Tag Archives: Birds

Pygmy elephant

Trip to Kinabatangan, best wildlife sanctuary of Sabah

1 Reply

“Kinabatangan River is one of the places in Asia with best concentration of wildlife,” a happy photographer said, “I have came here nearly 10 times.” This was what I heard when I joined a Photo Safari trip in Kinabatangan last month. I met two European photographers who had a week-long photography trip in important Sabah wildlife reserves such as Danum Valley and Labuk Bay.


>> Click Here to see more photos of Kinabatangan

This is my second visit to Kinabatangan. My first Kinabatangan trip was with Uncle Tan Camp in Danau Girang back in year 2007. This time I stayed in Barefoot Sukau Lodge located in Sukau, which is 2-hour drive from Sandakan city and next to the longest river of Sabah, Kinabatangan.


Above: the activity hall and Cliff-Hanger Cafe of Barefoot Sukau Lodge. You can see Kinabatangan River while enjoying your tea. They have nice collection of photographs in display too.


Above: the lodge where I stayed. You can check out their web site for more info.


I am Number Four, heheh..


Above: my twin-sharing room. It is clean and cozy, with an attached bathroom/toilet and wall fan. My roommate is a orangutan. Just kidding..


Above: the jetty of Barefoot Sukau Lodge and the boats for our river cruise later. They say a crocodile named “Franky” would be around sometimes but no luck today.

>> Click Here to see more photos of Kinabatangan

Afternoon River Cruise
We started our afternoon river cruise at 4pm when the rain stopped. At first I worried that we would not see any wildlife in rainy day. I worried too much.


Crested serpent eagle takes snakes and lizards as food. I saw about 5 of them, quite a common eagle. I spotted White-Bellied Sea Eagle, Storm’s Stork, Oriental Darter, Great Egret and Wallace’s Hawk Eagle too.


The famous long-nosed monkey (a.k.a. proboscis monkey) of Borneo. They are quite used to presence of tourists.


The very shy red-leaf monkey, which always has that funny sad expression on its face.
>> Click Here to see more photos of Kinabatangan


Pygmy elephants! Even though they are the smallest elephant species in the world, they are the largest mammal of Borneo. Only 1,000 of them left in the wild of Sabah.


We are so lucky to see them. Sighting of elephants is not common. I know someone who had visited Kinabatangan 5 or 6 times but never saw an elephant. Pygmy elephants are always on the move, migrating from river side to inland.


Within 15 minutes, more than 10 boats of tourist gathered around to watch the elephants. I believe all the tour operators keep in touch with one another for elephant sighting news.


The herd consists of 10 elephants. Elephants look big and heavy but they are good swimmer. They like to take shower in the river in the late afternoon. Then it rained heavily, so our group decided to stick around to watch elephants only until we were satisfied. The Australian silver hair couple in my group was so happy coz they saw blooming rafflesia a few days ago. Lucky them!

Photo Safari River Cruise
The next morning I waked up early to join the photo safari trip led by Cede at 6:30am. It was raining last night until morning. Fortunately, the rain subsided at 7am so we could start our morning river cruise.


Ok, look at the photo above. All the photographers are equipped with high-end “bazooka” long lens which can cost more than a car, so heavy that they need a tripod to support it. I look at my pathetic cheap 250mm plastic lens (cost less than RM1,000) and offer to sit at the last row, and nobody objected.



>> Click Here to see more photos of Kinabatangan
It was a beautiful morning. You still can see mist in forest.


However, there are something ugly hiding behind the wall of forest. I have no problem with oil palm. I only hate the way they plan this crop by deforestation. Over 70% of Kinabatangan is covered by oil palm that fragments the rainforest. I am happy to hear that two palm oil mills here were shut down coz environmentalists complained that these mills released effluent into the river. Hey, we are not totally losing after all. There are still hope.


Fig fruit is important food source for primates such as orangutan, so environmentalists try to plant more fig trees in forest rehabilitation projects.

