Hawaii Part 2: Sunrises and Sunsets on Maui

Now the birds in Hawaii are great, but they weren't the real reason I was there- that was to see my family, as it's usually only once or twice a year that we're all in the same place (hadn't happened since August 2017!). During my time in Maui, seeing birds took second fiddle to visiting the beach, going on food trips, sampling a wide variety of Hawaii's excellent craft beer, and going on hikes. Now, the fact that lots of that just so happened to coincide with being in places with good birds? Bonus!

We elected to stay in Lahaina, a town on Maui's northwest coast. This proved to be a good location for accessing things like whale watching and touristy beaches, but not as good for doing many of the things the family was hoping to do, especially hiking, which is best on the eastern part of Maui. Thankfully, we rented a house-sized SUV to drive us all around in, so we were nonetheless able to get to the spots we wanted to go to, albeit with a bit more driving than we'd wanted to do.

Lunchtime our first day, we drove back towards Kahului, the largest town on Maui, to eat at one of the excellent restaurants serving Hawaiian-inspired cuisine. Conveniently, this was also located next to Kanaha Pond Wildlife Sanctuary, one of the well-known wetland sites in Hawaii. We were able to walk around there as we were waiting for a table to be ready, and I was able to see a few of the "easy" Hawaiian endemic species and subspecies, including Hawaiian Coot, Nene (an endemic goose), and Hawaiian Stilt, a resident subspecies of Black-necked Stilt. Unfortunately it was in the middle of a very hot day, and the heat haze ruined most of my pictures, but it ended up being my only time seeing the coot and the stilt, so it was still worth it.

Hawaiian Stilt

The afternoon of our first day, we decided to take the scenic route home from Kahului, taking the narrow, sinuous road that runs along the island's northwestern coast. The scenery was fantastic, with great views over the ocean and up to the West Maui Mountains, the eroded volcano that makes up the western half of Maui. However, the road was a bit scary, full of blind curves and sometimes wide enough for only one car to pass by, making some awkward backtracking sometimes necessary. 

A view of the north coast of Maui

After returning to Lahaina exhausted and a bit carsick, we ended the day at a nearby beach, enjoying the tropical sun setting over the ocean while sipping good beers from the Maui Brewing Company. Stereotypical enough to merit its own Jimmy Buffet song, especially on a beach crowded with other tourists (of course we visited on a holiday week!), but enjoyable and refreshing nonetheless. 

Paddleboarder at sunset

Dad on the beach

The next day, we opted for another stereotypical yet excellent Hawaii activity- whale watching! While I'd seen whales from the shore in Oahu, and we'd seen them distantly the previous day, I was excited to see them from a bit closer. Being cheapskates, we booked an "early bird" tour that started at 7AM, which had the added benefit of not making everything brutally hot when we were out on the open ocean underneath a cloudless sky. 

Sunrise from the harbor

We began bright and early a bit after sunrise and took the boat from Lahaina into the 'Au'au Channel, between the islands of Maui and Lānaʻi islands. Maui is the largest and most-populated of a group of four islands- Maui, Lānaʻi, Moloka'i, and Kaho'olawe, all of which used to be one large island back when sea levels were lower. Moloka'i, the second-largest, was mainly known as the site of a leper colony back when leprosy was a thing, but now supports a fairly large population. Lānaʻi is the smallest publicly accessible Hawaiian island, and for much of the last century has passed through the hands of various oligarchs who feel like owning a decent island is a good use of their finances- currently Larry Ellison of Oracle. Kaho'olawe, the smallest, has no fresh water source and was formerly used as a bombing range by the US military until activism by native Hawaiians led to it being set aside as a nature reserve that's accessible only for ritual purposes. All have already lost most of their native land fauna, though there's apparently fantastic diving off of Lānaʻi. We could see all of them from the boat ride, which was fairly cool. 

Lahaina Harbor with Moloka'i in the background

Lānaʻi as seen from Maui

After about 20 minutes in the water, we were soon on our first whale sighting! Humpback Whales come to Hawaii during the winter months to breed and give birth, but tropical waters aren't very good for the krill and small fish that whales like, meaning that they need to return to the poles in the north during the summer to actually feed. April is the tail end of migration season, but thankfully, a number of mothers and calves were sticking around. Baby whales are usually the easiest to spot, as they're playful this time of year, practicing breaching and tail slapping with a full belly of their mother's milk. We did see lots of fin waving and tail slapping, though unfortunately a baby whale breached only once, and before I could get my camera on it. Still, nothing to complain about with up-close views of animals bigger than a semi truck.

