moloch05
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My wife and I have just returned from a week long trip to Lord Howe Island. Wow, what a place! It is a superb site for those who enjoy cycling, hiking, snorkelling, birding or just want to be awed by natural beauty.
Lord Howe is situated about 700 km northeast of Sydney. It is located between New Caledonia to the northeast, New Zealand to the southeast and Norfolk Island to the east. As a result, the flora and fauna is very interesting and includes a blend of life from these different areas. It seems surprising but the islands were uninhabited when the Europeans arrived in the late 1700s.
There are only a couple of terrestrial herps on the island but this place is so interesting and stunningly beautiful that I decided to prepare a "natural history" report to show some of the amazing sights of the island.
Lord Howe Island once was huge but now, it has nearly been reclaimed by the sea. All that is left is the small island of Lord Howe (11 km long), the adjacent Admiralty islets and about 23 kms to the east, Ball's Pyramid. This is a photo of a drawing of the island at the island's museum:
The main island of Lord Howe is dominated by the cores of an extinct volcano. These cores have formed the mountains known as Mt. Lidgbird (777m) and Mt. Gower (875m).
This is a shot of Ball's Pyramid (550m) from the western slope of Mt. Lidgbird. Ball's Pyramid is the tallest stack on the planet. It is an ominous looking place but is a refuge to both of Lord Howe's native reptiles.
Ball's Pyramid is also the site where the huge phasmid known as the "Land Lobster" was rediscovered in 2001. Prior to this, the insect was thought to be extinct as the result of the accidental introduction of Black Rats to Lord Howe in 1918. While I was on the island, I was lucky to meet a former ranger who was on the survey team that found the phasmid. He and others climbed the pyramid at night and found 5 on their first visit. They later returned and collected a few to establish a breeding colony at the nursery on Lord Howe. I cannot imagine climbing on that place especially at night due to the nearly shear slopes and unstable substrate! It is possible to view the captive animals at the nursery but I did not have time so had to settle for photos of specimens from the museum:
About 80% of Lord Howe has been set aside as a permanent preserve. Most of the island is forested.
Lord Howe Island is bathed by the East Australia Current so water temperatures range between 18C in the winter and 25C in the summer. These mild conditions have allowed coral reefs to develop and Lord Howe has the most southerly of all reefs. The reef itself is a mix of both hard and soft corals. It was colourful with many blue, purple and green outcrops. Fish diversity was much greater than I expected and I saw a number of fish that I have not encountered further north at the Great Barrier Reef. Butterfly Fish were particular diverse.
Ned's Beach
Ned's Beach was just a 10 minute walk from our accommodation.
The fish in this bay are protected and extremely tame. Meter-long Kingfish would swim right up to my feet in the shallows.
Bluefish are normally grey but they flush this lovely sky blue when excited. This one (left) was definitely excited by bread. The other fish is a Surge Wrasse and was an absolute rainbow of colours.
This morning glory was common on the dunes surrounding the beach. Ipomoea pes-capre (Convolvulaceae):
Sallywood (Lagunaria patersonia, Malvaceae) and a fern.
Sacred Kingfisher was a common native of the lowlands.
Ned's Beach is the area where Lord Howe Island Horned Turtle (Meiolania platyceps) fossils are found. These turtles are thought to have become extinct about 40,000 years ago. They were huge and almost the size of the Galapagos Tortoises.
Offshore Islets
Offshore Islands have provided refuge to a number of animals that have otherwise become rare or extinct on the main island due to Black Rats. I visited one of these to see some of the animals that once lived on Lord Howe.
Lord Howe Island Gecko (Christinus guentheri): These geckos were numerous on an offshore island. I also saw a single animal near accommodation right on Lord Howe itself. Christinus is a genus of cool-adapted geckos within Australia that are mostly distributed in the southern portion of Australia. It is surprising that this genus of gecko managed to reach the Lord Howe.
