Some 240 birds have been recorded on Lord Howe Island. Records have been made by early sailors, visiting scientists and interested locals and tourists. Many Island residents have been keen bird watchers, like Campbell Stevens, Ray Shick and Bill Retmock (who shared his love of birds with his children, particularly Dean). Many Islanders enjoy watching the birds – fishermen, tour guides and interested residents. There is now a comprehensive record of birds known from Lord Howe Island, and their status as breeding species, regular visitors, rare visitors or vagrants.
The Lord Howe Island Museum keeps records of bird sightings, encouraging locals and visitors to report any unusual sightings on the Island. A couple of notable unusual sightings for the past December and January have been made:
A female Australian Shelduck was seen at Moseley Park Swamp, first seen by Zsolt Balogh on 21 December, and subsequently by others over the next week before it moved on. Previously there were only seven recorded sightings.
Liam Murphy saw a Black faced cuckoo shrike on 4 December, along the forest edge of the airstrip.
On 15 January, a regular visitor to the Island, Tania Mathewson, spotted a seabird on the track to the Goathouse. She took a photo with her iPhone and I have identified it as a Kermadec petrel.
These seabirds were recorded breeding on Mount Lidgbird by bird collector, Roy Bell, in 1915 but it is believed that Masked owls (introduced in 1920) removed them, as they are surface nesters, not burrowers like most petrels. They continued to breed on Balls Pyramid and are a delight for people who do a Balls Pyramid cruise.
In an article in the March, 2021, Signal I noted that someone would soon see a Kermadec petrel back on Lord Howe Island following the REP and removal of introduced owls as, over the years, I had seen one or two flying around Boat Harbour, Mt Eliza and Blackburn Island. Tania’s observation is very exciting and it could be that this bird has a nest nearby, or was prospecting for a nest site.
Tania’s father, Don Mathewson, was also a regular visitor to Lord Howe and keen birder. He wrote the childrens’ book – “Sammy the Swamphen of Lord Howe Island”- which is sold in the Lord Howe Museum Shop.
