Shoot Me Monday

One evening Gaby and I decided to check out Queen's Bath in Princeville, Kaua'i.  It's a natural, large tide pool carved into the lava shelf on the north shore.  Apparently it was a royal bathing place.

Queen's Bath

It was a steep path down to the water, a little difficult with flip-flops.  I almost didn't take my camera.  Thank goodness I did because as we were making our way down, there was a White-rumped Shama bathing in a pool of water (fitting right?).  It then perched on a branch and began to shake and preen its feathers.

White-rumped Shama

It was amazing to see!  Another non-birding couple even stopped to watch.  It didn't mind that we were relatively close to it.  A few days prior, I had played hide-and-seek with another White-rumped Shama and never got a decent photo.  This was the most memorable bird behavior I witnessed  on our trip.

Another great moment here was when we saw a couple sea turtles feeding on kelp at the edge of the water.  So cool!

Green Sea Turtle (Honu)

waterfall along Queen's Bath path

  

Kilauea National Wildlife Refuge

Check out my post over at Birding is Fun!

Birding Around Princeville, Kaua'i

I didn't have to go very far from where we were staying in Princeville to see some great birds.  I was so excited about all the new birds I was seeing that Gaby said it was like I was in Disneyland.  Ha, so true. 

But before I get to the birds, I promised I would tell about all the chickens on Kaua'i.  They were everywhere!  The first ones I saw were in the parking lot of the rental car place.  They are loud too.  The roosters make noise at any hour of the day.  Apparently there have always been chickens running loose on the island.  Then in 1992 Hurricane Iniki destroyed some chicken farms and hundreds of chickens escaped.  It doesn't help that its only predators are cats, dogs, and cars.  So why did the chicken cross the road?  To get to Kaua'i.  But seriously, there is a species of bird called Red Junglefowl that look virtually identical to the feral chickens.  They can be found in more remote areas and undisturbed forests.

Princeville chickens

Here are some other birds I saw around the neighborhood.

Java Sparrow

Japanese White-eye

Japanese White-eye (juvenile)

Chestnut Munia

Chestnut Munia

Great Frigatebird

White-tailed Tropicbird

Red-crested Cardinal

Hawaiian Goose (Nene)

I also saw this cool spider, not sure what kind it is, cane?

 I also visited Hanalei National Wildlife Refuge to check out the taro fields.

Black-necked Stilt

Common Gallinule

baby Common Gallinule

Most surprising was a Snow Goose among the Nene, very rare in June.

Snow Goose and Nene

Hanalei Lookout

(Not So) Shoot Me Monday

I've been on Kaua'i for a week now (I know, poor me) and I'm heading to Oahu.  The scenery and birds here are out-of-this-world!  I love the Red-Crested Cardinals.  They are all over the place here in Princeville, I've seen up to twelve at a time.  And the weather isn't too bad either (wink, wink).  When it was 108 degrees in Tucson, it was 83 here with a constant cool breeze. 

Now I have to get back to my schedule:

Eat.Hike.Eat.Beach.Sunset.Eat.Jacuzzi.Sleep.Repeat.

Ke'e Beach seen from the Kalalau Trail, Ha'ena State Park, Kaua'i

Snow Goose in Kaua'i!

Aloha from Kaua'i!  Yesterday Gaby and I went birding on Ohiki Road on the Hanalei National Wildlife Refuge.  While I was photographing young Common Gallinules, Gaby said, "Hey what's that white goose over there with the other ones?"  I turned around, saw the Snow Goose, and immediately got some photos.  I knew it was rare since right now they're on their breeding grounds in the Arctic.  According to my field guide, The Birds of Hawaii and the Tropical Pacific (Pratt, Bruner, and Berrett), Snow Goose is casual to the Hawaiian Islands.  I found no June eBird records for all of Hawai'i.  Great job Gaby!  Stay tuned for many more birds from paradise...

Snow Goose with Hawaiian Geese