>> Click Here to see more photos of Kinabatangan



The environmentalists also build some ropes and bridges to help orangutan and monkey to cross the river that has crocodiles. Yes, the primates do use them and the photo was on the news.

>> Click Here to see more photos of Kinabatangan

We shot anything that flies, include this bird-wing butterfly. The photo safari trip is different from normal river cruise. Whenever we find a target, the photographers will spend longer time to take photos. They also maneuver the boat to get the best angle. Cede always gave some photography tips. FYI, they don’t like subject with strong backlight. The sky is cloudy, so it is not too bad.



We even spent more than 15 minutes under the tree to wait for the monkey to hop to other tree, for the action shots. There was a female proboscis monkey did a 50-feet drop jump, such a suicidal stunt! Unlike those happy snap-snap tourists, these photographers are aiming for artistic and extraordinary shots, nothing less.


There are 7 species of hornbills in Kinabatangan. We found 4 species (Rhinoceros hornbill, Asian Black hornbill, Oriental Pied Hornbill and Wrinkled Hornbill) that day, not bad. We also saw monitor lizard, long-tailed macaques, etc.

That’s all. You may watch the 3-minute video below to see our river cruises and elephants:

Click Here to watch wider video

Photos taken in Sandakan, Sabah, Malaysia Borneo

Sepilok Rainforest to Mangrove (part 3 of 4)

Leave a reply

Continued from part 2…
(You may Click Here to start reading from Part 1)

Long-Tailed Macaques

It was a late afternoon in Sepilok Laut Reception Center. “The bad guy is coming!” the forestry guide warned me, “Do NOT leave any belonging outside your room.”


>> Click Here to see more photos of Sepilok Forest

Then I saw a long-tailed macaque sitting in the wood about 15 Meters away from us. It looks so kind, with a face like a friendly Santa Claus. In fact, macaques can be so aggressive that even the big orangutan doesn’t dare to agitate them.

After observing us cautiously for a while, this monkey came closer to our building and sneak under our platform, peeping us through the gaps of the boardwalk.

Then the rest of the cheeky monkey followed. The guide told me that just a few days ago, these monkey stole the syringe and medication of a tourist, who has diabetes, and ran into the forest. The monkey also knows how to open a door.


>> Click Here to see more photos of Sepilok Forest

There is also a group of red-leaf monkey living nearby, but they are very shy and seldom come near to the building.

“This is an alpha male,” the guide says, “We call him Paul.” Indeed, Paul is relatively larger than other monkey in his gang. Look at the size of his balls!

The guide wanted to get Paul closer to me for a mug shot session, so he gave Paul a pack of chocolate biscuit. Paul came forward to accept the offering and enjoyed the biscuit only 5 feet in front of us.

The expression of monkey is so rich and human-like. Of course I got a lot of good/funny photos. It is not advisable to feed them. If they are too used to human, they will attack anyone who carries food and become a nuisance to tourists. For now, they are still wild.


That’s a female monkey on the roof. Probably the wife of Paul.


>> Click Here to see more photos of Sepilok Forest

In the mudflat not far away from our building, a few baby long-tailed macaques busy searching for food. They also eat crab. That’s why they are also known as Crab-Eating Monkey.

And there was a big monitor lizard stalking on these little monkey. It is very smart. It stayed still whenever the monkey looked at its direction.

But too bad the monkey still discovered the lizard and making alert call to warn others.

Mission failed, so the disappointed lizard retreated into the mangrove.

After meal hour, those monkey groomed one another. They are so relax and don’t even bother about us. I even heard their annoying screeching noise during bedtime.







>> Click Here to see more photos of Sepilok Forest

If you want to see more monkey faces, check out the video below:

Click Here to see wider video

This place is supposed to be ideal for bird watching. Due to the poor weather, I only saw a few Pacific Swallow, Ashy Tailorbird and Common Iora. If you are lucky, you would see woodpecker, kingfisher, hornbills, etc.

