Crakey!

This weekend I had a visitor from the USA; Zack, who is about to go on an organized Sabah birding trip and had some time to spare before heading to Kota Kinabalu where his tour starts next week. As he was keen to get of the beaten track I invited him over for some local Brunei birding. Before Zack arrived in Panaga he already had a very fruitful morning in Wasan, including a rare sighting of a Eurasian bittern; not a bad start!

I had initially intended to take Zack into the forest close to Badas to look for some of the local peat-swamp specialists: hook-billed bulbul, cinnamon-headed green pigeon, bristlehead and possibly grey-breasted babbler. Unfortunately most of the access to the Badas peat-swamp is fully flooded so we had to settle for some roadside birding along KB road.

On Saturday we did two drives along KB road, the first one late afternoon. It was relatively quiet, but we still managed to see a nice variety of species and even successfully called in a blue-winged pitta. I had brought my camera along, just in case (I find btw that the chance of seeing rarities greatly increases when you forget the memory card in your camera or have a dead battery...).

Black-and-yellow broadbills were ubiquitous and while this is a common bird we did get some excellent close-up views of a small party at eye-level next to the car.

Black-and-yellow broadbill (Eurylaimus ochramalus)

Black-and-yellow broadbill (Eurylaimus ochramalus)

As we drove on, I noticed a small bird scuttling along the roadside grass. Half expecting a white-breasted waterhen, I put my bins on the bird and saw something very different: a band-bellied crake!

Band-bellied crake (Porzana paykullii)

The light was already fading fast and with the bird continuously moving at a fair distance I only just managed to get a few semi-decent pics with low shutter speed and high iso. The band-bellied crake is a very secretive bird and described as a rare non-breeding visitor to Borneo. A very good lifer at the start of 2014!

Band-bellied crake (Porzana paykullii)

Band-bellied crake (Porzana paykullii)

It started raining after dark and the night drive did not produce too much: the customary buffy fish-owls were seen as well as a couple of large-tailed nightjars sitting on the road. The only mammal on show was a confiding small-toothed palm civet.

Folkert, 12/01/2014

Hello 2014

The last 2 to 3 weeks of 2013 have been very wet in Brunei - lots and lots of rain. Birding-wise it has been a little dull and I've only been on a few short drives along KB road during the evening. I did try to drive up the Badas road one day to find the area flooded and definitely too wet for a short walk into the forest. The electricity wires along the road are always good for dollarbirds, woodswallows and at times more exotic birds.
A casual look at a group of 15 starlings revealed this pale starling sitting flanked by 7 glossy starlings at each side. For a moment I thought it was another record of a daurian starling. But no, just a mere chestnut-cheeked starling. A female this time. Still, not a bad sighting at all and only my second ever encounter.

Chestnut-cheeked starling (Sturnus philippensis)

The electricity cables along the road also form a favorite vantage point for the resident hawk-eagles.

Changeable hawk-eagle (Nisaetus limnaeetus)

Both pale and dark morphed birds can be seen the lower Belait area. I am still undecided which I like better.

On the final day of 2013 we had a short drive during dusk on KB road. On our way back this bearded pig was seen standing on the road. In my first two years these sizable pigs were a relatively common sight on KB road, but I have to confess that this was only my first encounter in 2013 - not a day too soon!

Bearded pig (Sus barbatus).

After the 'all clear' was called four youngsters came out and joined mommy on the road...

Bearded pig (Sus barbatus).

to walk of into the setting sun...

Bearded pig (Sus barbatus).

Until recently bearded pigs were still frequently seen in one of the Panaga residential areas next to the forest. I am not sure if my lack of encounters on KB road in 2013 is just a bout of bad luck or an illustration of a further dwindling population size. Lets hope it's just my bad luck. 

Finally a picture of a juvenile black-crowned night heron taken on January 2nd. I noticed 5 of these birds very close to our house on my way to town. Whereas the two adults were very shy the juveniles hardly minded my car pulling up right next to them. 

Black-crowned night-heron (Nycticorax nycticorax)

This picture was taken without flash. Not too bad for my first pic of 2014. Happy new year!

