Hawaiian Birding October 1-3

October 1st I was still in Waikiki, but preparing to leave for Kauai. This is when I had to leave Dad and continue with the group for the rest of the tour. Our hope that Dad could rejoin was. in vain, given his need to quarantine even after testing negative. I had Little Pig with me for company. After we were seated on the plane he made some new friends.

It was a very short flight. We landed at Lihue International Airport. It is a very small airport and completely open air. Our guide Mandy had her van already there so it was an easy trip to the Sheraton Kauai Resort in Poipu where we were staying.

By 2:15 that afternoon we were at the Kīlauea Point NWR. It was a scenic spot where we could look down on 75 Red-footed Boobies roosting in the trees. Among them was a Brown Booby, Red-tailed and White-tailed Tropicbirds and Great Frigatebirds. Later at ‘Ohiki Rd. we saw the Hawaiian Goose and the Hawaiian Duck. The duck species tend to hybridize with Mallards so you need an expert to separate the hybrids from the pure Hawaiian Ducks.

Monday morning, October 2, was another warm, sunny day! After picking up a few non-native birds at a ball field we drove up into the hills. Our first stop was the ‎⁨Waimea Canyon State Park⁩. There were beautiful views of the canyon that reminded me of the Black Hills.

Next we stopped at the Kōke’e State Park–Pu’u O Kila Lookout. There was a beautiful view but we were looking in the trees and bushes for birds. We found the Kauai Elepaio, the Apapane and the Anianiau. The Kauai Elepaio is a small flycatcher of forested habitats on Kauai. Although it’s population is increasing it is still rated as vulnerable. The Apapane is a Hawaiian honeycreeper found on all of the larger islands. It is not an endangered bird. The Apapane is usually seen feeding on the ōhi’a Lehua. The Anianiau is a small Hawaiian honeycreeper of high elevation native forests, only found on Kauai. It is also listed as vulnerable.

We ended the day at Salt Pond Beach Park. This was a nearly dry pond surrounded by reddish mud. The local Hawaiians were making salt in the center using an age old method. The mud attracted shorebirds. We got back to the hotel in time for an octopus dinner and some relaxation by the fire.

October 3rd.

By 7:30am we were in the Nounou Forest Reserve on a wooded trail. We saw 14 naturalized birds and only 2 native birds. Through-out our tour we were seeing many naturalized birds. EBird descibes them:

Naturalized: Exotic population is self-sustaining, breeding in the wild, persisting for many years, and not maintained through ongoing releases (including vagrants from Naturalized populations). These count in official eBird totals.

What we were most interested in was Hawaiian endemic birds.

Endemic: Native to or limited to a certain region.

But you take the good with the not so good. After lunch we went to Poʻipū Beach Park and found more naturalized species as well as a Great Frigatebird. By 5:20 pm we had boarded our plane for the Big Island.