On the trail of Sara's Orangetip

Son, You're on your own.

        A few days ago Sandra and I moved our flag from Casa Ono to the chilly PNW.  Hard by the bend in the Columbia River, we set about doing those domestic things one does when they move, in the process developing a deep seated animosity towards the bureaucratic BS associated with Verison internet.  I'm convinced it would be easier to buy a car than complete this internet transaction.

    Yesterday, we set all that aside and headed up to Dougan Falls for some butterfly watching.  There are a couple butterflies that actually prefer these early spring days. The one we want the most is Sara's Orangetip.  Last fall, we thought we had a date with Caitlin LaBar, to be guided to this spring beauty somewhere in the vicinity of Vancouver.  But life seems to have intervened with her, as well.  

Sara's Orangetip, courtesy Brian Pfeffer

     So just like Bart, as he assumed the duties of sheriff in and around the town of Rock Ridge, we were on our own.  

   I should point out that this medium sized white butterfly, with the orange sherbet wings, is routinely described, in the butterfly literature,  as charming. Sadly, Sara's Orangetip, which used to be fairly common, if you knew how to look for it, has become the poster child for habitat destruction.  Vacant land with native plans has given way to houses.

   In the words of Kurt Vonnegut, "So it goes."

    It was a beautiful, crisp day on the upper Washougal with bright sun, blue sky and the temperature hovering at a dry 67 degrees.  The people around here call that a warm day.  The fact is, when you compensate for the lack of moisture in the air, it never gets this cold in Kona.  So, wearing our stocking caps and long johns, we made one stop after another looking for a white butterfly.  

  How do you capture an echo in a glass?

    At our furthest favorite spot we found a few Azure Echos, the tiny blue with which we have become so familiar.  I actually netted one and we proceeded to try to get a picture..  Sandra held the wine glass aloft while I attempted to get the camera to focus on the butterfly.  One of these pictures answers a question that must go back as far as Aeschylus...How to capture an echo in a glass.?

     By the way, the myth involving Echo goes like this.  Echo was a nymph, fancied by Zeus.  When the head god's wife, Hera, came looking for him, she was sidetracked by Echo, following Zeus's orders.  Once she caught on, Hera punished Echo with this curse: Echo could only speak those words last spoken to her.  Echo subsequently fell in love with narcissus, but as a consequence of the curse, she could only repeat his words of love and he fell in love with himself.

   One has to wonder at what point in his life Donald Trump encountered Echo?  And in the upcoming motion picture is Zeus's favorite nymph played by Stormy Daniels? 

Stormy looks on while Don admires his reflection, John Waterhouse

    But I digress.

   We swung around, back through the parking area at the falls, where we stopped for a walk.  Nothing was flying, not even a mouse.  Excuse me, a Mourning Cloak.   The Mourning cloak is the large handsome spring butterfly with the chocolate brown wings that solves the over wintering problem by famously crawling into a rotting stump, only to emerge when the temperature hits 67 degrees.  We had achieved all the correct parameters, and have seen a Mourning Cloak in this location in the past, but not on this day.  Que lastima.

The little blue butterfly and the Mother Ship

     And so we ended up at our most favorite spot, a mile or so up Dougan Creek.  By this time it was after noon, the sunlight was filtering through the alders, dappling the rocks and the cascading water.  It was idyllic.  But for a while, not much was happening up on the road.  

    After perhaps ten minutes, a few echo azures appeared.  We watched them for a bit and then one cooperatively landed on Sandra's blue Skecher.   So cooperative was he that I was able to take picture.  We laughed about this.  Was the tiny blue butterfly returning to the blue Mother Ship?  Was he attempting to mate with the biggest, bluest thing he could find?   We'll never know.

    We waited a bit longer, and a larger white butterfly flew up the road.  And then another flew past us. We saw no color on the wings, especially orange, but it was pretty enticing. 

    At this point Sandra began wondering why we didn't have two nets (having left one of the nets back in the Sandwich Islands).  And then she demanded a turn with the net.  In some ways she is a lot like Hera, so one messes with her at their peril.  Suffice it to say , she got the net.  

