Kinabalu Trinity

 

Nikki and I have been to Sabah three times now, and there's one destination we've visited on each of those three visits: Mount Kinabalu. There's a reason for that: between gorgeous scenery, easy access, and amazing birds, it's one of our favorite birding spots in Borneo that we've visited so far (my personal favorite although Nikki now prefers the Kinabatangan River). This time, we made two separate visits: one on way from Mount Trus Madi to the Kinabatangan, and another one after we'd finished at the Kinabatangan. Both of these visits were, as always, truly excellent and I only wish we could have spent more time there. 

Our first stop at Kinabalu was on April 8, after we'd headed down from Mount Trus Madi, and got back in our rental car. It was a couple of hours from the village below Trus Madi to Kinabalu, and we arrived around 4 PM, with just an hour and a half or so of daylight left. Pulling up to the gate of the park, we were met with an unpleasant surprise: while on our previous visit it was possible to drive all the way up the Power Station Road to the Timpohon Gate, where the trail up the mountain proper starts, private cars are now banned. Instead, the only way to get to the top is via park buses, which weren't running that late in the day. That was annoying, as it meant we were restricted to places we could walk to. I suppose it sort of makes sense as the park was previously over-trafficked with personal vehicles, but on a personal level it was a bit of an inconvenience.

We parked our car near the gate and the unfriendly security guard, and instead started walking up the Silau-Silau to make the most of the remaining daylight. The Silau-Silau is a birder favorite, and there's a reason for that: practically the first birds we saw were a pair of Whitehead's Trogons! We've been fortunate enough to see this species every time we visit Kinabalu, but it really never gets old- they're very high on the list of the best trogons in the world, and they're a treat every time we run into them. 

Male Whitehead's Trogon

The Silau-Silau trail

The trogons were followed by a massive mixed flock of large birds, which annoyingly enough came in the middle of a giant fog bank, which made viewing difficult and photography impossible! The flock included Sunda Laughingthrushes, Chestnut-hooded Laughingthruses, Checker-throated Woodpeckers, Hair-crested Drongos, and the only Bornean Green Magpies of the trip. I thought I may have seen a Whitehead's Broadbill, my biggest target for this trip, but it was too foggy to be sure. I heard the calls of Bare-headed Laughingthrush, another big target, but I suspect they were coming from a guide leading a tour group nearby rather than actual birds. A bit further up the trail Nikki spotted an enormous Blyth's Hawk-eagle perched in the mid-story, a great lifer for both of us, but it took off before I could get a picture.

We got to the terminus of the Silau-Silau trail at the Power Station Road just before sunset, and started walking. Nikki spotted some birds in front of us hopping on the road, and they turned out to be a family group of Everett's Thrushes! They are one of the rarer Bornean mountain endemics, known from only a few areas, and usually one of the most elusive Kinabalu targets. April must be a good time of year for them (possibly because the young birds are recently fledged and still being fed by their parents), as we saw them every day we looked for them. These ones were incredibly confiding, and allowed us to get just a few meters away from them. It was basically pitch black by this point so our pictures weren't exactly spectacular, but it was still a great lifer moment.

Juvenile Everett's Thrush

Adult Everett's Thrush

Selfie on the Power Station Road

It was dark by the time we got back to the car, and we had dinner at the Kloud Restaurant outside the park. The restaurant was surprisingly good (Sabah is an amazing destination for many things, but if I'm going to be honest the food is not one of them), and there were some good moths outside it. We stayed at the Ayana Holiday Resort, one of our usual spots, and as usual it was fairly affordable and comfortable, lukewarm shower aside. 

Barsine rubricostata at the restaurant

Batwing Cicada

We had a few hours to bird the following morning before heading onward to the Kinabatangan. Once again we had to park at the bottom and walk uphill, this time walking up the Power Station Road. We were treated to a lovely sunrise over Mount Kinabalu, and as it got light along the road we had a nice mixed flock with Hair-crested Drongos, Sunda Laughingthrushes, Chestnut-hooded Laughingthrushes, Bornean Whistlers, and White-throated Fantails. To my surprise, the Everett's Thrushes were still hopping along beside the road as well, even after sunrise. A bit further up we ran into a guide with a couple of clients taking pictures of an Eyebrowed Jungle Flycatcher on a dead branch that had probably been placed there for it. Nikki also heard the song of a Bornean Stubtail (far too high-pitched for me to hear), but we never saw it. Another mixed flock held Bornean Leafbirds, Grey-chinned Minivets, Yellow-breasted Warblers, and Velvet-fronted Nuthatches, all moving far too fast in the canopy for good pictures. Most frustratingly, we heard the harsh calls of a Whitehead's Broadbill, our #1 target, but never saw it at all.

