Lord Howe Island - Part 2: Search for the Woodhen

Following the boat trip to Balls Pyramid and photographing the birds around our accommodation, the one bird I was determined to see and photograph while on the island was the Lord Howe Woodhen, an endangered species brought back from the brink of extinction in the last 30 years. It is most commonly seen at the southern end of the island so one morning I took a walk along the main road past the airport and golf course.

Sacred Kingfisher were everywhere as they seem to have taken on the Kookaburra role on the island - frequently seen perched on almost anything.

Sacred Kingfisher, Lord Howe Island
Pentax K-3, Sigma 300mm f/2.8 lens +1.4x adapter, ISO400, 1/640 @ f/5.6

Sacred Kingfisher, Lord Howe Island
Pentax K-3, Sigma 300mm f/2.8 lens +1.4x adapter, ISO800, 1/8000 @ f/4 

Sacred Kingfisher, Lord Howe Island
Pentax K-3, Sigma 300mm f/2.8 lens +1.4x adapter, ISO800, 1/4000 @ f/4

The only bird more common was the Magpie-lark, seen and heard anywhere there was open pasture or mown grass.

Magpie-lark, Lord Howe Island
Pentax K-3, Sigma 300mm f/2.8 lens +1.4x adapter, ISO800, 1/4000 @ f/5.6

White-faced Herons were commonly seen on the beaches and in the pasture.

White-faced Heron, Lord Howe Island
Pentax K-3, Sigma 300mm f/2.8 lens +1.4x adapter, ISO800, 1/1600 @ f/8

A small flock of Pacific Golden Plover was foraging in the pasture on the grassy hillside next to the airport. They were a long way away (this shot is heavily cropped) but it was good to see them.

Pacific Golden Plover, Lord Howe Island
Pentax K-3, Sigma 300mm f/2.8 lens +1.4x adapter, ISO800, 1/4000 @ f/5.6

The only ducks I saw while on the island was this pair of what look like Northern Mallard-Pacific Black Duck hybrids.

Northern Mallard-Pacific Black Duck hybrid, Lord Howe Island
Pentax K-3, Sigma 300mm f/2.8 lens +1.4x adapter, ISO800, 1/4000 @ f/5.6

I spotted Buff-banded Rail foraging in the mown grass along the road into the airport so took a detour to see if they were more photo-friendly than their Milky Way relatives. They were!

Buff-banded Rail, Lord Howe Island
Pentax K-3, Sigma 300mm f/2.8 lens +1.4x adapter, ISO800, 1/4000 @ f/5.6

Roadside signs past the airport confirmed what the locals had told me about the most likely place to find woodhens

but, after an hour of unsuccessful searching, I gave up and headed back (a 6 km walk) to civilisation. My son and son-in-law passed me (riding bikes) on the road on their way back from a hike up to Goat House Cave on Mt Lidgbird and we agreed to meet up at Thomson's Store (self proclaimed best burgers for 600km) for lunch during which they told me (and showed me video evidence) that they had seen woodhens on a side road about 500m from where I had stopped searching. So, I borrowed my son's bike and rode back to the Goat House track. I walked the first few hundred meters along the track listening and looking for woodhens - to no avail - and gave up and decided to check out further along the main road, where I managed to find two birds right by the side of the road, one of which stood still long enough for me to get off one shot. Fortunately, I had already changed to a 24-70mm zoom lens while in the rainforest - a long lens would have been useless here.

Lord Howe Woodhen, Lord Howe Island
Pentax K-3, Pentax 24-70mm f/2.8 lens @ 70mm, ISO1600, 1/800 @ f/5.6

So, after a 13km walk and 13 km bike ride I managed to see and photograph my target species - tired but happy :-)

Another quick visit to the WTP

I took a brief diversion to the Western Lagoons at the Western Treatment Plant on the way home from Melbourne this afternoon. Despite it being mid afternoon, there was a fair amount of avian activity with hundreds of Red-necked Stints and Curlew Sandpipers resting on the mudflats and feeding in the shallows.

Curlew Sandpiper, Western Treatment Plant

Several pairs of White-fronted Chats were feeding on the dried mudflats at the edge of the ponds.

White-fronted Chat, Western Treatment Plant

...and, I was lucky enough to capture this Golden-headed Cisticola singing in the nearby vegetation.

Golden-headed Cisticola, Western Treatment Plant

As I was leaving, I flushed a Buff-banded Rail in the ditch just next to Gate 2. I parked the car past the gate and came back and waited to see if it would reappear...

Buff-banded Rail, Western Treatment Plant

Crake Hunt, part 3

The great crake hunt continued this afternoon on my way home from Melbourne.

First stop was a walk around the wetlands at Truganina Park in Altona. I found one Buff-banded Rail among the usual Purple Swamphens and Dusky Moorhens in the reedbeds but no crakes.

Buff-banded Rail, Truganina Park

There had been reports of Baillon's and Australian Spotted Crakes at the T-Section of the Western Treatment Plant in the last few days so that was my next stop and within 15 minutes had found both in relatively clear view.

One Australian Spotted Crake came out foraging at the edge of the reeds only about 20 metres from where I was standing

Australian Spotted Crake, Western Treatment Plant

and there were at least four Baillon's Crakes a bit further away in the same reed bed. Unfortunately, they were backlit making it difficult to get any decent photographs but managed one with three birds in the one shot.

Baillon's Crake, Western Treatment Plant

Buff-banded Rail at Lake Colac

Went for a late afternoon walk at the Church St wetlands on Lake Colac (see map) in drizzling rain with low dark cloud. Lots of the usual suspects: Silver Gull, Little Pied Cormorant, Australian Pelican, Eastern Great Egret, Pacific Black Duck, Chestnut Teal, Hardhead, Purple Swamphen, Dusky Moorhen, Superb Fairy-wren, Welcome Swallow and heard several Australian Reed-Warbler. Just getting back into the car when a Buff-banded Rail came out of the reeds onto the roadway 15 metres from the car park. It was very dark so I was shooting with aperture wide open and a slow shutter speed but still got a few reasonable record shots.

Buff-banded Rail, Lake Colac