Bumboras Reserve is one of the reserves managed by the local Norfolk Island administration. It is located near the southern tip of the island and has a quite reasonable picnic area. It is quite small and can be walked around in just a few minutes. The road in has a warning about vehicle accessibility in wet weather, but in dry weather it is short, easy and able to be accessed by pretty much any hire car you’d get on the island. There are two things this reserve has that are in pretty short supply on Norfolk Island – running fresh water and safe and easy access to the shoreline. The road in comes off farmland areas and I saw a pair of California Quail and chooks (Red Junglefowl if you wish) on the road verge on the drive in. The parking area is quite nice with tall pines surrounding it, including quite a bit of recent regrowth. I’d suggest the regrowth area is where they’ve eradicated the olive, as in other areas it form it usual impenetrable thicket. The small creek was partly choked with Typha and taro and I saw no waterbirds. Anything other than a Purple Swamphen (called tarla birds locally, and much hated) would have been a surprise. The only endemic to be found was the Norfolk Island Gerygone, a few calling from among the pines. The endemic subspecies of the Sacred Kingfisher was present, a couple of birds calling, and the only other ‘kind-of’ native was the Silvereye. Ferals present included Common Blackbird, Common Starling and Crimson Rosella. The seabirds started before I got near the beach with a lovely White Tern feeding a chick in a White Oak (Lagunaria patersonia) just above where I parked. More White Terns could be seen flying overhead, as could a few Sooty Terns. As I accessed the beach, more of both, plus plenty of Black Noddies flying around, as well as smaller numbers of Common Noddies. From the coast plenty of Wedge-tailed Shearwaters could be seen and there were plenty of burrows in the steep coastal slope. The slope was mostly native, with good amounts of Sporobolus virginicus, Wollastonia biflora, Phormium tenax, Cyperus lucidus (locally known as Moo-oo) and Achyranthes aspera, which I’d assumed was a weed, but apparently not, it was reminiscent of Snake Weed from north Queensland. The beach gave great views back to Kingston as well of Nepean Island. Masked Boobies were flying around and nesting on Nepean, with a few a bit closer, including one flying right overhead. Several Red-tailed Tropicbirds were flying overhead, one quite low so I think it was nesting on the cliff face and a pair of Great Frigatebirds circled overhead. It is my understanding that frigatebird sightings have increased significantly in recent years – formerly a rare occurrence offshore, they are now regularly seen around the island.. I disturbed one wader on the rocks but couldn’t get a clear look into the sun, judging by the size, probably a Ruddy Turnstone. Overall not a bad little site and worth a visit on a trip to Norfolk, is only for short while. I have started a blog on the natural history of Norfolk island at http://naturalnorfolk.com/wp/ if anyone is interested. It includes a selection of photos from the Phillip Island trip I posted a couple of weeks ago, and while not strictly limited to birds, they will feature pretty regularly.
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