The Large-tailed Nightjar has laid two eggs.

 Ssssshhhhh…..now you see it, now you don’t.  The Nightjar is still around and what a surprise – it is settling on two eggs!!

The Large-tailed Nightjar has always been a permanent resident of the park.  Here they hunt for insects and  produce a familiar garden call which sounds like ‘tok,tok,tok’.  The sounds can be heard every day here at dusk and dawn and throughout the night.

The Large-tailed Nightjar (Caprimulgus macrurus ) has a black bill and a body that is very well camouflaged with its preferred environment of open grassland.  It does not build the typical nest and would lay its eggs on bare ground.  The eggs (see inset)  as if by rule are two in numbers and are blotched.

The Large-tailed Nightjar in plain sight

3 April'17

3 April'17

6 April'17
Large-tailed Nightjar nesting on open ground, Cempedak Hill, Zone G.

I have been tracking the presence of a Large-tailed Nightjar near the tall Cempedak tree at Zone G.  She is of course a perfect camouflage.  You cannot actually recognise it immediately because its body and feathers resemble the colours of dead leaves, vegetative matter, wood, stones or just earth. Furthermore it does not utter any sound or call.  Whether the bird is going to lay eggs, time will tell.  But I'm on the watchout from now on.

More extreme cu of the Nightjar and its eggs

Photos taken on 6 April'14

Photoshoot session with the Large-Tailed Nightjar

Under a little shade of oil palm leaves - Large-Tailed Nightjar (Caprimulgus macrurus)
Location : Zone G

She's a perfect camouflage. Looking tired after a busy night she laid her body on just bare ground. Silently I approached her and moved gradually from left to right. Do I look good in my dreamy eyes?...

Here are the results of the photoshoot session this morning....

Birdwatch album - The Large-tailed Nightjar

Large-tailed Nightjar
(Caprimulgus macrurus)

 One of my most spectacular moments in birdwatching is to observe a pair of adult Large-tailed Nightjar brooding and incubating their treasured eggs over a two months period.  I took many visits to capture the story from eggs, chicks and juvenile transformation.  Finally when their wings were strong I was overwhelmed with joy to let them took flight for a free life.  Such joys are memories that would make me realise why we should conserve the wildlife not merely for the love of nature but also the continuation of a long line of evolution.

Young chicks of the Large-tailed Nightjar (Caprimulgus macrurus)

The night jar incubating the eggs,,,

Eggs are laid directly  on bare ground and blotched.

Getting ready for freedom flight....

Young chick with developing wings, but not strong enough for flight....