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 Lodge.
At the time I had a bird group from Illawarra birders on a tour, and they told me that in the past 12 months there have been many more sightings of this bird in the Wollongong area; and Pete McClelland told me that this bird had first been sighted in New Zealand in 2012, and again 2013. So it may be that populations of this bird are increasing on mainland Australia and has caused some to travel off the coast in search of new territory.