A quick early morning stop at the Kanaha Pond State Wildlife Sanctuary revealed a Common Tern. On the drive up to Haleakala National Park, numbers of Sky Larks were present. I had planned months ahead to get access into the Waikamoi Preserve in order to have a chance at seeing the rare Maui Parrotbill and the Crested Honeycreeper, also known as the 'Akohekohe (ah-KO-hay-KO-hay). We met Chris Warren, one of the preserve's employees, at Hosmer Grove in the Haleakala National Park. A Field Guides tour was also there. Unfortunately once again, rain was the order of the day. Neither of the birds were even heard, let alone seen. I did manage to see and get poor photos of 'I'iwi (ee-EE-vee) and Hawai'i 'Amakihi.
I also saw the Maui 'Alauahio (al-ah-oh-HEE-oh). We hiked the mile or so back to the car and quickly headed back to the airport to catch our flight to "The Big Island". This island is named Hawai'i, not to be confused with the "state of Hawai'i", which is comprised of the several island chain. It was here that we got some more bad news. We found out from Jack Jeffrey that Hakalau Forest National Wildlife Refuge had now been closed to outside visitors because of the major concern of "Rapid Ohia Disease." R.O.D. is killing the native Ohia trees in about two weeks after being infected. Since many of the rainforest endemics depend on these trees for their flowers' nectar, this could spell the end for these endangered birds. That said, we were now faced with trying to find these birds outside the refuge where they are much less numerous.
The next three nights would be spent in Hilo on Hawai'i.
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