[obol] birding Kauai

[Lars Skalnes]

Chuck and others,

Sorry about the late response. I hope this is still relevant.

Below is an excerpt from an email I posted on OBOL in March of 2005.

I hired a guide, David Kuhn of Terran Tours, to take me to the Alaka'i
"Swamp" to look for the endemic Hawaiian honeycreepers, Puaiohi (Small Kauai
Thrush), and (Kaua'i) Elepaio. I spent one day in the swamp with David Kuhn
and we ended up seeing all the endemics, including Akikiki and Puaiohi. To
see the latter two required driving about 9 miles on a dirt road from Koke'e
State Park and then hiking about 4 miles further into the swamp at a brisk
pace. The hike was not particularly strenuous although it required climbing
over fallen trees here and there and making your way through chest-high tree
ferns for about 10-15 minutes. We stayed on ridges the whole time. My sense
was that had we not seen Puaiohi on the ridge, we would have climbed down
into the valley to search for it there, which would have been quite a bit
more difficult. The hike was an incredible experience and seeing birds like
Akikiki and Puaiohi that are close to extinction was sad and awesome at the
same time. I highly recommend this trip and the guide. David Kuhn knows the
birds inside out and without his help I would not have seen either Akikiki
or Puaiohi. The second day I spent birding on my own, equipped with H.
Douglas Pratt's "Enjoying Birds and Other Wildlife in Hawai'i" and Pratt et
al.'s "A Field Guide to the Birds of Hawaii and the Tropical Pacific." I saw
most everything I looked for except Brown Booby and Japanese Quail. Pratt's
birdfinding guide is highly recommended and the field guide is
indispensable. I also birded one morning on Oah'u and found (Oah'u) Elepaio,
Oah'u Amakihi, and Red-billed Leiothrix thanks to the Pratt guide. White
Terns I saw next to my hotel on Waikiki right before sunset, exactly where
Pratt said they would be.

Here is a complete list of the birds seen on Kaua'i:

Hawaiian Goose/Nene
Hawaiian Duck
Erckel's Francolin
Red Junglefowl
Laysan Albatross
White-tailed Tropicbird
Red-tailed Tropicbird
Red-footed Booby
Great Frigatebird
Cattle Egret
Black-crowned Night-Heron
Common Moorhen (Hawaiian subspecies)
Hawaiian Coot
Pacific Golden-Plover
Black-necked Stilt (Hawaiian subspecies) 
Sanderling 
Short-eared Owl/Pueo (Hawaiian subspecies)
(Kaua'i) Elepaio
Japanese Bush-Warbler
White-rumped Shama
Puaiohi
Greater Necklaced Laughingthrush
Hwamei
Japanese White-eye
Northern Mockingbird
Common Myna
Red-crested Cardinal
Northern Cardinal
Western Meadowlark
House Finch
Kaua'i Amakihi
Anianiau
Akikiki
Akeke'e
I'iwi
Apapane
House Sparrow
Red Avadavat
Nutmeg Mannikin
Chestnut Munia

Lars Skalnes
Eugene
-----Original Message-----
From: obol-bounces at lists.oregonstate.edu
[mailto:obol-bounces at lists.oregonstate.edu] On Behalf Of Charles R. Gates
Sent: Sunday, November 18, 2007 9:43 PM
To: obol
Subject: [obol] birding Kauai

I'm off to Hawaii (Kauai) to celebrate my wife's *#th birthday this
Christmas.  I would appreciate any advise from people who have been there.
I have all the guide books and bird books so I probably know where to go.
I've been on the net pretty thoroughly so I've covered those bases.
However, I would be interested in hearing about favorite locations and
favorite experiences.  I'm not having much luck finding any pelagic birding
so if you went on an ocean trip, I would like to hear about that.  Anything
will interest me.

Chuck Gates
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