And there's another one! PAPUA NEW GUINEA (1 July)

The following night at Kumul Lodge was similarly wet, but despite a thorough check of the fence outside our cabins we could not find the previous night's accommodating Mountain Owlet-Nightjar. So Nick Leseberg and I retired to our cabin. Not long later, we noticed a shape fluttering around our window. Then the unmistakable squeaking calls of a Mountain Owlet-Nightjar were heard immediately outside the room. Clearly the bird had been collecting insects attracted to our cabin lights, one of the few lights emanating from the area. On checking the surrounding trees with a spotlight we soon found this night critter perched on a broken-off tree fern stump. We maneuvered outside our cabins to get a better angle on the bird that was lightly sprinkled with raindrops, evidence of another damp night in New Guinea's highlands. Amazingly though it soon obvious this was a very different bird from the night before. Indeed comparison of the two photos on my blog here reveals how remarkably different the birds were. As there is no information out there on immature birds it is difficult to know for sure, although I wonder if this second bird was indeed a young bird? Never has Mountain Owlet-Nightjar been so easy at Kumul Lodge. I suspect this will not continue for long!

More from PNG soon...