Sandakan 2011 - #06 Nothing Short of A Splendid Morning

We actually stopped by another location in Sandakan town to get a specific bird after all the thrill with the Proboscis Monkey. However, as we went there twice (once again after finishing with the RDC) I shall combine both visits in another post later.

Let's start off with the following morning when I am beside myself with excitement to finally be able to visit the Rainforest Discovery Centre (RDC). We stayed at the closest possible means of accommodation, the Sepilok B&B which is about a 400 metre walk to the RDC. They have a variety of rooms and usually come with breakfast which is served at the small canteen at the reception. The canteen also has a simple a la carte menu for other meals.

I'm on my way!

As it had been drizzling intermittently overnight and for the past few days, the sky remained grey in the morning and looked like it would leak anytime. So after a quick cup of noodles, we started off as soon as possible to maximize the short time we have there. We did not progress more than a hundred metres from the resort when we were greeted by a large flock of Black Hornbills Anthracoceros malayanus feeding low in a fruiting fig tree. I think there were about 8-10 of them and they were certainly making a big ruckus this early already! They took turns to feed - about half of them would be foraging while the other half preened nearby in a few palm trees. After a while, an exchange would take place, their loud wing beats rushing to and from the fruiting tree.

What a lovely juicy breakfast!

I took as many shots as I could of any exposed bird and then told myself I have to leave soon because I don't want to miss the early morning show in the RDC! Along the way, I kept checking out every Starling or Myna, as David Bakewell reported seeing a Chestnut-cheeked Starling Sturnus philippensis somewhere outside the RDC too. I was duly rewarded for my persistence. I finally found it mingling with the commoner Asian Glossy Starlings Aplonis panayensis and it even stayed long enough for me to get one shot! Though it's a poor shot thanks to the dim lighting and slight mist, I was pleased that it turned out good enough for identification and record.

A poor shot but distinct record of my lifer! I only saw this one male, any females were nowhere to be seen.

The commoner species for comparison.

There were a few Javan Mynas Acridotheres javanicus too, and according to the field guide, this place is the one of the sites in Sabah where they can be commonly found. Must be a small feral colony. A pair of Little Green Pigeons Treron olax were also courting around, the male kept on chasing the female. This was the first time that I've seen this species so closely, and they even came down almost to the ground.

It's odd how I rarely take pictures of the Mynas at home, but here at Sepilok, anything goes!

A beautiful male at close range. Usually they're far, far away on the tops of bare trees.

My mum and I then hurried on to the RDC where we bought our entrance tickets for RM5 each (Malaysian adults). As my mum had been here before, she could show me around the place quite well. We headed straight for the canopy walkway as it was still early enough to hopefully catch a glimpse of the Bornean Bristlehead. From the ticketing booth, the path to the walkway skirts a small lake where we saw Brown-throated Sunbirds Anthreptes malayanus borneensis, Pied Fantails Rhipidura javanica longicauda and an Ashy Tailorbird Orthotomus ruficeps borneoensis.

I've never seen a Sunbird on the ground before. I wonder why she came down.

We finally reach the start of the canopy walkway. In the RDC, the canopy walkway is a sturdy solid metal structure about 20 metres above the forest floor. This makes it so ideal for birdwatching and also photography as we can stop and put our tripods down anywhere along the walkway without worrying about blocking anyone's path. They also have a small gazebo where we can take shelter in besides the two towers named as Trogon and Bristlehead Tower which allow visitors to have an even more commanding view of the treetops.

According to my mum, the previous time she came they only had the two towers connected by a lower walkway and it was only accessible by climbing up the steps from Trogon tower. Now, about a year later, they have added a short span which enables us to walk right from ground level on a gradually ascending ramp without having to climb up the stairs. This short span is one of the first places you will reach as you come from the ticketing booth and around the lake. Nearby, they have also built a small open-air cafeteria known as the Keruing Cafe, but at the moment, it is only used for catered functions, so no meals are available throughout the day. However, it serves as a good wide sheltered platform for birdwatching as it overlooks the forest too.

