Thursday, April 21

Great day- started early- went on birding trip wtih Hawaii Forrest and Trail.We were picked up at the junction of Saddle Road and Route190:

As we were driving up to our first stop we saw the Pueo, the Short Eared Owl:

And we drove up to our first birding spot where we had breakfast::

 

 Note the tablecloth! Note our orange vests - our tour leader told us we had to wear them because Cheney was hunting nearby....
Actually there is hunting going on for the ferral sheep and pigs on the area. It is also near a military training area. Not sure where Cheney fits in- pig, sheep, military????
Then we went bird watching- we are including some photos of the birds that we saw We did NOT take these photos ( well, we did, from a bird guide of "Hawaii's Birds", a wonderfull small book re these, and they get full credit for the photos, which look better in the book than in my photos:
  So here is our birding scenery and birds in what is called the dry forrest- the area around 7,000 feet. The original forrest was almost totally destroyed by grazing cattle and sheep- and now some is protected, and they are trying to save the endemic birds, especially the Pilila, which is nearing extinctoin.

The following is the Hawian Amakihi

Then we saw the elusive Palila, and once found had a very good look at it :

and the Elipaio- which we saw both here and in the next site as well:

We then drove on to a new site and habita, the 'Wet forrest" ( not that anything was wet - they have been having a drought for the last 5 years, and we saw many dead or partially dead trees). This area was part of lava flows- and we saw  and walked over several different kinds ( and ages) of lava in our long hike down to the Koa trees where these birds were. Again some photos of the hiking and our group - and of the birds( again from the book)

 The path that we took, which used to be a cattle trail:

This is our lunch spot- in the middle of an oasis of trees surrounded by  more recent lava flows:

And the birds- really glorious--
 the I'iwi- we saw alot of these - note the cool curved orange bill -

And, much, much more elusive and rare (only 1,500  total popluaton now)-we finally sited the Akiapola'au ( fondly called the "Aki").  We found the male and 2 juveniles, who had just fledged the nest. And, we even reallly were fortunate to get to see the male feeding his young ( no photo of that !).Anyway, it was really neat to have such a good long look at this bird after such a long search- and get to really see it: ( this photo really does not do it full justice)

 And the thrush-'Oma'o-- also quite elusive- thank heavens for our leader  who knew the birdcalls as well:

 And we saw the only hawk in Hawaii-- the 'Io - the Hawaian Hawk - a Buteo - quite magnificent and he was very nice about staying in one place for us to have a good long look at him:

Now for a look at the happy birders at the end of the day, by the lava

and how these early plants can make the lava look quite beautiful

So we had a long day 10 hours- but so very beautiful and interesting and fun.; Everyone else in our group of 8 plus our guide and a staff person were really nice and interesting as well. It was a really great day. And, no rain!!
We then drove up north to the small town of Hawi and had a delicious dinner at 'Bamboo'- Thai/ Hawaian - and have come back to our modest hotel, ready for bed. Not sure what tomorrow will bring.
And yes, to you savy few, Neal is definitely participating in writing this blog....
Love, Deb and Neal