Night Safari

If you stay in the jungle, always take a walk at night, you will see more interesting stuffs than daytime. After dinner, I told the guide I wanted to do a night safari at night. He is also very interested and want to join, so we went into the wood at 7:30pm. As expected, there are so much too see at night. I search slowly with torchlight and turned almost every leaf. Though the guide was with me, he was always out of my sight, leaving me engulfed by darkness, scary…


Hammer head worm.


Stick insects.


Fungus beetles busy mating.


Big ant..


Jumping spider..

>> Click Here to see more photos of Sepilok Forest
We also saw scorpion, frog, big millipede, snail, centipede and other small creatures.


Above: a few leaves weaved and connected by human-hair-like threads, spooky!


The jackpot of my night safari is the Borneo Anglehead Agamid, which is endemic to Borneo. It is quite small and shorter than the length of my palm. Unfortunately, suddenly it rained and I didn’t bring my raincoat, so we had to run more than half a KM back to our building. That ended my day.

FYI, they say there are a lot of fireflies in deeper part of the mangrove. You may hire a boat to check it out at night.

Read Next Article (part 4)…

Update (Nov 2012)!

The jungle trail to Sepilok Laut Reception Centre (SLRC) is changed. You may want to read the new upgrade and latest change of SLRC facilities here.

Photos taken in Sandakan, Sabah, Malaysia Borneo

Klias Peat Swamp Field Center

2 Replies

Before I introduce this place, I want to show you two photos below. 1st one (below) is the photo of afternoon sun blocked by haze. You can tell the haze is really dense.

Next one is the photo of our city attacked by haze. The haze from Kalimantan every year is really a nuisance. Such pollution not only affecting our economy, it also damages our health. Don’t you hate it?

The place that I’ll talk about has very close relationship with haze. The title has said it. It’s Klias Peat Swamp Field Center (KPSFC), 10 KM south-west of Beaufort. When you drive pass Beaufort toward the direction of Sipitang town, a few minutes later, turn right to the junction with the sign “Kg Luagan”, follow the main road, then you need to turn to two junctions again, to Jalan Luagan and Jalan Sanginan (see Location Map).

Soon you will see the sign “Hutan Paya Gambut Klias” (means Klias peat swamp forest), drive another 3.5 KM on a gravel road and you will reach Klias Peat Swamp Field Center.


>> Click Here to see more photos of Klias Peat Swamp Field Center (KPSFC)

What is Peat Swamp Forest?

Peat swamp forest is wetland with a layer of decomposing organic matters, such as dead leaves and plant material, up to 20 Meters thick. Waterlogged soils prevent dead leaves and wood from fully decomposing, which over time forming acidic peat (pH 2.9 – 4), giving a typically dark brown to black colour to the water – hence the name ‘blackwater swamps’. An estimated 1.54 million hectares of peat swamp forest still remain in Malaysia (but going fast!). More than 70% are in Sarawak, less than 20% in Peninsular Malaysia and the rest (over 2/3 are in Klias) in Sabah.

Importance of Peat Swamp

Peat swamp forest is highly diverse with as many as 927 species of flowering plants and ferns recorded in Borneo. It provides sanctuary for migratory birds and home to more than 60 endangered animal species such as Orangutan, Proboscis Monkey, Sumatran Rhinoceros, Asian Elephant, Tiger, Civet Otter, Storm’s Stork and Wrinkled Hornbill. Arowana, a very expensive aquarium fish, also lives in peat swamp. Peat swamp forest is also very important for our nature tourism, as many tourists want to see proboscis monkey and fireflies, which live in our peat swamp forest such as Klias, Weston and Garama

That’s why Sabah Forestry Department gazetted 3,630 ha of peat swamp in Klias as Class I protected forest reserve. They also open KPSFC in 2006 for conservation and research of peat swamp forest. FYI, the peat swamp of Klias is over 5,400 years old and the peat can be as deep as 13 Meters!


Above: the reception building of KPSFC.

