Attentive readers may have discerned from previous posts that the Malayan night heron, or tiger bittern, is a regular winter visitor to the Panaga area. This year is no different and I am pleased to notice that the birds seem to have a knack for picking suitable gardens. Last year an adult was regularly seen in the garden of some of our friends. This year it has gotten even better with one bird picking the backyard of Kolbjorn, my Panaga birding buddy, as its wintering home!
Obviously I couldn't let the opportunity slip to get some better photographic records of these shy migrants; Malayan night-herons are notoriously skittish and this one proved no different. So yesterday, armed with some army netting, I stopped by at Kolbjorns house to convert the door to his garden into a make-shift hide. The testing was this morning and at 6:30 I stood almost leisurely inside Kolbjorns living room, with the door ajar, ready to get some pics of the heron. The heron dutifully performed and below are some of this mornings shots.
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| Malayan night heron (Gorsachius melanolophus) |
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| Malayan night heron (Gorsachius melanolophus) |
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| Malayan night heron (Gorsachius melanolophus) |
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| Malayan night heron (Gorsachius melanolophus) |
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| Malayan night heron (Gorsachius melanolophus) |
Needless to say that I am quite pleased with the effort, even though the light was still a little too poor to get some action shots of the worm-catching.
Big thanks to Kolbjorn and his family to allow me in their house in the wee hours of the morning!
Folkert, 16/12/2013