Echo Azure on Sandra's shoe, Enlarged

   And in less time than it takes to say "Donald Trump is a narcissist" she had netted a plump white butterfly.  It took only a trice for me to identify it as a Margined White. This is a butterfly that occurs in the spring and continues to appear throughout the summer, which might make you think that it ought to be fairly common.  On the contrary, this was only the second one that we had seen.  

    Curiously, our first was netted in the Yacolt Burn two years ago, and might have been the very first butterfly that we had so captured.  As such, we didn't have much of a plan about what to do next.  As it turned out, we took its picture through the net.  While it created a picture that helped identify the bug, it was, in general, less than satisfactory.  It was this experience that led us, through trial and error, to the plastic vegetable bags and the wine glass, the better to catch the Echo.  

     You see?  It all comes together.

    This time, knowing that we did not have an adequate picture of this species, we took the butterfly back to the ranch and placed it in the cooler.  After a nap, I went out and harvested a sprig of maple leaves and some tree debris.  We arranged these on a plastic cutting board, and then Sandra positioned the butterfly and I slapped a refrigerated wine glass over the little dear.  The ensemble was moved to our mantelpiece with a green folder from Fisher Investments (who kindly employ my son gainfully) as a backdrop.

margined white, P. marginalis, Dougan Creek, april 2024 Photo SKG

   Sandra, who is a very good macro photographer when motivated, delivered the coup de grace with her Samsung phone.  Et voila!

   Do we have our shit together or what?

    I don't know what you think, but I just created one of these margined Whites for the upcoming paper mache butterfly extavaganza, opening May 28th at the Cascade Park Library.  As such, I'm very familiar with what's on the internet and this, my friends, is da bomb.

   Its springtime already, so get out there and find yourself a butterfly!

jeff

Our guru, Caitlin LaBar, tells us that p. marginalis has more pronounced vein markings in the spring and fall and are nearly immaculate in mid summer.  this apparently is related to day length.    j

   

Springtime at Kahalu'u

Our resident pair of Saddlebacks swam by. April 2024

    Its springtime at Kahalu'u.  One can tell because the girls are all wearing their short summer dresses.  No.  Wait a minute.  This is Hawaii and the dress code at the beach doesn't change, be it January or July.  The way I can tell is that the water is warmer.  And this was the first day when I didn't have to wear my neoprene vest.  Springtime means freedom!

    So Sandra dropped me off and went in search of tombo.  I entered a very shallow bay through a throng of tourists and swam away in the cool, clear water.

     I worked my way towards the breakwater, when I spotted that pictus moray, with his scarred head sticking out, hunting for an unsuspecting crab, no doubt. 

Moorish Idol  Kahalu'u April 2024

   In the corner, an area that once was near the balcony of the Keahou Beach Hotel, I tracked down the resident pair of Saddle back Butterflies.  One doesn't see this happy couple every time out, but I'm sure they are there.  One of our prettiest fish is still swimming at K Bay.

   Clearly the bay was in a fishy mood, because shortly after swimming with the saddlebacks,  I had the opportunity to chase a single red labrid wrasse for a few minutes.  And then I happened upon a fine group of Moorish Idols. It's not uncommon to see a cohort of small idols, especially in the fall.  When that happens, I tend to think that I'm looking at members of the same brood.  

   These fish were close to full adult size, but still sticking together in a school.  Do you think that the bunch of them, there had to be at least eight, came from the same brood of eggs laid last summer and have stuck together for nine months?  

   I'm showing you a nice shot of a single idol out of this large group, posing as it were, in a slightly face down attitude.  And lucky me,  I got a short video to upload, so you can see, if only for six seconds, the school of idols swimming together.

    Moorish idols have to be one of the favorites among our tourists, who call them angelfish.  But I think even those of us who watch fish would be pretty bummed out if they sorta disappeared, which is far from impossible. 