These little geckos exhibited an unusual behaviour. They would form a tight coil and place the large toes from one foot over their head and eyes. When coiled like this, they were very inconspicuous when on rocks and leaf litter of the forest floor.
A small red mite lived on the geckos. I wonder if these are harmless to the geckos like the mites that I see on Phyllurus (leaf-tailed) geckos?
Lord Howe Island Skink (Cyclodina lichenigera): I saw three of these skinks. This species is about the size of an Eastern Water Skink and is thought to have reached Lord Howe from New Zealand.
Wedge-tailed Shearwaters nested mostly on the offshore islands. They were mostly in their burrows when I visited the islet. They moaned continuously and the sound was quite eerie and almost human-like.
Lord Howe Island bush cockroach (Panesthia lata) -- common on an offshore island. These roaches are apparently extinct on the main island of Lord Howe due to predation by Black Rats.
Flat Spider (Hemicloea sp.) and a centipede
Brown Noddy
There was a nesting colony of Brown Noddies at the far end of Blinky Beach.
Masked Booby
Mutton Bird Point was the nesting site of many pairs of Masked Boobies.
The natural habitat has been most altered near the south end of the island. This is the area that was initially settled by Europeans in the early 1800s. Here, many of the exotic Norfolk Island Pines were planted and some of these are now huge trees.
These trees are a favourite nesting site of the lovely White Tern. I saw large numbers of these nesting in the trees sometimes within a meter or two of the ground. They don't actually build a nest but lay their egg in a slight depression on a branch. White Terns would attempt to drive away other birds such as Pied Currawongs that flew near their nests.
Emerald Ground Doves were often seen as they walked along the forest floor:
At night, one of the most conspicuous birds was the Flesh-footed Shearwater. These birds nest in burrows and would return at dusk. Once it was dark, they were very noisy. Their call vaguely sounded like "pick me, pick me!". They departed before sunrise to return to feed from the ocean.
Arthropods and Gastropods of the area included the following:
... a burrowing cricket:
... wasps:
... huntsman (abundant!) and a long-horned borer:
... these two large slugs were twisting around each other and slowly dropping to the ground while suspended by a thread of slime:
Regards,
David
Lord Howe is situated about 700 km northeast of Sydney. It is located between New Caledonia to the northeast, New Zealand to the southeast and Norfolk Island to the east. As a result, the flora and fauna is very interesting and includes a blend of life from these different areas. It seems surprising but the islands were uninhabited when the Europeans arrived in the late 1700s.
There are only a couple of terrestrial herps on the island but this place is so interesting and stunningly beautiful that I decided to prepare a "natural history" report to show some of the amazing sights of the island.
Lord Howe Island once was huge but now, it has nearly been reclaimed by the sea. All that is left is the small island of Lord Howe (11 km long), the adjacent Admiralty islets and about 23 kms to the east, Ball's Pyramid. This is a photo of a drawing of the island at the island's museum:
The main island of Lord Howe is dominated by the cores of an extinct volcano. These cores have formed the mountains known as Mt. Lidgbird (777m) and Mt. Gower (875m).
This is a shot of Ball's Pyramid (550m) from the western slope of Mt. Lidgbird. Ball's Pyramid is the tallest stack on the planet. It is an ominous looking place but is a refuge to both of Lord Howe's native reptiles.
Ball's Pyramid is also the site where the huge phasmid known as the "Land Lobster" was rediscovered in 2001. Prior to this, the insect was thought to be extinct as the result of the accidental introduction of Black Rats to Lord Howe in 1918. While I was on the island, I was lucky to meet a former ranger who was on the survey team that found the phasmid. He and others climbed the pyramid at night and found 5 on their first visit. They later returned and collected a few to establish a breeding colony at the nursery on Lord Howe. I cannot imagine climbing on that place especially at night due to the nearly shear slopes and unstable substrate! It is possible to view the captive animals at the nursery but I did not have time so had to settle for photos of specimens from the museum:
About 80% of Lord Howe has been set aside as a permanent preserve. Most of the island is forested.
