São Tomé and Príncipe; Day 1 - Arrival & Bom Successo

   My next personal trip was another with my friend Max Baumgarten from Germany, and was a short 12 day trip to the Atlantic Ocean islands of Sao Tome and Principe, just off the west African coast in the Gulf of Guinea. Although there are no spectacular species here, there are several endemics and a short trip is all that is required to clean up on the island specialties.

  We arrived from our overnight TAPortugal flight from Lisbon at 05:20, although we then had a setback as the hire car we arranged for 06:10 we did not get until 07:10 thanks to the driver sleeping in. Once we collected the car, and dropped the driver off back in the city, we drove an hour up the mountain to the village of Bom Successo, from where we could walk into the forest to start working our way through the island endemics.

  The road was not too bad surprisingly, and we managed to start our birding at around 08:30. After we paid the small donation to be allowed access we got started. We very quickly started picking up endemic species as we walked through cultivated habitat, with Sao Tome Paradise-Flycatcher, Sao Tome Spinetail, Black-capped Spierops and Sao Tome Prinia all falling very quickly. We also picked up our first potentially tricky species, with Sao Tome White-Eye, which showed nicely.

  As we approached the forest we added Sao Tome Weaver, Sao Tome Oriole and Principe Seedeater to our ever growing list. The birding was very lively and very enjoyable. Once we entered the forest it did start to slow down somewhat, but we had what will be a strong contender for bird of the trip with a fantastic showing from Sao Tome Scops Owl in the middle of the morning.

  The first stage of the trail was absolutely brutal, with steep climbs and descents with extremely slippery mud underfoot. Both of us were felled multiple times by the conditions. Fortunately the second half was much better and we were able to complete it without too many more issues. We finally returned to the car at around 15:00 and then headed to the hotel to finally relax after our long day. 

Wilgottheim

     This weekend I found myself back in Lauras parents village of Wilgottheim, about half an hours drive from the city of Strasbourg on the French-German border. Situated between the two ranges of the Vosges mountains, nearby VizMig watchpoints have produced some genuinely incredible counts of migrating birds, but I have never had the chance to be in the area during the autumn… until now!

  Thus I spent the weekend getting up early and exploring the hill behind the village, checking the trees and bushes there for grounded migrants and hoping for good numbers of birds flying over. Overhead it turned out was fairly quiet, with very little of note in terms of numbers besides double-figure counts of both Tree Pipit and Yellow Wagtail, although there were also many grounded birds confusing the overall total. I couldn’t wait around too long, but in the two hours I explored the area during the mornings it was pretty clear that no significant movement of birds was taking place.

  In the bushes it was excellent, with regularly Pied Flycatchers, Common Redstarts and Spotted Flycatchers, bulked out by the usual good counts of Blackcaps and Chiffchaffs, with the occasional Willow Warbler also thrown in. There was also a single Whinchat and Wheatear, two species I had not yet found in my explorations around Paris.

  In addition to the migrant birds, it was also a surprise to find both Middle Spotted and Lesser Spotted Woodpeckers here. While there are larger trees, it is hardly a wooded environment and I did not expect to find these birds here. The Lesser Spotted Woodpecker especially showed very nicely! 

-Lesser Spotted Woodpecker

-Tree Pipit & Common Chiffchaff

-Spotted Flycatcher

-Common Redstart

-Pied Flycatcher

Lac de Créteil

   In the last week I returned to the Lac de Créteil to see what else had been arriving during the lively Autumn period. Overall, there has not yet been a dramatic change in the overall composition of interesting birds, but there continues to be an interesting trickle of migrants passing through that continue to make the site interesting and enjoyable to visit. 

  The lake itself saw a rather unexpected and pleasant surprise with a flock of no less than 13 Common Sandpipers flying around when I visited on Monday. Not long after however, the flock seems to have dispersed, as I did not record them again. The only other bird of note interacting with the lake was another, or the same, 1st year Mediterranean Gull that flew over distantly on the Wednesday.

  In the bushes there continues to be Pied Flycatchers, with five the highest count on the Wednesday. As per my previous visits, some of these have been quite showy. The same can not be said for the one Spotted Flycatcher I’ve seen in this period, which remained high in the canopy and out of sight. Additionally, there has been Willow Warblers, Chiffchaffs and abundant Blackcaps to enjoy. A juvenile Hobby flying over the lake was also a nice bonus. 

  There was also an additional bird for my patch list, but unfortunately not one of any notable origin, when I found two Alexandrine Parakeets perched up. These larger versions of the very abundant Ring-necked Parakeet will soon also be dominating European cities, I am sure. 