Peacock Grouper K Bay 2014

    I've been snorkeling at Kahalu'u several times recently and I'm pretty sure I have not recently seen a Peacock Grouper.  This is an introduced fish, but it is big and beautiful.  And its cool the way these big guys hang out between the corals, waiting for prey to swim into range.  Just a year ago it was super common.  Kathleen, the steward of the bay, thought they were still present.  But I looked very carefully today and did not see one.  

  For those of you who are not fish watchers , I'm including a picture I took in 2014 right here in K Bay.  I'm sure you'll agree, if this beauty is no longer here, its a big loss. 

    On the bright side, I'll leave you with a sweet female Pearl Wrasse that I photographed a couple days ago, just before Kathleen Clark asserted that the grouper was still in attendance.  I hope I'm wrong and we haven't lost another fish, but in the meantime, illegitimus non carborundum.  Let's enjoy the fish we have.

Pearl Wrasse Kahalu'u April 2024

jeff

  

The Dragon Wrasse of Kahalu'u

One of our favorite movies, A Fish Called Wanda, features Kevin Kline.   In this story, about a jewel theft,  Kevin associates with a star studded cast.  Jamie Lee Curtis as the woman holding the plot together, Michael Palin as Ken, the get away driver, and John Cleese as the barrister for the accused.

And what do the English eat with chips?

    Kevin plays Otto, a demented thug.  He drives Jamie wild with desire by speaking Italian...Mussolini, spaghetti Milanense...  And towards the end of the movie he tortures KaKaKa  Ken, the getaway driver with a tremendous stutter, who also keeps a home aquarium.  Palin is bound to a chair with French fries stuffed in his nostrils while Otto interrogates him.  And to force a confession, he scoops the guppies from the aquarium one by one and sucks them down.  At one point he says, "Don't eat the green ones.  They're not ripe yet." 

    Which brings us to yesterday's snorkeling experience at Kahalu'u.  As I arrived, I admired a rare appearance of a Black Crowned Night heron on the lava reef near the shelter.  This is a native Hawaiian bird, known in Hawaiian as the Auku'u.  It survived the arrival of the Polynesians and the inadvertent introduction of rats.  On this morning he made a stunning appearance at our favorite local snorkeling beach. 

Almost immediately, as I started my snorkel, I encountered a magnificent Dragon Wrasse.  This is the spectacular juvenile of the Rockmover.  Even as the reef fish are diminished, much like the elves of Middle Earth, rockmovers, like hobbits , I suppose, persist at Kahalu'u.  In fact, of all the species we see there, they seem to be among the least affected by coral death, which is truly dramatic everywhere on the Kona Coast, no less at Kahalu'u.

 

   Other wrasses have spectacular juveniles, but this guy and the juvenile of the Yellowtail Coris are the only ones we see snorkeling.  

The Auku'u promenades at Kahalu'u

    This wasn't just any dragon wrasse.  First of all he was green, as is the case in about twenty percent of the individuals (Jeff Hill, unpublished data). 

Dragon Wrasse Kahalu'u   April 2024

    And he was big.  It is  a curiosity that this juvenile matures at different rates.  As you will see in the accompanying pictures, this guy is not only green, but quite large and retains all the features of a juvenile, which is to say the peculiar fins and "antennae " of the  dragon wrasse.  It is far from uncommon to find young rockmovers, smaller than this guy that might retain a bit of their antennae, but otherwise look entirely like small adults.  They may persist in flopping around like a juvenile.  There is speculation that the dragon wrasse are imitating a leaf of seaweed.  In the case of these transformed young adults, who are now universally clothed in a  hounds tooth brown and black, they aren't fooling anybody.  And to be honest, as big as this beautiful fish was, he wasn't fooling anyone, either.  

   So I took some pictures and a video and swam away in search of some other underwater delight.  I took a couple more pictures and then decided that the camera was operating on an altered program.  In fact, I went swimming at the pier a few days earlier and came home with pictures that were not very good.  Or perhaps they were awful.  

