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.
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.
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