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

Hawaii - Big Island Birding

I traveled to Hawaii on a family vacation from April 4 - 13 and visited the Big Island, Maui and Kauai. while the intend of the trip was a family vacation - I did find some time to do a little birding.
On Monday, April 8 I had a guide hired for a day of birding in the Hakalau Forest NWR forest - the intend was to look for and find all the endemic honeycreepers on the Big Island.
I met the guide at 8am and we proceeded to the forest - a rather interesting drive over some unimproved dirt roads that took us over an hour to travel about 15 miles. But as you will see, it was worth the drive and wait. Here is a link to the refuge: refuge/hakalau



As we arrived at the restricted gated tract forest - you could only be impressed by the site of the native trees and plants and the work that we being done by a group of dedicated people to preserve the area.



After a short intro about the area, we started our walk and had not gone 100 yards when we spotted our endemic species - a Hawaiian Creeper (actually several at very close views). we also saw several other species with one of my favorites being the red-billed-leiothrix

Red Billed Leiothrix

Hawaiian Creeper

After watching the Creepers , we continued our walk toward the Old Barn Area and encountered a several more endemic species including: Apapane, Hawaii Amakihi (Hawaii),  and Hawaii Elepaio (Hilo coast), and Hawaiian Hawk.

Apapane - #1 target bird for the trip

Hawaii Amakihi

Hawaii Elepaio - Hilo

As we where taking a short rest break - a Hawaiian Hawk flew over - and we had apanane in the tree tops...does it get any better than that.

Hawaiian Hawk flying overhead 

We moved further down the trail and as 1pm approached we decided to stop for lunch. We ended our morning with 18 species.

The next entry will be on the afternoon of birding we had, and the many more species we saw and one that was rather difficult to find and took us almost 2 hours till we finally got some good looks at it.

Until then - good Birding