Birds in Hawaii

Note that I didn't say Birds OF Hawaii.

You almost never see a bird that wasn't introduced in fairly recent times by humans. Sitting on our lanai, we were constantly entertained by the cheerful songs of mynah birds (India 1865) and northern cardinals (USA 1929) in the coconut palms. saffron finches (South America 1960s) and zebra doves (Asia 1922) explored the lawns. wandering tattlers (migratory) patrolled the roads, wild turkeys (USA 1815) the pastures.

Only when we climbed the slopes of Mauna Kea and penetrated the native forests of Metrosideros and Acacia could we find birds that were present before people came. There I was my usual bumbling, incompetent birdwatcher, among the last to see the elusive quarry. (if I saw it at all before it fled).  One day of birdwatching is enough for me. Fortunately, the forest itself was absolutely fascinating. The tall New Zealand Christmas trees (Metrosideros) with their red flowers, and the even taller Acacia, just coming into flower, provided a wonderful habitat for tree ferns, raspberries that had no thorns, and mints that didn't smell or taste of mint, not to speak of the lichens I have already mentioned in the last blog.

March 9, 2010

I have been to the Big Island of Hawaii twice before.  Each time I discover many new things. This time the highlight came on a day when we were out on the slopes of Mauna Kea chasing birds. This meant walking across wide lava fields at about 2500 metres (7500 feet) to get into the native forest where the rare endemic birds ply their trade. We certainly saw some rare birds, but I was most impressed by the discovery that  the lava fields around the forest were entirely covered in a fuzzy layer of a grey lichen called Stereocaulon.  I could hardly believe that all this tumbled lava was essentially invisible under its coat of lichen. Ferns are also early colonizers..
Life abounds in the most unlikely places, as the pictures show..