Tag Archives: Gulls

Winging it

A Black Witch moth in Hawaii
The beautiful wings of a Black Witch Moth.

This week’s Sunday Stills challenge theme is ‘Wings and feathers.’ See more responses here.

A Wandering Glider Dragonfly in Hawaii
A Wandering Glider Dragonfly wandering over a mud puddle.
A Monarch Butterfly on a Balloon Plant in Hawaii
A Monarch Butterfly and Balloon Plant flowers.
A Great Frigatebird flying in Hawaii
A Great Frigatebird glides along the coast.
Two Hawaiian Noddys skim the ocean in Hawaii
Hawaiian Noddies skim over the ocean.
Three nenes flying in Hawaii
Nenes in formation.
A Franklin's Gull flying in Hawaii
A Franklin’s Gull.

Chow time for birds

A Nutmeg Mannikin feeds on cane grass seeds in Hawaii
A Nutmeg Mannikin feeds on cane grass seeds in Hawaii

The current Sunday Stills challenge theme is ‘Feeding and Watching the Birds.’ See more responses here.

I rarely see Nutmeg Mannikins around the house, but when the Cane Grass goes to seed, they show up in force.

The Pueo below made short work of this unfortunate mouse. no chewing involved!

A Pueo catches a mouse in Hawaii
A Franklin's Gull finds something to eat in Hawaii
A stray Franklin’s Gull found something and seemed to be trying to figure out how to eat it.
A Black-crowned night heron spears a fish in Hawaii
This Black-crowned Night Heron speared a fish and took it ashore to eat it.
Ruddy turnstones feeding on the shore in Hawaii
Ruddy Turnstones pick through tide pools in search of food.

Looking back at 2024 – Part 1

A Feather-legged fly on a Tree Heliotrope in Hawaii
January: A Feather-legged Fly (Trichopoda pennipes) on a Tree Heliotrope (link).

Sunday Stills challenge theme this week and next week is ‘Your 2024 Year-in-Review.’ See more responses here. As usual, I’m going with a favorite photo from each month of 2024, with a caption and link to the post the photo first appeared in. This week’s post is for January through June. See the rest of the year next week.

A Ring-billed gull in Hawaii
February: A Ring-billed Gull struts at ʻAnaehoʻomalu Bay (link).
A woman walks on the beach at Kohanaiki Park in Hawaii
March: A woman walks the beach at Kohanaiki Beach Park (link).
Tiki torches burn against a backdrop of palm trees in Hawaii
April: Tiki torches at Mauna Kea Resort (link).
A Dwarf Moray Eel in the waters off Hawaii
May: A Dwarf Moray Eel (link).
Long-spined Urchins in Hawaii
June: A pair of Long-spined Urchins in Kawaihae Harbor (link).

Franklin’s Gulls

Two Franklins Gulls fly in Hawaii
A Franklins Gull flies in Hawaii

I’ve posted before about how gulls are a rarity in Hawaii. I’ve only seen a couple in my time here. But recently, two birds, which I believe are Franklin’s Gulls, have been hanging around the small reservoir near the place where I work.

Usually, the gulls seen in Hawaii are individual stragglers, so to see two together is unusual. The other interesting thing is that the markings of these two appear to be the gulls’ breeding plumage. I wondered if they were nesting up there, but when I went to look, saw no sign of them.

Ring-billed Gull

A Ring-billed gull in Hawaii

I was walking the beach at ʻAnaehoʻomalu Bay (often known as A Bay, for obvious reasons) when I noticed this bird walking in the same direction as me. I was idly wondering what kind of gull it was, when I suddenly realized, ‘it’s a gull.’

Unlike most places, a gull sighting in Hawaii is a rarity. I know people who’ve never seen one here. Gulls prefer shallow tidal areas and tropical islands don’t have those, so they’re not gull-friendly. But a few get blown in every year and some arrive as stowaways on ships

A Ring-billed gull in Hawaii

This one is a Ring-billed Gull, and it’s the second I’ve seen in my time here. The first, I saw catching a fish (here). I rather liked how this one was strutting its stuff on the beach.

A Ring-billed gull in Hawaii

Also posted for Bird of the Week LII. See more responses here.

Ring-billed Gull

A Ring-billed gull flying in Hawaii
A Ring-billed gull catches a fish in Hawaii
A Ring-billed gull catches a fish in Hawaii
A Ring-billed gull catches a fish in Hawaii

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.