This hen and her brood of chicks were foraging on shore at Honokohau Harbor. Most places in Hawaii have a generous number of hens and roosters wandering free, with Kaui particularly notorious for its abundance of roaming poultry.
Hen and chicks
Category Archives: Birds
Wandering Tattler in a tree
I saw this Wandering Tattler at Kaloko-Honokōhau National Historical Park and realized that I’d never seen one in a tree before. Usually I see them wandering over the rocks in search of food. I’m not sure what this one was up to, but it took off not long after I saw it, probably heading for the shoreline.
It’s light, it’s bright, it’s black and white
This week’s Sunday Stills challenge theme is ‘Daylight in Black and White.’ See more responses here.
I was going to post a single image for this but then got caught up with the idea of black and white images of black and white things. This is the result.
African Silverbills at the window
Hawaiian Stilts on golden pond
My final post in response to this month’s Becky’s Squares challenge theme of ‘Odd.’ See more responses here.
The stilts are odd enough in themselves, with their pink legs and long beaks, but it was the lighting in this image that got my attention. The sun was sinking and the shadows lengthening. But the distinctive lighting in this photo was due to the reflection from a cream-colored trailer parked beside the pond!
Ring-billed Gull
I saw this bird at the ʻAimakapā Fishpond in Kaloko-Honokohau National Historical Park. At first I was just focused on a fairly large bird flying toward me, but then it swooped around and down and plucked a fish from the water. It took off again and carried its prize to a rocky strip jutting into the fishpond, where it duly devoured it.
I realized, through this process, that this wasn’t a bird I was familiar with, but I thought it looked like some kind of gull. Back home, my bird book indicated it was most likely a Ring-billed Gull. It introduce the bird with this information: ‘Gulls prefer broad, shallow tidal zones, conditions not found on tropical islands. This fact helps to explain why few gulls occur in the Hawaiian Islands.’
I used to live in Washington State, where gulls were everywhere and a nuisance in many of those places. It’s odd to now live in a place where so many introduced species thrive, but not gulls. Few gulls are seen here and those that are tend to have arrived with the help of winds or shipping. Hopefully, in the spring, it will find its way back to the mainland where it belongs.
Posted in response to this month’s Becky’s Squares challenge theme of ‘Odd.’ See more responses here.
Three Nenes
I saw these nenes in the sugar cane field above Upolu Airport. Not only are there an odd number of them, which is odd in itself since I usually see them in pairs, but the one at the front is sporting a tracking box in his back. I’ve seen two nenes in this area with these boxes, though there are undoubtedly more around. It’s been nearly two years since I saw this bird with the tracker and more than a year since I saw the other two.
Posted in response to this month’s Becky’s Squares challenge theme of ‘Odd.’ See more responses here.
There’s more than one kind of bird feeder
This week’s Sunday Stills challenge theme is ‘Feed the Birds.’ (See more responses here.) We don’t put bird feeders out here so I was going to go with a selection of birds feeding out and about. But a few days ago, I was reminded that, while we don’t put out bird feeders, it doesn’t mean we don’t have them around.
Right now, the cane grass bordering the property has gone to seed and has been attracting birds. Seeing them is one thing; getting photos another. The cane grass is up to 10 feet high and the little birds that feed on them are notoriously skittish and will take off in an instant. I’ve found my bathroom window to be a good spot for photography – as long as it’s clean! The window looks out at the level of a lot of seed heads, but they’re usually in motion because of the wind and the little birds working them over. And other stalks of cane grass swish back and forth, obscuring my view of the birds and playing havoc with my focusing.
However, I was lucky enough to get photos of two recent visitors. The top trio of photos show a Common Waxbill stripping a seed head that was nicely illuminated and in an open spot right across from the window. The bottom three show a Nutmeg Mannikin. This one hopped around more, but stayed long enough that I was able to get several photos.
Both waxbills and mannikins generally travel in small flocks. This waxbill was the only one I saw clearly, but I saw others flitting about and could hear them in the vicinity. The odd thing about the mannikin was that it was the only one I saw or heard. Also, as the sun went down, I went outside to see if I could get better shots from a different angle. This bird did not seem bothered by my presence. Normally, mannikins would disappear at my appearance (I don’t take it personally!). I suspect this one was a juvenile that was, hopefully temporarily, separated from the flock and hadn’t learned about the many dangers facing it.
Also posted in response to this month’s Becky’s Squares challenge theme of ‘Odd.’ See more responses here.
Graham's Island 