Borneo Birds

Here’s a regular visitor during the winter migration.  The Grey Heron Ardea cinerea is found in small numbers in the ponds and paddy fields along the north-west coast of Borneo.  Previously I saw a cinerea in its more familiar surroundings along the Thames river outside of London.  I supposed with the recent icy conditions there, it would have preferred the much warmer paddies outside of my home in Kota Kinabalu.

Little Ringed Plover, Kota Belud

The Little Ringed Plover Charadrius dubius has got to be one of my favourite birds.  Not only is it a nice little package but even the name has a comfortable “ring” to it.  I look out for it every migration season and it has yet to disappoint.

I used to have a lot of difficulty identifying the Javan Pond-heron Ardeola speciosa as during the winter migration we usually had eclipse birds which were quite difficult to tell  apart from visiting eclipse Chinese Pond-heron.   Nowadays it is quite possible to see the Javan in breeding plumage in the padi fields of Kota Belud in north-west Sabah.  I took this picture last month and there were quite a few others in breeding plumage.  I also saw them in the padi fields outside of Kota Kinabalu recently.  Now we just have to confirm whether they have taken residency.

A few more of the visitors seen daily along the Kota Kinabalu seashore.

Terek Sandpiper

Common Sandpiper

Grey-tailed Tattler

Another winter visitor here is the Whimbrel Numenius phaeopus. This bird is the most common of the curlews passing through Borneo but we do see it present throughout the winter season.  This particular lone bird was seen along the seashore in Kota Kinabalu but on a previous occasion I saw a big flock on a few mangrove trees near Mumiang at the mouth of the Kinabatangan river.