Rockin’ Robin

Posted on March 3, 2017March 3, 2017 by Dusty Roads

I saw my first robin of spring today as I was driving into work. It was a fat little guy. Wherever he wintered must have been very good to him.

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I wouldn’t get my hopes up too much either. We’ve had some record warm days lately but the weatherman says we’ve got a return to winter on the way. An arctic blast is moving in from Canada.

But back to my little robin. Do they actually migrate? A couple of years ago when I was frantically running around trying to complete a 365 day challenge (A photo a day) I ran across a tree full of robins in the middle of a snow storm. Had they just come north too soon or do they stay in the area all winter?

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In an effort to get some answers I looked it up on the internet. (I know you can’t believe everything you find on the internet) but I found this information in several different places. Apparently robin’s migrate for food reasons, not temperature. They are big berry eaters until spring thaws the ground when they switch over to bugs and worms.

Some robins will go as far south as Texas or Florida while others will only migrate as far as necessary to find their beloved berries.

As an interesting side note, the articles I saw mention that robins sing when they arrive on their breeding territories. Some may sing in winter flocks but most wait until the breeding season approaches and they have reached their “territory”.

So maybe the old adage about the first robin being the harbinger spring should really be the first SINGING robin.

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Whale Watch #3

Posted on February 19, 2017February 19, 2017 by Dusty Roads | 2 Comments

Thursday I awoke to a real cacophony from the hundreds of birds perched along the roof line, most appeared to be Myna birds. It was amazing the volume of their chirps and calls. I hesitate to use the term “song”. I stuck my phone out the slider and pressed record. I was sure no one would believe it without proof. (I haven’t figured out how to get the recording from my phone to this page, Any ideas techies?)

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Both whale watches from Wednesday had been fun and successful as far as seeing whales but I still didn’t get the photo I was seeking. I consoled myself that even National Geographic photographers sometimes had to wait weeks to get that special picture. If it was easy everyone would do it!

I still had the whale watch coming to me for becoming a member of the Pacific Whale Foundation so I headed back down to their shop to see if they had any open spots. I was seeing whales breaching all around me on every trip, just too far away. It’s just a matter of being in the right place at the right time and that means getting back out there.

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Luckily they had an opening on the 2 pm whale watch on the catamaran Ocean Intrigue.

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I had high hopes for this trip as it was active almost as soon as we took off. We saw a female with two male whales chasing her around. There was a lot of tail slapping and flipper waving. Everyone on board got very excited.

Whale Chase

At times it looked like the whales were climbing right over each other. But no breaching.

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Whales Nose

We moved on to a mother and calf. The calf was very excited by our approach and began slapping the surface with his little tail. It was like he was standing on his head and slapping his tail back and forth.

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So much splashing, So much energy but no breach.

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As the action slowed a bit a hydrophone was dropped over the side. We could hear many different whales as they sang their songs. The naturalist said it was probably about a 25 mile radius.

Mom and Calf

Finally it was time to head back into shore. We passed the 3 whales from the start of the trip and they were still going strong with their chasing and competing. The whales had been closer to the boat this time and certainly we saw some fun behaviors but still no breaching. My time was running out.

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Kealia Pond National Wildlife Refuge

Posted on February 16, 2017February 16, 2017 by Dusty Roads | 4 Comments

The Kealia Pond area was a pleasant surprise that Sandy & I stumbled upon when were were here in November. It was a beautiful day so it seemed perfect for exploring it a bit more. The walking is easy as the trail through the Refuge is an elevated boardwalk.

The 2200 foot boardwalk is lined with self-guided interpretive exhibits. Even with those a good book of Hawaiian birds will come in handy.

The boardwalk runs between the shoreline and the marsh, at times passing right over the shallow water where you can see loads of fish. Its easy to see why they have so many birds here. Food is clearly very abundant.

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Today the endangered Hawaiian Stilts were on the far side of the road and out “in force”. I also saw a large heron as I drove in. It looked a lot like our Great Blue Heron but I don’t know if they come to Hawaii.

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Once on the boardwalk I met a park ranger and we talked a little bit. He especially commented on how windy it was and almost on cue a para sail went up towing a wind surfer behind.

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As I moved along the boardwalk I could see that the birds were really out in force.

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The ‘Auku’u, were everywhere. The common name is Black Crowned Night Heron. Sandy and I saw one in November but today I saw 3 as soon as I started down the trail. At every turn another one showed up.

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The ‘Alae ke‘oke‘o, or Hawaiian Coot, were also well represented. They are a little bird so getting a photo with the lens I had with me would have been futile. They pretty much stayed out of camera range.

I did spot a bird that no one seemed to recognize. It reminded me of the bittern’s we get in Massachusetts marshes but I’ll have to do some more research to find out what it was.

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It was standing in the vegetation near the washout from the storm yesterday.

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Although there was still lots of boardwalk left, I was starting to get warm and thirsty. I didn’t have a hat and nothing is worse than trying to brush your hair when you have a sunburn on your scalp. Time for a trip to Island Creme for a frozen treat.

Happy Valentines Day!

Posted on February 14, 2017February 14, 2017 by Dusty Roads

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Happy Valentines Day!

Monday Morning, Can’t trust that day

Posted on February 9, 2017February 9, 2017 by Dusty Roads

Monday morning, sometimes it just turns out that way (The Mamas and the Papas)

I woke up bright and early Monday morning. The weather report had said a storm was rolling in with high seas, rain and winds. Well it was certainly windy last night. With that in mind I thought after breakfast I’d give the GPS another chance. A folder with a bunch of GPS tours came with the unit. I could drive around and see if the weather cleared. My first whale watch wasn’t scheduled until Wednesday.

I sat at the table watching the sunrise. Maybe its because I was on the top floor but I had a lot more birds visit than when we were here in November. Oh the ever present Mynas were there but so were little finchy type birds including a pair of Redheads.

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While I was kicking back I got a rather uncomfortable feeling. The meds I take for diabetes have the unpleasant side effect of making me prone to UTI’s. Now if I were at home such a development would be handled with a quick call to my doctor but she’s 3000 miles away!

To try to keep the situation under control at home I’ve switched to cranberry juice instead of orange juice. Luckily that was what I picked up at the TIMES grocery store last night. So out came the big glass and I rapidly downed 2 big glasses. My fingers are crossed that I caught it in time. I refuse to let a illness sideline me on this trip!

But back to my view from the pent house, I’ve heard we can see the whales from here and I’ve been watching all morning. So far nothing but I’ve got my binoculars handy in case.

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