KB road, again

As some of you may have picked up from previous posts, the Kuala Balai road can almost be considered as my local birding patch. A broad variety of birds, and some great mammals and reptiles have been recorded in the past along this road. Unfortunately the local bird catchers realize this too and every weekend a couple of people can be seen pulling up their cages to the treetops.

Still, the birding along this road is usually rewarding. I have lost count of the number of times I visited this road over the past 3 years, but even now I pick up new species.

Last week the weather was not too great and frankly the birding and photography was a little disappointing. Most exciting was to hear a few ruddy kingfishers and I also had brief views of one bird flying past. 

Luckily there are always some yellow-bellied prinias around to keep me entertained.

Yellow-bellied prinia (Prinia flaviventris).

This species was definitely not discovered in Brunei; most birds here only have a very faint yellow wash to the belly that gives them their name. I think the subspecies in Borneo is called p. f. latrunculus.

The male van Hasselt's sunbird can often be seen calling from an exposed branch in the top of the trees. This is a very small sunbird with some stunning colors. It was a little too early and foggy to get a proper picture of the bird below.

Van Hasselt's sunbird (Leptocoma brasiliana)

A little later I again heard the ruddy kingfishers, there were at least 3 birds calling. But again, no views...
The black-and-yellow broadbills, on the contrary, were not very shy today and a female and male were providing good views. My guess is that during the breeding period, or really just before, they seem more oblivious to their surroundings and only have eye for each other. The black breast-band shows that this is the male.

Male black-and-yellow broadbill (Eurylamus ochromalus).

There were a good number of hornbills heard and seen flying across the road. Of the four species seen this morning I only managed a quick snapshot of this female Rhinoceros hornbill.

Rhinoceros hornbill (Buceros rhinoceros).

A small family group of rufous woodpeckers was foraging next to the road as well. This is probably my best shot of this species so far and I was quite pleased - but it even got better!

Rufous woodpecker (Micropternus brachyurus).

When I was driving further I heard a scarlet-rumped trogon (Harpactes duvaucelii) calling next to the road and soon located this fine specimen.

Male scarlet-rumped trogon (Harpactes duvaucelii).

The scarlet-rumped trogon is one of the more common lowland trogons. I really find this a very pretty species and was very happy with the images I took home today. Even more so as I never had such clear, close and prolonged views along KB road before! And maybe, just maybe, that ruddy kingfisher will show itself like this one day...

Folkert, 03/04/2013.

Another visit to KB road

I hadn't been to the Kuala Balai road for quite some time. This weekend I took my mum there, who is visiting her grandson (and us to a far, far lesser extend), to show her some nature close to our house.

We left the house at around quarter past six and the morning mist was still covering the low-land shrub and fields as we pulled onto the Kuala Balai road. While I was pointing out a dollarbird, a red-billed malkoha flew by and landed relatively close by. Hadn't seen red-billed malkoha's yet at the Kuala Balai road so a great start of the morning! Still waiting for a glimpse of the black-bellied malkoha to complete my malkoha-list along this road.

I did manage to pull of a couple of quick snaps - but with the morning light, distance and the typical malkoha habit of hiding between the foliage, these turned out rather poor. I have therefore also included a better attempt, made sometime last year at Labi ridge.

Red-billed malkoha (Phaenicophaeus javanicus).
Labi ridge, March 2011.

Red-billed malkoha (Phaenicophaeus javanicus).
KB road, October 2012.

The melodious song of the yellow-bellied prinia's was heard a couple of times. The rapid and loud wingbeats of the prinia's are often just as diagnostic as they move around between the long grass.

Yellow-bellied prinia (Prinia flaviventris)

At the far end of the road another nice surprise: this lesser cuckoo-shrike flew into view just as we were about to go back home. While described as a common resident I don't see them that often. I got to see the markedly undulating flight pattern quite clearly this time. The bird is a male, the female is much paler and has a barred underside.

Lesser cuckoo-shrike (Coracina fimbriata)

The morning ended with a flat tire! I had driven over a huge nail that had pierced my tire fully and had to stop the car to put on the spare. The offer to help of several people passing by is a great illustration of Brunei's friendly nature and with some combined effort we were quickly on the road again.

The visit was unexpectedly fruitful with a couple of great species, two of which where new to me at this locality (cinnamon bittern and red-billed malkoha) and white-bellied munia's are also not seen every day. And, most importantly, my mum also definitely enjoyed the whole experience!

Folkert, 08/10/2012