The humped back of a baby Humpback Whale

Whale calf doing some tail-slapping

Whales sometimes go belly-up and wave their fins around, which is pretty cool. I believe this is a full-grown female whale.

One last whale butt.

That afternoon, from the sea we decided to go up the mountain instead. Though we had a camping trip on the higher volcano of eastern Maui planned for later on (see below), my parents and I decided to do some hiking on the West Maui Mountains instead, while Morgan and Lee spent some more time on the beach. We spent a few hours hiking the Waihe'e Ridge Trail, which leads up towards the top of the mountains along a forested ridge. There were some pretty spectacular views down towards the ocean and up into valleys going up the mountain, as well as some great remnant native forest of Ohia and Koa plants. Of course, I was also excited by the birds- including the noisy but hard-to-see Japanese Bush Warblers, Red-billed Leiothrix, and constant Japanese White-eyes. I was excited to hear a calling Oahu Amakihi, and even more excited to see a couple of 'Apapane from a distance (though they later turned out to be the most common endemic bird at the proper altitudes. Also noteworthy was an attractive Black Francolin we saw on the way out- the only time I saw one on the trip.

The view up the valley

An impressive female Hawaiian Garden Spider (Argiope appensa- sadly introduced to Hawaii from Asia, despite the name)

The view looking down into Kahului

Chinese Ground Orchid (Phaius tankervillei)- unfortunately another introduced species

Ohia flower- definitely native!

The only view I ever got of a Japanese Bush-warbler

'Apapane

The next morning, we started with some time in the sun, heading to yet another of Lahaina's many beaches. The beach we went to was nothing special in terms of looks- lots of sand, water, and sunburnt tourists- but was surprisingly good for wildlife. I saw Humpback Whales breaching out o sea, and even better we found a pair of Green Sea Turtles foraging on the coral along a rocky point. This was my first time seeing fully-grown sea turtles in the wild (though I have seen hatching Hawksbill Turtles... not to brag or anything), and they really are a spectacular sight. Their way of feeding didn't seem terribly efficient- feeding on algae along the shoreline meant lots of time getting dashed against the rocks by ocean waves. But I guess that's why turtles have shells.

Green Sea Turtles!

 More herpetological wonders also awaited back at our Airbnb, where I found a Gold Dust Day Gecko on the side of the wall. It's an invasive species of course, and I'm not sure what the effects are on the local ecosystem, but it's also a darn good-looking reptile. Hopefully I can properly see one in the wild in Madagascar sometime...

Gold Dust Day Gecko

Not a day gecko- this Brown Anole was also hanging out nearby

On the afternoon of our third day came what I was most looking forward to- a trip up Haleakalā, the massive volcano that makes up the eastern part of Maui. While not nearly as high as the mountains of the Big Island, Haleakalā is still huge, rising just over 10,000 feet (3,055 meters) from the surface of the ocean. That's higher than Mount Apo, the highest mountain in the Philippines, despite being on an island just a fraction of the size. The Hawaiian Hotspot doesn't mess around when it comes to creating islands.

In addition to having obviously fantastic hiking, Haleakalā is also a refuge for Maui's endemic birds, almost all of which are highly susceptible to avian malaria, and thus confined only to high elevations where mosquitoes aren't found (areas that are growing more and more scarce thanks to climate change). The two most sought-after Maui endemic birds are the Maui Parrotbill (also known as kiwikiu) and the spectacular 'Akohekohe, both of which are critically endangered and moving quickly towards extinction barring any drastic changes. I've wanted to see an 'Akohekohe since long before I became interested in birding, so even being on the same island as one was exciting. Unfortunately, both of them are almost exclusively confined to the Waikamoi Preserve, a tract of forest that's owned by the Nature Conservancy and nearly impossible to gain access to unless you happen to be there at the same time as the once-monthly public visits. I wasn't, unfortunately, and wasn't well-connected enough in the birding world to secure access other ways. On the other hand, we were staying in the Hosmer Grove campground, reputed to be the second-best spot for endemic birds on Maui. 

