Norfolk Island Birds in Flight

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 Norfolk Island is a great place for bird watching. It has its own endemic species as well as other visitors.
​Many sea birds breed on Norfolk Island and other nearby smaller islands like Philip Island & Nepean Island. On this trip I brought the Canon 200-400 f4 IS USM as well as the old but trusty 70-200 f4. I gave them both a work out when I got a chance. When you are at one of the many cliff top lookouts on Norfolk Island, depending on the season, you will see many sea birds flying past or soaring overhead.  Also to be seen is the kestrel. With a bit of patience and luck you will get plenty of opportunity for honing your BIF (Birds in Flight) photography skills.

Also as you drive around you will sight the ‘Nuffka’ - Norfolk's endemic kingfisher sitting on sign posts or wires.
Pacific Golden Plovers can be sighted by the roadside on the greens feasting on grubs.
Feral chickens are everywhere with many impressive roosters and they are breeding prolifically.

We intended to visit Philip Island but couldn't because of the weather and sea conditions - this will have to wait for another trip.
I enjoyed photographing the White Terns [ locally called Fairy terns]  and Red-tailed tropic birds.
Fairy terns nest in the Norfolk Island Pine trees. Actually there is no nest and they lay a single egg on the branch [ photo below] and hatch it and raise the chick on the bare branch. Plenty of them can be sighted in the trees and flying around. I did most of my BIF photography handholding the camera and lens. A good tripod with a gimbal head would have been ideal.

While on cliff tops you have to be careful not step into the nesting holes of Shearwaters (locally known as 'mutton birds'), and not get carried away trying to photograph birds in flight, for the danger of going over the cliff is real.
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The above photos represent the results of some opportunistic photography. I was not able to get a decent photo of the Norfolk Island parrot and other birds, but the purpose of this visit was not primarily to seek out bird life, but to relax and see the island. 

More about my first attempt at long exposure photography in the next blog/write up.