20th October: Tambunan Rafflesia Centre, Sabah

I left KK at 4.30am in order to be at the Rafflesia Centre, located high in the Crocker Range, at dawn. This nearly proved my undoing.

I was making good time, driving along the unlit but largely empty roads, when I passed an innocuous-looking sign warning me of 'Roadworks'. Fortuitously, I then met a large lorry coming the opposite direction with headlights undipped, forcing me to slow to a crawl. This is undoubtedly saved me from serious damage when the road in front of me suddenly wasn't there. In its place was a ravine about 15 feet deep - presumably the result of a recent landslide. I slewed the car to one side and came to a halt, before reversing and discovering a makeshift track around the ravine, which is what the lorry had been on just moments before. I paid a LOT more attention to Roadworks signs after that!



The Crocker Range at first light.



I had been told to park outside the Rafflesia Centre and to bird along the road. This proved to be a good strategy, although birds weren't especially active.



This female Sunda Cuckoo-Shrike was my first new bird.



A flock of leafbirds flew in, and they proved to be the delightful North Borneo version of Blue-winged, variously classified either as the flavocincta subspecies of Blue-winged, or as a full species, Kinabalu Leafbird. This male, with its yellow surround to the mask, doesn't look so different from the Peninsular form.



But the females were stunningly different - having a full black face mask, surrounded by an unusual greenish turquoise border.



Little Cuckoo-Doves made frequent soaring display flights over the road.



A single migrant Grey Wagtail evaded traffic by popping up onto the roadside wires frequently.

By the time I got back to the car, the Sandakan crew had arrived, on their circuitous route home after the workshop. I was about 40 metres away from 2 of them, Cede and John, when Cede suddenly started leaping up and down and whooping in what seemed like delight rather than pain! As I breathlessly ran up, he informed me gleefully that he had just photographed a Whitehead's Spiderhunter, the most difficult and sought-after of the 'Whitehead's trio' of Sabah endemics. The bird had flown in briefly to feed on a clump of flowers (which Cede informed me were Poikilo spermum) before flying off almost immediately. Even John, standing next to him, had not had time to get any shots. Cede confidently predicted that it would soon be back, and so began a long vigil!



John, Cede and Teck Seng. (Cede is the one with the hat and the satisfied grin!).























Seldom in the history of Sabahan natural history can one small clump of Poikilo spermum flowers have been the object of such intense scrutiny for so long! And it wasn't totally fruitless... We did see a roving party of Chestnut-headed Yuhinas drop in for a snack...




...As well as some Black-capped White-eyes.

Three hours later, we had had a couple of brief views of the spiderhunter as it flew across the road, and had heard it call on a number of occasions, but it had not returned to the clump. I decided it was time to move on, as I needed to drive to the national park and check into my accommodation. One of my goals this trip was to see as many of the Whiteheads' trio as possible, but this sighting was a lot less than satisfactory for me!






















What I didn't see! Cede Prudente's wonderful pic of the Spiderhunter. His excellent website is here. Cheers Cede!

17th - 19th October: Kota Kinabalu Wader Workshop, Sabah

I was invited by MNS Sabah to go and conduct a 3-day workshop on wader identification and monitoring in the state capital, Kota Kinabalu. It was an exciting opportunity for me to meet many established and up-and-coming East Malaysian birders. The 23 participants came from Kota Kinabalu and Sandakan in Sabah, Miri, in Sarawak , and a couple from Brunei, so we were truly an international gathering! The classroom sessions were held on the Universiti Malaysia Sabah campus, and we did our field sessions at Lok Kawi beach, Tanjung Aru, and some paddyfields near the Penampang highway.



Apart from my sessions, we were treated to a presentation of pictures by local wader 'sifu' Karim Madoya, which we all enjoyed.




Is this the largest flock of birders ever recorded on an East Malaysian mudflat? This was our first morning fieldtrip. We were treated to a great comparative display of 6 species of plovers, including a Common Ringed Plover, my first in Asia.



A diligent student! Participants were taught a simple way to take field notes when confronted with an unfamiliar wader. Note-taking, though hard work in the hot sun, is the best way to turn hours in the field into field-knowledge.



