Borneo Bird Festival 2011 Overview
The Borneo Bird Festival 2011 was recently at the RDC in Sepilok; Sabah was a huge success with over 4000 people attending this annual birding festival in its third year.
This is an overview of what happened throughout the festival in photographs from October 14th to 16th here at the Rainforest Discovery Center (RDC) at Sepilok, which is about 30 minutes from the town of Sandakan on the east coast of Sabah, Borneo.
Participants and sponsors were seen setting up their booths while officials were busy with final arrangements. Around the RDC grounds, avid early birders (bird watchers) were lugging their ‘bazookas’ (huge camera lenses) around searching for birds while guests were starting to arrive by about 8.00 am.
By noon, there was already an excellent crowd, and the weather throughout was fantastic. The average time that birders start their day is about 5am, so that was my itinerary for the entire three days there.
There are also various exhibitions by organizations like WWF Malaysia, Borneo Sun Bear Conservation (BSBC), Sabah Parks, Sabah Forestry, and even some eco-friendly resorts like Tabin Wildlife Borneo Rainforest Lodge in Danum Valley.
I absolutely had a fantastic time learning about birds and bird watching here while I also met many new friends and acquaintances worldwide and locally.
Among them was twitter friend Pummkin (Pamela Lim), whom I bumped into by chance sitting next to her at the LCCT boarding room as we were both headed here for the bird event. Here are a series of pictures taken by me at the recent Borneo Bird Festival 2011 in Sabah.
Borneo Bird Festival Photos
A rare Black Flying Squirrel who made its home in one of the dead tree stumps gave several birders a pleasant surprise when it came out and perched on a tree branch.
This happened just when the sun went down, and with the assistance of a bird guide holding a flashlight, about 10 birders took photographs of this rarely seen squirrel. I must have spent a good 30 minutes photographing this moment.
Rainforest Discovery Centre (RDC)
PO Box 1407
90715 Sandakan, Sabah
Malaysia.
Telephone: +60 089 533780 / 781
Website for the Rainforest Discovery Center (RDC) in Sabah
Tickets/Entrance Fees for the RDC on normal days:
- Adults: RM10 (US$3)
- Children (5-17 yrs) RM5 (US$1.50)
- Children (Under 5 yrs) Free
Opening Hours for the RDC:
- Daily 9am – 6pm
- Birders start as early as 7am
Borneo Bird Festival 2010 Organiser: Sabah Tourism Board
Contact Person: Noredah Othman (Sabah Tourism Board)
Telephone : +6088 212121
Fax : +6088 212075
Email Contact: noredah@sabahtourism.com
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The prize-giving event during the festival |
They took me on walks around the RDC, and it taught me much about the basic birding equipment required. I attended the many talks held and learned quite a bit back then.
If you know some of the names of the birds featured here, please do share them with me as I need to get a Birds of Borneo Book one of these days.
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