The island is a top place for some sea-bird watching, with numerous cliff edge viewing spots and hundreds of birds of various species vying for our attention.
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| View from lower lookout, Captain Cook Monument |
We saw a total of ten sea-bird species all up, six of which were lifers for me. Many of the birds were into their breeding seasons including some boobies that were nesting on the rocky islets (pictured above) along the north coast.
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| Masked Booby |
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| Masked Booby |
From the lower viewing platform at Capt Cook monument , we sighted a striking Black-winged Petrel circling before flying into its nest burrow out of sight in the cliff below.
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| Black-winged Petrel - image courtesy of Ian Mongomery: http://www.birdway.com.au/index.php |
A lone female frigatebird was spotted but too distant to identify as Great or Lesser.
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| Frigatebird sp. |
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| Anson Bay |
One of the highlights was observing the tropicbirds and their spectacular nuptial aerial displays. A group of eight of these surprisingly bulky birds were seen hovering, fluttering, gliding and even flying backwards over Cemetery Bay.
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| Red-tailed Tropicbird |
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| Red-tailed Tropicbird |
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| R.T. Tropicbird on nest |
Our favourites were the ethereal White Terns, beautiful birds to observe, especially in an aerobatic display of tandem flying, twisting and turning in perfect unison above the blue waters. They have the unusual habit of laying and incubating their eggs on the bare branches of Norfolk Pines. It seems to work fine although stormy weather would have to cause some casualties.
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| White Tern & chick |
Scoped views were had of a close relative, the Grey Ternlet, roosting and possibly nesting on a rocky islet along the north coast.
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| Grey Ternlet - image courtesy of Ian Montgomery: http://www.birdway.com.au/index.php |
Walking through the Hundred Acres forest in Rocky Point Reserve was a surreal experience as we watched a Black Noddy flitting only metres above our heads, possibly searching for a suitable nesting place in a tree. The individual in the photo below was probably searching for some nesting material. These birds were much more numerous than the very similar Common Noddies, which differ in being a ground nesting species.
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| Black Noddy |
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| Sunset from Puppys Point |
Distant rafts of shearwaters were seen on the water from Puppys Point before flying in on dusk, back to their individual burrows along the open grassy banks above the cliffs. On a more sobering note, some headless carcasses of these ocean wanderers were seen besides burrows at Rocky Point Reserve. Probably the depredations of one or more of the feline inhabitants here, this phenomonen was hopefully being investigated by the appropriate authorities.
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| Wedge-tailed Shearwater |
A few Pacific Golden Plovers, a northern hemisphere migrant, were loafing around the airport looking for a feed in the grassy verges along the road and runway. It's always worth looking out for the various wader species or vagrants that visit Norfolk Island, especially over summer.
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| Pacific Golden Plover |
For more information on this fascinating island, visit this excellent and informative nature blog by an anonymous author who is currently residing there: http://naturalnorfolk.com/wp/
Our accomodation, peaceful, spacious and central was self booked through:
A list of the birds we saw and identified during our stay on the island is shown at the end of this post.
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| Quality Row |
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| Crank Mill |
Cheers & Happy Birding
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What great photos of a fantastic experience! I would love to spend time at a seabird colony and view the species you've seen. Just the other day I was watching crested tern after crested tern flying around Snapper Rocks (Coolangatta) in the same direction, each with a fish in their mouth, no doubt headed to an offshore colony to the south.
ReplyDeleteThanks Christian. If you ever get over there, Phillip Island (6 km south of Norfolk) is apparently THE place to see seabirds up close.
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