We were both up ear packing our bags ready for the return flight later in the evening back to the UK before loading them into Raymonds car and heading off to a fairly urban site he had for Blyth's Frogmouth. Another bird Fred had heard buy not see non previous trips to Asia. This small frogmouth has a wide range occurring all across S E Asia.
We could hear Blyth's Frogmouth responding to playback calls but couldn't see them. Even the thermal didn't help pick anything up apart from roosting passerines. As dawn began to break we thought we'd missed our chance but suddenly a shout from Raymond somewhere deep in the jungle off the path had us following his torch beam to where he stood. He turned the torch round and there, sat on a branch only a few metres away was a Blyth's Frogmouth! Success!
We birded the track for a while picking up Rufous Collared Kingfisher and a surprise Rhinoceros Hornbill. A bird Raymond said didn't usually occur in the area.
Buoyed up by this success we moved a couple of hundred metres up the track to a small stream surrounded by clumps of bamboo and low vegetation where Raymond said a Rufous-backed Pygmy Kingfisher visited to fish. This vibrant Kingfisher, although not particularly rare, is a stunning little bird and is probably one of the most beautiful Kingfishers. Sure enough within an hour we heard one calling and it suddenly appeared before grabbing a fish and promptly disappearing only to return and give prolonged sightings about 30 minutes later. It really is a living jewel and we were quite happy to spend time in its company.
It wasn't until the Kingfisher finally flew off that Raymond told us we'd been extremely lucky as one hadn't been seen in that spot for 6 months! Our luck had continued.
By now we were both shattered after two weeks hard birding, early starts, little sleep, poor diet and heat! Even though we tried for a few other species of birds nearby the past two weeks were catching up with us. Much to Raymonds surprise we suggested having lunch and then he drop us off early at KL International Airport where we could pack our camera gear up, get changed and showered in an air conditioned lounge!
So ended our highly succesful Sumatran and Malaysian odyssey. All target species seen well and a big thanks to Fred for suggesting I join the trip and for his excellent company and humour throughout. I'd never really birded in Asia before this year as most of my visits were work only with very little free time for anything else. I ended up with around 90 lifers but, more importantly, a lifetime of memories and new friends made.
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