New discovery - The 'Spectacled Flowerpecker' in North Borneo

Latest from BirdingASIA 12, the biannual publication of Oriental Bird Club, DAVID P. EDWARDS, RICHARD E. WEBSTER & ROSE ANN ROWLETT described a new flowerpecker from Danum Valley, Sabah, believed to be a new species living in the canopy of Borneo. Go to the following link.

http://www.orientalbirdclub.org/publications/ba12pdfs/Edwards-Flowerpecker.pdf

Happy birding.

Cheers,
Wong Tsu Shi

Collared Owlet (Glaucidium brodiei borneense)

6th October 2009

Rare resident at the mountains of Borneo, this Collared Owlet was found during day time at Mt. Kinabalu recently and my lifer as well.

Endemic subspecies

Taken with Nikon D300s with 70-200mm 2.8 VR lens

Borneo Bird Festival, Sepilok, Sabah, Malaysia

Programme Outline - 1st Borneo Bird Festival 2009 (10 - 15 October 2009)


TIME / DATE PROGRAMME


9 October 2009 (Friday)

1030hrs Students Programme – Check In


10 October 2009 (Saturday)

1000 - 1600hrs Activities and Booth Exhibitions

1430hrs

• Launching of the Borneo Bird Festival 2009
  (by Y.B Datuk Masidi Manjun
  Hon. Minister of Tourism, Culture and Environment Sabah)

Launching of Books:

• A Field Guide to the Birds of Borneo (Ms Susan Myers)
• Phillipp’s Field Guide to the Birds of Borneo (Mr Quentin Phillipps)
  

1600 - 2000hrs Bird Race Flag Off - Session 1

1600 - 1800hrs Guided Bird Tour and Photography

1900 - 2030hrs Guided Walk - Rainforest By Night


11 October 2009 (Sunday)

0630 – 0800hrs Guided Bird Tour and Photography

0500 – 0900hrs Bird Race - Session 2

1000-1045hrs

• Birdwatching Equipment – Digiscoping
  Speaker: Nikon Malaysia

1100 – 1145hrs

• Bird Photography and Digital Workflow
  Speaker: Mr Choo Tse Chien
  

1000 – 1800hrs Activities and Booth Exhibitions

1500 – 1700hrs Showcase: Environmental Message from Our Children (Student’s Showcase)

1700hrs Bird Race Prize Presentations


12 October 2009 (Monday)

0630 – 0800hrs : Guided Bird Tour and Photography

Presentation & Workshops (Rainforest Hall, RDC):

1000 – 1045hrs

• The Egrets of Borneo: Habits, habitat, and how to tell them apart
  (Speaker: Mr Quentin Phillipps)

1100 – 1145hrs

• Frigate birds of Borneo: Habits, habitat and how to tell them apart
  (Speaker: Mr Quentin Phillipps)

1200 – 1245hrs

• Bird Calls: Best Practices and Techniques
  (Speaker:Andrew Siani - Bird Guide)

1245 – 1400hrs Break for Lunch

1400 – 1445hrs

• Birdwatching in Sabah
  (Speaker: Mr Cede Prudente)

1500 – 1545hrs

• Attracting UK Bird watchers to Borneo: Improving the “Borneo Experience” for wildlife enthusiasts
  (Speaker: Mr Quentin Phillips)
  

1600 – 1645hrs

• Bird Ethics
  (Speaker: Mr Andrew Sebastian, Head of Communication, Malaysian Nature Society)

0900 – 1700hrs Activities and Booth Exhibitions.

1600 – 1800hrs Guided Bird Tour and Photography

1900 – 2030hrs Guided Walk - Rainforest By Night


13 October 2009 (Tuesday)


0630 – 0800hrs Guided Bird Tour and Photography

International Conference on Birding Tourism (Lecture Hall):

1000 -1045hrs

• Keynote: Birding Tourism: A Celebration of Birds, A Thrust for Conservation
  (Speaker: Mr Richard Grimmett, Head of Conservation, BirdLife International)
  

1050 -1135hrs

• Important Birds Areas (IBAs) - Working Globally, Acting Locally
  (Speaker: Mr Yeap Chin Aik, Head of Conservation, Malaysian Nature Society)
  

1140 -1225hrs

• Exclusivity of Birds of Borneo
  (Speaker: Dr Geoffrey Davison
  National Biodiversity Centre, National Parks Board, Singapore Botanic Gardens.)
  