Lord Howe Island is bathed by the East Australia Current so water temperatures range between 18C in the winter and 25C in the summer. These mild conditions have allowed coral reefs to develop and Lord Howe has the most southerly of all reefs. The reef itself is a mix of both hard and soft corals. It was colourful with many blue, purple and green outcrops. Fish diversity was much greater than I expected and I saw a number of fish that I have not encountered further north at the Great Barrier Reef. Butterfly Fish were particular diverse.
Ned's Beach
Ned's Beach was just a 10 minute walk from our accommodation.
The fish in this bay are protected and extremely tame. Meter-long Kingfish would swim right up to my feet in the shallows.
Bluefish are normally grey but they flush this lovely sky blue when excited. This one (left) was definitely excited by bread. The other fish is a Surge Wrasse and was an absolute rainbow of colours.
This morning glory was common on the dunes surrounding the beach. Ipomoea pes-capre (Convolvulaceae):
Sallywood (Lagunaria patersonia, Malvaceae) and a fern.
Sacred Kingfisher was a common native of the lowlands.
Ned's Beach is the area where Lord Howe Island Horned Turtle (Meiolania platyceps) fossils are found. These turtles are thought to have become extinct about 40,000 years ago. They were huge and almost the size of the Galapagos Tortoises.
Offshore Islets
Offshore Islands have provided refuge to a number of animals that have otherwise become rare or extinct on the main island due to Black Rats. I visited one of these to see some of the animals that once lived on Lord Howe.
Lord Howe Island Gecko (Christinus guentheri): These geckos were numerous on an offshore island. I also saw a single animal near accommodation right on Lord Howe itself. Christinus is a genus of cool-adapted geckos within Australia that are mostly distributed in the southern portion of Australia. It is surprising that this genus of gecko managed to reach the Lord Howe.
These little geckos exhibited an unusual behaviour. They would form a tight coil and place the large toes from one foot over their head and eyes. When coiled like this, they were very inconspicuous when on rocks and leaf litter of the forest floor.
A small red mite lived on the geckos. I wonder if these are harmless to the geckos like the mites that I see on Phyllurus (leaf-tailed) geckos?
Lord Howe Island Skink (Cyclodina lichenigera): I saw three of these skinks. This species is about the size of an Eastern Water Skink and is thought to have reached Lord Howe from New Zealand.
Wedge-tailed Shearwaters nested mostly on the offshore islands. They were mostly in their burrows when I visited the islet. They moaned continuously and the sound was quite eerie and almost human-like.
Lord Howe Island bush cockroach (Panesthia lata) -- common on an offshore island. These roaches are apparently extinct on the main island of Lord Howe due to predation by Black Rats.
Flat Spider (Hemicloea sp.) and a centipede
Brown Noddy
There was a nesting colony of Brown Noddies at the far end of Blinky Beach.
Masked Booby
Mutton Bird Point was the nesting site of many pairs of Masked Boobies.
The natural habitat has been most altered near the south end of the island. This is the area that was initially settled by Europeans in the early 1800s. Here, many of the exotic Norfolk Island Pines were planted and some of these are now huge trees.
These trees are a favourite nesting site of the lovely White Tern. I saw large numbers of these nesting in the trees sometimes within a meter or two of the ground. They don't actually build a nest but lay their egg in a slight depression on a branch. White Terns would attempt to drive away other birds such as Pied Currawongs that flew near their nests.
Emerald Ground Doves were often seen as they walked along the forest floor:
At night, one of the most conspicuous birds was the Flesh-footed Shearwater. These birds nest in burrows and would return at dusk. Once it was dark, they were very noisy. Their call vaguely sounded like "pick me, pick me!". They departed before sunrise to return to feed from the ocean.
Arthropods and Gastropods of the area included the following:
... a burrowing cricket:
... wasps:
... huntsman (abundant!) and a long-horned borer:
... these two large slugs were twisting around each other and slowly dropping to the ground while suspended by a thread of slime:
Regards,
David
