I was driving home from work recently, in a downpour of rain, when I came across this column of four nenes wandering down the road. They crossed in front of me, padded down the other lane, then crossed back to the side I was on. I ended up passing them by driving in the wrong lane, since there was no oncoming traffic.
There are quite a few nenes in that area in part because, like most geese, they’re big fans of golf courses!
This week’s Sunday Stills challenge theme is ‘The Great Outdoors.’ See more responses here.
Recently, I took a hike along the South Kohala Coast, starting out at ʻAnaehoʻomalu Bay in Waikoloa Resort, and heading south to Keawaiki Beach, before returning the same way. This is a hike I’ve done before, but not for some time.
ʻAnaehoʻomalu Bay is often referred to as A Bay because it’s a tad easier to pronounce. It’s one of the more popular beaches on the island, but head south, around the corner from the main beach area, and the golden sands are largely deserted. Well, except for the odd green sea turtle taking a nap.
There are a few rustic structures behind the beach along here, but it’s a far cry from the resort developments less than a mile to the north. When the sands end, there’s a short stretch where high tides wash up against a wall of greenery. Hiking at those times, which I did, involves nimble footwork or getting your feet wet. I’m not nimble!
Beyond this point the coast becomes rocky lava, where flows from Mauna Loa have tumbled into the ocean in bygone days. The trail is mostly over a’a lava, which is irregular and rough. The trail itself is not hard to walk, but straying into the lava fields is another matter entirely.
The first marker on this part of the trail is the lone palm tree at Akahu Kaimu Bay. Just inland from this palm is a pool, which is mostly freshwater and deep enough to swim in. This is a welcome option on a hot day, but since it was mostly overcast with a nice onshore breeze, I didn’t take a dip this time.
The trail continues over the lava field to the next bay and it was here I got lost. The coast trail often passes over the lava rather than follow the coast around points and the only trail I could see appeared to be doing just that. But when I followed it for a while I saw that it continued inland. However, I could also see that where it headed was to the Golden Pools of Keawaiki, which was I planned on visiting anyway, so I carried on until I came to familiar ground. The golden pools owe their color to a unique algae that grows here. These are not pools for swimming in since that could alter the conditions and destroy the algae.
Heading back to the coast, the trail comes out at Pueo Bay where I found an abandoned kayak, not in great condition. Keawaiki beach, just beyond, is another bay marked by a sole palm tree, but this poor tree has been badly damaged by storms and is no longer much of a tree.
Heading back north, I passed the sole house on this part of the coast, just beyond Weliweli Point. I have yet to see anyone at this spot, though someone obviously maintains the property. I got back to the bay where I had strayed off the track and realized where I’d gone wrong. The coast trail zigzags up from the beach and is marked only by a couple of pieces of bleached coral, which don’t stand out much on a beach strewn with the same kinds of coral pieces.
This trail isn’t a great one for birds, but I did see a Great Frigatebird wheeling overhead, which is always nice. And though this coast appears unforgiving, there are hardy plants to be found including native Hau trees and swathes of Beach Naupaka.
By the time I got back to A Bay, the Lava Lava Beach Club was busy with dinner patrons, enjoying their meals at tables set up on the sand and close to the water.
Also posted for Jo’s Monday Walk. See more responses here.
Bees and butterflies aren’t the only ones attracted to flowers. This Japanese White-eye was digging deep for the good stuff within a Japanese Aloe flower.
I saw this Erckel’s Francolin walking up an angled tree trunk on the side of Mauna Kea. It got to the spot in the top photo, had a look around, and then walked back down again. Francolins prefer to walk everywhere because, being game birds, they know that when they take wing, people try and shoot them.
The praying mantis had been on the rail for some time when the sparrows arrived. I feared for its chances, but it remained very still and the sparrows never seemed to notice it, even though they hung around for a while.
He jumped.
In last week’s Sunday Stills, Terri included a photo of a bald eagle with a transmitter on its back. In the comments, I mentioned that those trackers don’t stay on that long. Cue a few days ago when I saw this nene at Upolu. When I see nenes at Upolu, I report them to a contact at the Department of Land and Natural Resources (DNLR). The DNLR uses sighting information to build a picture of where the nenes are and where they go.
This is 32A, a bird I first saw in January of 2020. Back then, he didn’t have a tracker, but shortly after I saw him, one was attached. The DNLR thought the bird might be flying to and from Maui, but it turns out he wasn’t. Instead, the tracker has shown he mostly flies between Upolu, Hakalau, and Mauna Kea, all on the Big Island. However, the tracker is still on and still working, and I learned that they generally work for 3 to 5 years.
The reason I know this bird is 32A, besides the tracker, is that many nenes have bands on their legs to help with identification. In the second photo, the bands can be seen at grass level. The smaller band, on the left leg, is a US Fish and Wildlife tag. I’ve never been able to see any information on this smaller tag on any of the birds I’ve seen. The tag on the right leg is actually gray and shows the bird is one of almost 600 birds that were moved to the Big Island from a golf course near Kaua’i airport, between 2011 and 2016. These birds more than doubled the population of Big Island birds at that time. The fact that the tag is on the right leg means the bird is a male. The fact that the tag is brown and barely readable shows this bird has been wading through some very muddy conditions!
This week’s Sunday Stills Monthly Color Challenge is ‘White and Pastels.’ See more responses here.
Rosy-faced Lovebirds are also known as Peach-faced Lovebirds and they have a lot of color variations. I have yet to see a rosy face in Hawaii outside of tourists who’ve seen too much sun. Instead, the local birds tend towards pastel shades whether they’re dining or simply hanging out.
Graham's Island 