Highlights from Hawaii

We just wrapped up another successful trip through a trio of Hawaii’s Islands where the weather treated us well, and the bird list included everything we were hoping to see.

We had luck with a few shorebird species, some resident and others that spend the winter here. Several Bristle-thighed Curlews allowed close approach on Oahu. We quietly watched one as it methodically picked insects out of the creeping foxglove. The endangered subspecies of Black-necked Stilt was well-represented along our route. It’s thought under 2,000 of these remain.

We spotted a Hawaiian Short-eared Owl right next to the road in the hanging mist of the Big Island. Soon after it began hunting low over the wet grasslands with its moth-like flight. The other raptor highlight was getting great looks at an endemic Hawaiian Hawk perched up nicely in the morning light.

Hakalau National Wildlife Refuge won as our favorite location of the tour. This large tract of native forest provides a place for some of the rarest birds on earth to survive including the nuthatch-like Hawai’i Creeper, stunning scarlet I’iwi, and improbably-billed ‘Akiapōlā’au. All these species and more were seen well during our visit this year.

Seabirds were a highlight of the tour. In addition to our successful pelagic trip where Hawaiian Petrel and Christmas Shearwater were tallied, we had intimate experiences with a couple species on land. Continuing efforts by volunteers has enabled the population of Red-tailed Tropicbirds on Oahu to increase in numbers, some of which we saw quite close. Another major highlight of the tour was getting to see an adult Laysan Albatross come in for a close fly-by right over our heads, and of course the month-old chick ranked highly on the cuteness scale.