Jet-lag meant I was awake at 01:00, and didn’t get back off to sleep after that, which meant when 05:30 rolled around, our time of departure, I was gnawing at the bit to get out and birding. Our first destination of the morning was the hide of CP Song, which we arranged through Calvin NG. This hide is one of two famous hides for Bulwer’s Pheasant, a species once mythical but now reliable. Sadly we knew there was no male visiting at the time of our trip, but a female was still being seen, so we had hopes that we would at least see the species.
We turned up at the hide at 06:00 just as light was starting to break over the forest. It was dark and gloomy in the hide but there were birds and ample squirrels already scuttling around. It took about an hour for the Bulwer’s Pheasant female to appear, but she did not linger long, just a few minutes in total. The star of the show was a superb Bornean Banded Pitta which came and went throughout the two hours we spent in the hide.
There was an excellent supporting cast of birds, with highlights including a lively flock of Crested Partridge and a small group of Rufous-breasted Partridge. There were a few endemics visiting, such as Grey-hooded Babbler, Dayak Blue Flycatcher, Penan Bulbul and White-crowned Shama. In addition to the birds, the hide was alive with squirrels and treeshrews, but working them out will take a bit more effort.
By 08:00 the activity in the hide had died a death, so we spent the next hour birding along the adjacent road. It was quiet with no traffic and activity was not bad. We found several Bornean Bulbul, a species which we hoped to find here as it is difficult at other sites. A chance find of another hide not far away on the other side of the road turned up trumps with a Crimson-headed Partridge feeding there when we walked in. It was a great morning. At 09:00 we set off headed to Mount Kinabalu, a little earlier than expected but grateful for the extra time we would have to find birds there.
It took about two hours for us to reach Mount Kinabalu, although we made a short but unsuccessful stop at a stakeout for White-fronted Falconet. Once we had sorted ourselves out with a birders permit, which was very straightforward to organize, we headed to the restaurant for lunch. From the balcony here we had our first Black-sided Flowerpecker and a flock of Chestnut-crested Yuhina. The highlight of this lunch break was an excellent Prevost’s Squirrel, which was around throughout.
After lunch, we drove up the road and started birding the upper area of the Silau-silau Trail, before reconnecting with the road and walking back up that. It being early afternoon, it should not have been a shock that the activity was slow, but it was very slow. We recorded less than 10 species in about two hours walking, although we started to make slow work on our targets, with Golden-naped Barbet and a superb performance from a pair of Bornean Stubtail showing less than a metre away! We were also treated to a Whiteheads Tufted-eared Squirrel, which was one of the mammal target highlights of the trip and did not disappoint!
At 15:00 I was happy to keep birding the road, but Laura wanted to drive up to the Telepon Gate to see what was happening up there. This was a fortuitous event, as no sooner had we got into the car than the heavens opened and it did not relent. Although we went to the gate, we saw very little in the downpour, except for a small flock of showy Chestnut-headed Laughingthrushes. Tired and jetlagged, we decided to call it a day at 16:00 and headed to the hotel, very satisfied with our first day in Borneo!
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