Birds of Norfolk.......

Before leaving home Bill had done some research and found a half day bird tour on Norfolk Island.  He had booked this and so early on Wednesday morning we were waiting at the Tourist Information Centre to meet our guide, Margaret Christian.  Before leaving home that morning we knew it was going to be a good day when this lovely little Song Thrush visited us in the garden.

Once we were collected we took a look at the huge grey cloud over Mt Pitt and decided that we would start the day at Kingston instead.  Margaret has lived and worked on the island for many years, a number of these as a park ranger, so as you can imagine she was very knowledgeable about all the birds and plants we were seeing.  

Stopping first at the wetlands, we found the feral chooks that Norfolk is famous for.  These birds seem to have been pensioned off to freedom or escaped and just live their lives quite happily free ranging across the island.  I'm not sure if they lay eggs and if so who would collect them but they certainly seem a healthy lot.  Lots of geese roam freely with them and they too look very well fed and healthy.  They celebrate Thanksgiving Day here so I'm not sure how many of them end up in the oven each November in lieu of turkeys.

We also found three varieties of ducks, white faced herons, cormorants and some Californian Quail.  These are a very regal looking bird and if you are patient they will come out and feed on the lawns while you watch.  Rock Pigeons descended from a pair arriving on the the ship Sirius, which wrecked just off the coast are fairly common too.  Emerald doves can be found here as well though they are a little more shy than the pigeons.

We drove across to Point Hunter where we could see the islands off the coast.  With binoculars we could see the Booby's nesting on Phillip and Nepean Islands.  Here we were parked beside the Lone Pine, the only tree on the point here.  

This grand old Norfolk Island Pine tree was mentioned in Cooks journals, when he first arrived, as being a mature tree then.  Margaret told us that it has recently been core tested and is believed to be over 600 years old.  How it has withstood the weather all these years in such an open position is a question no one seems to have an answer to.

Leaving the coast we drove inland to the forested areas where we saw the beautiful Sacred Kingfishers, the White Terns that seem to fly endlessly through the pine trees, lots of Sparrows and some European Goldfinches.  Little White Eyes, Blackbirds and friendly little grey Fantails abounded as we drove around.

Returning to the coast at The Rifle Club we had great views over Anson Bay and could see the White Terns and Black Noddy's cruising the airwaves.  

We stopped at Margaret's place for morning tea and as well as a yummy coconut cake and coffee we were able to see a Masked Booby sitting quietly on its nest just a few feet in front of us.  They are gorgeous birds and while most of them are gone for the winter a few still remain with their chicks.  While here Bill got some amazing photos of the Red Tailed Tropic birds, another masked booby coming to land on the edge of the cliff and some of the other sea birds that were flying around here too.

From here we drove up to Mt Pitt where we spent the next hour or so walking through some of the tracks in search of the Norfolk Island Green Parrot and the Pacific Robin.  The parrots are becoming quite rare and though we heard two we did not see any. A female Robin graced us with her presence as we returned to the car.  The dusky pink is beautiful though not as striking as the bright red Male.

Returning to town we said goodbye to Margaret, it had been a wonderful morning and not only had we had enjoyed ourselves immensely we had seen a number of birds we had never seen before.  

We stopped at a little cafe on the main street, Tempo, fast becoming a favorite, for some lunch, before taking the map and driving out to explore a little on our own.  After a couple of hours back on our balcony it was time to hit the road again and on Margaret's advice we were going to have a look at Palm Glen and hope to find the Parrots there as it was a known spot to see them feeding in the evenings.

We arrived, sat quietly for a while before deciding to take a walk.  We followed the Palm Glen track through the forest for about an hour before coming back to the car once it started to rain.  Along the way we had seen some amazing views to the coast but not one Green Parrot had showed.  We saw Fantails, Rosella's and little silver eyes but no parrots.  Looks like we come back tomorrow.  

For now it was time to head home and get ready for dinner at the RSL.  The fish and chips were quiet yummy and the country music band wasn't too bad either.  It was the 20th Annual Country Music Festival while we were there and most places had music for the week so we were entertained as well as fed.

That's it until tomorrow........