Since we could not get into Hakalau Forest, we drove up the Saddle Road and hiked down the Pu'u O'o Trail to check out the nearby "kipukas." These are areas of forest that are surrounded by lava flows. The morning started out rain free, but occasional drizzle and light rain took over. The first kipuka we checked held Hawai'i 'Amakihi followed by a Hawai'i 'Elepaio. This was a drab immature.
Eventually, we got nice looks at one of the boldly-patterned adults.
A second, larger kipuka produced Oma'o (oh-MAH-oh) and a dark morph female Hawaiian Hawk.
While enjoying fairly close looks, a light morph male flew in and began copulation!
The male also cooperated for some close photos.
A Kalij Pheasant (kuh-LEEJ) was spotted on the way back out to the trail. Other birds found in the kipukas were Wild Turkey, Japanese Bush-Warbler, Japanese White-eye, Red-billed Leiothrix, 'Apapane, and 'I'iwi.
Back at the car, we headed west to the Ka'ohe Game Management Area and up to Pu'u La'au to look for the Palila (puh-LEE-luh). Several Hawai'i 'Amakihis were present along the road.
I finally got a satisfactory look at a Melodious Laughingthrush singing a song similar to the Palila before it disappeared into the brush. A little farther up, a Pueo (poo-AY-oh), the Hawaiian version of the Short-eared Owl, allowed us great looks.
The great news was that we were on the dry side of Mauna Kea and it wasn't even drizzling! The bad news was that the higher we went, the foggier it got. So, we headed back down to our Hilo motel, dried out, and sat down to a steak dinner in order to help make up for our bad luck over the last few days.
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