-Common Sandpiper

-Pied Flycatcher

-Alexandrine Parakeet

-Migrant Hawker

Lac de Créteil

   I returned to the Creteil Lake today eager to continue searching for migrant birds. Today was far more productive than my last visit, and I had a great morning. In total, I managed five Pied Flycatchers, a Spotted Flycatcher, a Common Redstart, a Garden Warbler, eight Blackcaps and two Reed Warblers. It was quite the haul of birds, and I was very pleased with that outcome.

  Towards the end of the morning the weather turned a little gloomy, and there was a short rain shower. I wondered if there might be a chance this could drop something in, as occurs on reservoirs in the UK, but did not hold out too much hope. However, soon after it cleared I picked up a juvenile Mediterranean Gull flying low over the lake and then overhead, followed shortly by a flock of four Ruff that made off northwest without slowing down.

  Additionally it was nice to see the Little Bittern twice during my walk round, after only hearing it last time. It was a fantastic morning, and I am very much looking forward to coming back later in the week. 

-Pied Flycatcher

-Spotted Flycatcher

-Common Redstart

-Reed Warbler

-Mediterranean Gull

-Ruff

-Little Bittern

Lac de Créteil

   Finally recovered from any post-Ecuador jet-lag I headed out to the Lac de Créteil in the hopes of finding some migrant birds. I arrived just after sunrise and spent the best part of two hours exploring the lake and adjacent bushes. The weather was gloomy but only a few spots of drizzle fell whilst I was present. 

  The highlight of the morning were two Pied Flycatchers feeding on the egde of the lake. I flushed a Little Bittern, which vocalised in response but sadly descended deeper into the reeds and never came out again. Two Yellow Wagtails flew over and two Common Sandpipers flew across the lake, but otherwise it was a little quieter than I expected. Still, two Pied Flycatchers is something to build on, and I look forward to continuing to bird the site throughout the autumn. 

-Pied Flycatcher

Borneo; Day 21 - Kilas Peat Swamp & Departure

   After three weeks our Borneo trip final reached its end today. Our flight was not until the evening, so we had the morning to explore. Laura opted to stay in bed, so I drove the 90 minutes south to the Kilas Peat Swamp Forest, which is known destination for a few specialized species, but which had become much harder within the last year. 

  Setting off at 05:30, I made good time and arrived at the site at 06:40. The gate was open and staff were around, so I paid my entry and then started exploring. The boardwalk was in a sorry state, with many sections broken by falling trunks and many loose panels throughout. It was a bit of a minefield, but I still enjoyed the forest and the birding here, even though I ultimately missed the main target species.

  I got four new species in the three hours that I birded here, with Red-billed Malkoha, Chestnut-bellied Malkoha, Rufous-tailed Tailorbird and Thick-billed Green Pigeon. Sadly, none of them posed for pictures and I didn’t get anything of the two non-Malkoha species. Bornean Black-capped Babbler was nice to see again, and there were nice views of several other species I had become familiar with over the preceding three day. Additionally, it was nice to see Proboscis Monkeys again, although they were distant and there was very limited visibility through the trees.

  At 10:00 I set off back to the hotel to prepare for checkout and our flight home. Once again I made good time and was back with time to pack and shower. We left the hotel at midday, and headed for lunch, then souvenir shopping and then to the airport. A little early for sure, but with few other options, it was nice to be free of the responsibility of the car and allowed us an afternoon break before we flew. Thus draws to a close our trip to Sabah in Malaysian Borneo. 

-Kilas Peat Swamp

-Ashy Tailorbird

-Red-billed Malkoha

-Chestnut-bellied Malkoha

-Blue-throated Bee-eater

-Proboscis Monkey

Borneo; Day 20 - Crocker Range

   From our base in Kota Kinabalu, we were able to strike at several sites with species we had missed out on during the regular part of our trip. For the first of our mornings here, we decided to return to the Crocker Range, where we hoped to catch up with some of the birds we missed out on at Mount Kinabalu and Trus Madi. It was a 90 minutes drive from our hotel, so we set off at 06:00 and arrived to start birding at 07:30. 

  We started our birding on the Gunung Alab Substation Road, where we had birded before. However, we did not travel as far as on our previous visit. We birded here for an hour, but for the most part could only find familiar species. A pair of Mountain Blackeye was nice, as was a smart male Temminck’s Sunbird. But the highlight came as we walked back to the car, when we picked out an immature male Pygmy Flycatcher as part of a mixed-species flock. I certainly did not expect the birds constant wing flicks, which were very quirky. It was not a species we had anticipated finding here, so was a good one to get back for the trip! 

