Frogmouths come into view

Keith Ireland photographed these young Tawny Frogmouths in his yard.

Recently, I was just heading out for morning tea on our veranda. Glenda was already out there and as I came through the door, she said that she had found something lovely in one of our nearby trees.

When I looked to where she was pointing, there was an adult male Frogmouth on a branch with three partially grown chicks. Normally two would be the number of chicks but three was something special.

I hurried back inside to collect my camera. When I got back, the chick closest to the parent had turned completely around and was facing in the opposite direction. Only its tail was visible coming down between the parent and the next chick as the illustration shows.

The parent would be the male as it is the male that stays with the chicks during the day until the female returns at dusk to take over.

I kept a check on the little family during the day but the lighting later on was not as good.

The sun came onto the greenery behind them but the birds remained in the shade.

Some of these photos were okay, particularly when all three young ones turned to face towards me. Being too far in the trees from where we were, the use of the flash did not help and did little to add light to the subjects if in fact, it did made any difference at all.

Obviously, these birds must have had their nest in close proximity to where we could see them.

However, most of the tree where they were, was hidden behind other foliage, so we were very fortunate that they chose to roost in an area that gave us a clear view.