Bird Week – March 2015
A week-long special tour for a group from the Queensland Field Naturalists Club. This club has members interested in anything and everything. So it was a busy week exploring all of the habitats on the island from forest to seashore and seabird colonies. It was the first trip to Lord Howe Island for all members, […]
Launching of the Balls Pyramid model at the LHI Museum – December 2014
Through the second half of 2014 I worked with Melbourne based model maker Dean Smith of Environmental Creations, to design and produce a display around Ball’s Pyramid. The display featured a large, detailed replica of the Pyramid, a photo panel with storyboards and an account of the history of access and rock climbers there. Dick […]
Bird Week – November 2014
14 people joined in this week, a special week focusing on the birdlife of Lord Howe Island. It was an ideal way to discover and learn about the seabirds as all the summer breeders were back, courting, on eggs or with small chicks. We managed to see the first Black-winged petrels returning for the season. […]
Bird Surveys with Canberra Ornithological Group – September 2014
As part of the proposal for rodent eradication on Lord Howe Island there are monitoring surveys to be carried out pre- and post-eradication. In September 2014 a group of five COG members, led by Peter Fullagar, Chris Davies and myself, carried out bird surveys at random points across the low parts of the island. Ten-minute […]
Weeding Ecotour – August 2014
A group of 17 flew in on 31st August for the last weeding tour in 2014. It was a very experienced group, with most participants having been on many trips in previous years. The group mainly worked in the Transit Hill area, carrying out follow-up work on Climbing asparagus. But at the request of Sue […]
Weeding Ecotour – June-July 2014
The 76th weeding ecotour since inception in 1995, this week was attended by 16 keen participants. The members were mostly repeats weeders who had visited many times, with Barbara and Barry Clarris on their tenth visit- and they received their ten-year weeding certificates and a turned wooden bowl made from local Sallywood timber; Elizabeth Staraj, […]
Island Biology field course – July 2014
5-11 July 2014 – this week was the field component of a course in Island Biology for students studying at Victoria University, Wellington NZ. We took eight students on various walks around the island to observe and learn about the volcanic origins of Lord Howe Island; the processes of long distance dispersal of the plant […]
Weeding ecotour – May 2014
This was the 75th weeding ecotour to be run on the Island, since starting in 1995. Most of this group had been on many trips in previous years so it was an experienced group and we were able to achieve a lot of valuable progress against the weeds. The focus for our conservation work each […]
Bird Week – March 2014
For this March Bird week, participants came from far-flung parts of Australia — from the Grampians to Sydney, Perth to Mackay and Darwin. It was an excellent time to visit for the seabirds — as many had their chicks growing up and we were of course able to get very close and enjoy these — […]
White necked heron on Lord Howe Island
On 2nd March 2014 Leon Brice and Jack Shick spotted the first record of a White-necked heron on Lord Howe Island. The one bird was seen over the next two months at various locations on the island – above Middle Beach near the Power station, in Pine trees paddock and the paddock south of Capella […]