In many neighborhoods people prune their trees to preserve their neighbor's view. In my neighborhood, I have to look out for my view and beg the homeowner living below me, attempting to get permission to take care of their yard. Occasionally I am turned down ... no view for Sandra! When I do receive permission, I can either hire someone to have the fun of cutting down trees, or I can do it myself. Thus on Thursday I pruned four large sky-reaching trunks from an avocado tree and two modestly sized African Tulip Trees.
On Friday morning we loaded all the foliage into the KIA and headed north to Waikoloa, thirty to forty minutes away. We arrived a bit after 8:30, checked in with the nice man who weighed our vehicle, and headed for the green waste section of this large transfer station..As we approached our destination, I took note of a large drainage pond that was surrounded by a ten foot high cyclone fence. On the edge of the pond I spotted a pair of long legged wading birds. "Avocets!" I exclaimed. "We'll have to stop and check them out after we finish at the dump."
Before we could deal with the avocets, we had a chance to do some serious goat watching. At the Waikoloa Transfer station, one simply backs up to the pile and deposits his debris on the ground. Suffice it to say this is a huge field with lots of room for dumping. And who better to consume these greeneries than a herd of wild goats. On this day there were more than usual. As you can see, some of these goats are seriously big animals. Luckily, they have never been aggressive!
I'm including two pictures that Sandra took of the goats while I unloaded the car. and one shot of a pair of Cattle Egrets, holding the fort on a small mountain of yard debris.
While the goats are herbivores, the Cattle Egrets dine sumptuously on insects and lizards that they find among the plants.
Finally it was time to head back to the pond. Only the day before, I had received an email from our friend, Peter, who lives on the coast of Central California. He had included a wonderful picture of some avocets flying over Morro Bay. Hence, my mind was primed for avocets. That's my excuse and I'm stickin' to it. Luckily, by the time we approached the pond I had regained my senses. There are no avocets in Hawaii, but we have a similar wading bird...the Black Neck Stilt.
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| Black Neck Stilt, Waikoloa Transfer Station, February 2023 |
Indeed, that is what we had here, a pair of Black Neck Stilts. We could se them through the fence, about thirty yards away. The minute we got out of the car, however, both birds took to the air. They circled overhead, scolding us all the while, and did not settle back into the pod until we got back in the car. While this was going on I made multiple attempts at a picture with Sandra's phone. As you can see, I made one successful shot.
Black Neck Stilts are not rare in Hawaii, but to see them one is required to hike to a fresh water pond. In the words of that great American, Willie Nelson, I'm too lazy to walk across the street to watch a piss ant eat a bale of hay. As a consequence, it has been years since we saw these handsome birds
We concluded our morning with our friends Hai and Lottie at the Kawaihae Surf Park. The wind was blowing about thirty knots and we just about had the park to ourselves. In spite of the whitecaps, we were treated to a pod of dolphins and some breaching whales about a quarter mile out to sea.
Naia has just turned three and she received a book from Auntie and a paper mache fish from Uncle. And Lottie is just about ready to bring another naturalist into the world. So all is good up north.
If you have a chance you should check out my paper mache fish display in the Kailua Kona Library, which will run for two months. And for a real treat, you can feign a trunk full of yard debris and watch the stilts at the Waikoloa dump. Does it get any better than that?
jeff
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| A Waikoloa Portrait. One old goat and one young goat. |