Folkert, 10/01/2014

Malayan Night Heron 2013

Attentive readers may have discerned from previous posts that the Malayan night heron, or tiger bittern, is a regular winter visitor to the Panaga area. This year is no different and I am pleased to notice that the birds seem to have a knack for picking suitable gardens. Last year an adult was regularly seen in the garden of some of our friends. This year it has gotten even better with one bird picking the backyard of Kolbjorn, my Panaga birding buddy, as its wintering home!

Obviously I couldn't let the opportunity slip to get some better photographic records of these shy migrants; Malayan night-herons are notoriously skittish and this one proved no different. So yesterday, armed with some army netting, I stopped by at Kolbjorns house to convert the door to his garden into a make-shift hide. The testing was this morning and at 6:30 I stood almost leisurely inside Kolbjorns living room, with the door ajar, ready to get some pics of the heron. The heron dutifully performed and below are some of this mornings shots.

Malayan night heron (Gorsachius melanolophus)

Malayan night heron (Gorsachius melanolophus)

Malayan night heron (Gorsachius melanolophus)

Malayan night heron (Gorsachius melanolophus)

Malayan night heron (Gorsachius melanolophus)

Needless to say that I am quite pleased with the effort, even though the light was still a little too poor to get some action shots of the worm-catching.

Big thanks to Kolbjorn and his family to allow me in their house in the wee hours of the morning!

Folkert, 16/12/2013

A short trip to Danum valley

My mom is fully enjoying her retirement and is visiting again. This time I decided to show off a little and take her to Danum valley, in my view one of the best eco-tourism locations on Borneo: pampered to the max plus great birding and wildlife viewing. Below a short summary of our trip.

The drive from Lahad Datu to Danum takes around 2.5 hours through forested area. A couple of kilometers before we entered the conservation area we passed a group of pig-tailed macaques. When encountered on foot I find that the males of this species can be quite menacing. Safely tucked away inside the car I got a rare opportunity to try for some portraits:

Southern pig-tailed macaque (Macaca nemestrina).

This species is declining in population and currently listed as Vulnerable by IUCN. The main threat is loss of habitat. It saddens me to say that I've also seen a juvenile on sale at one of the local markets in Brunei a couple of months back.  

Southern pig-tailed macaque (Macaca nemestrina).

When the big guy started to growl it was time to go!

Southern pig-tailed macaque (Macaca nemestrina).

Danum valley is top of the bill when it comes to nature tourism in Borneo. The lodges are perfect, food is excellent and staff and guides go out of their way to make your stay unforgettable. Our guide during the stay was Lister (what's in a name...), who introduced himself during lunch. Fittingly, I provided Lister with my list of around 20 target species for this trip.

We stayed around our cabin in the early afternoon. A couple of flowering ginger plants outside our balcony were visited frequently by the resident little spiderhunters.

Little spider hunter (Arachnotera longirostra).

After the small midday siesta before we set out for some afternoon birding. A noisy group of sooty-capped babblers were the first birds to greet us.

Sooty-capped babbler (Malacopteron affine).

After about an hour, we had just reached the canopy, a sighting of a large elephant herd just outside the gate was called in and we joined the open truck to see them. The elephants were a little weary at first and we moved up the road to give them some space. A baby elephant was still suckling and under constant protection of its mom and two larger relatives.

Pygmy elephant (Elephas maximus borneensis).

Later, we moved down the road to get some eye-level views:

Pygmy elephant (Elephas maximus borneensis).

Sightings of elephants along the road to Danum are relatively frequent, primarily because the vegetation along road- and riversides forms a favorite food source for the elephants. Don't let that fool you into believing that these are common mammals, they're an endangered species with a dwindling population size on Borneo of around 2500 individuals.

There were very few males in the group, two young ones and a bigger adult, easily recognized by the tusks.

Pygmy elephant (Elephas maximus borneensis).

We stayed until dusk was finally setting in.

Pygmy elephant (Elephas maximus borneensis).