   Why I didn't deal with the camera then and there is a good question.   There had been nothing blog worthy on my swim and perhaps we can blame my sloth on mother nature, or climate change, which is certainly the villain of choice for this millennium. 

   I floated with the current across the bay fiddling with the camera  menus, finally accepting a re-institution of the original program, all while looking at the camera underwater.  Not an entirely unpleasant experience.  Unfortunately, after I got the camera working acceptably, there was nothing special to photograph.  Rats!

    But luck was on our side.  As I made my way to the exit, I did a little hunting and happened upon the big green dragon, performing as he did an hour earlier.  the water was still clear and I spent a happy five minutes getting the pictures and video you see here.  t

The ones we took earlier have been relegated like an inferior football club.  

    I hope you enjoyed the pictures, and I'm hopeful that as spring comes on, where ever you are, you are out seeing some good stuff.  I leave you with a single caveat, "Don't eat the green ones. they're not ripe yet!"

jeff

  the video is fantastic, but our IT department can't handle it.  C'est domage.

What About Bob? A select few butterfly photos courtesy of Bob Hillis

   

Arizona Sister, Utah August 2022

     Over many years of watching animals, I have been lucky enough to be associated with three superb field biologists,  which might in two of the cases be revised to animal finders.  These guys are able to see a bird or a fish where the average mortal sees only a bush or a rock. Mike Van Ronzelen has for a few years now been watching birds in the St. Peter's Cloud Forest.  I trust he is seeing some worthy birds on a daily basis.  Peter is, of course, still around and you can see his pictures and enjoy his ramblings on his blog, one breath kohala.  Of the three, Peter is the true field biologist.  Extensively trained, he brings a different aspect to the sport of listing animals, be they bird, fish or insect.

    Having named two, that brings me to my friend Bob Hillis. When he lived in Kona, Bob and I watched many a fine fish together.  And as above, he pointed out a few fish that I wouldn't have seen on my own, sometimes in situations that I would not have ventured into on my own. 

    Lucky for us, Bob is still around, and, I believe, mostly retired, but still getting out and seeing some really good stuff.  Perhaps I had a little influence on both Peter and Bob, for they started watching butterflies as Sandra and I got interested in them.  

 

Arizona Sister in resting position photos Bob Hillis

    At one point Bob started to write a blog, but it was more on philosophical lines, as opposed to highlighting the animals that he was seeing.  Lucky for me, he has continued to send me pictures of the animals he has photographed, mostly in Utah, where he now lives, and Southern California, where he lived and worked for many years as a State Parks ranger.  And where he still has some nature loving friends.  

    Last week he sent me yet another excellent picture of a butterfly that I will probably never see and,  I thought, many of you who read my blog have heard Bob mentioned from time to time, why wouldn't you want to look at a few of these pictures.  With that in mind, I have gone through my cell phone and extracted some of the better pictures.  And with Bob's permission I'm presenting them to you here along with a small bit of explanation. 

     The first is an Arizona Sister.  For those of us who live on the West Coast, the related species is California Sister, which I have yet to see.  My feeling is that Bob hasn't seen one either.  The California Sister lives in canyons populated with live oaks, although its preferred host plant is Golden Chinkapin.  Being a poor botanist, which is a sad state for a butterfly watcher, I wouldn't be able to tell a Golden Chinkapin from a golden retriever.  Supposedly the sister can be seen in the arboretum on Mt Pisgah in Eugene, which is the northern limit of its range.   It becomes more common as you head south towards California.  What a surprise!  

    Last summer Bob met up with a friend in Bellingham, Wa.  They went to Larabee State Park where he took this picture of starfish on the beach.  This was of interest to me, because starfish have been virtually exterminated in Puget Sound.   Sandra and I have a favorite little beach in Anacortes where, three  years ago we stumbled upon  a handsome statue that serves as a memorial to the starfish.  Up to that point,  I was oblivious to this catastrophe.

