New Britain Boobook

A late afternoon walk up the steep Kilu Ridge gave us good views of the island. While we were enjoying the sunset, a message came through on someone’s mobile phone that one of the locals had found a pair of roosting owls. A rapid dash back down the hillside through the forest soon brought us to a very dark area where indeed a pair of New Britain Boobooks was roosting high up in a tree. This provided a serious photographic challenge but being an endemic species and therefore not one I am ever likely to see again, I couldn’t resist the challenge and managed to find a line of sight to enable me to take a few hand held shots in the gloom.