Sunrise on Kinabalu

Chestnut-hooded Laughingthrush

Sunda Laughingthrush

Everett's Thrush

Grey-throated Babbler

Eyebrowed Jungle Flycatcher, sometimes known by the more poetic name of Bornean Shade-Dweller

Pseudochalcothea spatulifera, a cool endemic scarab

Misty morning on the Power Station Road

Above the junction with the Silau-Silau trail, I heard the tapping of a woodpecker, which proved to be a Maroon Woodpecker, a lifer for me. Around the next corner, Nikki heard a Bornean Stubtail singing again, and although I couldn't hear it at all I was soon able to find it using my thermal scope as it perched unobtrusively in the undergrowth, singing its little heart out. Teamwork!

Maroon Woodpecker

Bornean Stubtail

We got as far up as the overlook to Mount Kinabalu, then had to start heading down so we could be on our way. There was a nice mixed flock feeding along the road as we headed down, including Grey-chinned Minivets, Yellow-breasted Warblers, Indigo Flycatchers, and Mountain Leaf-Warblers. On the Silau-Silau Trail, we once again had a close encounter with one of the resident pairs of Whitehead's Trogons, as well as a very nearby but skulking Bornean Shortwing and a typically skittish Bornean Forktail.

Grey-chinned Minivet

Indigo Flycatcher

Yellow-breasted Warbler

Mountain Leaf Warbler

Female Whitehead's Trogon

Male Whitehead's Trogon

Female Bornean Shortwing

Bornean Forktail

Bornean Mountain Ground Squirrel

Mycalesis pitana

Pomponia rajah, a spectacular cicada

It was late morning by then, so we had to check out of our hotel and continue on to the Kinabatangan River, which I've already written about. It wasn't long before we were back, however; we returned on April 10, and had a full day of birding there on April 11 before flying home to the Philippines. The night of the 10th we had time for little else but dinner at the Kloud Restaurant and admiring some of their nice moths. We stayed at the Mile 36 lodge, which despite having lackluster reviews was actually one of the nicer places we've stayed in the Kinabalu area, with spacious rooms, fast internet, and a nice view. 

Parotis laceratalis

Syllepte iophanes

Cyana conclusa

The 11th was a Tuesday, which annoyingly enough meant that Nikki had to work. I'm a consultant and can work (or not work) whenever I want for the most part, so I was able to take the whole day off to finally track down my last of the Whiteheads, Whitehead's Broadbill. I started walking up the Power Station Road well before sunrise, in hopes of thermaling an owl or other night birds. There weren't any of those around, but surprisingly enough I was able to spot a roosting Crimson-headed Partridge deep in the undergrowth, my first time actually seeing this gorgeous endemic. There's a hide for them on Gunung Alab I hope to visit next time I'm in Sabah, but for now it was nice to remove it from my heard-only list. A little further up the road I also thermaled a juvenile Everett's Thrush, presumably the same bird we'd seen a few days prior.

Crimson-headed Partridge

Juvenile Everett's Thrush

The sun rose on a rather quiet morning by Kinabalu standards, although I did hear Sunda Owlet's burbling call in the distance, still a heard-only bird for me. A group of Sunda Laughingthrushes passed by, surprisingly not mixed in with other birds as they usually are, and gave me great looks. I heard the low-pitched call of a Mountain Imperial Pigeon nearby, and to my surprise was actually able to locate it in a tree above the road! This is a species that is almost always heard rather than seen, so it was great to finally see it properly. Further up, I heard a familiar call and was soon able to locate a very responsive White-bellied Erpornis, a bird I hadn't seen in many years.

Sunda Laughingthrush

Mountain Imperial Pigeon

White-bellied Erpornis

I kept walking upward, until I got to the usual summit viewpoint. As I approached it, I heard rapid wingbeats behind me, and saw a medium-sized bird disappearing into a tree. My spidey senses immediately started tingling, and were confirmed when I heard it call- Whitehead's Broadbill! I was eventually able to track it down as it perched quietly above the road, and snap a few pictures before it flew down the hill and disappeared. It was an amazing look at a bird I'd been trying for for years, and every bit as good as I expected it to be- a brilliantly green bird shining like a jewel among the leaves, practically iridescent among the duller foliage. It was one of my best self-found birds of the year, and one of my favorites overall. My main target bird seen, I took a moment to relax and enjoy the incredible view of Mount Kinabalu along the road.

Whitehead's Broadbill!

