O'ahu: Birds and Beaches

As Monty Python might say... and now, for something completely different!

There are many things I love about living in the Philippines, but not included in the list is the fact that it's so darn far away from Michigan. Not that I necessarily miss things like Donald Trump or getting blizzards in mid-April, but it is hard not being able to see family nearly as much as I'd want to- it's a long and expensive flight for me to visit there, and the same for family to come here and visit me. Thankfully, as it turns out there's a little speck of US territory that's pretty much directly in between Michigan and the Philippines, and much cheaper for all to fly to. When my parents suggested Hawaii as the destination for one of our rare whole-family meet-ups, it was a pretty easy decision to make.

I've wanted to come to Hawaii ever since I was a kid suffering through Michigan winters and dreaming of living in a tropical place. Now that I'm living the dream down by the equator I have more than enough jungles, sandy beaches and active volcanoes to keep me happy (although, really one can never have enough of any of those), but there's still lots about it that draws my attention. Long before I became a real birder, I spent hours reading about the strange and beautiful Hawaiian endemic birds and their alarming disappearance. Due to being an isolated island chain in the middle of the Pacific, Hawaii has incredible rates of endemism, with nearly all of the native land-based birds being found nowhere else in the world.

Unfortunately, the story of the Hawaiian birds isn't a happy one. Being specialized to very specific habitats in a very small area of land also makes them extremely vulnerable to any sort of human disturbance, of which there has been plenty on Hawaii. More than half of the original species were driven to extinction thanks to a mix of forest clearing at low elevation, hunting for feathers, and competition from introduced birds. Species continue to go extinct today despite conservation measures, mainly because they have no resistance to Avian Malaria brought over by exotic cage birds. Of the 67 endemic bird species or subspecies, a whopping 27 have gone extinct, 7 are almost certainly extinct or on the way there, 7 are considered Critically Endangered, and most of the rest are either Endangered or Vulnerable. Birding in many parts of the world can feel very much like a "see it before it's gone" situation, but that's especially true in Hawaii. 

Of course, coming from different origins means very different travel plans, which in my case meant arriving a day or so before everyone else, and on a different island. While my parents and sister flew directly into Maui, I flew into Honolulu, with a quick stop in Shanghai. The plan was to spend a day and a half in Oahu, five days on Maui, then two days on the Big Island before returning to the Philippines. My extra time on Oahu without the family ended up being convenient, because there were lots of things I wanted to see on the island, most of them with feathers. In addition to two surviving endemic birds, Oahu is much better than Maui and the Big Island for seeing ocean birds, particularly Laysan Albatrosses, which breed on the island.

After picking up my rental car, convincing AT&T to let me use my SIM card in the US again, and getting an early lunch at Jack in the Box, I drove straight out to Ka'ena Point, the farthest northwest point of Oahu. Ka'ena Point is a well-known breeding area for Laysan Albatross, as well as a good spot in general to look out for shearwaters, boobies, and other ocean birds. Driving to the point took an hour and a half from Honolulu, and it turned out that it was necessary to hike another 3 miles from the parking area to the actual seabird breeding area. It was over mostly flat ground, but nonetheless an exhausting hike along a sometimes-muddy road in the beating midday sun. To make matters worse, there wasn't much in the way of birds, but for some introduced Red-vented Bulbuls in the bushes and Erckel's Francolins squawking on the hillside above me.

The view near the end of the trail

Finally, hot and sunburned after an hour-long slog, I arrived at the proper birding area at the very tip of Oahu. The seabird breeding spot is bounded on all sides by an imposing metal fence, put in place to protect the ground-nesting birds from invasive mammals like rats and, especially Indian Mongeese. These have wreaked havoc on seabird rookeries throughout Hawaii (and elsewhere in the world), as eggs and chicks are easy, defenseless prey.

Inside the fence, birds instantly increased; I had a tame Pacific Golden Plover hopping on the ground right in front of me, and introduced Crested Mynas and Northern Mockingbirds were flitting through the bushes. As I was hiking out, I saw a few Grey Francolins, introduced partridges, in the bushes, though they remained far away from me.

Pacific Golden Plover

Northern Mockingbird

Grey Francolin

Best of all, though, were the  Laysan Albatrosses soaring over my head. There are very, very few birds better than albatrosses; they're rare, beautiful, graceful, and absolutely massive- 2-meter wingspans! And there are very, very few birding experiences than having one of these beautiful birds past you at eye-level..

