My Trip to Hawaii

March 17-27, 2007

I first went to Hawaii in 1967 long before I was a birder. I just visited the island of Oahu. I then went again in 2006 with David and we covered much of the island did some snorkeling, hiking, and birding. I was so intrigued by the birds that I have wanted to go back again to Hawaii with a birding group and explore some of the various habitats in order to see some of the endemic birds - birds that breed in Hawaii and nowhere else. Because of being an isolated island some birds have evolved into different forms and I looked forward to seeing these birds. So I joined a “Field Guides” trip led by Alvaro Jaramillo and Dan Lane. Nancy Hay was also going so that was fun.

Saturday 3/17/07 Jean-Marie picked me up in the morning and drove me to Oakland Airport. I checked in and then sat down and waited ... for 7 hours! There was something wrong with the lights on the wing and they had to wait for a part to be flown in from Indianapolis!? The gate agents eventually started working on changing reservations for people with connecting flights. The ones with a cruise to join were sent over to San Francisco for a different flight, some people went home to come back the next day. I thought the agents handled everything very well with humor and good grace. Most people were reasonably calm although I noticed a few angry people. First we were given a $10 food voucher and a $50 voucher for our next trip. They also included a $10 phone voucher but of course most of us had cell phones. Eventually I spent the food voucher although there wasn’t much choice - Oakland is a small airport. After 5 hours they gave us all a voucher for a free flight to anywhere that they (ATA) fly. So I guess I will be flying ATA sometime again within the next year! Finally we were able to load but looking out the window as I boarded someone was on a ladder and still fiddling with the light on the wing! But we finally made it to Honolulu about 8:00. I took a shuttle and arrived at 9:00 at the hotel. We were staying at The New Otani Kaimana Beach Hotel which is at the end of Waikiki near Diamond Head where it is quieter and further away from the crowds. (Rooms were small but worth it to avoid the crowds.) I was amazed at the main street of Waikiki. There was nothing I could recognize from 1967 except for the old Royal Hawaiian Hotel. The street was filled with shopping places - many high class stores with expense name brands. One lady that I had become friendly with (you make a lot of new best friends waiting for 7 hours in the airport) had come to stay for a week and shopping was one of the things she was going to do. Anyway I finally arrived and checked in to my room around 9:00 or so. Nancy of course was already for bed. I barely unpacked before I showered and went to bed - I was exhausted.

Sunday 3/18/07 Up early and I met our leaders and the rest of the group. We are 14 plus the two leaders so we travel in two vans. First we went to Kapiloni Park to look for birds - the prettiest were the white terns. But there were lots of others - mostly birds that had been imported by humans. Hawaii has a lot of “cage” birds that people have released - the birds have thrived and bred to become a part of the islands. Of course some have replaced native species through various means. These islands have been changed since the first humans came about 1500 years ago. They came from islands to the south and brought with them many of their plants, animals, and birds. After the park we went to breakfast at a place on the Beach - good food - great view! From there we hike for 2 hours on the Kaliouou Trail where we saw the Elepaio - a cute little bird - friendly too. We also saw the Shama - a very colorful bird. It was a good 2 hour hike with some 300 feet elevation change. We had lunch at the Kona Brewing Co. Too early in the day to try their brew but we did have a good and plentiful lunch. We were rather afraid not to eat a lot because who knew how strenuous the afternoon would be and when we’d eat again! After lunch we drove North on the East side of the island up to Kahuku. This is the windward side of the island - the side of the island that the prevailing winds hit. This is where you will find the locals living - a much less elegant area than the leeward side where all the tourist attractions are. We went to the Kahuku Golf Course where we saw the Bristle-thighed Curlew - eight of them. People normally have to go to Nome Alaska to see them (in the ABA area) and in Nome they have to climb a difficult hill. But here we saw them out in the open on a golf course. Good looks and we could even see the bristles on their thighs. We also had distance looks at Monk Seals - very endangered seals. We got back to our hotel with 10 minutes to get ready for dinner and we walked to a very expensive and a very good dinner. I had fish for dinner most of the time on this trip. It was all excellent. We ate very well - all three meals. I was surprised I didn’t gain weight by the time I came home but I guess all the walking helped.

