The days in northern Asia are getting longer and it is time for this beautiful Blue and White Flycatcher Cyanoptila cyanomelana wintering in Mt Kinabalu to start thinking about the forthcoming long and arduous flight back to its breeding ground. It had been a good stay here. We saw pairs of this flycatcher as well as first winter males. Some of them chose the cooler climes of mountain ranges while others basked in the sun of offshore islands. Be safe! See you in September.

This wintering flycatcher Muscicapa sibirica must feel really at home around the hilly habitat of Penampang, just south of Kota Kinabalu. I spotted this bird about two months ago and it is still around the same patch of forest today. Previously I have seen this bird in the montane forest of Mt Trus Madi around 1,600m above sea level, so it does get around. When not in flight, it is usually sitting upright on a bare branch.

This has been a bumper year for this visitor to Borneo. Previously I have only seen the Red Throated Flycatcher Ficedula parva in Thailand and North Vietnam. Back in Sabah this year I have seen the bird at three different locations, the latest near the Power Station at Kinabalu Park. On all occasions, the bird was quick to react and never called. The breeding male with the conspicious red throat has never been recorded in Borneo, perhaps leading to many birders overlooking it. But it’s there!