Opening Hours & Contact

GPS Location: 5.325683, 115.673054 (see Location Map)
Mon – Thu: 9am-1pm, 2pm-4:30pm
Friday: 9-11am, 2pm-4:30pm
Closed on weekends
Tel: +60 87-208101, +60 87-208102 (Note: If the phone numbers don’t work, you may call the mobile phone of Center Manager, Mr. Christopher Matunjau at +60 17-8101070)
Facebook: kliaspeatswamp.fieldcentre


Above: the hostel in KPSFC can accommodate 16 to 30 people. Of course tourists can visit this place, but it’ll be better if they can bring a very knowledgeable tour guide, someone who can give them very good interpretation talk. Sadly, most tour guides in Sabah have 0 or poor knowledge on wetlands ecology.


Above: our bedroom in the hostel. The room is quite comfortable and equipped with air-conditioning. There is a big male and female washrooms in the building. Overall, the place is clean but the toilet is poorly constructed. Not only that it is very small, a few doors also can’t be closed properly, making you wondering why those people didn’t monitor the quality of the construction.

You can watch the 1-minute video below if you want to get a feel of the surrounding of Field Center:


Then we were shown a short video briefing in the reception building. The vegetation of Klias is a mix of peat forests, mangroves, nipah swamps, freshwater swamp forests, open marshes, heath forest and dryland forests, one of the most diversified and outstanding examples of peat swamp forest in Borneo. Klias is the largest peat swamp forest of Sabah, located on the delta of the Padas and Bukau rivers. At first glance, it does not look like an impressive attraction. Unlike a lively and flowing river, what you will see is a stalled brackish river with unpleasant smell.


You may click the picture above to see the layout of the Field Center. All necessary facilities are in place, except a restaurant.


Above: the peat swamp forest behind the Field Center.
>> Click Here to see more photos of Klias Peat Swamp Field Center (KPSFC)

Luckily visitors do not need to step into the mud and swamp to explore the peat swamp forest. You can walk on 2.7 KM of wooden boardwalk to get close to peat swamp. The walk takes about 2 hours and the starting point is just behind the reception building.



>> Click Here to see more photos of Klias Peat Swamp Field Center (KPSFC)

In early morning and late afternoon, the boardwalk is a nice place for bird-watching. You would see hornbills and woodpeckers. A rare Hook-billed Bulbul bird can be found here. Sometimes the bird watching guides bring tourists to look for birds here. I only saw glossy starling, dollar bird, kingfisher, imperial green pigeon and Hill Myna. Do bring a binocular if you plan to see birds.





They also have a bird watching tower.
>> Click Here to see more photos of Klias Peat Swamp Field Center (KPSFC)

You may spot interesting plant or insect next to the boardwalk. Some look weird. 4 species of pitcher plant live in peat swamp.



>> Click Here to see more photos of Klias Peat Swamp Field Center (KPSFC)

To my surprise, there are many tall trees in this area. Like the Kapur Paya (Dryobalanops rappa) in photo below. It is endemic to Borneo and can grow up to 55 Meters tall. It is a threatened species due to its value as a commercial hardwood “Kapur”. Kapur Paya was not the favorite timber in the past coz its log sinks in the water. But when timber price goes up today, it becomes the feasible target of logging.


Above: there are many interpretation signs (in English) along the boardwalk for tourists to self-educate themselves.

Haze from Peat

Ok, let’s come back to the haze and peat swamp things. How are both related? Heavily packed with centuries of decaying organic material (i.e. dead wood & trees), peat swamp stores a huge quantity of carbon. A 10-Meter deep peat swamp can store about 5,800 tonnes of carbon per hectare, compared to 300-500 tonnes per hectare for other types of tropical forest. When peatlands are drained, dried, and burned for opening up new land for plantation such as oil palm every year, they emit over 3 billion tons of CO2, more than 10 percent of annual CO2 emissions, contributing to global warming!

What is shocking – dry peat swamp forests are very vulnerable to fire and produce the most carcinogenic haze. Fires in peat swamps are extremely difficult to extinguish because the fire can smolder deeply underground for YEARS, even after surface fires are put off by rains, creating haze that regularly haunts Southeast Asia. By now you should know why Indonesia has problem to stop haze.

