29 June - 4 July 2011: Poring, Sabah

Just back from a relaxing few days in Sabah, initially to do a survey of bird life around a new Jungle Camp, entrancingly called "Lupa Masa" (Forget Time), and then to spend a few days in the more familiar Poring Hot Springs park area.



The dining area. The place really blends in with its surroundings, and it is not difficult to indeed forget time there. The story of the genesis of this place can be read here. It's not long before the only clock you take notice of is the natural rhythm of the dawn-day-dusk-night.





You sleep in 'sulaps' - ingenious structures housing cozy hammocks complete with mosquito nets. From one of these some lucky visitors had wonderful views of a Yellow-throated Marten family at play.



I wasn't quite as lucky, but was fortunate enough to photograph this male Purple-naped Sunbird while laying on my sleeping-bag!





It was only a few metres away, yet completely oblivious to my presence! Very nice!



Not a bad place to cool off after a hot day in the jungle! Complete with fish which nibble your toes, and the occasional Bornean Forktails and Bornean Whistling-thrush.









The endemic Yellow-rumped Flowerpecker was a common visitor to the dining room verandah.





Black-winged Flycatcher-shrikes were also seen there daily.






















If you visit the camp, look out for this fellow - I think he's wanted for rustling!






















Lupa Masa offers some exciting possibilities for exploring the quieter areas behind the national park. I spent the last few days of my stay in the park proper, trekking up to the spectacular Langanan Waterfall.

You can't go to a place called "Poring' and expect not to get wet, it is RAINforest after all! The rain was fairly predictable, however, usually arriving around midday or early afternoon, giving me clear mornings.



On my first day I decided to reacquaint myself with one of the Park's more well-known residents - Blue-banded Pitta.



This was a markedly brighter bird than the one I photographed at Kubah in Sarawak - too bad I didn't quite get the same photographic opportunities!





The red on this bird is far more intense and 'pure' than on the Kubah bird, and the blue chest-band is broader (cf these pics and these.

I spent a lot of time on the trails hoping for a shot of Bornean Banded Pitta, but a single call was the closest I got for my efforts!



I was pleased to get a look at the Bornean melanops race of Banded Kingfisher. This one was wrestling with a large stick insect. As I watched, it flew to another branch where a juvenile was waiting quietly.



Too bad my camera's autofocus popped out at the critical moment, but I was interested to see that the fledglings are sexually dimorphic - this one is clearly a male.



A bit late now, but a sharp shot at last!



Another juv Banded,another endemic subspecies (brookei), but a Broadbill rather than a kingfisher - rather overflashed! This and Black-and-Yellow were my only broadbills of the trip. Despite much searching, the Hose's remained elusive.





A few non-avian images. The second butterly was huge, and in flight had exactly the colour scheme of a White-crowned Shama (and it was nearly as big!).



Some friendly frogs!






















A Plain Pygmy-squirrel...



...which was not only cute...



...but also fascinating! As it moved around it constantly rotated the rear of its body to rub itself against the bark of the vine - whether to scent-mark, alleviate some itch, or for another reason I couldn't tell.



OK, so sometimes I was bored!



This Grey-headed Canary-Flycatcher seemed to be permanently stationed on this particular dead branch at all times of day and every day. This enabled me to try out every possible variation of ISO, flash setting and shutter speed, and still only come up with a rather mediocre series of photos! I'm hoping one day someone will help me understand how to use flash properly!

I'll finish off with two hard-to-photograph species:



Olive-backed Woodpecker (juv?) male.



Female.





And a rather fine White-necked Babbler.

6th - 11th April 2011: Lahad Datu, Sabah

Actually about an hour and a half north of Lahad Datu, not in Danum Valley I'm afraid, but doing some surveys in oil palm plantations.



It was wet! We were cut off for 24 hrs at one point, with water rising to shoulder height!



Not much yellow on the bellies of Yellow-bellied Prinias in East Malaysia! This is the endemic subspecies 'latrunculus'.






















Bird diversity in oil palm is pretty poor, but around the edges it can get interesting if there is forest remaining, even where it is severely degraded. This menggaris (tualang) tree was home to a pair of nesting Changeable Hawk-eagles, and the same area had Storm's Stork, Black-and-Crimson Pitta, Chestnut-necklaced Partridge, 4 hornbills including Wrinkled, Thick-billed Flowerpecker and Blue-and-White Flycatcher.



Crimson Sunbirds occur wherever there are nectar-producing plants.



A couple of recent arrivals...Red Junglefowl has been introduced to many plantations as a pest control measure...



Little Grebes have arrived under their own steam. We found them in two estates where suitable ponds existed.



Another relatively recent immigrant - this one from the Philippines - Striated Grassbirds frequent open grassy areas and love telegraph wires to belt out their song!



Wandering Whistling-ducks, on the other hand, have wandered up from Kalimantan, and are now the commonest duck in many areas. Compared to Lesser Whistling-duck, Wandering has a blacker, more substantial bill (shoe-shaped rather than triangular), has richer, more orange tones below, and a more pronounced dark line up the back of the neck and over the crown, which 'spills ' onto the face down to about eye level, especially in the loral area.



The flank plumes are much more prominent on Wandering than on Lesser. Compare with some Lessers here.






















In flight, viewed from above, they have obvious whitish uppertail coverts, unlike Lesser.



From below they're a little trickier, but with a decent view, the different bill structure and flank plumes distinguish them.

The wetland areas were the most interesting. Being cut off for a day gave us chance to wander round some effluent ponds, which, despite being well inland, proved a haven for a good variety of migrant and resident waterbirds.





White-browed Crakes were everywhere!



We found just one Moorhen, which proved to be Common rather than Dusky, to our disappointment!



This juv Yellow Bittern, with its browner streaked body and lesser coverts, could be mistaken for a Schrenk's (and had me going for a moment!).



There was quite a good variety of waders in small numbers. There were about 20 Long-toed Stints...



Some Pacific Golden Plovers, including this smart bird...

There were Wood Sandpipers, Common Sandpipers, Common Greenshank, Marsh Sandpipers, Black-winged Stilts, Pintail/Swinhoe's Snipes...



A Black-tailed Godwit, looking very out of place!



And, best of all, a Red-necked Phalarope! This was a Malaysian lifer for me, and was probably there as a result of all the rough weather we'd been having.







It was typically full of energy, chasing after waterborne invertebrates.







Quite flighty too, it would make little sorties round the pond, usually returning to its original spot.













Amazingly, the commonest hirundines were these Riparia martins. There were at least 10 birds. "Sand Martin" is a rare visitor to Borneo. However, these looked just like the birds I've been seeing in the Penang area over the last few years, very little tail fork, clean white belly below a narrow breastband, tiny bill; all of which hint at the possibility that these birds may be Pale Martins. We'll work it out eventually!






















Common Sandpiper footprints. It's the only wader that will routinely feed inside the plantation.






















Leopard Cat seems to be the only feline which thrives in oil palm. This young animal was one of 27 we observed in four night surveys!