Finally back on Powerline Road for the first time since late September! Yesterday I saw that Hawai'i made ebird's top-20-checklists-submitted-this-month list with an astonishing (for Hawai'i) 41 checklists, so now I'm inspired to do a LOT of counts this week and make sure that the native species are properly represented. The morning was clear, and I headed up to Powerline Road after a frustrating half hour navigating just one mile of Hilo's hellish rush hour traffic. I could have got out a couple of hours earlier today. :/
OK, so the bird situation on Powerline Road has shifted a bit since September as the season has advanced. Blossoms are popping out on the 'ohi'a trees, and the 'ohelo berries are ripe. It's red bird season on the Saddle. 'Apapane counts were very high everywhere, and there was a consistently above-average level of Japanese white-eye at all stations. The 'apapane have moved into the kipuka canopies in noisy active flocks. 'Amakihi were consistently present, but somewhat low numbers. I'iwi, 'oma'o and 'elepaio counts were significantly lower than previous months. (like 25% to 50% down)
Since the weather stayed clear until 3PM I was able to get quite a ways out there despite all the counting, and count a new station on the far end of Pu'u O'o Trail, before it disappears under the 1984 lava field. I counted 18 stations before drizzle and fading light forced me to stop. Patchy fog on the way back, but I was able to stay out until past sunset. As I got back to my car at sunset flocks of kolea were flying into the 1881 'a'a lava field to roost for the night, and a few of the hidden birds rustled among the lava chunks around me.
My single rare bird incident happened late in the day as I was starting back. I found a single Hawai'i creeper in a stand of short 'ohi'a along the road, and managed to get some decent pix. This creeper was fairly tough to differentiate from 'amakihi with binoculars, but the white face in the photo (and lack of very dark lores) is the main ID cue. (juvenile?) They also look a bit scruffy, like an 'amakihi that spent a night on a friend's couch after a night of heavy drinking. I initially picked it out by ear from its loud and different-sounding (but not terribly distinctive) "sweet" and "sue-wee" tweets. I also thought I heard a weak 'akepa tweedle in another kipuka among some 'amakihi, but couldn't find it to confirm.
Unfortunately there were a few disappointing moments on the day. I saw 3 pigs and about 6 sheep. Some juvenile moron tossed a bunch of boulders into the road, which I had to remove, and cut up some plants. Finally, fairly recently some absolute JERKS made a camp fire on the road in kipuka 'ahiu and left a huge pile of camp trash on the road! :C :C :C
OK, so the bird situation on Powerline Road has shifted a bit since September as the season has advanced. Blossoms are popping out on the 'ohi'a trees, and the 'ohelo berries are ripe. It's red bird season on the Saddle. 'Apapane counts were very high everywhere, and there was a consistently above-average level of Japanese white-eye at all stations. The 'apapane have moved into the kipuka canopies in noisy active flocks. 'Amakihi were consistently present, but somewhat low numbers. I'iwi, 'oma'o and 'elepaio counts were significantly lower than previous months. (like 25% to 50% down)
Since the weather stayed clear until 3PM I was able to get quite a ways out there despite all the counting, and count a new station on the far end of Pu'u O'o Trail, before it disappears under the 1984 lava field. I counted 18 stations before drizzle and fading light forced me to stop. Patchy fog on the way back, but I was able to stay out until past sunset. As I got back to my car at sunset flocks of kolea were flying into the 1881 'a'a lava field to roost for the night, and a few of the hidden birds rustled among the lava chunks around me.
My single rare bird incident happened late in the day as I was starting back. I found a single Hawai'i creeper in a stand of short 'ohi'a along the road, and managed to get some decent pix. This creeper was fairly tough to differentiate from 'amakihi with binoculars, but the white face in the photo (and lack of very dark lores) is the main ID cue. (juvenile?) They also look a bit scruffy, like an 'amakihi that spent a night on a friend's couch after a night of heavy drinking. I initially picked it out by ear from its loud and different-sounding (but not terribly distinctive) "sweet" and "sue-wee" tweets. I also thought I heard a weak 'akepa tweedle in another kipuka among some 'amakihi, but couldn't find it to confirm.
Unfortunately there were a few disappointing moments on the day. I saw 3 pigs and about 6 sheep. Some juvenile moron tossed a bunch of boulders into the road, which I had to remove, and cut up some plants. Finally, fairly recently some absolute JERKS made a camp fire on the road in kipuka 'ahiu and left a huge pile of camp trash on the road! :C :C :C