After the planters drain and dry the peat swamp, they will burn it to clear the land for oil palm plantation. Imagine tons of carbon, which was locked under the ground for thousand of years, suddenly free and escape into the atmosphere as Carbon Dioxide… DISASTER!!!

There is only a self-catering kitchen in the Field Center, but that’s not a problem for our wonderful ladies who can cook. We had a great BBQ dinner! But I need to warn you that there are many mosquitoes in the evening and they can bite through my thin socks! Remember to bring insect repellent.




>> Click Here to see more photos of Klias Peat Swamp Field Center (KPSFC)

After heavy meal, a few of us decided to do a night walk. FYI, you may request the ranger to turn on the light along the boardwalk (but we didn’t). With the aid of torchlight, we walked quietly and saw termites, bats, frog and big millipede. The starry night is also a great feature here.

You would see wild animals such as wild boar, civet and badger at night, but you have to be very lucky. Guess that was not our night, though we could sense that this forest was very lively in the dark.. No wonder there are some old stories that warn children not to play till dark because the “tembuakar” which roams swamps and rivers on Sabah’s southwest coast will subdue them. Indigenous communities claim the creature takes on 44 life forms, appears after a heavy storm, is capable of uprooting bridges and can overnight “eat” grasses that clog rivers.

However, this monster has more reason to be afraid of human because new studies by Netherlands-based Wetlands International conclude that 20 percent of all Malaysian palm oil is produced on drained peatlands. They even say peat swamp will disappear from Sarawak state by the end of the decade if the destruction does not cease.

Conclusion

In Sabah, I see blue sky almost every day. I thought the beautiful sky would be there for me forever, until the haze from open burning turns our sky into grey color. Only then I realize that we should not take our environment for granted, or we will lose it forever.

Photos taken in Beaufort, Sabah, Malaysia Borneo

Monkey and Monkey Cup of Weston

3 Replies

In the past, Weston is the first town to have a railway station in Borneo, but it is under-developed and remain a seaside village today. Now tourists find a reason to visit Weston, as it is one of the three places offers wetland eco-tourism in Klias Peninsular to see long-nosed monkey, besides Klias and Garama.


Weston town is about 3 hours drive (125 KM) from Kota Kinabalu city and accessible by paved road. You will pass by Papar, Bongawan and Beaufort towns on the way.


Last month I joined a river cruise tour in Weston. I arrived Weston around 10am and our guide, Richard, and his boat, were already waiting at the jetty. It had been raining every day that time, so I was so glad that we had sunny day. For a start, we had a river cruise tour on the Weston River. The wetland here is mostly intact and well-preserved. Unlike the brackish and lifeless water in peat swamp of Klias and Garama, Weston wetland is a wide river with flowing murky (like color of milk tea) water.


>> Click Here to see more photos of Weston


Compared to Klias and Garama, Weston wetland is located at downstream and closer to the sea. In fact, its estuary is where Padas, the largest river of Sabah, ends as the meeting place of sea and river. As tide level changes daily, so is the depth of the water. We can see some lands exposed during low tide, with mangrove trees growing on it. During high tide, about lower half of these trees will be submerged into the water. A funny view but these vegetation have the ability to live in such intertidal environment.


Within 10 minutes, our boat spotted the first proboscis monkey. It’s a female monkey foraging at the river bank. Crocodiles also live in Weston River, but most are concentrated in further upstream, so this monkey is safe.


Then we saw about 4 herds of proboscis monkey (about 4 to 8 monkey per group) on the trees next to the river. Each group is dominated by a male proboscis monkey with big nose and belly. Proboscis monkey is one of the biggest monkey species but they are very elusive. They fled into the forest before our boat could get closer, so a binocular would help a lot.


Besides monkey, you can spot some water birds such as kingfisher, egrets and Lesser Adjutant.