Clouds at the summit of Kinabalu

That was the biggest target for me, but I still had another target for the day: Whitehead's Spiderhunter, a bird I still hadn't seen well or photographed but was apparently reliable at a flowering tree next to the park visitor's center. I had a tip-off from a friend who was there on a BirdTour Asia tour (thanks Jono!) that they were still around, so I started walking back down that direction. It was a bit birdier, and I ran into a mixed flock that included lots of Yellow-breasted Warblers, a fairly cooperative Bornean Treepie, and some Penan Bulbuls, which had still still been called Ochraceous Bulbuls last time I was in Borneo. I heard a Sunda Cuckoo calling right next to the trail, but as always it refused to actually come into view.

Yellow-breasted Warbler

Bornean Treepie

Little Pied Flycatcher

Penan Bulbul

I took the Silau-Silau trail on the way down, admittedly mostly because I wanted to have the bragging rights of seeing all three of the famous Whitehead's Trinity in one day. It eventually worked, as I once again found the resident male Whitehead's Trogon and had great views. I was also able to get another guide and his client on it. A bit further down the trail there was an Indigo Flycatcher that perched just a couple meters in front of me, seemingly completely unafraid of my presence.

Whitehead's Trogon

Indigo Flycatcher

I finally arrived at the visitor's center late morning, and searched a bit before finding the proper tree with pink flowers where the spiderhunter had been feeding. A guide and his two photographer clients arrived soon after, and we waited together for it to arrive. Waited two hours in fact, while the spiderhunter remained resolutely absent. Some other birds came in to feed in the garden, including a Black-sided Flowerpecker, a couple Temminck's Sunbirds, a group of Chestnut-crested Yuhinas, and several flocks of Black-capped White-eyes.

Black-sided Flowerpecker

Black-capped White-Eye

Common Mapwing

Myrmecaria carinata

The spiderhunter tree, sans spiderhunter

After a couple hours of waiting, the photographers got bored and left to find more cooperative targets, and I eventually headed to the Liwagu restaurant to order some (overpriced) take out for Nikki and I. I then returned to the spiderhunter spot for one last try before it was time to head back to our hotel. That proved to be an excellent decision: less than 10 minutes after I returned, I heard the jumbled calls of a Whitehead's Spiderhunter, and soon after it flew in and started feeding! I got to enjoy great looks at it for 5 minutes or so before it flew off and I had to go bring Nikki her lunch. It was an amazing way to finish out the morning- with all three of the legendary Whitehead's Trio. It was also an amazing bird in and of itself, with its thick streaking and bright yellow vent, certainly one of the most unique-looking spiderhunters.

spiderhunter sneeze

Whitehead's Spiderhunter!

Nikki and I had lunch, and then had a couple more hours of daylight to enjoy our last day on Kinabalu. This time we decided to hitch a van ride all the way to Timpohon Gate, the highest point of Power Station Road, so that we could look for the high-elevation birds we hadn't already seen. It took a bit to arrange the van (partly because the people at the park headquarters would want to go all the way up to the top when it was about to get dark), but eventually we were able to get on the proper van.

The van dropped us at the eponymous power station at the top of Power Station Road, which was next to the start of the hiking trail at Timpohon Gate. We didn't have the $1500 or so to actually climb Mount Kinabalu, or the 3-6 months of advance preparation necessary to get a climbing permit, so the only way to go there was down- Friendly Bush Warbler will have to wait for our next visit. The gate area was quiet and very foggy, with little except some Mountain Leaf Warblers and a female Little Pied Flycatcher. As we started walking down Nikki reminded me that we hadn't seen Sunda Bush Warbler yet, so I did a single burst of playback. As usual, that led to a Sunda Bush Warbler exploding out of the bushes within a few seconds, perching right in front of us as it tried to find the source of the noise- I don't think there are any birds more responsive than the bush warblers of Kinabalu! We heard a scolding sound next to the trail, which turned out to be a Bornean Black-banded Squirrel that was very cooperative as the Kinabalu squirrels usually are.

Female Little Pied Flycatcher

Sunda Bush Warbler

Bornean Black-banded Squirrel

Us and the view from Timpohon Gate

Walking down, we were almost immediately enveloped in a fog bank, which made birding much more difficult. It was because of the fog that I didn't notice a group of Red-breasted Partridges crossing the road until Nikki spotted them just a couple meters in front of us! The conditions made photography practically impossible but it was still a great view of a heard-only bird, and yet another chicken for our year list. We got to watch them for several minutes as they scratched in the dirt next to the road then walked slowly down the slope, seeming not to care that we were right there. Walking further down, we happened upon yet another Everett's Thrush, this one an adult. 

Red-breasted Partridge

Everett's Thrush

Eudocima mionopastea at our hotel

Sadly that was all we had time for, as the next morning we were returning to the Philippines. Kinabalu is one of our favorite birding spots in the world, and we'll certainly be back at some point- both because we still have a few target birds, and because it's beautiful and enjoyable birding. Very happy we had the privilege to return this year for the first time since the pandemic!