A nice cold beer was waiting for me when we arrived back at the lodge! No time for too much leisure though as the night-drive was already lined up and we had only time for a quick dinner (which was again excellent!)

The highlight of the night-drive was a sighting of this Western or Horsfield's tarsier. This was only the second time that I've seen this cute little carnivore.

Western tarsier (Cephalopachus bancanus).

The next morning we first set out for the canopy walk. Along the way we heard Bornean wren-babbler and got decent views of a male rufous-chested flycatcher (a lifer for me).

A pair of bristleheads was the only noteworthy sighting at the canopy and we soon decided to head for one of the trails. Hairy-backed bulbuls were foraging close by, more exciting was a chestnut-capped thrush that was seen sitting on a log, another lifer!

Hairy-backed bulbul (tricholestes criniger).

A few noisy black magpies seemed to be following us on the trail.

Black magpie (Platysmurus aterrimus).

The yellow-bellied bulbul is a common forest species.

Yellow-bellied bulbul (Alophoixus phaeocephalus).

At around 11:00 AM things were quieting down and we headed back to the lodge for some lunch and an hour or two of rest.

This moustached babbler was the first bird we saw as we set out on our afternoon walk.

Moustached babbler (Malacopteron magnirostre).

Further down the jacuzzi trail a male scarlet-rumped trogon was very confiding and provided some great views from almost every possible angle. Even though this is a common forest species, I'll probably never tire of seeing these splendid birds.

Scarlet-rumped trogon (Harpactes duvaucelii).

A pair of giant pittas was heard, but our attempt to call them in went unanswered. As we trekked on the rain really started to come down and we arrived back at the lodge soaking wet. In the evening Lister and myself took out one of the 4WD to search for Large and Blyth's frogmouth. I can be fairly short about this attempt: no frogmouths.

The next morning we tried our luck with the giant pitta again and we soon heard the pair calling from jacuzzi trail. The birds proved very responsive and we had some great naked eye views of the birds hopping across the trail! The male showed itself only once, but the female kept close by for at least 45 minutes. My photographic intuition and judgement was a little out of tune and I missed one or two good photo opportunities. Below the one shot I managed that actually has the bird in frame. It's in the center, don't worry if you fail to see it...

Giant pitta (pitta caerulea).

This was a great birding moment! The giant pitta may not be the most colorful of the pitta's, but its size (larger than I had imagined), rarity and reputation give it amazing appeal.

On the way back to the lodge this large-billed blue flycatcher was a little more cooperative in front of my camera. Supposedly, this is a relatively common species, but one I'd never seen before!

Large-billed blue flycatcher (Cyornis caerulatus).

The remainder of the morning was spend on the hornbill trail. We were after banded pitta and any of the 3 lowland wren-babblers. No such luck with these, but this olive-winged woodpecker was a nice surprise; one of the rarer Bornean woodpeckers, this was another lifer for me.

Olive-winged woodpecker (Dinopium rafflesii).

After that, it was time to pack our belongings and head back to Brunei. Danum valley again fully delivered; great mammal sightings and a respectable 80+ bird species seen well with some great new ones. I hope I'll be back for the wren-babblers some day!

Big thanks to Lister, without him I would definitely have missed some species.

Folkert, 05/11/2013

Chestnut-cheeked, finally

The chestnut-cheeked starling is a breeding bird in Russia and Japan and listed as a scarce winter migrant to Brunei.

On Borneo these starlings are known to congregate with asian glossy starlings, and most of the recent Borneo sightings seem to be of scattered birds hidden in larger flocks of their glossy cousins. Taking the cue of scrutinizing flocks of glossy starlings resulted in loads and loads of records in the last two years of... glossy starlings. Didn't see a single chestnut-cheeked in there.

Until last week that is when my patience was finally rewarded! A casual look at a group of asian glossies close to home revealed two cheeky chestnuts up in a bare tree.

Mixed starlings

The birds were fairly high up and I had to crop the pics a little to move the chestnut-cheeked to center stage. Both the birds are males.

Chestnut-cheeked starling (Sturnus philippensis)

Not a bad looking starling.

