p.1 #1 · Lord Howe Island and one of the word's rarest birds
I had the opportunity to go to Lord Howe Island, a small island 600kms north east of Sydney in the Tasman Sea off the east coast of Australia, to photograph the abundant sea and land birds and the stunning scenery. Lord Howe is only a small island of 11kms long and between .3km - 2km wide and has been widely regarded as the most beautiful island in the Pacific. It is one of just four island groups to be inscribed on UNESCO’s World Heritage list for the global significance of its natural beauty and heritage and was ranked first in the list of "The 25 most amazing islands on earth" in "Islands Magazine"
This is one of the birds that is native to, and only found on, Lord Howe Island, the Lord Howe Island Woodhen
One of the world's rarest birds, only about 300 left in the wild! In the 1970's there were about 30 left and they have been bred back from extinction to their present population of about 300
Model NIKON D800 + 300mm f2.8 VRII + 1,4x TCII
Focal Length 300 mm
Exposure Time 1/500 sec
Aperture f/5.6
ISO Equivalent 6400
Model NIKON D800 + 300mm f2.8 VRII + 1,4x TCII
Focal Length 420 mm
Exposure Time 1/1250 sec
Aperture f/4
ISO Equivalent 6400
p.1 #2 · Lord Howe Island and one of the word's rarest birds
awesome! does this bird fly? it looks a lot like the weka i have seen in nz which does not fly. good to hear this bird is being well managed at present....
p.1 #3 · Lord Howe Island and one of the word's rarest birds
dorian wrote:
awesome! does this bird fly? it looks a lot like the weka i have seen in nz which does not fly. good to hear this bird is being well managed at present....
dorian
Thank you for the kind comments, Dorian!
It does not fly and thus was easy prey for introduced animals like cats, dogs, pigs, goats (competing for habitat) and also starving humans when they used Lord Howe as a whaling pit stop. Since those days of ignorance, cats have been banned on Lord Howe, dogs closely monitored so that they are not allowed to be off lead and are de-sexed, all pigs have been eradicated as were the introduced goats which competed for habitat. This is a real success story of breeding back from extinction. Rats are another problem, but they have a strictly controlled eradication program that seems to be working.
p.1 #13 · Lord Howe Island and one of the word's rarest birds
tfoltz wrote:
Sounds like an incredible trip and experience, great pictures too.
Looks very similar to a Clapper Rail
-Tim
Thank you for your nice comments, Tim!
I really want to go back as a week is not enough due to ever changing weather conditions. Being a small island, you are open to frequent and drastic changes in the weather added to this the fact that the two mounts at the end of the island at around 850mts, have a habit of "catching" any passing clouds and therefore adding rain to the mix! As it was, we had one day of reasonably heavy rain and the next was overcast and windy, so a loss of two days photography and bush walking.
