Kauai birds

 We spent a lovely week in Kauai and tried to see a variety of birds. Our Marriott Resort has some tame residents and serves as a gorgeous habitat for some wild birds too.

 This black-crowned night heron showed up every morning when the staff fed the koi. He sat on a rock in the water and easily gobbled up small orange fish which must be baby koi.

 The Hawaiian goose, the nene, lived in the pond too.

 This spotted dove and zebra doves showed up every morning at 9:00 for the feeding.

I spotted a flock of these nutmeg mannikins (spice finch) on the lawn one day. 

 We always head to the Kilauea Lighthouse for birds, a gorgeous outcrop that is home to many species. We saw all those mentioned on this board. The Laysan albatross parents have produced 28 young and with binoculars we could see the big babies on the next (protected preserve) spit of land.When they are ready to fly they run awkwardly down the hillside into the wind, take off, and fly for two years.

 We got a great look at the red-footed boobies nesting. Here is one with a chick and you can really see her red feet.


This is a great frigatebird soaring.

 We moved on to the Smith Plantation where for 50 cents you can buy a bag of cracked corn and have fun for an hour. Many ducks, peacocks, gallinules (red face, below), doves, geese, cardinals, and more.

 Red-crested cardinal above. A representative group chasing us for food below. Junglefowl (yes, chickens), zebra doves, and cardinals.

A Hawaiian stilt above. There were in a preserve near the missle range on the west coast and their noisy yapping was very annoying.

One of the most ubiquitous birds on Kauai, the cattle egret.

 Another most seen bird was the minah above in the grass. At right, Java sparrows.

This Japanese white-eye was in the underbrush. That red mole is not supposed to be there so I am worried for him.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The Birds and the Bees

Very nice birding with Bob this morning at White Point Preserve in San Pedro. This is the old artillery installation bunker.

I can't believe how dry and gray the hills and bare shrubs are compared to last year. This drought will have an effect on the birds but not clear yet how it will work.

 Bees?  This shrub (lemonade berry) was humming delightfully full of bees.

 As far as I was concerned the hummingbirds were the stars. We had several Allen's and a few Anna's. Then we saw this gorgeous orange one below, which "may" be a rufous. However, not a positive ID at all.

Allen's Hummingbird

Maybe a rufous hummingbird

California towhee

 Lots of California towhees and some spotted towhees.

Red-tail hawk

Northern Mockingbird

 Mockingbird with its mouth open. His mouth was always open and he ran through his full repertoire. Twice. Loudly.

Goldfinch at home

Birds we saw with no photos:
Meadowlarks (25), pair of American kestrels, mourning doves,
white crown sparrows, house finches, crows, ravens, Western scrub jay.

88 is the number!

Looks like the final count is in for 2013. I had a wonderful time doing all this! I can think of a lot of "probably" sightings or birds I couldn't make out although the rest of the group saw them. Really I saw a lot more, but these are the totally legit, either an expert said so or my photos were good enough to identify later. So many favorites come to mind that I'm glad I put it all down so I can easily relive some of those sightings.

9 Waterfowl:
Canada Goose, Graylag Goose, American Wigeon, Mallard, Cinnamon Teal, Northern Shoveler, Lesser Scaup, Bufflehead, Ruddy Duck.

8 Loons, Grebes, Cormorants, Wading Birds:
Red-throated Loon, Common Loon, Western Grebe, Brown Pelican, Great Blue Heron, Great Egret, Snowy Egret, Cattle Egret.

5 Raptors:
Bald Eagle, Cooper's Hawk, Red-shouldered Hawk, Red-tailed Hawk, American Kestrel.

13 Shorebirds:
American Coot, Black-bellied Plover, Killdeer, Kittlitz's Murrelet, Black-necked Stilt, American Avocet, Lesser Yellowlegs, Willet, Whimbrel, Sanderling, Least Sandpiper, Dunlin, Wilson's Phalarope.

11 Gulls and Terns, Pigeons, Parrots:
Blue-footed Booby, Heermann's Gull, Ring-billed Gull, Western Gull, California Gull, Least Tern, Royal Tern, Elegant Tern, Rock Pigeon, Mourning Dove, Yellow-chevroned Parakeet.

7 Swifts, Hummingbirds, Flycatchers:
White-throated Swift, Allen's Hummingbird, Anna's Hummingbird, Northern Flicker, Black Phoebe, Say's Phoebe, Cassin's Kingbird.

5 Corvids, Swallows:
Western Scrub-Jay, American Crow, Tree Swallow, Cliff Swallow, Barn Swallow.

4 Bushtits, Thrushes:
Bushtit, Blue-gray Gnatcatcher, Western Bluebird, Hermit Thrush.

10 Mockingbirds, Thrashers, Warblers:
Northern Mockingbird, European Starling, Cedar Waxwing, Orange-crowned Warbler, Common Yellow-throat, Common Warbler, Yellow-rumped Warbler, Black-throated Gray Warbler, Townsend's Warbler, Wilson's Warbler.

8 Native Sparrows, Buntings:
Spotted Towhee, California Towhee, Lark Sparrow, Savannah Sparrow, White-crowned Sparrow, Dark-eyed Junco, Black-headed Grosbeak, Lazuli Bunting.

8 Blackbirds, Finches:
Red-winged Blackbird, Western Meadowlark, Great-tailed Grackle, Hooded Oriole, Bullock's Oriole, House Finch, American Goldfinch, House Sparrow.