The moment I stepped onto the walkway, I gasped in awe and was just overwhelmed by everything before me. Wow. This is a birding paradise! We had hardly moved 10 metres when a certain distinct call was echoing in the forest. And sure enough for moments later, I saw a black bulky medium-sized bird in the trees to my right. Already with a hunch on my mind, I confirmed its identity when I raised my binoculars to my eyes. Fully black body with a really weird looking capsicum-red head and black bill, there it was, the Bornean Bristlehead Pityriasis gymnocephala! A lifer so early in the day! I could not have asked for more. This was definitely going to be a great day, I thought to myself. It was about 7am then. Sightings of these birds are usually reported early in the morning and late in the evening.

As it was rather far away, my mum passed the digiscoping setup to me and I tried taking a few shots of it. But it is superbly skilled in keeping to the foliage and hardly presents an exposed chance for a clear shot. It also moves very nimbly and quickly for a bird its size and we often lost it only to find it again somewhere else in the tree! After about 15 minutes, it flew away to a further tree where we then realized it had joined other members of its flock. They were much too far away for photography, but we still continued observing their antics until they all took off deeper into the forest.

Spot the Bristlehead!

We continued our way towards the first tower, the Trogon tower. We decided not to go up the tower yet as my mum wanted to show me as much of the grounds today as possible - a quick tour. So we passed the tower and headed for the Bristlehead Tower at the end of the walkway. I think it's really cute and appropriate that such towers be named after these birds. It's not often that towers or buildings and trails are dedicated to birds, but here almost every one of them is! Such is the charm of this place.

Along the way, I added a few more lifers to my list, both in species and subspecies. I heard this rasping bell-like call which sounded familiar yet different and followed it. Two large black birds appeared and I made them out to be Bornean Black Magpies Platysmurus aterrimus. Unlike the Black Magpies P. leucopterus in Peninsular Malaysia, these are fully black without the white wing stripe and sport a small crest too.

One more endemic species to add to my list.

Another black animal showed up, but this time it was a mammal. It was the Bornean variant of the Prevost's Squirrel Callosciurus prevostii. This race too was almost completely black, save for a bright rusty chestnut underbelly. It also seemed to be smaller than the ones I normally see in Merapoh.

Love the shiny jet black fur.

On our way to the Bristlehead Tower, a foreigner birdwatcher gave us a tip off that there was an eagle at the end of the walkway. We headed for the place and looked around only to find a Crested Serpent Eagle Spilornis cheela pallidus sunning itself in the morning rays. It's alright, for this is one of my subspecies lifers which I already saw along the Kinabatangan. I didn't mind looking at it for a longer time than I usually would with the usual peninsular race S.c.malayensis.

Hello there. You look pretty much the same.

After that, we decided to turn back and check out someplace else. I managed to see a male Van Hasselt's Sunbird Leptocoma brasiliana perched right atop a thin tree. At this height of the walkway, it was just slightly above my eye level. So just imagine the chances of seeing this bird if you're down on the forest floor! I tried to digiscope it, but as there was only a small window through which I could see the bird, my task was made more difficult as the tree was really thin and swaying in the wind. I couldn't get a stable image on the camera screen.

Back at the start of the walkway, a small red thing flashed in front of my eyes and settled in the bottle-brush flowers in front of me. A beautiful male Temminck's Sunbird Aethopyga temminckii. It started feeding on the flowers and did not keep still enough for me to get a decent shot. Finally it settled on a branch in front of a fully bloomed flower. And just sat there. For more than a minute it didn't move at all. It was a dream come true and I happily clicked away until it had enough of its rest and continued on its hyperactive rounds.

This would make a lovely greeting card.