Monday 3/19/07 Today we went on a pelagic trip in the South West area of Oahu. In addition to some “good” sea birds we saw some Humpback Whales. Some were doing fin slapping which was fun to watch - they really looked like they were just playing out there. We also had good looks at “flying fish”, I got some on them in my binoculars. We also saw a large MahiMahi - very impressive fish. The trip back to the dock was pretty rough and we got soaked a couple of times. In the midst of this action we were served a barbecued lunch - chicken and hot dogs. It was quite a trick to eat but most of us managed just fine. We got back to the hotel with two hours to get ready for dinner. I washed the salt water off my coat and pants and then Nancy and I went swimming at the Hotel’s Beach. The water was just nice - warm but cool enough to swim a few laps to get some exercise, I enjoyed it. Then we cleaned up for dinner and enjoyed another elegant dinner in the hotel. We ate outside along the beach with an overhang that protected us from the rain that started. It was a beautiful setting. We even could watch some whales spouting.

Tuesday 3/20/07 We met at 6:00 AM and again had breakfast at Denny's as it was the only place open at that hour. I had pancakes with blueberries and they were pretty good. Then we drove to the Honolulu airport and took the 25 minute flight to Kauai. Here we met David Kuhn who was our local guide - an expert on the Kauai Island. We dropped off our suitcases in a room at the Best Western Plantation Hale in Kapaa and ate lunch at a nearby restaurant. (Our suite was large enough for the two of us to live in for a year with a kitchen, living room, balcony, and large bedroom.) We birded some ponds near the airport and on the Marriott golf course where we saw two Tundra Swans - very unusual for Hawaii. We birded Larsen’s Beach, Kilauea Lighthouse, and Hanalei Valley Wild Life Refuge. (They grow taro there and the fields serve as a refuge like our rice fields in the Central Valley.) The Laysan Albatrosses at the Lighthouse were wonderful and at the Beach we saw three young males dancing - what a show. The Lighthouse is the western most lighthouse in the United States. We then returned to our hotel and had time to clean up for dinner and then walked across the street for another elegant and very good meal.

Wednesday 3/21/07 Best breakfast yet but we had to leave our motel at 5:15 and drove an hour to our destination. There we had a “picnic” breakfast of cereal, fruit, sweet rolls, coffee and so forth. I really enjoyed it - but then picnics are always my favorite meal regardless of the time and menu. We then walked about two hours up the dirt road In Kokee State Park on the Awa Puhi Trail to the point where we could overlook the Waimea Canyon. This is the only island that lacks Mongoose so we were able to see some of the ground nesting birds. We did see many of the native birds but they are hard to find in the forest. We could hear more than we saw. The Canyon looks so very much like the Grand Canyon in Arizona (without the crowds). It was an amazing site and the hills were many colored. The red is because iron is the last mineral to be leached out of the soil so over time the dirt becomes red. (They even sell “dirt shirts” - tee shirts dyed with the red soil!) Some of the hills that are colorful with no trees are without vegetation because of the feral goats which have cleared the land. They do the same damage as clear cutting does, but the canyon was beautiful. We made some other stops on the way back, the best was at the Beach near the Coconut Market where we saw a Monk Seal up close and personal. He was resting on the sand (the area was roped off) but we were able to get very close looks at him. What a thrill. Back in time for a quick clean up and another great dinner.

Thursday 3/22/07 We drove back to the same picnic area as yesterday and ate breakfast. A group stayed back and birded areas that didn’t require such heavy walking. This time we hiked down into the Canyon - the Alakai Swamp. Much of the area is covered by a board walk but walking sticks were definitely helpful. Eventually we had to walk down 270 steps to the bottom of the canyon. I managed to cross the river and started to go up the other side but it was slippery rocky mud and I decided to quit so I went back to the river and waited there for the group to return. It was so pleasant even though it rained a bit. Some elepaios came very close and chattered at me, much as our chickadees do. Then we walked up the steps not stopping too often. I was pleased the next day to not be sore from the hike. We stopped at the airport ponds and Koale on the way back and then had 2 hours to get ready for dinner. I finally caught up with my bird list. Every night Alvaro and Dan go over the bird list with us naming all the birds the group had seen. I wanted to write in my book the birds I had seen and I decided to keep an Island list so that I would know which birds I had seen on each island. Someday some of these birds will be split into different species depending on which island they live. These birds are evolving through the years in much the same way as Darwin’s Finches on the Galapagos are evolving.

