Followers Do tag here to follow my latest posting

MikeBirder - Malaysian Birds

Hi

Welcome to my Malaysian Birding Blog. I migrated to blogspot.com as my blog at multiply.com closed shop in 2012. I wish to showcase all Malaysian birds that I have photographed whether here or overseas. My countdown of lifers started in 2005. Coming to Oct 2022 my countdown of lifers photograph has reached
559/688 species of birds of Malaysia in photos.

My shooting gear was a EF400mm f4 DO lens and Canon 7D body which to me is the ideal setup for mobility and bird chasing at that time. Eventhen the weight over my shoulder is more that 5.5 kg. As of June 2016 I have also acquired a Fuji XF 100-400mm OIS lens to complement my travelling cum birding trip overseas. My Fuji X-T2 went kaput recently and I upgraded to the X-T5 in 2023 ; the weight over my shoulder is much lighter now by 30%. In December 2018 I acquired the Nikon Coolpix P1000 as supplementary camera for distance shooting of 3000mm.
Fuji have finally made available their new XF 200-600mm lens which I yet to decide to spend another RM10,000. As for Fuji body I will stop with X-T5 36megapixel ..........

I am a weekend birder. Do feel free to drop me a line at mikebirding@gmail.com and I see whether you can tag along in my outings. My usual day trip is just an hour ride away to Hulu Langat, Lancang, Kemensah, Krau, Awana, Hulu Kali, Gombak Ole Road, Fraser's Hill , Bukit Tinggi and KSNP & Coastal Sg Janggut Jeram side of the coast . Overnite trip to Merapoh & Cameron, Air Hitam and further north to Kuala Sidim is a seldom affair but for lifer we travel. Panti in Johor is another good birding site that I yet to go. Then there are the Borneo birds of Sabah and Sarawak of Malaysia which I seriously much go to chalk up more lifers. This I did in 2018 to Sepilok Sandakan and Kinabalu Park. Next Danum and LahatDatu.......

WARNING Birding is an addiction once you started its hard to stop. The wifey and children are now birding widow and orphan.

ALL PHOTOS IN THIS BLOG ARE COPYRIGHT OF MIKEBIRDER. KINDLY SEEK PERMISSION FROM THE OWNER IF YOU want to use them for commercial purposes.

Translate

Search for Malaysian Bird Photos

Wednesday 13 March 2019

Avian Nesting -Large Frogmouth Roosting



News of a Large Frogmouth nesting reaches my ears in late February 2019 of all places in Lanchang. By that time many fellow birders were already making a  pilgrimage to see the rare event. I was up early  and  reaching the spot after 6.30am before dawn .  As I was not sure of the spot I wanted to locate bird roosting with my NightVision camera. Took me about half an hour to scout the vicinity and luckily spotted the bird from afar. So as I waited for daylight I decided to drive out to buy breakfast at my favorite nasi lemak stall which open before 7am.

Apparently, nesting started way back in January but it was hushed up. By that  time it was public knowledge the ground has been cleared and devoured of vegetation all around it. Everyone was concerned for its safety and as for me no posting in my blog until it can fend for itself.


Luckily the nest is about 20 feet high from the ground above a slope. I hope it will be safe until the baby fledged in another few weeks time in late March. Amazing you can notice the bird front features cover over the nest and hatchling. At times you can see a white blotch of feathers aka  the baby  poking out underneath.  See picture below.


The nest is made over a 4-way branch of less than an inche thick. The last encounter of a Frogmouth nesting was in 2006 when I started birding That time it was a Javan and the harassment of bird photographers from overseas was the talk of bird fraternity at the peak of the nesting. They even propped up scaffolding to shoot video at night.

Javan and other Frogmouth build their nests on flattish tree horizontal branch of 5-8 inches diameter to which their feathers texture blend to the color of the stump whilst the LFm feathers are like leaves which suite on thinner branches.


In March read from my bird chat group that a bunch of hooligan birders from down under came up to Lanchang to shoot it after gotten news of the nest.  It was reported that they tried shaking the tree to wake the birds which roost and seldom move during the day. An ultimatum warning from our local ornithologist  Dave was sent to the Singapore Chatgroup to be mindful of their endeavor which may land them in trouble from Perhilitan or blacklisted or shamed by MNS  and local bird fraternity.

In the 3-4 weeks semester, I was back to the post to see how is the birds are fairing. By then the chick is  about 20cm in size  and nowhere it can hide beneath its parent. I guess it will be fledging soon by end-March.




Latest news is that as of today 14th March the nest is empty liao. I only hope the bird has successfully fledged. I did not expect it to happen so soon as the wing feathers was not yet developed on my earlier visit.

1 comment:

  1. Saudara Mike Kan, cuba bayangkan sejak Bird photographer tahu sehingga tarikh sarang ditinggalkan hampir setiap hari ada sahaja orang berada disekeliling sarang. Keadaan seperti itu jelas memberi tekanan melampau kepada ibu burung. JIkalau kita jujur dan serius mengutamakan kebajikan burung , Code of Conduct harus diperbaharui mulai sekarang dan harus dipatuhi. Sesiapa yang menjumpai sarang aktif tidak dibenarkan memberitahu kepada sesiapa pun, walau pada rakan baik. Birds Guide tidak boleh tamak mencari wang yang banyak hasil daripada sarang burung aktif. Bayangkan kalau seorang Guide membawa 5 pelanggan setiap hari. ? Keadaan ini memberi tekanan melampau kepada burung.

    ReplyDelete