Reaching Hosmer Grove first required lots of driving uphill, as we had to get from sea level up to 7,000 feet. After spending the first days sweating in the tropics down below, it was refreshing to feel the temperature get cooler and cooler as we went upwards (the summit of Haleakalā can be downright frigid, and even gets snowfall at times). Almost as soon as I got out of the car, I had my first lifer endemic- a bright-yellow Maui Alauahio in a tree right above my head! This is the only Maui endemic that's easily found outside of the Waikamoi Preserve, though it's still endangered. It also ended up being the only time I got a decent look at one, so I was glad I was able to get a passable record shot.

Maui Alauahio

Once we'd finished setting up camp, I had a bit of time to walk around and do some proper birding. The area around the campsite and entrance road is full of native Ohia bushes, which are the favorites of endemic birds. This is ideal for photography since it gets them down at eye-level and closer by. My #1 target was the 'I'iwi (pronounced ee-EE-vee), an absolutely spectacular Hawaiian endemic that looks a bit like the sunbirds I'm used to in Asia. In addition to being the American Birding Association bird of the year, it's also arguably the second-best-looking Hawaiian bird (after only the 'Akohekoe- sigh), and one I've wanted to see since my childhood. Thankfully, 'I'iwi proved to be fairly common around the campsite, and I soon had excellent views. 

'I'iwi!

Also around the campsite were calling Grey Francolin and Common Pheasant, Hawaii 'Amakihi, and lots and lots of 'Apapane, which despite being as close to trash birds as Hawaiian endemic birds can be are pretty darn good looking. 

The landscape around Hosmer Grove

Fragrant Evening Primrose- unfortunately introduced.

An immature 'Apapane

Adult 'Apapane

I could have spent hours walking around Hosmer Grove taking pictures of native birds (and hoping for a visiting Akohekohe), but we also hoped to get up to the summit of Haleakalā for sunset. The mountain is drivable all the way to the top (ah, life in the US!), and the peak has spectacular panoramic views all around. We were able to reach the top just before sunset, and we weren't disappointed- the views really were spectacular. On the west we could see over the entire rest of the island of Maui (Haleakalā is so much higher than the rest of the island that it was like looking out an airplane), while to the east Mauna Kea on the Big Island was visible in the distance, its observatories reflecting the setting sun. It's a cliche, but pictures really can't do it justice.

The crater of Haleakalā

The Mauna Kea summit and observatory through a telephoto lens

The western part of Maui

After the sun had set, we got to watch the moon rising over the crater of Haleakalā (the "crater" is actually created by erosion rather than a volcanic eruption, though it does have some young-ish cinder cones inside it). 

Not wholly satisfied with our sunset views, my parents and I decided to wake up before dawn and hike up to the edge of the Haleakalā crater for sunrise. It was absolutely frigid in the morning, and I was happy to have some hiking movement to keep me warm! Thankfully, the sunrise views were more than worth it, even if it wasn't a spectacular sunrise in and of itself.

Though the sunrise was rather cloudy, we did still have some pretty spectacular light off to the west:

Ring-necked Pheasants, released in the national park for sport hunting, were very noisy around sunrise:

After getting our fill of the view, we walked back down to the campsite very slowly, with many stops to enjoy the view and (in my case) the birds. Hawaii Amakihi and 'Apapane were common, while I saw another few 'I'iwi at lower elevation near the campsite. Also welcome was a flyover from some Nene, a much better setting to see them in. It wasn't just endemic birds, either- I was very happy to find a Hawaiian Blue, one of the two butterflies endemic to Hawaii (I saw the other one, Kamehameha Butterfly as well, but wasn't able to get a picture so I don't count it as a proper butterfly lifer). 

Pukiawe, a fruiting bush native to Hawaii

Hawaii Amakihi

'Apapane

'I'iwi

Nene

Hawaiian Blue (Udara blackburni)

We spent a bit of time hiking along the trail in Hosmer Grove, with me still hoping for an 'Akohekohe to stop by, but soon it was lunch time and we decided to head down the mountain. We spent a leisurely afternoon at the beach, and then my dad and I packed our bags once more to head to my third island of the trip- the Big Island, and island of many birds and many adventures (not all of them good) to be covered in my next blog entry...