Finding shade was a top priority as the sun warmed up.



Sometimes we had to create our own!



Our last field session was spent doing a trial Asian Waterbird Census count. Counting teams composed of counters and scribes fanned out to count all the waterbirds in Tanjung Aru bay.




Karim (left) and Wesley totting up their final totals.



We made it! Time for a smile and a group photo after 3 days of late nights, early mornings and baking hot weather. Happy wader watching and counting!

For a fuller account of the workshop, take a look here.

15th October 2008, Tanjung Tokong

Full moon and a high high tide to push the birds up onto the sandbar today. I messed up by arriving about an hour too late, and as a consequence some of the birds were already on the spit. Putting my hide up late meant that the godwits and Great Knots pushed off elsewhere, but the other birds soon came back. The experience of being in the midst of a high tide wader roost takes some beating!



An early view from the hide.



Later the birds surrounded the hide on three sides!



Room for one more? A late-arriving Greater Sand Plover finds seafront property at a premium!



A lone Whimbrel towers over the crowd.



The sun was more or less right overhead, creating harsh lighting conditions and searing heat. The birds kept lifting alternate feet off the sand as it was obviously too hot for prolonged contact. This Pacific Golden Plover and Lesser Sand Plover found a novel solution!























Another Pacific Goldie braved the sand.




And kept a gracefully eye-lashed eye out for the marauding crows overhead.



Lesser Sand Plovers were the commonest and often closest waders, but I resisted taking many pics of them, having taken so many in recent weeks.Couldn't resist this 1st winter though!



The Greater Sand Plover in the foreground looks positively hulking compared the the Lesser behind.




They're not too difficult when you see them like this!



I've not yet been able to get a satisfying pic of a Terek Sandpiper, but this is getting closer!



Sunbathers! Something made me peek out of the side window of my hide, and I was astonished to see this pair of Smooth Otters just 6 metres away, rolling in the sand!




These pics were taken with my point and shoot camera on 3x zoom!




And this one with my lens pulled back to 100mm - that's why I prefer the zoom over the prime lens!



The pair stayed for about 5 minutes or more, rolling around in the sand. The waders seemed completely unperturbed.



Enjoying the sun! Smooth Otters are one of the larger otter species, being the length of a moderately-sized dog.



Time to go!

I took a short video. Excuse the handshake, I was at a rather uncomfortable angle!





Back to the waders! It was difficult to judge leg length on the stints today. Being on hot sand, the birds seemed to hold their feathers compressed tight to the body, which had the effect of accentuating leg length. It also made all the birds seem similarly slim, rendering body shape of little use to distinguish Little Stints. There are 2 Little Stints in this pic, one on the extreme left, facing right, and the other on the extreme right, facing left. The fine-tipped bill, smaller head, more upright stance, longer tibia length and overall browner upperparts on these individuals helped them stand out, but they weren't easy.



The left hand bird here is the left hand Little Stint of the previous photo. This bird did actually look little - smaller than the Red-neckeds around it.




A handy comparison of leg length with the Red-necked on the right.



This pic gives a good view of the fine-tipped bill structure.



The single old breeding feather on the right side of the mantle enabled me to be pretty sure that this was the same individual that I photographed here on 7th October - compare with this pic taken on that day.






I was pleased to have the identity of this not-so-straightforward individual confirmed when it stretched its wing, revealing three or four chestnut-fringed lesser coverts, diagnostic of Little.



This is the right hand bird in the picture of 2 Little Stints above. Quite similar to the first one, but with a row of pale-tipped, grey upper scapulars.



The third Little Stint of the day was such a classic long-legged bird that it stood out a mile! It also had very distinctive pale-edged scapulars, creating a scaly appearance.




Head-on, the leg length difference is striking!



Seen alongside a Red-necked (left) it is apparent that the Little Stint is actually smaller.

So, a pair of Smooth Otters, 3 Little Stints, and the icing on the cake was when two White-faced Plovers re-appeared after an absence of over a week!



First, the juvenile...



...then the adult male stepped forward to have their pictures taken!









This was certainly the closest I've ever been to one of these birds - a shame the light was so direct - but it would be churlish to complain after such a fantastic experience!