Avian Sighting in September 2018 - Malaysian Blue Flycatcher

We were hoping it would be the Bornean Blue but it was not our day. Nevertheless our outing to Sukau - Gua Gomantong  was a recce mission for us.  Thanks to fellow local birder Ong for his time & guidance.

The Blue-throated bird with a pale blue throat is the male and it was accompanied by its partner during our encounter. See last picture.


In peninsula I got the same bird at Lancang Pahang but nowadays the flycatcher is a hard find with their habitat destroyed by the local government no thanks to Perhilitan especially the wasteful so call "Tiger Sanctuary" which upto now still not complete and I can say never will................................soon to be abandoned by Pakatan wtf.

I have seen other birder publishing their find of the Bornean Blue in Danum side of Sabah but no sighting this side of Sandakan. Hope to go there one of these days. Anyone can guide me........................

Sharma 2/3 - White-crowned Sharma ( lifer 501 - Bornean 100 )

 This will be my second Sharma of Malaysia. It is endemic to Borneo which include Sabah  & Sarawak  of East Malaysia . As usual it responded to my playback  and it would be singing behind some undergrowth. Most of the time you have search it out if it is not confident enough to come out in the open. We encountered the bird twice along a trail under the RDC canopywalk about 300m from the cafeteria. It is a sure see bird at Sepilok and easy lifer.

To identify this bird is obviously the white patch on its crown. It also have a white rumped. Its chest and belly is a uniformly rufous in color. It is rather smart looking bird.

The last Rufous-tailed Sharma is still elusive and I must make some excursion to Taman Negara to get it..............

Barbet 12 - Bornean Brown Barbet ( lifer 500 Bornean )

There is  another split in the Brown Barbet Family. This is now called the Bornean Brown Barbet and the peninsula Malaysia on is called the Sooty. I am not sure if this is a juvenile with it buff colored  beak. It has a lighter  brown throat with some white speck compared to its cousin.

My encounter was short lived I only managed 5 shots and only 2 were sharp as shown. The single bird was tagging in a birdwave. Norazmi did not manage to shoot with its Sony setup.  Anyway it supposed to a common bird in Sepilok.

With this bird lifer I have reach my 500 milestone and the next target is to reach my  600th Malaysian bird in my life time. It is  matter of dedication and perseverance.............

Pitta 6/13 - Black-headed Pitta (lifer no 499)

 The Black-headed Pitta is almost like our peninsula Garnet Pitta except that it has a more distinct white streak across  its black head.  It is sure see in Sepilok RDC if you have the right guide or local birder. At one time it is so used to human that you don't need a hide to shoot these fellows at the Pitta trail post. In September 2018 it was missing and we suspect it is now mating and nesting again.

On my last day at Sepilok RDC, I was bloody lucky that I met  KK -Tony with Henry and Chui who  managed to call out the bird at another trail......... amazing friendly Sabah birders ! thanks guys

Though a bit shy it was dueting with our call behind a tree. We have to move about to get an opening to shoot it. I was lucky enough to locate it on a low branch with a bit of sunlight shining thru to get these pictures.

Flycatcher no 25/30 - Sunda Blue Flycatcher (lifer 498) aka Large-billed Flycatcher

I had id the bird as a Niltava earlier but after checking Borneo birdlist there is none listed.  Anyway it rufous neck and breast is paler than  the Niltava's  that I have seen in peninsula.  Doing some comparison of the Bornean Blue I deduced  its indigo forehead and dark face wih a bit of dark blue to it throat I am positive I got the Sunda Blue Flycatcher aka Large-billed  Flycatcher. The tip of the upper mandible beak is hooked and of cause the large bill

It was very unfortunate that it kept to upper storey and did not budge from its perch for a while before it dive down into the undergrowth near the stream and never to be seen. We were lucky to got a few shots but not that clean from our angle. It head is always pointing up which is a habit of this bird.

Kingfisher 13/14 - Bornean Banded Kingfisher (lifer 497)

I got this male banded at RDC in September 2018. It is also mentioned as the Black-faced.  It is now a total separate specie from our peninsula specie. The colors and feather features are drastically different with black face mask and forehead compared to the brownish of the latter. It is an easy shoot at the Canopy walk. The difficult part is to locate it amongst  the vast green. Once you have found it you can shot for an hour or two as it perch there unless disturbed. We were shooting at a distance of 60 ft or so . If you are lucky it can come to 15-20 ft of the canopy bridge.

This picture is the male bird. Hope to get to see the female in October..............

Groundbird 11/16 - Chestnut-necklaced Hill Patridge (lifer 496)

I was dying to catch this bird when news came about of its appearance at Pedu Lake of Kedah. I did make a trip  last year there following the direction given by  my good buddies. I sighted it in the late morning but with no photo; I came back to Alor Setar empty handed.

This time it was fruitful enough that I was  given ample time to shoot in close quarters. Thanks Ang / Kenny boy....for nothing 😁. By the way Zhong just commented that its a different specie from Peninsula (Arborophila charltonii ssp. charltonii). I think they are subspecies and yet to be split...............vs
Arborophila graydoni