Rainforest Discovery Centre, Sandakan, Sabah late July

(view from one of the watch towers along the elevated walkway at RDC)

I have been to Sabah 3 times. Each time I only visited Mt Kinabalu as I fell in love with the mountain. Thus I post phoned a visit to the low land rainforests of Sepilok and Kinabantangan until now.

I pre booked my tickets with Airasia quite some time back. Flew Bangkok – Kuala Lumpur – Sandakan and back for 200$US.
The flights went well and I found myself at Sandakan around 8:30pm.
A half hour taxi ride driven by an elderly gentleman took me to Sepilok B&B some 400m from my birding spot: Rainforest Discovery Center.

The B&B has an older section and a newer. It is run more as a hostel then anything and I would best classify it as adequate as the personnel were friendly but rather untrained. Breakfast is a cup of coffee and two slices of bread plus a banana if you are lucky. Eggs have to be bought. Breakfast served 7 am.

Wi Fi is free and there are cold Tiger beers available howbeit twice as expensive as
in Thailand at 7 Ringit per can. The closeness to RDC makes up for any lacks though and I would use the place again. Rooms were clean.

I google earthed the Sepilok area before I left home and it showed the RDC being at the Northern edge of a larger forested area. I enjoyed 2 and a half days of absolutely great birding, walking the many trails in a varied landscape. It felt like magic land and as I look over the birdlist I can only marvel at the diversity and beauty of what I saw in this rather small area. Walking alone along these trails in anticipation and letting all my senses be tuned in to the surroundings left me with thrills and feelings of joy!

Here are some of the birds I saw and managed to photograph. See if you can tell what they are?

Comments

John Holmes said…

The RDC at Sepilok is a really great area for independent birding, and the variety of accommodation nearby keeps the cost reasonable.

We "squeezed it in" between Danum and Mt. K last year....a trip highlight.

Great photos, too.

November 8, 2011 at 1:26 AM

lndian Thick-knee in Bangkok!

This is the first photograph of an Indian Thick-knee from Bangkok on eBird. I stumbled across it this morning on a site in Nong Chok district of Bangkok. A big surprise that brought about a grin on my face! Like a ray of light it gave me joy!

Spoon-billed Sandpiper!

The season is drawing closer towards its end. Soon this enigmatic and unique creature will head towards Eastern Siberia and its breeding grounds. How long can it hold on to the pressures of loss of suitable 'refueling' habitat during its long flight? Can it find suitable breeding habitat? Will it find a mate? Can it survive another season of villagers in Bangladesh harvesting shorebirds for staple? Don't we all wish him sucess? This season I have had a high count of 8 individuals at Bak Taley, Petburi. The birds have proven quite easy to spot. Or perhaps I am getting sharper in my 'spotting skills'? Either way, when one is found and I see the joy in the face of the visiting birder, I can sense the awe and almost europhic relationship that exist between birders and this very special bird. The birds are never easy to approach very close on foot and seldom do one have a chance to use the car as a cover. This bird was pretty accommodating though and I managed a few shot

Morning chorous

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