Hi Jenny,
Thanks for your Lord Howe Island report, very interesting. We went March
2014 and have a trip diary which can be found at
http://tropicaltails.blogspot.com.au
We also found Song Thrush difficult, in fact we could not find one! Only
one of our group saw one once over the week we were their.
Keith and Lindsay Fisher
Julatten QLD 4871
On 22/10/2015 1:51 PM, Jenny Stiles wrote:
> Hi List,
> We have recently returned from a weeks holiday at lord Howe Island [4th –10th
> October] and thought others might like to know what to expect at this time of
> the year.
>
> It really is a spectacular place for a holiday with stunning scenery a
> backdrop to every activity. We stayed at Beachcomber & I would recommend it
> but do be aware that it is up on the ridge so a steep end to a bike ride! We
> managed to see most of the likely birds [dipping on Nankeen Kestrel] & saw
> most of the “special” ones [dipping on Black-winged Petrel as we were about a
> month early]. We managed a list of 41 birds.
>
> Tips for Lord Howe.
>
> 1. Most visitors get around by bike but your accommodation will pick you up
> at the airport & most restaurants seem to offer a lift back after dinner.
> There are only a few cars available for hire on LHI so if this is important
> for you book early! Wilsons have at least 2 cars and so do Thompsons Store.
> Joy’s Shop had the biggest range of food.
>
> 2. We went out on a sightseeing boat trip with Jack Shick [booked several
> weeks in advance] and I would definitely recommend this trip. We
> circumnavigated the island, went past the Admiralty Islands and out to Ball’s
> Pyramid. The spectacular scenery alone is worth the trip but of course there
> are masses of birds! Along with Red-tailed Tropic-birds, Masked Booby,
> Flesh-footed Shearwater, Wedge-tailed Shearwater & Sooty Terns in large
> numbers we also saw hundreds of Grey Ternlets, at least 20 White-bellied
> Storm-petrels, 1 Kermadec Petrel, 1 Providence Petrel, 3 Little Shearwater.
> The sea was pretty calm the day we went out so all my fears of not getting
> out proved to be groundless!
>
> 3. Most of the resident birds can be found easily; The gardens at Beachcomber
> had LH Woodhen, Buff-banded Rail, Common Blackbirds, Golden Whistler &
> Emerald Ground Dove. White Tern are plentiful at Lagoon Beach & Sooty Tern
> are everywhere along the beach or cliff edge. The Airport and little swamp
> nearby are great for waders. One bird we struggled to locate was a Song
> Thrush before finding a single bird at the grassy area near Old Settlement
> Beach. Pied Currawong were only seen a few times & close views only twice
> [Muttonbird Point walk & Clear Place]
>
> 4. Marine Tours run a glass bottom boat-trip to North Bay [which is otherwise
> quite a long walk] timing it for low tide. The snorkelling is fabulous at
> North Bay although you can also be dropped off at the beach early. This is
> the best place to see Black Noddy as they nest at the far end of this beach.
> Lots of waders come here to feed at low tide; mostly Bar-tailed Godwit, Ruddy
> Turnstones and Pacific Golden Plover but we also had a Ret Knot. On the
> return trip we saw 6 Green Turtles.
>
> 5. Snorkelling is fabulous at Old Settlement Beach [where from Sept-March
> Green Turtles come right to the edge of the beach on a rising tide], Ned’s
> beach [where the fish can be fed from food purchased from the dispenser at
> the beach or from Thompsons] & at North Bay.
>
> 6. The walk to Muttonbird Point has apparently been “closed” for several
> years due to a small landslide over one section of the path. A sturdy rope
> has been provided to get past this section! The view at the end was
> magnificent and lots of Masked Boobies could be seen flying by or tending
> their chicks. However, looking at a map I would think good views of the
> colony could be obtained by walking to the end of Blinky Beach.
>
> Bird List.
> [In order seen]
> 1. Common Blackbird
> 2. Welcome Swallow
> 3. Masked Lapwing
> 4. Pacific Golden Plover
> 5. Sacred Kingfisher [common along the fence posts near the airport]
> 6. Emerald Dove
> 7. Golden Whistler
> 8. Buff-banded Rail
> 9. Lord Howe Woodhen
> 10. Silvereye
> 11. Sooty Tern
> 12. Common Noddy [Ned’s Beach, North Bay]
> 13. White Tern [along Lagoon Beach especially]
> 14. White-faced Heron
> 15. Common Starling
> 16. Grey Ternlet [seen in large numbers at Ball’s Pyramid but also several
> roosting in rocks off Searle’s Point]
> 17. Flesh-footed Shearwater
> 18. Little Black Cormorant
> 19. Masked Booby [Muttonbird Point, Pelagic]
> 20. Magpie Lark
> 21. Whimbrel
> 22. Ruddy Turnstone
> 23. Mallard /Pacific Black-duck hybrids [in the swamp near the airport]
> 24. Bar-tailed Godwit
> 25. Purple Swamphen
> 26. Pied Currawong
> 27. Red-tailed Tropicbird [Searle’s Point, Pelagic, Malabar Cliffs, Old Gulch]
> 28. Black Noddy [Ned’s Beach, Pelagic, North Bay]
> 29. Cattle Egret
> 30. White-belled Storm Petrel [20-30 out near Ball’s Pyramid]
> 31. Wedge-tailed Shearwater
> 32. Providence Petrel [just 1]
> 33. Kermadec Petrel [dark morph just 1]
> 34. Great-winged Petrel [1]
> 35. Little Shearwater [3 halfway back from Ball’s Pyramid]
> 36. Australasian Gannet [1]
> 37. Song Thrush [1 on the grassy area at the beginning of Old Settlement
> Beach. We saw it several times but it was fairly flighty]
> 38. Little Pied Cormorant [1 at North Bay]
> 39. Red-necked Stint [1 after a windy night in the swamp near the airport]
> 40. Red Knot [[1 after a windy night in the swamp near the airport & 1 at
> North Bay]
> 41. Rock Dove
>
> Jenny Stiles
>
>
>
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