!!!

Inside the fenced area, pairs of albatross were sitting together, sometimes preening each other and taking care of eggs. Laysan Albatrosses mate for life, and while they split up after their chicks have fledged and fly as far away as Japan and Mexico, they always return to the same place and the same mate.

Albatross chicks, on the other hand, aren't nearly as graceful or beautiful as their parents:

Ka'ena Point is also supposedly a good spot for other ocean birds, such as shearwaters or Black-footed Albatross, but unfortunately I didn't see much- perhaps because it was too damn hot even for the birds. I did, however, have distant views of a White Tern and a couple of Brown Boobies. 

Brown Booby

The scenery at Ka'ena Point

I could have stayed and taken pictures of albatrosses the entire day, but the sun was hot, and I had other birding spots to go to, so I made the long, long hike out, which of course felt even longer the second time. My plan was to visit the James Campbell National Wildlife Refuge to look for Bristle-thighed Curlews and other wading birds in the afternoon. Unfortunately, the universe had other plans; my rental car ended up getting a flat tire on the way out of the park. Of course there was no spare tire in the rental car, nor a tire repair kit.  I called roadside assistance, who, after lots of paper-shuffling told me that it would take too long for them to send someone all the way out from Honolulu, so I should just drive to the nearest gas station to put air in the tire. Of course, by the time I'd gotten to the gas station (after a 15-minute 5-mile-per-hour "drive of shame") the tire was completely shredded, and it was clear I wasn't going anywhere. Instead of doing afternoon birding, I spent a fun hour and a half hanging out in my ruined rental car waiting for the tow truck to arrive.

It was another hour and a half back to Honolulu, most of which I spent talking to the tow truck driver, a very friendly native Hawaiian guy who gave me some pointers on birding spots and talked about all his favorite Filipino foods. Thankfully, I'd made a rare wise decision and chosen to get insurance on the rental car, so the only cost of my bad luck was a lot of wasted time. It was late in the evening by the time I got into my AirBnb, a slightly messy hostel with strangers sleeping on the couch and the indelible smell of weed everywhere, and all I had time for was going to sleep.

I woke up early the next morning and headed out once more in my brand new replacement car, this time to go up into the mountains and look for Oahu's two endemic birds. Oahu isn't as high-elevation as other large islands, and has been more thoroughly cleared of forest, so most birds once found on the island are now extinct. Two, however, still remain: the O'ahu 'Elepaio, a small monarch flycatcher that looks more like a wren, and the O'ahu 'Amakihi, one of the Hawaiian honeycreepers evolved from finches. The best place to look for them is on the 'Aiea Ridge, where there's a trail going up into some mountain forest with both native and introduced trees.

Scenery along the trail

At first, all I saw along the trail were introduced birds like Purple Finch and Japanese White-eye- Hawaiian avifauna is a strange mixture of rare endemics and introduced American, Asian and African escaped cagebirds that should never be seen all in the same place. However, I eventually heard O'ahu 'Amakihi calling, and saw one flitting about in the canopy. Soon after, one flew into a bush right in front of my face- the best views I could have hoped for. The Amakihi is less threatened than most other endemic Hawaiian birds since it seems to be developing a resistance to Avian Malaria, the scourge of birdlife on the island. Still, any Hawaiian endemic is a good bird, and they're far from common in the island.

Female O'ahu 'Amahiki- she seems to be missing her right eye.

I continued down the path, hoping for a glimpse of the much rarer O'ahu 'Elepaio. Thankfully, the birding gods were smiling on me that day. As I rounded a corner, I happened upon four people staring up into a tree with binoculars, always a good sign. It turned out to be ace Hawaii birding guide Mandy Talpas, along with Ryan, a young birder from the US, and his parents. What should they be looking at but an O'ahu 'Elepaio! It was a small brown bird flitting around high up in the canopy, but we got good enough views for pictures, and lots of stress was relieved. 'Elepaios are endangered due to their susceptibility to habitat disturbance and avian malaria, with a total range of only 18 square miles and an estimated population of fewer than 1,500.

