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A somewhat distant Sacred Kingfisher, from this morning:

A Sacred Kingfisher perched on a branch..

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A White Faced Heron on Lord Howe Island. These are the same as the mainland ones, and seem to have made their way here all by themselves.

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Male Blackbirds on Lord Howe Island (these are an introduced European species, from “way back when” and are quite common on the island).

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The Island Trader is docked at the Jetty at Lord Howe Island this morning. This is A Big Deal as the island is quite dependent on sea freight — and sometimes weather or tides prevent it from getting through the reef passage. Made it this time 😃😮‍💨

The Island Trader docked at Lord Howe Island, with Mt Eliza in the background.

The Island Trader docked at Lord Howe Island.

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Male and female Golden Whistlers. This sub-species is unique to Lord Howe Island, though similar to their mainland cousins:

Female Lord Howe Island Golden Whistler.

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This flight landed in the preferred direction — across the lagoon, past rabbit island..

SmartLynx Dash 8 Q200 VH-TQX just before landing at Lord Howe Island.

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A parawing hydrofoil sailboard scooting along at Ned’s Beach, Lord Howe Island.

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For reference, this is a Sooty Tern (taken at Ned’s Beach, not Blinky Beach, but the same critter).

A Sooty Tern landing near its young at Ned’s Beach, Lord Howe Island.

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This shows why the airlines prefer to land over the lagoon at Lord Howe Island, rather than over Blinky Beach, when the Sooty Terns are breeding. Sometimes, though, the winds mean they have to 😬

SmartLynx Dash 8 Q200 VH-TQX on short final into Lord Howe Island over the Sooty Terns breeding on the beach.

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At Ned’s Besch, before lunch today..

A Sooty Tern at Ned’s Beach, Lord Howe Island.

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This little one (a Sacred Kingfisher) led me on quite a merry (and frustrating) chase yesterday afternoon. I eventually caught up though 😃 My new longer lens sure helped ..

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There’s wi-fi at the Anchorage Cafe in the main settlement area (where we’re having ☕️ right now) and at the airfield. No mobile service. There’s a phone booth nearby — and a phone at the front desk. That’s about it..

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Well, it is windy but things here can always take a tern for the better 🤭 (a White Tern, in fact)..

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One of the views, at pre-dinner drinks yesterday:

Rabbit Island (officially Blackburn Island) across the lagoon at Lord Howe Island near sunset.

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Mike Funnell @mikefunnell.bsky.social · 07/10/2026

We (Dad and I) made it to Lord Howe Island yesterday. We’ve just picked up our rattle-trap hire bikes and are grabbing ☕️ where we can get wi-fi. All on-track 😃

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It’s looking mostly OK so far 🤞

BOM forecast for Lord Howe Island:

Forecast for Thursday 8 October
Partly cloudy. Medium (40%) chance of a shower.
Winds: S/SW 10 to 15 knots.
Seas: 1 to 1.5 metres.
Swell: S/SW 2.5 to 3.5 metres
Precis: Possible shower.
Min 14 Max 20
Sun protection 8:40am to 3:30pm, UV Index predicted to reach 8 [Very High]

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Mike Funnell @mikefunnell.bsky.social · 07/10/2026

I’m all packed and ready to dress-and-go tomorrow. It was a bit dodgy getting in last time Dad and I went so please send kind weather thoughts 🤞

Short final into the Lord Howe Island airfield, over Blinky Beach (they prefer to land over the lagoon to avoid the Sooty Terns breeding at the beach).

The weather looked pretty ominous but the pilot got us in 👏 The next flight wasn’t so lucky 😬

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Because of course it fkn did 😡 Anti-trust? What’s that in an age of no trust? 🤯🤷‍♂️

Paramount Closes Deal for Warner Bros. Discovery, Creating Media Behemoth

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The (successful 👏) rodent eradication program (plus getting rid of pigs and goats) has allowed native and endemic species (and island-specific sub-species) to recover from near extinction. Such as the lovely little LHI Woodhens, which are now thriving:

A native Lord Howe Island Woodhen.

Numbers have recovered so well that all birds are no longer banded (they all once were, until quite recently) and tracked 👍

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It’s certainly on The World Heritage List (and, I’m glad to say, managed as such). From my last trip:

Mt Gower and Mt Ligbird on Lord Howe Island seen across the lagoon, with “rabbit island” (officially Blackburn Island) to the right, mid-frame.

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Mike Funnell @mikefunnell.bsky.social · 04/10/2026

My trip to Lord Howe Island is getting really real: I’ve started packing, I’ve cleaned out and cleaned up memory cards for my camera, laptops, phone etc. and I’ve even booked my trip to the airport..

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Having managed a decent photo of the female yesterday, I thought I'd look to getting a photo of a male Scarlet Myzomela today. I think this one came out OK..

A male Scarlet Myzomela among bottlebrush blossom.

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Mike Funnell @mikefunnell.bsky.social · 03/10/2026

This one didn’t *quite* come out (too distant so too heavily-cropped; plus I didn’t nail focus) .. but it’s the best I have (yet 🤞) of a male Variegated Fairywren in breeding plumage:

A male Variegated Fairywren, in breeding plumage, perched on a branch.

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Mike Funnell @mikefunnell.bsky.social · 03/10/2026

Well, the storm has arrived ⛈️ 💥 ⚡️

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Mike Funnell @mikefunnell.bsky.social · 03/10/2026

I got a much better photo of my "mystery honeyeater" today and confirmed it is, indeed, a Scarlet Myzomela (with my photos being of females and maybe one or more juveniles). While I couldn't get a photo I could show (the one I have is horrid), I did ID a male among them by his scarlet head etc.

A female Scarlet Myzomela feeding on bottlebrush blossom.

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You won’t like this god-awful money-sucking bat … but here she is 🤢

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On my walk this afternoon I saw no crouching tigers 🐅 (well, I wouldn’t around here would I 🤭) but I did spot a hidden dragon

An Australian Water Dragon hiding in some foliage.

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I saw lots of small birds feeding on various bottlebrush while walking. Very fast-moving and devilishly hard to photograph. I’ve not been able to ID them. They seem some variety of honeyeater, but which one? I suspect they’re immature so no adult plumage — which makes ID that much harder 😬

Mystery honeyeater (immature so not adult plumage?) near a bottlebrush blossom.

Mystery honeyeater (immature so not adult plumage?) feeding from a bottlebrush blossom.

Mystery honeyeater (immature so not adult plumage?) perched above a bottlebrush blossom.

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The rain held off long enough that I walked around for a bit with my camera this afternoon, looking for birds. I found some, too 😃 Yet the best photo of my walk was taken as I was leaving — just near our bins on our common property:

An Eastern Spinebill perched by a red Grevillea flower.

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