Chestnut-cheeked starling (Sturnus philippensis)

Glad to have finally "ticked" this species on my Borneo list!

Folkert, 17/10/2013.

Garden flycatcher

The weather has been fairly consistent the last week: heavy downpour during the night and mostly overcast days. Ideal to catch some good migrants on their way south!

I, however, have been mostly occupied with much necessary tasks around the house and have had little time for birding. Luckily our garden can still be rewarding, especially during bird migration. This weekend I noticed a small bird sallying back and forth from the same branches, typical for a flycatcher.  The camera was quickly grabbed, with results below.

Dark-sided flycatcher (Muscicapa sibirica).

These shots are practically full frame and taken without the aid of a hide, the bird hardly noticed my presence. Perhaps still tired after a hard night of flying.

Dark-sided flycatcher (Muscicapa sibirica).

This is a typical juvenile bird, as indicated by the yellow gape and spotty appearance.

Dark-sided flycatcher (Muscicapa sibirica).

Not bad for a garden encounter. I assume that the bird was only passing by, it disappeared later in the afternoon and I haven't seen it since.

Folkert, 14-10-2013

Wasan early September

Sometimes luck strikes. This Saturday Kolbjorn noticed a purple-backed starling from the leisurely surrounding of his garden. Only a second record for Borneo (the first was from 1892) and great addition to the Panaga list. Despite Kolbjorn notifying me immediately I missed the bird by roughly 45 seconds. Dave has already posted Kolbjorns pics on his blog so I won't repeat it here.

Another good place for rarities is the Wasan rice scheme, our destination this Sunday. On the way over there we noticed a lot of asian glossy starlings feeding close to the road - the result was mayhem, for the glossy starlings that is: we counted at least 20 dead birds on the road between Jerudong and Wasan. Something we'd both not seen before. The number of starlings in Panaga has also dramatically increased in the last week; perhaps these birds do locally migrate and the roads offer easy food after a long journey?

As usual, at Wasan there were plenty of wandering whistling ducks around. A quick estimate yielded around 150 individuals, which seems to indicate that their number is on the rise.

Wandering whistling duck (Dendrocygna arcuata).

Wandering whistling duck (Dendrocygna arcuata).

Besides the ducks, wood sandpipers were in their hundreds and could be seen everywhere. A little adverse discrimination from my side; as the wood sandpipers were so abundant I didn't take a picture of a single bird! Other common waders that were seen included golden plovers, red-necked and long-toed stints, marsh sandpipers and a single greenshank. While walking through the long grass near the edges we flushed some blue-breasted quails, but we never got any decent views.

I only got my first painted snipe a couple of weeks back, when I saw two birds in the Seria grasslands. I almost felt a little disappointed that we flushed around 10 to 15 birds when we traversed one of the paddy fields - it nearly suggests that painted snipe are easy sightings!

Female greater painted snipe (Rostratula benghalensis).

The female of this species is the one with the bright colors. Not only that, she also typically has more than one devoted male!

Greater painted snipe (Rostratula benghalensis).

The best part however was the sighting of two buff-banded rails. A first bird flew up only a few feet in front of us. Shortly later, this second bird came out in the open. The first record of this species in Borneo only dates back to 2007, when two birds were seen at the Tempasuk plain by Madoya. There have been several sightings in Sabah and Sarawak since, including a couple of chicks as documented by Wong Tsu Shi (see here). Still, this is a very nice record, and I suspect a first for Brunei.

Buff-banded rail (Gallirallus phillipensis).

Buff-banded rail (Gallirallus phillipensis).

One noteworthy wader was a single Curlew sandpiper, a scarce passage migrant to Borneo, that was seen foraging together with a group of wood sandpipers. This is the second curlew sandpiper I've seen the past two weeks. Closer to home, the below individual has been consistently feeding at the same spot in the Seria grasslands:

Curlew sandpiper (Calidris ferruginea).

Curlew sandpiper (Calidris ferruginea).

Oh, and sometimes luck strikes twice. When I dropped Kolbjorn at his house the purple-backed starling did a little fly-over.

Folkert, 11/09/2013.