Weston is rich in seafood too. We saw some fishing boats in the river, and a few of them were checking the fish traps.


Surprisingly, as an old town, the river of Weston is not really dense-populated. We found wooden houses of fishermen scattered along the river. Richard says the contour of the river always changes, so I assume any area near the river is not suitable for permanent settlement. Due to land clearing upstream, more silt is carried into Padas river, and this would affect the course and flow of the river.


>> Click Here to see more photos of Weston


Klias and Garama wetlands have beautiful peat swamp forest, but I think Weston has the densest and most beautiful view of Nipah forest. Someone told me that nipah tree is an invasive species and very easy to plant. You can see nipah tree in swampy area and wetland in Sabah.


Does nipah tree sound so unfamiliar to you? In fact, most of you (Malaysians) have eaten its fruit. Its popular name is “atap fruit”. Chinese calls it “水椰” (water coconut). The sweet Nipah fruit is a common item served in dessert called Ais Kacang or “ABC” (acronym for Air Batu Campur, literally means “Mixed Ice”).


Above: the semi-transparent and oval-shape nipah (nypa) fruits. The fruit is sweet with chewy texture, taste and feel like jello candy.


Above: nipah fruit is a nice addition to Mixed Ice dessert.

>> Click Here to see more photos of Weston


But what Weston most famous for is its crabs. For unknown reason, the crabs from Weston taste sweeter and more chewy. Even my mother knows this and ask me to buy some from Weston.


Another popular seafood of Weston is the freshwater prawn “Udang Galah” ( “大头虾” in Chinese). You can fish this prawn with specialized fishing hook. Normally the fishermen throw some rice in the river, after a while catch it using the fishing net. You can buy directly for cheaper price from local fishermen in Weston. In fish market, Udang Galah is sold for RM20 (about USD$6) per Kilogram. Unfortunately, due to overfishing, the crabs and shrimps in Weston are getting less.

At the end of our morning river cruise, we stopped at the jetty of Weston Wetland Resort, which has its dining area and reception building built next to the river. We were welcome by a fat and friendly cat, aww… so cute.


>> Click Here to see more photos of Weston

Below is a 5-minute video of our river cruise tour and Weston Wetland Resort. Sadly, I notice my video has very low click rate. Now I’m not sure if I should waste my time making video next time.. 🙁 At first I thought it was a great idea..

After taking some coffee and pineapples as light refreshment, Richard wanted to take us for a “pitcher plant” walk in a forest nearby. I thought I was the smartest one in the group. Assuming that it might be a “mud” walk, I was wearing short sleeve shirt and short pant, without knowing that I was totally unprepared what was coming next..


The 5-minute walk on the boardwalk allows us to take closer look at the nipah trees, without getting ourselves wet and dirty in the flooded swamp. However, the boardwalk is not well-maintained, so I had to watch my steps for missing plank.


>> Click Here to see more photos of Weston


Then we came to a bush area with dense shrubs. Wow, there are pitcher plant (Nepenthes) everywhere. Some are hanging on the shrubs and there are carpets of pitcher plant on the ground too. We have to be very careful of our steps. Pitcher plant is also called “Monkey Cup”, but it has nothing to do with monkey though, except that it looks like a miniature cup used by monkey.


Some are smaller than finger… This is Nepenthes tentaculata I think.


Some nepenthes have peculiar shape..


>> Click Here to see more photos of Weston


There are a number of nepenthes species around this small area. The one above is Nepenthes rafflesiana if I’m not mistaken.


Overall, we saw 4 or 5 species of nepenthes in just a small area. The one above is Nepenthes ampullaria, the highlight of our Nepenthes Hunt. Cute, isn’t it?


For those of you who plan to visit the Weston Wetland, you need to prepare for horse fly, an annoying blood sucker. I saw no horse fly in Klias and Garama but there are plenty of them near the Weston River. Horse fly is so persistent that they keep following you until you kill them or they are done sucking your blood.


