Hawaii - Big Island Birding - part 2

after we finished lunch on our guided tour of the Hakalau Forest NWR forest, we continue to travel along the downward trail continuing to see some of the same species as in the morning. There was still four endemic that I need to see to complete my target list: the Iiwi, Hawaii Akepa, Akiapolaau, and the Omao.


We saw several more  Hawaiian Creeper and the Hawaiian Goose or Nene.

We kept looking for the needed species and finally heard a Omao calling. We searched for the calling Omao for about 25 minutes before it finally showed itself...a rather secretive bird. I now only had 3 more endemics to go.

After watching the Omao for several minutes our guide heard another trget bird calling the Iiwi - and again we started our search. The Iiwi didn't prove to be as elusive as the Omao and we found several rather quickly. This quickly became one of my favorite birds for the entire trip - as you will see.

We watched to Iiwi feeding in the tree tops for several minutes and then continue our quest for the last 2 endemic species. We first heard and then a  Akepa while we where still watching the Iiwi's - a nice site watching them both in same view. The Akepa is a striking orange color and a species you willnot soon forgot after seeing them.

  We now only have 1 more endemic species to go and it would prove to be the hardest to find. We continue walking down and then ack up the trail several times over thec ourse of abut 2 hours...hearing Akiapolaau calling on several occasions but not being able to see them. 

Finally the guide found a pair and we all quickly rushed over to get some great looks at what because the #1 bird species for the day and maybe the entire trip. The Akiapolaau are absolutely stunning to see and watch. The needle beak is until anything have I ever seen...simple stunning! 

the finding of the Akiapolaau capped off a great day of birding and with some regret we started the trek back to our vehicle and the return trip. I must say it was one of the most interesting days of birding I have had and would highly recommend it to anyone visiting the Big Island. 

We arrived back at the guides vehicle with a total species count of 28 - not a particularly high count - but we had found al the endemics and the was the main purpose of the trip.

My next post will be on the birds I observed in Maui


Until then - good Birding