Wednesday, April 18, 2007

The Big Island: Waipio Valley Birds

We ended up changing our flight from Oahu to the Big Island so we could have a full day of hiking and be able to set up camp before it got dark. It was pretty rough catching the 6:15am hotel shuttle to HNL (especially after being out really late) but it was worth it when we arrived on the Big Island.

Unlike Oahu, the minute you leave the airport you are greeted with breathtaking views of volcanic lava flow. We picked up some groceries and then headed straight to the trailhead at Waipio Valley. Here's a picture of the valley at the start of the hike:

Here are the birds we captured pictures of.

Yellow-billed Cardinal:

Hwamei:

Japanese White-eye:

Yellow-billed Cardinal:
Black-Crowned Night Heron:


Yellow-billed Cardinal at the black sand beach:

Yellow-billed Cardinal at the black sand beach:


It was really hard to identify the other birds we hear and saw briefly, especially since we were hiking at the same time. But it was a great trip and an exciting first hike for our trip. Plus, it was my birthday! Later that day we stayed at Kalopa State Recreation Area and while we hear lots of birds, the only ones we saw were the wild chickens and roosters.

4 comments:

Larry said...

I hope you succeed in your quest to become a real birder.I'm still happy being a novice at this point.

Some lovely photos you have there.

~abbie~ said...

Very cool! I love the new pics! :) We have to get together soon! ~Abbie

Brooks Rownd said...

All of the cardinals in your photos are yellow-billed cardinals. Red-crested cardinals aren't established on this island.

Birdinggirl said...

@Brooks- Thanks for stopping by my blog, and for the tip about the cardinal. I updated the labels on it so now it's accurate. The picture was blurry so it was an easy mistake to make! I guess I needed a Hawaiian Bird expert like yourself to make the proper ID.