      There has been some debate about just how Homo sapiens accomplished this unfortunate feat.  Puget Sound now has a pH south of 7.0 which, one would suspect, may have something to do with it.  As a depressing aside, the lowered pH prevents oysters from breeding in places which have given a variety of oysters their name.   Anyway, Bob found this photogenic horde of echinoderms literally less than fifty miles from that memorial.  That should cheer us up!

    He and his friend went snorkeling at Larabee and he caught this handsome nudibranch at 30 feet.  While I am a big fan of snorkeling, I draw the line at snorkeling in 63 degree water which was what he recorded.  What can I say, I'm a wuss.

 

Sonoran Blue Butterfly, Bob Hillis

The photo that set me off on this tribute was this one of a Sonoran Blue Butterfly.  This was taken in Anza Borrego State Park in the mountains east of San Diego two weeks ago.  Suffice it to say, Butterfly Season is much longer in So Cal than in northern Oregon. 

   On the same day, Bob saw West Coast Lady, one of three species of "ladies" on the west coast.  It is also found n Oregon and our friend Caitlin advises us to keep an eye out for it.

     Like any other butterfly watcher in the western United States, Bob sees lots of fritillary butterflies.  In part, he does this with the misguided idea that I can help him identify them.  There are about a dozen species of medium sized frits in Oregon.  They come in a variety of oranges and all have a very similar complex maze of black markings on their dorsal wing surfaces and a complex pattern of paisleys on their hind ventral wings.  Getting a good look at that surface is often the key to nailing down the identification.

Speyeria mormonia, Utah, Bob Hillis

   The problem is, there is so much local variation that in many instances, even experts like our friend Caitlin LaBar, are unwilling to identify these insects outside the range they are familiar with.  This is quite a bit different from bird watching.  If one sees an acorn woodpecker in Oregon it will be virtually identical to one seen elsewhere in its range.

   All of this leads to an amusing story.  Around the time Bob went to Bellingham he sent me two butterfly pictures.  The first one you see is a Mormon Frit nectaring on an aster.  This is a butterfly with a wide range and is very similar throughout.  It is smaller than many other Speyeria frits and it has those distinctive rounded wings.   So in a way we can think of it like the aforementioned acorn woodpecker.

    At the same time, he sent me the picture that you see below.  And as part of that text, he mentioned that he saw this butterfly near his yard (in St. George, Utah).  And he even named it, Western Pygmy Blue. 

  But sometimes I don't pay attention.  The Redoubtable SKG will be happy to verify this observation.  In that vein, I thought he was identifying it as an Acmon Blue seen on Mt. Baker, the snow capped volcano that towers above Bellingham.  I was sure, even as a tyro lepidopterist, that this was not the case.  And so I presented both photos to Caitlin telling her that I thought they were taken on Mt. Baker and asking her what the blue was.  And this is what she replied:

Western Pygmy Blue  St. George, Utah  Bob Hillis

Hi Jeff, 

  Yes, the frit is a female momonia.    

   The mating pair of blues are Western Pygmy Blues, which I highly doubt were taken at Mt. Baker, maybe the locations got mixed up? They are very common in Utah, and were common in SE WA in 2022, but hardly seen in 2023, and have never been found north of the Tri Cities area.

     In this way Caitlin reaffirmed her virtuosity by avoiding all my sand-bagging misinformation.  What a girl! 

    Living a life of faux pas can make things just a little more interesting.

    Last year Bob sent me a couple pictures of larger butterflies.  One was of the curiously named Southern Dogface.  This is a widely distributed butterfly, from New England to California, south to Mexico and the Caribbean.  It is so named because the person who had the honor of giving the insect its common name thought the spot on the wing reminded him of his pet poodle.  Says so on the internet, so it must be true.  Right?   

Southern Dogface Butterfly Utah   Bob Hillis

    The Southern Dogface has been the California State insect since 1929.   I suspect that there is some variation in wing pattern in California, as there are articles on the internet calling it the California Southern Dogface.  So this picture was probably taken in Utah.  

   I could ask Caitlin for verification, but I fear I may be in her doghouse.

