October Feeding

 

Maui Video

 

A Day Off

In the mood for a short work week, I put in for personal leave on Friday and made my way down to Hecla, arriving at the ponds to drive into the blinding, rising sun. I scooted down the gravel road, watching the water and skies, pausing to stick my camera out the window.

There were plenty of waterfowl and shorebirds, including a couple firsts of the year (continuing to highlight how lax I was in the shorebird part of spring migration). But my best/favorite shots of the day were of the Western Grebes.

I didn't stick around the ponds too long and didn't explore them fully. There were a lot of ducks, but they were quite skittish, so I turned around before I neared the open areas of water with the most ducks.

Summer's End

 In recent years, I've felt burnt out on birding after a long trip. I think the main contributor to the burn out is not time 'in the field' but the time afterwards, sitting on my computer scouring, editing and deleting photos, plus the stress I give myself when struggling to ID tricky or unfamiliar birds.

And while I did give myself a few weeks going no further than the kitchen window to watch birds, I've been indulging in a bit of early fall birding.

I made my way to the park on the first of September a nice little spread of species, including my first two Wilson's Warblers for the spot and four Red-necked Phalaropes, my first for the park and for the year (I really slacked on waterfowl and shorebird migration this year).

Red-necked Phalarope

Back home, I nabbed some bug shots.

The next morning, I went to the Bois de Sioux Adventure Area and came away with more pictures of bugs than birds.

A week later, I returned to the park to throw some cracked corn to the mass of migrating Canada Geese and resident Mallards and Wood Ducks.

And this last weekend, I spent some time in the backyard, getting photos of the pollinators and migrating birds in the sunflowers and hedges.

Surprise lifers! There were a few Bay-breasted Warblers hopping around the branches.

Here ya go, Mom!

Maui! Day 8

Honestly, when I chose Maui as for my August trip, it came down to affordability: relatively cheap flight + cheap lodging at the Banana Bungalow Hostel. Looking back a few weeks after the trip, I'm so glad I chose Maui. My time there was a blast. I also feel like I learned a lot.

On the last morning of the trip, I woke up and took my time getting ready, covering the sunburn I'd gotten from my ferry ride with sunscreen, packing, doublechecking my bag. Checking out, I definitely felt a little sad. I wish I had at least said goodbye and thanked my roommate for being awesome. As I closed the gate behind me, I understood why a lot of the hostel volunteers just stayed.

My flight home wasn't until the night, giving me roughly twelve hours on the island. Like every other day I'd experienced on Maui, the morning was warm, sunny with a wind that was just picking up. I walked to Kanahā Pond and took to the shade and windbreak of the viewing kiosk. I would stay there about three hours, hanging out with the Black-necked Stilts.

I would also get some distant views on a bird I had been looking for at the Waihe'e Refuge and Hawaiian harbors: the Wandering Tattler!

This Laughing Gull was also soaring around the ponds and fishing!

From the viewing Kiosk, I walked along the sanctuary fence. I came across a Nene with a wounded wing (get better soon!) and a pack of startlingly white pigeons.

On its northern side, the wildlife sanctuary boundary crosses the road and extends to the beach. After walking a bit of the sand, I stumbled, almost literally, upon my second sea turtle of the trip.

I thought about moving around the turtle to get some better pictures of its face, but it just looked so lazy and tired that I didn't want to bother it, so after these quick shots, I carried on my way. The beachside trail went past some sort of protected, artificial-looking pond which was filled with stilts, turnstones, and domestic Mallards. There was also a group of Nene resting on the grass.

The trail dumped me off into a small parking lot for the beach. I would spend the last of my free time in Maui where I started it, Kanahā Beach. I found a rare bench with shade and kicked my shoes off my tired feet.

Early on the trip, I had kept thinking I would give myself a rest day. It never happened. I'm glad I pushed myself. Throughout the week I kept a running total of the miles I walked and hiked. After a few days, I thought I would break 50 miles. Before the end of my trip, I realized I could hit 60 and made that a goal. By the time I reached the OGG airport security, I'd completed a minimum of 61.2 miles. Maybe not crazy compared to a serious backpacker or marcher, but I was pretty happy. More so, I was ecstatic with the whole of the trip. Fun hiking. Great birding. Good times at the hostel. Saw many new places. Everything even went pretty damn smooth.

After going through airport security, I got a good stretch in and walked around the terminal. After the sun fell, I was shepherded onto the plane and was soon jumping through time zones, chasing sunlight on the way to Sky Harbor.

One of the last birds I would count for the trip, a Rock Pigeon flying over PHX.

The flights were fine (although I would soon wind up with what I'm 99.9% sure was COVID). By Monday evening, I was home, making dinner, thinking about a meeting I had the next morning.

To sum it up: awesome. There are so many places I want to go to see birds, but I do think I'll get back to Maui someday and maybe see some more of the other islands (and hopefully more of their endemic wildlife).