There were more than 10 horse flies following me. According to Richard, my clothing in dark nature color attracts horse fly. Horse fly would not come near to people in bright color dress. In one case, one of his visitors killed 40 horse flies. When I didn’t pay attention, the horse fly cut a small wound on my exposed skin and fed on the blood. I ended up having 4 or 5 bites. They said the bites would become really itchy on next day and they were right. The worst thing is it will get worse if you scratch.


Normal insect repellent can’t drive horse fly away. One of my friends introduced me the repellent spray above. It is really effective against horse fly but this spray is not available in Malaysia shop. What you can do is to dress in bright color and cover your skin as much as possible with long sleeve and pant. Horse fly may carry parasite or disease, so don’t take it lightly.


Richard showed us his resort, but the room and accommodation is not ready yet, as of this writing.


>> Click Here to see more photos of Weston


We had our seafood lunch in Weston Wetland Resort. I remember my Sabahan friends and I once ordered shrimp in a restaurant in Peninsular Malaysia. We laughed when we saw the dish, coz the shrimps were so tiny that they are only qualified for making dried shrimps in Sabah. Sabah is blessed with abundant and “big” seafood, is because of our well-preserved wetlands (e.g. mangrove, coral reefs), which is a nursery and breeding ground for our seafood. Remember, our mangrove forest and swamp are not wasteland, they are important supply of our seafood.


>> Click Here to see more photos of Weston

Before we said bye-bye to Weston, we had another river cruise near the exit of estuary (river mouth of Padas), where we can see Brunei in front. Do you see the light area in the sea, in photo above? The water there is only a few feet deep. We had too many people onboard so we didn’t move further or we would risk our boat stranded in shallow water. Yes, you are correct that the last photo is the land of Brunei.

Photos taken in Weston, Sabah, Malaysia Borneo

Birds of Sabah (W-Z)

2 Replies


Wallace’s Hawk Eagle
Spotted on Kinabatangan River, Sandakan.


Whimbrel
A migratory bird spotted in mudflat near Sutera Harbor Resort.


White Bellied Woodpecker
Spotted in mangrove forest of Semporna.


White Breasted Waterhen
Ruak-Ruak in local language. This bird is no stranger, as it is commonly seen in drain, swampy and riverine area.


White breasted Woodswallow
Known as Layang-Layang in Malay language because it looks like a kite. Spotted in Tanjung Aru Beach and a very common bird in coastal area and islands.


White Collar Kingfisher
Very common kingfisher. This species does not stick to river side like other kingfishers.


White-bellied Sea Eagle
Spotted near sea side and islands. It likes to soar high on rising hot air near noon.


White-crowned Hornbill
Spotted in Tabin forest reserve, Lahad Datu.


White-crowned Shama
This bird is endemic to Borneo and also the best singing bird of Borneo. That’s why it is kept as pet though it is protected by law.


White-throated Fantail
Spotted in Kinabalu Park.




Whitehead’s Trogon
Spotted in Silau-Silau trail of Kinabalu Park. Endemic to Borneo and only montane species.


Wood Sandpiper
Migratory bird spotted in paddy field of Penampang.



Wreathed Hornbill (top: male, below: female)
Photos taken in Lok Kawi Wildlife Park.


Yellow Bittern
Commonly spotted in paddy field.


Yellow Wagtail
Known as Beras-Beras (rice bird) locally. Commonly seen in paddy field during migration period.


Yellow-bellied Prinia
A common grass bird in countryside.



Yellow-rumped Flowerpecker
Spotted in Tawau Hills Park


Yellow-vented Bulbul
A common bird that you can see every day. Look very bad-tempered. I saw it attacked the chicken once.

Photos taken in Sabah, Malaysia Borneo

Birds of Sabah (S-V)

Leave a reply


Scarlet-Backed Flowerpecker
Spotted in KK Wetland Centre.


Scarlet-rumped Trogon
Spotted in Tawau Hills Park. Trogon is my favourite bird. I am always happy to see one.