   Look carefully and you will see that Bob has captured the proboscis of this nectaring butterfly.  And how about those eyes?  Creepy!

  I am a sucker for checkerspots.  Sandra and I  saw our first one, the Snowberry Checkerspot, near Dougan Falls and attempted to identify it on our own.  Sandra posted it on the northwest butterfly website and all the little old ladies got their undies in a twitter correcting our mis-identification.  Since then, Sandra and I have seen two more species, which you will recall if you are a faithful blog reader.  

Anicia Checkerspot, Cedar Breaks National Monument  BH

    Many checkerspots are not widely distributed and Bob sent us a picture of a beauty that I have yet to see in the PNW.  As I don't have any books here in Hawaii, I am stuck using the internet, which is a terrible way to identify almost anything, especially butterflies.  So Caitlin helped us out once again and said:

That’s an Anicia Checkerspot, they look much more red and yellow the further south and east you go, compared to what you’re used to in the northwest  

    So now Bob can put it down definitively on his list.  We'll keep it as a surprise until he reads it, just like you, in the blog 

    Spring is creeping in, so get out your cameras and nets and see some butterflies,

jeff

Kahalu'u on Pi Day, Houndfish and the Association and the Kieki Museum Expands to Waikoloa

    There has been a hiatus in blogs for which I apologize.  The weather has been cool, making a dip in the ocean unnecessary from the standpoint of personal comfort, but that's no excuse. If there is an excuse, it has to to do with the Keiki Museum.  

Jyness documents the butterfly installation    photo SKG

    Yesterday, March 14th, Pi Day to those interested in circular geometry, welcomed the opening of a second museum.  The museum in Kailua, where my complete set of reef fish swim happily above the rampaging toddlers, may not be making it from a financial point of view.  Looking for a more solvent location, the ladies in charge have leased a location in the Queen's Shops at Waikoloa.  It was always their hope to attract visiting children of means and this sprawling resort is rife with them. 

    Several large luxury hotels, a dozen condos and a golf course now exist near the waters of Anaeho'omalu Bay.  Back in 1980, when I first came to Kona, there was a single small Sheraton and virtually no shops.  Now one has to search to find the bay and the lodging and shops border on the overwhelming.  Luckily for the keikis and those of us who pander to them, Macy's at the Queen's Shops has ceased to exist and my patrons at the museum have snatched up the lease.  

A Snidely Freckled Hawkfish Trumpets the Legacy

    My occupational therapy coordinator, the lady with the heart of gold, the one and only Jyness Jones, has given me two windows facing the courtyard in this luxury mall.  Ever since I started doing art, I have salivated like one of Dr. Pavlov's canines at the thought of decorating one of those windows.  And now I have two!  Additionally, the butterfly exhibit from the Kailua library has found a permanent home in a display case that once displayed fancy merchandise.  The legacy is alive.

   So the last month has been taken up with making larger fish and butterflies, some of which turned out rather well.  And the last two weeks have seen Sandra and I trekking to Waikoloa to install our art in the windows.  Jyness has held back control, promising to fill out the displays around our paper mache animals.  So here we are showing you a couple pictures of what must be considered a work in progress.  

A Houndfish in Clear Kahalu'u Water  March 2024

    At the last minute, my beloved convinced me to place an "About the Artist " placard in the fish window.  We'll see if it survives.  Maybe I'll be famous for more than a day.

 

 

 

 

   

                                  🐡         🐡        🐡       🐡        🐡        🐡        🐡        🐡 

    As there was a fantasy baseball draft yesterday afternoon, we could not go to the museum for its gala opening.  Instead, we spent a blissful hour in the welcoming waters of Kahalu'u Bay.  My poor sweetie's jaw is still giving her problems, so she dropped me off for snorkeling and went to the Keahou shops for fish and make up.  (The mascara tasted great and the marlin looks great on her, one filet on each cheek.)

    The water was not too cold and in some spots fairly clear.  One would always want more fish, especially in these days when the coral is on the decline, but I did see a couple things that might titillate your ichthyological fancy.