Male O'ahu 'Elepaio

 Once the 'Elepaio moved on, we continued up to the top of the trail to a viewpoint above the valley where Mariana Swiftlets, the only swift in Hawaii, can be found. The swiftlets were introduced in the 1960s, and are now rare, with only 50 or so remaining. They're considered an endangered species and are declining in their native range of Guam and the Mariana Islands as well, so it was one of the few introduced birds worth seeing. Some birders will apparently wait for hours on the trail just to get a glimpse of one, but amazingly after 5 minutes Ryan spotted a lone Mariana Swiftlet flying over the ridge! We waited a bit more in case we got a better view, and after one more quick sighting decided to head back down the mountain so we could get to our respective birding destinations. We spotted a couple other interesting introduced birds on the way down, including an attractive pair of Red-billed Leiothrix, birds usually seen in east Asia.

Red-billed Leiothrix

My next stop was Makapu'u Point, a lighthouse and overlook at the far southeastern corner of O'ahu that's good for ocean birds like tropicbirds and boobies. By the time I got there it was the middle of the day, and getting to the lighthouse area meant a long walk in the hot sun (sound familiar?). Thankfully this one had better birds than the walk out to Ka'ena Point; I had up-close views of Red-vented Bulbul, Common Myna, Common Waxbill, Scaly-breasted Munia, and House Finch, which at least gave me a chance to take my mind of the fact I was really hot and sweaty. Less of a happy sighting was an introduced Indian Mongoose, probably angry it didn't have any endangered seabird nests to pillage.

Red-vented Bulbul

House Finch

YOU SHOULDN'T BE HERE

Scaly-breasted Munia

Common Waxbill

At the overlook, the view was, at least, very good; with a mix of sandy beaches, turquoise-blue water, and strange volcanic landforms, it's easy to see why Hawaii gets so many visitors. Even better, there were birds about, though most of them were too far away for good (or even mediocre) pictures. More than a thousand Sooty Terns wheeled over Rabbit Island in the distance, along with a few Red-tailed Tropicbirds. Red-footed Boobies flew low over the water right below me, and after lots of squinting through my camera lens I saw a solitary Masked Booby as well- nothing better than new boobies on my list!

The view from Makapu'u Point

Sooty Tern

Also Sooty Terns

On the way back, some splashing far out to see alerted me to the fact that there was a pod of Humpback Whales passing by. It was quite the distance, but any whale is a good whale, and any view is a good view. My first time seeing whales!

Humpback Whale!

The view on the way down

After returning to the car, I decided to stop for just a little bit on the beach down below, just to see if there was anything different. As it turned out the beach offered much better views than the point, with a closer view of the flocks of Sooty Terns and Red-tailed Tropicbirds over Rabbit Island and eye-level views of Red-footed Boobies. Best was a flyby from a Great Frigatebird, my third frigatebird species and one I was very much hoping to see in Hawaii. I wish I'd just stopped at the beach rather than the point, and I could have stayed there longer, but there was one more spot I wanted to visit and (more importantly) I had a flight to catch. Lesson learned!

If you look closely you can see lots of Sooty Terns...

View from the beach

Red-footed Booby

My final stop in O'ahu was Kapiolani Park in Honolulu, where White Terns are known to nest. White Terns are some of the best looking terns, so I was excited to get up-close views of them. Unfortunately, the only white birds I saw in the nesting trees were feral pigeons; it seems that the terns were all done nesting for the year. I did have two quick flyovers from White Terns, but not the good views I was hoping for. On the other hand, I did have great looks at exotic introduced birds like Red-vented Bulbuls, Common Mynas, Red-crested Cardinals, Java Sparrows, Saffron-fronted Canaries, and Rose-ringed Parakeets, not that those were what I was looking for. On a better note, the sunset over the park was beautiful.

Common Myna

Red-vented Bulbul

Red-crested Cardinal

Rose-ringed Parakeet

Late afternoon light over the park

Still the best picture I have of White Tern...

Satisfied with my birding and sightseeing, I returned to the airport to drop of my rental car and get on my flight to Maui. I ended up being pleasantly surprised by Oahu; it wasn't as crowded and urbanized as I'd expected, the scenery was truly beautiful, and the birds were very, very good. Overall an island I'd visit again, even though I've seen all of the target birds. Of course, Maui was also fantastic, but that's a subject for my next blog entry...