Just a mere 26 Km west of Sandakan is the Sepilok-Kabili Forest Reserve, where the popular Orang Utan Rehabilitation Centre and the Rainforest Discovery Centre are located. Several nature resorts fringing the reserve cater to the needs of eco tourists to the area. One of these is the Sepilok Forest Edge Resort, where I spent 2 nights recently.
The open air dining platform looks into the greenery and trees which are left to grow wild.
The owner Datuk Peter Pang himself is a keen bird photographer, whose excellent photos can be viewed at the resort. He made sure that the trees and greenery have been left intact to retain a lush habitat for the wildlife there. A small lake in the middle of the resort attracts a few waterbirds to the place. Jungle trails at the back of the resort allows trekking into the mature secondary forest where many of the rare birds can be seen.
The feeding platform at the resort catering to the starlings and bulbuls and leafbirds.
I did most of my birding here after I found a roosting Rufous-backed Kingfisher at a gully just outside my chalet. And I was not disappointed. I recorded 40 species there and would have crowned my visit with the much wanted Bornean Bristlehead if I have checked out an hour late.
This Black-backed Kingfisher may be nesting at the resort.
This Buah Cherry tree is planted next to the open restaurant and visited by many frugivorous birds including this Greater Green Leafbird.
A pair of Buff-necked Woodpeckers took their time looking for grubs in the tree trunks oblivious to my presence. This is the male.
Buff-vented Bulbuls is one of the more common bulbuls beside the Yellow-vented at the resort.
Wild Bananas and other fruit trees like the Starfruit are planted for birds like this Orange-bellied Flowerpecker.
The resort is home to a pair of Black and Red Broadbills which is nesting near one of the ponds at the resort.
The endemic Yellow-rumped Flowerpecker feeding on the wild Hairy Clidemia berries.
Wild Asia 