Birding

Looking out our window, I could see a spoonbill and an egret in the pond down below. Feral chickens walked through the yard. The sun was shining, the temperature was in the low 60s, and the wind had laid down.This was going to be a great day birding with Margaret Christian’s Green Eyes Birding Tour.

At 8:00, Lily, Marg’s granddaughter, picked us up in her van with Jane, the only other tour participant, and we headed to the shore to see white capped noddies picking up nesting materials. By the time we’d driven that short distance, the rain bands had started to come in from the west. Not a noddy to be seen. We peered along the beach in front of the penal colony ruins, but no birds in sight. I also checked out the brown sand at the rocky shore, but I didn’t see any shells either. I think the reef prevents them from coming in.

Back to the van. From its windows, we saw an Australasian grebe diving in a fresh water pond along side some mallards. In a field, I spotted 2 godwits, the first arrivals Lily had seen this season. And so the day went, with the rain coming and going. Lily knows so much about the ecology of NI, and tied it to the birds, survival of many endemic species, politics of the island, and the history of its people. Perhaps a bird purist would have been disappointed to have this wide range of topics, rather than concentrating just on birds. We were delighted.

I meant to watch my map and follow where we were going, but I got sidetracked looking and listening. We did drive to the top of Mount Pitt, and somewhere in the national park, we got out and walked along a track. Lily is doing field research on the endemic snails of NI. Not big colorful spirals, these are 1/4” little horn snails. She found some on the backs of leaves to show us.

Little fan tails flitted around us. As we were leaving, 3 green parrots flew over. One landed on a close limb so I could get my binoculars on it. Almost makes me want a camera. Almost.

Two endemic tree ferns grow on NI. The tallest tree fern species in the world is the Norfolk Island Tree Fern (Cyathea brownie). There were reports of chopping down 80’ tall ones to feed cattle the fronds. The Rough Tree Fern (C. Australia) is more rare on the island. One of each species was growing side by side so we could see the differences. Bigger scars where the fonds fall off is an identification for the rough.

For me, the highlight of the birds were the masked boobies nesting in fields at her grandmother’s cliff top house. The only reason they have survived over the years is a fierce policy of feral cat removal from the property.

There is a movement to rid the island of cats and other predators. Of course, some people oppose the idea. Just like the cattle owners want their cattle to be free range, no matter the damage to ecosystems. Another island topic is whether it should be restored to a previous balance, and if so, what? Before the Polynesians came, the penal era, when the Pitcairns arrived? Where water flows is involved. The politics matter. Lily was informative, biased towards saving the unique parts of NI, yet sympathetic to all the sides. Her family, after all, are farmers too.

Our last stop was tea and coconut bread with Marg at a picnic area overlooking the water. The sun had come out, the wind laid down, and the temperature was in the mid 60s. A perfect day for birding. My eBird list has 20 species, many ones I’ve never seen before: 

Absolutely starving, we lunched at Hilliard (Norfolk speak for being laid back, chilling); my sirloin and salad delicious. Grant had the house battered calamari with salad. Everything is raised on the island, fresh, fresh, fresh.

The  Guava Gallery nextdoor has small square glass plates, one of a white tern, another of the masked booby. Local artist. I resisted, but I may be back.

Then housekeeping: signing the car rental contract, buying a SIM card, getting what turned out, in my opinion, rotgut rum, and going grocery shopping. Boring yet necessary.

We put away our groceries and drove down to Elizabeth Bay to see the lone pine standing out on the point. Its roots certainly go to salt water, yet it survives. Lily estimates it is at least 750 years old, because sketches from the penal era show it standing there. NI pines have upturned limbs and needles for the first part of their lives, so the rain water drips down to the trunk and collects at the base of the tree, in a self watering way. When they get older and bigger, the limbs turn down, so the water runs to the tree’s drip line and doesn’t overwater the tree.

Steps Today: 5,416