Pearl Wrasse male,  March 2023

    Early on I didn't see much.  But when I turned up the middle I found a pair of Crocodile Needlefish, sometimes referred to as houndfish.  This twosome was cooperative and permitted three photos before swimming away.  These guys were only mediums, probably under two feet in length.  Rarely have I encountered really big houndfish and they are an intimidating beast.

     Over by the rescue shelter I spotted a male Pearl Wrasse who got away before I could capture a good photo, (I'm including a really good picture of one taken in the same spot exactly one year ago)  At the end of the chase I found myself in a bit of fishy activity and nabbed this video of a hunting Whitemouth Moray Eel.

Female and male wrasse trail the Ember Parrot

    I had ten minutes before my hour was up and I swam over to the near edge of the bay.  Here I was in front of the bar at what was once the hotel.  The Keahou Beach Hotel has been gone for ten years and whoever is in charge of the project has removed everything, including David Kalakaua's beach house, but they left standing the building that was once the bay front watering hole.  Go figure.

   Regardless of the structures remaining on land, here by the lava reef I encountered a juvenile cleaner wrasse.  I took her picture and she was immediately in the company of a female Ember Parrotfish accompanied by a big adult cleaner wrasse.  At least at Kahalu'u we see this association with some regularity.  Its hard to know who is getting what in the way of an advantage.  the best I can tell, the parrotfish gets nothing.  Perhaps the Christmas Wrasse, who eats mostly invertebrates like brittle stars and crabs, uses the parrot like a stalking horse.

     Usually this mis-matched pair is fast moving and one doesn't have the opportunity to to get a picture close up.  In this case though, they stayed close enough for me to get a couple good pictures and the video you see here.  Its interesting to watch the wrasse zipping over the reef, darting down to attempt a capture. 

    Back ashore we met Sandra with her purchases and bid sayanora to Yasuko.  We have one more month in Hawaii before we return to the lad of lepidoptery.  We'll try to find something interesting soon.

jeff

 

Pine Trees...Camping With Stilts

    Pine Trees is well known to those of us who live in Kailua Kona, if only by name.  Since time immemorial it has been one of the renowned surf breaks here in the land of King Kamehameha.  While Pine Trees is a little out of town, the other two, Kona Bali Kai and Lyman's are one mile straight down the hill from Casa Ono.  In fact, one of the criteria we use when deciding if it is a good day for snorkeling is to look down on the latter from our lanai.; if there are a bunch of surfers at Lyman's, maybe it isn't such a hot day for snorkeling.   

   But what about Pine Trees?  Pine Trees is north of town.  Turn left on Hulikoa, one light past Hina Lani, where one might look for Costco.  If you turn right on Hulikoa you can head for the Pine Trees Cafe.  Like forever, one turned left and headed for Pine Trees. 

Kohanaiki Beach, aka Pine Trees

    As I don't surf, there was little reason in the past for me to risk the undeveloped road that led to the surfing beach.  (For those unfamiliar with surfing on the Big Island, a surfing beach is not a sandy beach.  At best it is rough gravel, but it might be boulders .  What's important is the surf break.)  So I remained  blissfully ignorant of the change that had taken place in access until my new Occupational Therapy Director, Jyness Jones, reported that about a month ago  she had gone camping there with her family.  A little internet investigation revealed that things had changed dramatically. One now drives about a mile on a paved road to a park that extends along the beach for at least half a mile.  

     After about a mile, one has a choice.  A left turn would take you to an exclusive new resort named the Kohanaiki Private Club Community.   There is a gate house with a nice man who probably has an arsenal  under his desk and no intention whatsoever of letting you in to look around.  

Hawaiian Stilt, Kohanaiki Beach, photo Chuck Hill

  The average Kimo is encouraged to drive ahead on a new road with multiple speed bumps and marked Kohanaiki Beach Park.  This is much different from years ago.  Before the resort community arrived, there was a post and wire gate and a sandy road that wound down about half a mile to the surfing beach known as Pine Trees.