  At 08:30 we set off slightly further down the mountain to the Rafflesia Information Centre, where we hoped to find some more birds, as well as see one of the Rafflesia flowers. What we did not realise was that a guide was mandatory, and we could not explore the forest here by ourselves. Still, we wanted to see the flower so paid our entry, drove down to another area of the site, met our guide and then hiked to see the flower. Although it was only 600 metres from the car park, it was an incredibly steep descent down concrete stairs. At the bottom was waiting for us a 6-day-old Rafflesia pricei, not the enormous flower but one of its smaller relatives. 

  We did not see many birds on the trail down to the flower, although Spotted Fantail was an unexpected new species for me. However, without a guide we could explore the open area around the car park so we spent about an hour doing this. Indeed this was very productive. No sooner had we returned to the car than two Mountain Barbet responded to our playback, offering excellent views. Then we continued birding and found a brief pair of the Pygmy Heleia (or White-eye), before finally catching up with the Bornean Barbet, which did not show as well but was still very much appreciated. Sadly the gloomy conditions did not help our chances for Mountain Serpent Eagle, and Whiteheads Spiderhunter was always a long shot, but to get back three species was a great reward for the morning. 

  At 11:00, with the clouds already gathering, we headed back down into the city and our hotel, arriving at 12:30. The rest of the afternoon was a complete washout, although we had a short look at the beach adjacent to our resort during a short break in the weather. There were no waders but a couple of Little Terns flew past, which was quite unexpected. We ended the day drinking cocktails, watching the geckos whilst the rain fell down outside. 

-Rafflesia pricei

-Pygmy Flycatcher

-Sunda Bush Warbler

-Temminck's Sunbird

-Bornean Barbet

-Pygmy White-eye

-Mountain Barbet

-Spotted Fantail

-Bornean Leafbird

Borneo; Day 19 - Mantanani Island

   In the morning I had one last birding session on Mantanani Island, accompanying the three young Dutch birders I had met the previous day. I was unable to add anything new, but we had nice flybys from three Grey Imperial Pigeons as well as another Pied Imperial Pigeon. The Philippine Megapodes were once again abundant, with several seen scratching around in the leaflitter across the island. 

  Because we had to checkout of our room at 10:00, but could not leave the island until 14:00, the rest of the day was essentially a write-off, not helped by cloudy weather and occasional downpours. Once 14:00 came around, we boarded a small local vessel, to take us back to the Chinese day visitors, with whom we got a lift back to the mainland. The boat back played several songs over their speaker, including MCR Welcome to the Black Parade!

  Once we returned to the mainland at 15:30 we reunited with our car and headed off south to our next destination, a beach resort just south of the city of Kota Kinabalu, the final destination of our trip. Thanks to traffic and incredibly heavy rainfall, it took us almost three hours to complete the journey, so we were glad once it was over and we could finally relax. 

-Grey Imperial Pigeon

Borneo; Day 18 - Mantanani Island

   For our only full day on Mantanani Island, I woke up at 07:00 and set off for a short walk in the island's forest. I could hear many of the Philippine Megapodes calling, but none seemed interested in the playback. Eventually I spotted a pair distantly feeding in a coconut plantation, meaning I finally got nice views of them. There were limited other birds on the island, but Pacific Reef Heron and Emerald Dove were both nice to see. 

  Most of the rest of the day was spent relaxing or snorkling. The latter was very productive, with another Moorish Idol seen, as well as Picasso Triggerfish and most importantly my first Common Clownfish! But the highlight was swimming alongside sea turtles! Other guests had said they had seen them whilst swimming off the beach, so we watched for surfacing animals before heading into the water, since we knew where they were. We had fantastic views of at least two but possibly three different turtles under the water, as we swam alongside them. The only animals we identified were Green Sea Turtles, but Hawksbill Sea Turtles also apparently occur in the area.

  At 16:30, after chatting to a young Dutch birder, we set off for a walk around the island. This was very productive, and we landed several good birds. First we spotted a distant perched Grey Imperial Pigeon, which is a rare species found on the island. Next we had two Pied Imperial Pigeons fly past us, another new pigeon for me, and then as we were walking back we found a group of five Metallic Pigeons feeding on a fruiting tree, my third new pigeon of the afternoon. Additionally we enjoyed more views of several Philippine Megapodes and a large Water Monitor. 

  We arrived back at the lodge at sunset and spent the next half an hour filtering through the hundreds of Frigatebirds flying overhead to roost. Most of them were Lesser Frigatebirds, but we picked out a couple of Christmas Island Frigatebirds as well. Having seen the owl yesterday, we were able to relax this evening before heading back to the mainland tomorrow.

-Philippine Megapode

-Metallic Pigeon

-Pied Imperial Pigeon

-Grey Imperial Pigeon

-Collared Kingfisher

-Lesser Frigatebird

-Christmas Island Frigatebird & Lesser Frigatebird

-Philippine Megapode & Common Water Monitor

-Common Water Monitor

-Green Sea Turtle