Kauai: Garden Isle of Bird Life Splendor

This Red-footed Boobie landed right next to the trail to collect twigs for its nest. I was able to get this photo with my camera-phone!
Rounding the corner, we could hear the clamor of hundreds of birds. Then the view opened to a hillside covered in white birds, reminding me of an egret colony back home. There was so much activity with birds flying in and out of the area. Some carried sticks in their blue bills, spreading their red feet as they landed in the colony. My first sighting of Red-Footed Boobies! This hillside in Princeville, Kauai is a prime nesting area for the birds to come together in the spring. Next to the Princeville Lighthouse, a popular tourist destination, the area draws many other species of sea birds to nest and rest.

Laysan Albatross resting on a hill above the ocean near the Princeville Lighthouse.
This Laysan Albatross was another wonderful sighting at the Princeville Lighthouse. Docents said it had been hanging out most of the day on a small hill next to the trail. These seabirds spend most of their lives on the wing, rarely visiting land and can live for up to 60 years. I felt very fortunate to have seen one this close, again getting this photo with the camera on my phone. The Hawaiian Islands are an important nesting refuge for albatross and boobies.

Families of Nene geese, Hawaii's endangered native goose, roamed the lighthouse grounds. The young geese stayed near their protective parents.
Nene geese, the Hawaiian State bird, breed on Kauai.
I had made a special trip to Haleakala on Maui last year to try and see the species. Though we searched around, we only saw a small group flying in the distance. Here on Kauai, they were as common as Canada geese in the Bay Area. They have an amazing come-back story, too, since by 1951 there were only about 30 birds still estimated to exist. Their population rebounded with a great deal of protection from the Endangered Species Act and captive breeding programs to bring them back from the edge of extinction. You can read more about that on the link above.

Aloha from one happy, retired naturalist!

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

New Years 2024

Image
  Wow, what a year we had in 2023! I got a new hip in January and recovered more quickly than I had hoped (but unsurprisingly, it felt slower while I was doing physical therapy and healing!). It’s fantastic, now in the new year, to hike pain-free, though I may always be a 4-5 mile hiker and not a marathoner! I’ve loved getting back to swimming 2 or 3 times a week, weightlifting, dog walks and birding around Alameda and in the Regional Parks, and occasional longer hikes with friends. I’m so thankful for good health!! I’ve been busy all year with my birdy-volunteer work on the board of the newly named Golden Gate Bird Alliance (formerly Audubon) and co-chairing the related conservation group, Friends of the Alameda Wildlife Reserve. I co-led the Bird Alliance’s major fundraising effort, Birdathon, last year and am doing it again this year. Let me know if you’d like to financially support this important organization. One of our great joys was the drama of a nesting pair of Bald Eagles at
Read more

2022 Embrys (the year that was...)

Image
  Bob and Sharol had an excellent year in 2022! Sharol enjoyed another year of retirement with creative pursuits (stained glass & mosaics! nature writing! traveling!) as well as Cocoa Case, her online chocolate business. After a career of annual reports, though, she can't resist a little review of this last year that was! In January she also joined the board of the Golden Gate Audubon Society and has tackled co-chairing their annual fundraiser, "April Birdathon 2023," as well as the conservation committee, Friends of the Alameda Wildlife Refuge. Sharol traveled to Puerto Vallarta in April with her college friend, Amy, to attend a week-long mosiac workshop at the fantastic Hacienda Mosaico. \ In May the whole Embry clan gathered in southern CA to celebrate Bob's Dad's (also Bob) 90th Birthday! It was a joy to have all of the kids, grandkids, GREAT-grandkids, and cousins as well as Bob Sr.'s siblings get together for the momentous occasion. We added on a spe
Read more

Elephant Seals: Pupping, Breeding and Violence on the Beach

Image
Elephant Seals are born in winter on beach colonies and by the time they're weaned at one month have quadrupled their size. Mothers leave the young, after one month, to learn to swim and feed on their own. (Image by Jerry Kirkhart/Wikimedia ) By Sharol Nelson-Embry Trekking through sand dunes on a beautiful Northern California day last weekend, we rounded a bend and came to a group of huge elephant seals scattered like fallen logs around us. This was Bob's (my husband) birthday wish, to visit the Año Nuevo State Park's Northern Elephant Seal colony. Our docent guide had cautioned us to stick close to her on our walk out to the dunes. You can never be sure where these outlying animals will turn up. These, she told us, were the "losers," the male elephant seals that were too young to gather a harem and mate, or even hang around the fringes of the harem. We were still about 1/2 mile from the beach where the harems covered swaths of sand. The young males aro
Read more