     A decade ago, the development company was hoping to extend the private club community to the shore.  One saw signs around town to "Save Pine Trees!"  The state stepped in and acquired the beach for 6.7 mil, the negotiations that led to this transfer are not readily available.  Starting in 2014 the state began work on this modern facility.   

   If one is knowledgeable, one can find an unimproved sandy road to the north near the park entrance leading to O'oma Beach.  This is also now owned by the state and may, in fact, be the original Pine Trees surfing beach.  Camping here may be unregulated.

     We went exploring during a recent visit from my son.   We didn't see any inviting sandy beaches and no numbered camping sites.   In fact, camping is on a first come, first serve basis and you select the spot in which you intend to camp.  apparently any old spot is permitted.  You can acquire a reservation to camp on the internet for a nominal fee.  Then print your receipt and present it to the attendant at the gate. 

Its da stilt. photo Chuck Hill

    Once we were in the park, we saw several signs admonishing us not to bother the Rare Hawaiian Black Neck Stilt.  It is my impression that this is the same species that occurs in the lower 48 and that it is not especially rare in Hawaii. We parked at the very end of the road,  and after walking on the rocky beach, we crossed inland where there is an open kiosk and a large pond.  There we found a pair of stilts and one loner.  My son Charles took the pictures you see with his cell phone.  

    If one has the urge to camp at the beach, albeit one where you might not swim on a sandy beach, you should check out Pine Trees.  And if you need a look at the stilts to get them on your bird list, you could hardly ask for an easier opportunity.

jeff

A Mahukona Update

 As you know, I have long regarded Mahukona as one of the best spots on the Kona coast to watch fish.  The entry is reliable, the water clear and it has been home to some species seldom seen elsewhere.

Gone are  the days when the  Blacklip was found at Mahukona

    A few days ago I snorkeled there for an hour with our friend Peter.  Both Sandra and Marla are currently hors de combat, vids a vis snorkeling,  so it was just us guys in the sea.

    The water was clear and not as cold as I feared, but almost immediately I began wondering, "Where are the fish?"  Not seeing much in the small bay, where in the past we have seen blacklip butterfly, we swam out to the reef on the north cusp.  Luckily the surf was mild and we were able to peruse the mostly bare lava.  There we saw many five striped wrasse in all their glorious stages of development, along with a number of juvenile Christmas Wrasse.

   Over the ridge, in the next bay to the north, Peter saw three Scribbled Filefish and a male Spectacled Parrot.  Apparently I am what the French call les incompetent, for even with his guidance I came up empty on this account.

    Swimming back across mouth of the bay, we saw Chocolate Dip and Oval Chromis.  The chocolates

Heller's Barracuda were not to be found.

were deeper than 15 feet, precluding photography of this handsome species by yours truly.  And, let's face it, Oval Chromis is a species only a fishwatcher can love.  A photo of an oval might induce the casual observer to say, "Yeah, its a fish.  So what?"  But I enjoyed them, anyway.  

    The rest of the circuit yielded little.  No Blue Stripe Butterfly (which should have been a sure thing) and no Heller's Barracuda.  Peter assures us that Yellowtail Filefish is still there, but none were seen on this day.

   Up the ladder and ashore, we enjoyed a look at a whale just outside the bay.  I thought he was less than a hundred yards from where we stood on the edge of the pier... clearly in an area where we have swam in the past.  And we wondered, what would it be like to swim close to one of those behemoths?  Awesome?  Frightening? 

We'll see the bluestripe next time!

   Right below our feet on the rocks I got a good look at a Painted Lady Butterfly.  This was just my second sighting of this species in Hawaii, with the distinctive wing spots, and the relatively few number of possibilities, this was an easy identification.   And I'm afraid that this was at least as exciting as anything I saw in the water. 

    Peter thought the fish we saw constituted a pretty good outing and I still think that Mahukona is an excellent spot.  So we'll be back and see something good the next time.

jeff