Frogmouth 4/8 - Blyth's Frogmouth

It was an adventure into the Benta's rubber & durian plantation heartland I managed to join Denise & hubby Loo and Stella for a foursome guided hunt of this rarely seen resident bird. The trip from Kl is about less then 2 hours  to Benta chinese village town.....but for me who drive like the demon maybe 1.5 hours for the 100 odd klicks  journey. Upon arrival it was breakfast before I tapau nasi lemak for lunch for all. We then switch car onto Cham's 4x4 single cabin truck as the trail into the plantation is not  conducive for even my SUV as its hilly,  scarred and muddy. 

I was given the privilege to sit shotgun ....oldest guy ma; while the others sit in the open back They were so nice .....Thanks guys. The slow journey to the port take him about half an hour. Upon arrival we were asked to wait at the trail  as he walk into the pocket jungle growth in the rubber plantation. Within 15 minutes he already spotted the pair at a ravine as I was tagging along as his  "spotter" Amazing right. So I walk out to call the guys to the port.

Shooting frogmouth while they are roosting in the day is very easy as they don't move much from its perch. We were lucky they were together. Unlucky it was not an open perch as the female was partially obscured by foliage. 

The Blyth's Frogmouth is split from its conspecific & identical Javan cousin but it is smaller in size from my observation. The Javan is more stout & broader too.

So anyone interested to see this pair can contact the resident guide Cham He can only accommodate a foursome at a fix guide fee. Hp 012-3161863. Yes he can also  out a friendly male Banded Kingfisher  for you  to shoot till your heart content. Amazing guy. 

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.

Frogmouth 3/5 (Lifer 480) - Gould's Frogmouth

This is a mega lifer for me in the year 2017 which bring my tally to 480. As usual  the news came late to me. Then it was a mad early morning rush to the port with some guidance of an ole acquaintance   The bird was very responsive even in the late morning as other birders were calling it out. Once it is spotted it remains at its perch for umpteen hours for all fellow birders taking the best position to shoot it. Though the hive of moving about of bird photogs below the bird was not perturb unless somebody move too near it to get full frame shot.

I was shooting without my tripod setup but with the help of a fellow birding shoulder to stabilise my shoot at 1/30s ISO3200. The Fuji X-T2 manage to churn out good resolution photos though not as tack sharp as I wanted in the low light condition.

The Goulds is my third Frogmouth and the next target  is the Blyth's  which can be sighted as near as FRIM, Rimba Rekreasi Lentang and Bukit Frasers from KL.

Thanks Rob

Heard there was a recent incident  in  first weekend of September 2017 - a fellow bird photog wanting to flush the bird out by shaking the tree trunk  just because it was roosting too high and in the shadow. Really sad that people are so selfish and unethical. I know you travel so far and may not get another opportunity to shoot it another time  but that is birding my friend .............. be considerate to the bird and fellow birders. Worst case the bird may leave the hunt and so deprieve others to see this beautiful bird.

FROGMOUTH 2/3 - Large Frogmouth

Finally a showing not to be forgotten in the month of May 2015. This is my first lifer for the year. I finally got the elusive picture of the Large Frogmouth after 3 attempts to Taman Negara. I must thank Dr R for bringing his bird luck to me and Ah Lam. I was shooting at 1/8 speed f4 ISO1600 with mirror lock thru the back LCD screen of my ole 7D. The advantage is that you can  zoom in  10x  to focus. We have to take turn to shoot as the bird is about 30-35 ft high  within a small pocket opening  with foliage in between. A good torchlight helps.

 

The Large Frogmouth come in at a size of 16 inches (40cm) and it is huge - double the height of its other cousin  Javan. The Male is warm rufous brownish chested with a distinct  long covert tip ala creamy backward bushy eyebrow . The Female is in  more duller colors and similar in size.  All the Malaysian Froggies are  Lowland Virgin forest dweller with some exception. By the looks of thing Frogmouth are residence of a locale site and do not move about. They may also be territorial in nature.

 

Next & last in the list is the Gould's Frogmouth..................a toughie. The last sighting I know  was by Adrian who shot it in  Bukit Tinggi.

FROGMOUTH 1/3 - Javan Frogmouth

 Javan Frogmouth

It was JT & Sue tipped off that we rush to Bkt Lancang to search for this once in a lifetime sighting. What a lifer it was because it a norturnal creature.

It was so well camouflaged as part of the tree branch you will never know it was there if you look from afar. Just like the Monarch nest which is blended to the dark shaded foliage with mossy .... again there is another new nest which I am not telling at Rengit. Only if they twirl that give them away.

A lot of whiskers and fluffy size when stretch can reach a foot. Ugly brute. Very Aptly call a "frog mouth" . What a lifer. After so many years since the last sighting in Bkt Rengit/ Lancang I stumble upon a passive Female in Kemensah. Tried looking for the Male but zilt. Nothing was mentioned whether they are monogamous birds.

All frogmouths roost during the day and are active from dusk through part or all of the night until around dawn. Daytime roosts of several species including the tawny frogmouth and Sri Lanka frogmouth are on branches in trees or bushes, where the birds remain quiet and still unless approached so closely that they suddenly fly away to escape just like Nightjar. They give an impression of remaining immobile if not asleep when approached, with the beautifully camouflaged plumage sleeked to aid concealment, but in fact they watch intruders through nearly closed eyes and keep them in view with very slow head movements.

There are a few reports of daytime roosting in tree holes by the marbled frogmouth and large frog-mouth, which, if observations are typical, may explain why these species are rarely encountered during the day. However, there have been other daytime sightings of Asian frog-mouths in thick tangles of vines in forests, where a small motionless and well-camouflaged bird is remarkably inconspicuous.

Nocturnal activity consists largely of movements around the territory to hunt from different perches, and singing or calling to defend the territory. Asian frogmouths are less well known, but females of several species give loud territorial whistling, mewing, or trilling calls, while the males have different and often more subdued calls.

Latest sighting in Kemensah 2014