Lord Howe Island -
Part 1
27 October to 2 November 2005
Arriving by air into
Lord Howe Island our first birds were pacific golden
plover, bar tailed godwit, blackbird, magpie-lark, whimbrel and masked lapwing
on the grass beside the airport terminal. Away across the sand dune separating the
airport from Blinky?s beach masked boobies were soaring. On the perimeter of the airstrip a pair
of buff banded rails with a pair of small black chicks strolled nonchalantly
with none of the nervous tension displayed by their mainland cousins. This set
the scene for what is a very birdy island though with a limited number of
species on the island at any given time.
We were picked up by Cheryl from
Somerset Apartments who pointed out the
white tern roosting in the Norfolk Island
pines along Lagoon Road. A
short stroll along the road to Ned?s Beach showed us the island sub-species of
golden whistler, silvereye and currawong. At the beach common noddies
were very prominent and sooty terns were nesting on the northern and southern
headlands of the beach. A small group of black duck/mallard crosses waited on
the beach to scrounge bread brought down for the resident kingfish swimming a
few feet out from the beach. A pair of sacred kingfishers were perched on a ?No
Fishing? sign on the reserve above the beach and a song thrush pecked around the
trees on the reserve. Welcome swallows hawked for insects above the forest.
We waited for dusk to see the
flesh footed shearwaters return to their burrows. These birds could be seen
flying off the coast. As the late afternoon progressed they flew closer to the
beach, eventually just before dusk flying over the forest. Gradually they began
to land on the clear ground beside the forest. Being such an efficient flyer
they come in at great speed, crash landing on the grass. They skid to a speed
slow enough for their wildly scurrying legs to gain traction and propel them
headlong into the palms. After dark their loud mating calls and burrow
preparation could be observed.
The following day the local guide
Jack Shick threw us in at the deep end by proclaiming conditions perfect for
climbing the towering Mount
Gower at the southern end of the
island. Heading along the track towards Little Island we soon saw the lord
howe island woodhen calmly pecking through the forest. An emerald ground
dove was perched on a low bough nearby cooing quietly. As we climbed the peak
Jack pointed out a pair of red tailed tropicbirds cruising past the
cliffs of Mt Lidgbird. In the cloud forest on the summit of Mt Gower a pair of
woodhens coupled under our feet. The male spreading his wings to reveal the
spectacular black barred chestnut primaries, usually hidden beneath the bird?s
drab outer colouring. A number of currawongs perched expectantly beside us while
we lunched on the summit, obviously hoping for a free feed. The providence
petrels had left the summit area and most of their chicks fledged but Jack was
able to elicit an answering call from a couple of burrows indicating that
fledging was not entirely complete. On our return an Australian kestrel was
perched on the cliffs as we sidled back around the side of Mt Lidgbird.
The following morning an early
morning walk to Old Settlement showed purple gallinules in addition to masked
lapwing, golden plovers and a mother duck with a gaggle of ducklings in tow.
