Jarring in Brunei

I thought it would be good to share some of my recent nightjar pictures. It's not that I am obsessed with these birds, but they do know how to pose for the camera! There is a nightjar in this first one; just follow the shooting direction of the camera's.

Making friends with a large-tailed nightjar.
With Merijn, Ulmar and Kolbjorn.

We came across this large-tailed while looking for snakes and frogs for the Wetland surveys - the 'herping' was not very successful that night, not a single snake. Luckily there was still this bird that kept us entertained for a couple of minutes.

Large-tailed nightjar (Caprimulgus macrurus)
 trusting it's camouflage.

Here are some more pics, all taken with a 15-85 mm lens! From previous posts you may have gathered that the large-tailed's not only form a good picture subject, but that these birds are also rather common.

Same bird close-up from the side.

And a close-up from the front.

There are another 4 nightjar species in Borneo. From these the Bonaparte's nightjar (Caprimulgus comcretus, also referred to as Sunda nightjar) is the rarest; a thinly scattered species that, due to habitat loss, is listed as threatened (vulnerable) by IUCN. I always had a sneaky suspicion that one of the nightjars I had seen could have been a Bonaparte's nightjar. With a recent evening walk Dennis Yong picked up the call and I did finally confirm this species when it briefly flew overhead.

Now, obviously, I had to go back to the locality to see if I could get some better views! The below picture is the results after 3 stake-out attempts.

Bonaparte's nightjar (Caprimulgus concretus).
The clear white tail-tips suggest that this is a male.

I am very pleased with this shot as there are only few photo's of this small nightjar, though secretly I'm hoping I'll get a closer shot without the fiery eyes one day.

Folkert, 14/03/2013.