Slender-billed Crow
Spotted in Tawau Hills Park. They fly in a flock of 5 and check me out from a tree.


Spectacled Bulbul
Spotted in Poring. Look like it is wearing glass.


Spotted-Necked Dove
A very common feral dove in town as well as countryside. Locals think it has great nutrition value and eat it. There is one saying, “1 feral pigeon is better than 3 domesticated pigeon, and 1 domesticated pigeon is better than 3 chicken.”


Stork-billed Kingfisher
Spotted in Kinabatangan, Sandakan.


Storm’s Stork
Critically endangered and 500 left in the world. Spotted in Kinabatangan, Sandakan.


Streaky-breasted Spiderhunter
Spotted in Tawau Hills Park.




Striated Heron
Spotted in most wetland and swampy sites.



Temmincks Sunbird
Spotted in Kinabalu Park.


Verditer Flycatcher
Spotted in Tawau Hills Park. A migratory bird.


Velvet-fronted Nuthatch
Spotted in mangrove of Sepilok Laut, Sandakan.

Photos taken in Sabah, Malaysia Borneo

Birds of Sabah (P-S)

Leave a reply



Plaintive Cuckoo
Spotted in KK Wetland Centre and Likas Sport Complex.




Purple Heron
The largest bird around Kota Kinabalu. Have nesting sites at KK Wetland Centre and Likas Lagoon. This bird has already extincted in Peninsular Malaysia.


Red-eyed Bulbul
Spotted in butterfly garden in Poring.


Rhinoceros Hornbill
Spotted in Maliau Basin and Kinabatangan.


Rock Pigeon
Used to be domesticated but feral population is growing in town area. There are many people feed them on the street, which I would not encourage..


Ruddy Turnstone
Migratory bird spotted in mudflat next to Sutera Harbor Resort.


Rufous Night Heron
Spotted in KK Wetland Centre. When asked, the staff there will show you where it hides. You also can see it in Sadong Jaya of Kota Kinabalu City. The one in photo below is juvenile Rufous Night Heron. This bird was used to be only widespread in east coast, and now they are increasingly common in west coast.


Rufous-Tailed Tailorbird
Spotted on Manukan Island. According to the book, it is supposed to be more common than ashy tailorbird, but I don’t think so.



Scaly-breasted Bulbul
Very beautiful bulbul spotted in Poring.


Scaly-Breasted Munia
Supposed to be quite common in paddy field, but I don’t see them everytime.

Photos taken in Sabah, Malaysia Borneo

Birds of Sabah (O-P)

Leave a reply



Oriental Pied Hornbill
The most common hornbill species in Sabah. You can even see 1 at Tanjung Aru beach during fruit season.


Pacific Golden Plover
Spotted in KK Wetland Centre and mudflat near Sutera Harbor Resort during migration period.


Pacific Reef Egret
Can be seen in coastal area and islands.



Pacific Swallow
Very common swallow. You can see them perching on wires in town and countryside. There is a pair behind my office. When they are around, there is almost no fly.


Paddyfield Pipit
This bird loves grass. Can be seen chasing insects on grass land.


Peaceful Dove / Zebra Dove
Locals call it Philippines dove. Spotted-necked dove was used to be commonest many years ago, but the population of Peaceful doves take over.



Philippine Megapode
The nearest place to see this bird is in jungle trail of Manukan Island (Kota Kinabalu). It is very shy and sensitive to human presence, so you need to be go there very early in the morning. Once more tourists walk the trail, they will hide in the forest. Keep a distance and be quiet when you see it.



Pied Fantail
This is a bird common in area with dense trees, even in city. It hops from one branch to another, open its tail like fan to scare the insects, if any insect flees, it will spot it and snap it.




Pied Triller
It is more common than you think. This bird forages among trees for bug and insect. Since it doesn’t sing and very silent in movement, most people never aware of this bird.


Pink Necked Green Pigeon
Spotted in Tanjung Aru beach. Very colorful pigeon. Girls will like its pink color.

Photos taken in Sabah, Malaysia Borneo