1230 - 1400hrs Break for Lunch

1400 - 1445hrs

• Birdwatching Tourism in Australia and Linkages to Nature-based Tourism in Sabah
  (Speaker: Dr. Laurie Knight,
  Queensland University of Technology, Australia)

1445 – 1530hrs

• Promoting Birdwatching Enthusiasts from Japan
  (Speaker: Mr Akira Hibi, General Manager, Shinwa Tours Japan)

1600 – 1800hrs Guided Bird Tour and Photography

1900 – 2030hrs Guided Walk - Rainforest By Night


14 October 2009 (Wednesday)

0630 – 0800hrs Guided Birdwalk and Photography

1000 – 1700hrs Activities and Booth Exhibitions

1030 – 1600hrs Workshop I : Nature Art & Sketching by Mr Teh Yew Kiang

1600 – 1800hrs Guided Birdwalk and Photography


15 October 2009 (Thursday)

0630 – 0800hrs Guided Birdwalk and Photography

1000 – 1700hrs Activities and Booth Exhibitions

1030 – 1600hrs Workshop II : Nature Art & Sketching by Mr Teh Yew Kiang

1600 – 1800hrs Guided Birdwalk and Photography

1630hrs Event Ends: Organizing Committee & Sponsors Splash!

Programme as per 11th September 2009

Other Programmes:

• Workshops Lectures
• Bird Photography Competition
• Bornean Bird Race
  

See you all there !

Scarlet-rumped Trogon (Harpactes duvaucelii )

One of the commonest Trogon species in Borneo and found mostly along swampy and lowland forest.

Digiscoped with Nikon Fieldscope ED82, SRB-Griturn adapter and Fujifilm F31D at Myne Lodge, Bilit recently.

By Azahari Reyes @ Jason aka horukuru at http://horukuru.blogspot.com

Happy birding !

Ruddy Kingfisher (Halcyon coromanda)

One of the resident Kingfisher in Borneo and preferred coastal, swamp and mangrove forest. Diet includes insects and small reptiles.

Digiscoped with Nikon Fieldscope EDG 65, FSA-L2 adapter and Nikon D3.

By Azahari Reyes @ Jason aka horukuru at http://horukuru.blogspot.com


Happy birding !

Borneo's Endemic Montane Blue-winged Leafbird

This montane form of Blue-winged Leafbird was previously classified under Chloropsis cochinchinsis flavocincta . This form differs from the lowland forms in that the female has black throat, just like the male. This is abundant montane resident along the spinal chain from G. Kinabalu to Usun Apau plateau and G. Dulit, G. Tudal in Brunei and to Kayan Mentarang in East Kalimantan.





Montane Blue-winged Leafbird
(Chloropsis kinabaluensis)






This is the only form of Blue-winged Leafbird recorded in Sabah. The other lowland forms occuring in Borneo are not recorded in Sabah.

In The Birds of Borneo, An Anotated Checklist (2008), Clive F. Mann classify this form as Resident Breeding Endemic, Common name as Montane Blue-winged Leafbird, scientific name as Chloropsis kinabaluensis.

Taxonomic note: Seperation of C. (c) kinabaluensis from C. cochinchinensis follows Mees (1986) and Wells et al (2003). The two species would appear to overlap in altitude on Usun Apau Plateau, Sarawak. Use of Kinabaluensis in place of flavocincta follows Sharpe (1889), and is fully explained in Wells et al (2003).

Happy Birding.

http://www.pbase.com/wongtsushi

Bornean Bristlehead, Pityriasis gymnocephala.