We went back out through the front entrance and my mum brought me along the main road to what can be called the back entrance of the RDC. It is connected to the rest of the trails, but on her previous visit this spot had good birds too. A stream runs along one side of the trail and the other side was like a small arboretum where several trees of the same species were planted. When we reached the place, a Hooded Pitta Pitta sordida mulleri was already calling from the forest fringe. My mum decided to walk back to the resort to get the chairs and hide and asked me to hang around there for the moment.

While waiting, I saw a pair of Greater Racquet-tailed Drongos Dicrurus paradiseus brachyphorus and a few Spectacled Bulbuls Pycnonotus erythropthalmos. I then saw something strange fly by across the trail into the forest. It seemed like it had a long yellowish beak which reminded me of a banana somehow and the rest of the body seemed quite colourful. As it was gone in a split second, it left me stunned and surprised to say the least. I had no way to see where the bird could have gone and so, just passed it off and thought no more about it.

Not too long after, my ears pricked up when I heard this call I knew I had listened to on playback many times but never really heard it in the wild. It was a double-toned ascending whistle which repeated itself over and over again. Though it was faint and came from deep inside the forest beyond the stream, it was clear enough and I listened intently to it a few times over to be sure. Luckily, my mum had left the playback device with me. I took it out and started playing the same call of the bird I had in mind just to see whether it was the same. Yes, it was. I then switched it off as I thought there wasn't any hope in calling this sort of bird out.

You could say I was extremely startled when the bird started calling again, this time much louder and nearer! My heart thumped excitedly as I switched the playback on again to try my luck. It responded whenever I stopped and it really seemed to be coming closer. Its call then changed to the alarm call of a descending bubbly trill and I kept my eyes scanning the trees over the stream. By this time, my mum had returned and I alerted her to what I was doing. She too kept a lookout for the bird.

Finally, after a few more tries, I saw a movement and my binoculars were up at my eyes in an instant. By golly, a male Rufous-collared Kingfisher Actenoides concretus borneanus! It was still slightly hidden and we observed it for a while, not daring to make any sudden movements. It slowly made its way nearer and nearer until it stopped on a fully exposed branch to keep on trying to battle our intrusion. This was when we acted, getting all gear on hand focused on it and held back no more.

It was a stunning male. Its yellow beak and orange belly were the brightest hues against the dark forest background. While calling, it flicked its tail and kept its head raised, looking around for the intruder. After about 10 minutes of remaining in the same position, a small movement nearby caught my eye. It was another! But this one turned out to be a juvenile female, and this immediately explained the territorial display of the adult male bird.

Don't mess with me or my daughter!

The newcomer was almost fully developed, but still appeared vulnerable and rather inexperienced in the current situation. As we turned our attention to her, the male bird slipped away and remained hidden. Together, the father and daughter slowly made their way down the stream and back into the forest as he must have decided there wasn't any alarming danger about.

Its beak and legs have yet to turn into a bright yellow hue.

I finally breathed properly again after they disappeared from sight! It was a truly breathtaking experience to see such beautiful gems. So the unusual bird which flew by much earlier must have been the adult female of this family, considering the markings of this forest Kingfisher.

My mum and I happily moved on and we decided to try the Pitta Path. We did not go far as it looked to be a steep climb and a long walk. At the entrance of the trail, a White-chested Babbler Trichastoma rostratum macropterum was feeding close to the ground but it wasn't easy to photograph it either due to its skulking nature. A large Spiderhunter was also high up in a tree beside the trail. I was hoping that it was a Streaky-breasted Spiderhunter Arachnothera affinis everetti, but it turned out to be a Long-billed Spiderhunter Arachnothera robusta robusta. Good enough for me because I haven't seen it often too! We also heard a Banded Woodpecker Chrysophlegma mineaceus calling and eventually found it in a tree almost directly above our heads.

This was far away and really high up. But no mistaking its extra long bill!

I think I need to end this post here as it's getting really long! And that was just about 4 hours into my first day at the RDC. What a morning!

Just a beautiful Common Sun Skink Mabuya multifasciata to finish up this post.