Friday 3/23/07 We had breakfast at a nearby restaurant and then went to the airport where we flew first to Oahu and then to Hilo on the wet side of the Big Island (Hawaii). First we birded a local park, Hilo Ponds (or Waimea Ponds). We stopped to eat at Cafe Pesto and had a delicious lunch. Then we drove to Volcano Village where we dropped off our luggage at Kilauea Lodge. They were charming cottages with about 6-8 rooms in a building with a large living room area with fireplace, books, and so forth. You could spend a lot of time there if you wanted. But not us - we loaded up again and went to the Volcano National Park (near the Thurston Lava Tube area) to see what birds we could find. We heard more than we could see as it was getting dark. So we went back to the lodge with no time to clean up before dinner - once again a delicious and large dinner.

Saturday 3/24/07 Before breakfast some of us went to Kipuka Puaulu or “Bird Park” and walked for about an hour and a half and found some of our “target” endemic birds. Les Chibana met up with us and it was fun to see him and bird with him for a while. He is a friend of Alvaro and lived in the Bay Area for about 35 years before returning “home” to Hawaii where he is now living on the Big Island. After another wonderful breakfast we drove up to the crater and saw many of the steam vents in this active Volcano. We saw the White-tailed Tropicbirds that breed in the crater. We followed the Chain of Craters road until the place where the road closes because of the hot lava flow. In the distance we could see the steam rising as the hot lava hits the ocean - very impressive sight. Through the scopes we could even see some of the Lava glow. Then we continued our journey back to Kona making various stops along the way. We stopped at Puna Luu where there was a black sands beach, ate lunch at a golf club house, stopped at Manuka State Park and eventually arrived at our hotel: Outrigger Keauhou Beach Resort at Keauhou Kona - just south of the main Kona area. We had a lovely large seventh floor room overlooking the ocean. We ate dinner in the hotel. I finally learned to just order a salad and an appetizer for dinner - much less than the main course which is just too much food for me. It was all very good.

Sunday 3/25/07 This morning we were picked up by two guides, Kevin and Gary from “Hawaii Forest and Trail.” They took us to the Hakalau National Wildlife Refuge. This was the first National Wildlife Refuge in the country established for forest birds and is home to some of the rarest plants and animals on earth. Almost all of Hawaii’s native birds can be found here along with the native vegetation. The area used to be ranch land but is now part of Hawaiian Homeland property. Special permits are required to enter the area which is why we had this company to take us there. We drove on the Saddle Road and then drove about two hours over the worse roads I’ve been on for a long time. They were very bumpy and required four wheel drive. We did have a gentle rain most of our hike but it wasn’t cold and we saw some wonderful birds again, many endemics, including the Hawaii Hawk. We all got good looks at most of the birds and it was a wonderful walk - probably about six hours of hiking. They served us breakfast and lunch - very nicely done. Back late for dinner but we still managed to eat well.

Monday 3/26/07 Started at 6:30 this morning and again drove the Saddle Road but turned on a different road up Mauna Kea to the Puu o Kauha area. This is a hunting area (Kilo Hana) so we wore orange vests and hats but it is the only area of the Palila another honeycreeper. There are only between 500-1000 of these birds so we were very excited to be able to see several of them. Out of the 12 honeycreepers (family - Drepanididae) that we had a chance of seeing we ended up seeing 11 of them. These honeycreepers are believed to have evolved from the first bird species to colonize the Hawaiian Islands. This bird was a species related to the goldfinch and this seed eating finch founded a group that became the dominant group among the Hawaiian Forest birds, each new species filling a special niche. After we left this dry dusty forest we birded a country club- the Big Island Country club, a beach forest, and a beach area and near by Amaika Ponds. The ladies’ restroom in the yacht area had a beautiful gold dust day gecko. It was just beautiful (and moved very fast). We saw some green sea turtles resting on the beach plus many more still swimming in the water. I just love turtles. After a long day we returned to our hotel for our last dinner together. It was a great trip with wonderful leaders. The participants were a diverse and very friendly group and we all had a good time together. It was fun to have a teenager with us too. It is always exciting to see a 15 year old who is an excellent birder already and so excited about everything he sees. I’m sure we will be hearing more of him in the future years. We said our goodbyes as some of us were leaving early in the morning.

Tuesday 3/27/07 Alvaro drove me and 2 others to the airport at 6:25 in the morning and I had a very smooth flight from Kona to Honolulu to Oakland even arriving early. Jean-Marie picked me up and I arrived home around 9 PM (6 PM Hawaii time)

Written 3/30/07 from my notes and memory - revised 4/18/07

Penelope Bowen

I saw 27 new species of birds for my life list and 87 species on this trip.