I felt like hell this morning for no apparent reason. The forecast was fairly rainy, so I wasn't expecting to do any big adventure, but it was actually fairly dry all day. I went up Stainback to the diagonal northeast trail to monitor hunting and pig disturbance, check my rare plants, and explore another new area. Got going at 10:30AM. Got back to the car at 7PM under the sunset and moonlight.
After checking some of the rare plants that the hunters recently hacked their nasty "trail" alongside, I started to explore opposite them on the West side of the road, where I have not been before. Pig diggings were variable on this side, but less than average for the area, and there were random nicely undisturbed areas. About halfway between my 'aku colony on the road and my koli'i colony to the West I started to get into an area with a wonderful remnant of enhanced native plant diversity. I found a small concentration of 'aiea and 'ohe mauka trees, and one each of maua and 'anini. Three of the 'ohe mauka trees were quite large, and two were just little guys - it was wonderful to see them reproducing! The maua was also a fairly large one, and may be the parent of several small maua trees in the area. There was a good understory diversity, and most interestingly I found the first real colony of kilioe lianas I've ever seen - more than doubling the number of plants I've ever seen. There were at least a half dozen, some quite large, in addition to the three I already knew about nearby. I found a few new phyllostegia (giant mint). There was one final groundcover plant I couldn't identify.
Summer is the season for the trees to lose their leaves in Hawai'i. The maua tree had just dropped its leaves and was looking very naked. The 'akia trees seemed to have a fairly fresh flush of leaves, and were developing flower buds. A'e trees not far away are also losing their leaves a month ago. The Mexican ash plantation trees along Stainback were losing their leaves, as well.
After passing out of the best plant area I hit one of the numerous hunting trails that criss-cross the area. I followed it North and out of the canopy forest into the scrubby bogs. In the bog I removed a few strawberry guava, as futile as it is, including one cluster of 50 sprouts. Several small himalayan raspberry. Numerous other things. There is a nice population of 'akia trees growing in the bog, and a different population of ferns than under canopy. The light was fading, so I turned back and crossed the high diversity area orthogonal to my original route, finding more interesting plants. Then I picked up the main trail to the koli'i colony to check on them (doing well), and then back to the road and back to the car.
With my late arrival, the summer (quiet) season, clouds, fog and occasional sprinkles it was fairly quiet out there. On Stainback there was a flock of nutmeg mannikin enjoying seeding grasses as I pulled up. When I got out of the car a Japanese bush warbler gave me a regular annoyed "CHHT!" from the safety of the 'uluhe. Bird counts within the forest were a consistent 3-5 'oma'o, 1-2 'elepaio, 1-3 'apapane, 1-2 Japanese white-eye. There were scattered kalij pheasant, and a single (rare here!) 'amakihi near the koli'i colony.
After checking some of the rare plants that the hunters recently hacked their nasty "trail" alongside, I started to explore opposite them on the West side of the road, where I have not been before. Pig diggings were variable on this side, but less than average for the area, and there were random nicely undisturbed areas. About halfway between my 'aku colony on the road and my koli'i colony to the West I started to get into an area with a wonderful remnant of enhanced native plant diversity. I found a small concentration of 'aiea and 'ohe mauka trees, and one each of maua and 'anini. Three of the 'ohe mauka trees were quite large, and two were just little guys - it was wonderful to see them reproducing! The maua was also a fairly large one, and may be the parent of several small maua trees in the area. There was a good understory diversity, and most interestingly I found the first real colony of kilioe lianas I've ever seen - more than doubling the number of plants I've ever seen. There were at least a half dozen, some quite large, in addition to the three I already knew about nearby. I found a few new phyllostegia (giant mint). There was one final groundcover plant I couldn't identify.
Summer is the season for the trees to lose their leaves in Hawai'i. The maua tree had just dropped its leaves and was looking very naked. The 'akia trees seemed to have a fairly fresh flush of leaves, and were developing flower buds. A'e trees not far away are also losing their leaves a month ago. The Mexican ash plantation trees along Stainback were losing their leaves, as well.
After passing out of the best plant area I hit one of the numerous hunting trails that criss-cross the area. I followed it North and out of the canopy forest into the scrubby bogs. In the bog I removed a few strawberry guava, as futile as it is, including one cluster of 50 sprouts. Several small himalayan raspberry. Numerous other things. There is a nice population of 'akia trees growing in the bog, and a different population of ferns than under canopy. The light was fading, so I turned back and crossed the high diversity area orthogonal to my original route, finding more interesting plants. Then I picked up the main trail to the koli'i colony to check on them (doing well), and then back to the road and back to the car.
With my late arrival, the summer (quiet) season, clouds, fog and occasional sprinkles it was fairly quiet out there. On Stainback there was a flock of nutmeg mannikin enjoying seeding grasses as I pulled up. When I got out of the car a Japanese bush warbler gave me a regular annoyed "CHHT!" from the safety of the 'uluhe. Bird counts within the forest were a consistent 3-5 'oma'o, 1-2 'elepaio, 1-3 'apapane, 1-2 Japanese white-eye. There were scattered kalij pheasant, and a single (rare here!) 'amakihi near the koli'i colony.
