sabah Partridge

It was incredibly hot and humid and we were all running low on water and as if by magic Stam appeared through the trees carrying spare water for us but was that a tell-tale clinking from his backpack? Oh yes! Coffee time too which was also very much appreciated.

Cheritra freja pallida

Never saw who makes these little mud chimneys but they were all across the forest floor and are not connected to the ground but on random leaves and such like.

Bristlehead was still eluding us and Lee and Nevin were playing both that species and Bornean Black Magpie as they sound similar to each other and one sometimes attracts the other. Sure enough the red-eyed glossy Magpies came to see us but of the read headed beasts there was no sign.

Bornean Black Magpie

Our world was as usual full of Squirrels with Prevost’s and microscopic Bornean Pygmy seen frequently along with another new species the Cream-coloured Giant Squirrel with its amazingly long tail. There were several different Skinks and a couple of small Flying Lizards which glided between the trees looking about as prehistoric as you can get!

Flying Lizard - not flying!

Skink

Back to the Jungle Resort for lunch and a break – some swam - I slept and then out again for a pre-dinner walk once again at the RDC. We began once again up on the canopy walk the Black & Yellow Broadbills did their best to out shine the Pitta for bird of the day. Two male Diard’s Trogons panted in the extreme heat and we also found a pair of even more vivid Red-naped Trogons – a small species.

Black & Yellow Broadbill - this was one of my favourite birds of the whole trip

Black & Yellow Broadbill - Mr Lee

Diard’s Trogon - Mr Lee

Diard’s Trogon - Helen Stedman

Diard’s Trogon

Red-naped Trogon - Me Lee

Red-naped Trogon - female

Red-naped Trogon - male

A group of Fiery Minivets were high in the spares canopy of one of the Flying Squirrel trees and were joined by a beady eyed and vert stripy Yellow-vented Flowerpecker giving us two more new ones in the same view. We picked up Black-winged Flycatcher-Shrikes and White-bellied Erpornis again and everyone at last got a good view of the Velvet-Fronted Nuthatch. Interestingly almost every image on line shows them with dark legs but the ones we saw in Borneo all had vivid red legs?

Velvet-Fronted Nuthatch

Asian Red-eyed Bulbul

A large Assasin Bug

Treehugger - Tyriobapta torrida - male

Treehugger - Tyriobapta torrida - female which I assumed was a different species

As dusk fell we picked up a couple of Whiskered Treeswifts amongst the Swiftlets and both Rhinoceros and Black Hornbills headed off noisily to roost. It had been a very tough day on foot and the crew had done exceedingly well. I think sleep came easy for all.

Everywhere you go there has to be a Barking House Gecko or three

Blue Eyed Birder

Friday, 4 July 2025

Borneo for Bird's Wildlife & Nature - Day 9 - 11th June 2025

No comments:

Post a Comment