The real reason we were there was to search for some night birds. We had just turned from the furthest point when we heard a very distinctive call close by, one that I couldn't straight away place. A search on the iPhone quickly revealed the culprit: a Gould's frogmouth. And not just one, but two birds. I still don't know how we managed it, but we somehow completely messed up this opportunity and never got a visual. The birds fell silent very soon and were only heard very distantly afterwards. Maybe the playback we used was akin to a serenading cat, whatever it was we never saw a glimpse.
It goes without saying we felt a little defeated, but at the same time also very elated; we only just had started the walk back and with a start like this the remainder of the walk surely would be brilliant. So, in way, it wasn't a total surprise that we got a response from a barred eagle owl less than 200 meters later! First one and a little later a second one. We managed this time to record the two birds duetting, but again, no visuals! One owl even flew over our head, but picked a branch just facing away from us, and the dense undergrowth prevented us to walk in. We spend close to an hour trying to get a view, but to no avail; the birds wouldn't give themselves up.
Luckily this Harlequin tree frog, that we found a little further down the track, was more cooperative and didn't object at all to take center stage. In fact, every time it jumped it seemed to end up in an even better photographic position.
Harlequin tree frog (Rhacophorus pardalis) |
Harlequin tree frog (Rhacophorus pardalis) |
Harlequin tree frog (Rhacophorus pardalis) |
Spiny turtle (Heosemys spinosa) |
Spiny turtle (Heosemys spinosa) |
Collared kingfisher (Todiramphus chloris) |
Black-winged stilt (Himantopus himantopus) |
White-winged black tern (Chlidonias leucopterus) |
And finally, a superb record from Brunei. Recently a second photographic record of the spectacled flowerpecker was made in Labi hills by local photographer Mr. Asmali Asli. See also:
http://www.borneobirdimages.com/news?id=56
http://www.sabahmagazine.com/spectacled-flowerpecker-second-photographic-record/
This species was only discovered in Danum in 2009 and it is therefore truly excellent to have the second encounter in Brunei. Moreover the pictures are fantastic! I have been at Labi ridge numerous times and never had the luck to find a species with this type of allure there. In a way I am almost glad to leave Brunei so I won't be able to give in to obsessive, and more than likely unsuccessful, chases of this very elusive species.
Folkert, 29/09/2014
http://www.borneobirdimages.com/news?id=56
http://www.sabahmagazine.com/spectacled-flowerpecker-second-photographic-record/
This species was only discovered in Danum in 2009 and it is therefore truly excellent to have the second encounter in Brunei. Moreover the pictures are fantastic! I have been at Labi ridge numerous times and never had the luck to find a species with this type of allure there. In a way I am almost glad to leave Brunei so I won't be able to give in to obsessive, and more than likely unsuccessful, chases of this very elusive species.
Folkert, 29/09/2014