October 27, 2007
Parking lot denizens
I drove a friend to a clinic appointment and sat with her in the waiting room until her name was called. There was some time to kill while she was with her doctor, so I headed for my car to get my book about an Orlando vacation rental. As I left the building I disturbed a large, noisy flock of red-vented bulbuls. I abandoned the idea of reading and retrieved my camera from the car instead. The bulbuls flew away again as soon as I approached them with camera in hand, of course.
There were quite a few myna birds about. They’re almost always seen in pairs and spend a lot of time strutting on the ground. A man I worked with when I first came to Hawaii calls them “stupid birds” instead of mynas. They’re fond of paved roads and when cars approach them they seem to forget they can fly. It’s comical to see them trying to outrun a motorized vehicle, but a lot of them pay with their lives.
Zebra doves are pretty common in the islands. I’ve had nesting pairs in my yard as long as I’ve lived here. Their cooing is one of the first sounds I hear each morning.
I took over a dozen shots of this sassy red-crested cardinal, but never did catch him completely still. He was very busy inspecting the pavement for bits of plant matter and insects, never still the entire time he was in my sight.
Golden plovers over-winter in Hawaii. They are abundant near my home and I sometimes sit and watch them on the beach. They, too, are very “busy” birds, constantly running and picking and pecking.
I’m not sure who this pretty green fellow is, but I think maybe some type of finch. My copy of Hawaii’s Birds doesn’t picture him.
A single red-vented bulbul returned just before I was ready to leave. He paused or a brief rest, then flew away. My friend returned and we, too, went on our way.
[tags]birds, birds in Hawaii[/tags]
RSS feed for comments on this post.
TrackBack URI
October 27th, 2007 at 5:42 am, Charlotte Says:
Such pretty birds you have in Hawaii!
October 27th, 2007 at 10:40 am, Whim Says:
Wonderful pics Skeet! Thanks for sharing your birds with us mainlanders.
October 27th, 2007 at 11:59 am, Misty Dawn Says:
Oh my gosh - these photos are fantastic! I LOVE them all!
October 27th, 2007 at 11:18 pm, Muhd Imran Says:
Beautiful. I love bird-watching too, but Singapore is not at conducive to wildlife in the heartlands and city to get to see beautiful and so varied colorful birds.
There is a reason why people say Hawaii is paradise on earth. One glimpse of this daily inhabitants’ life is just the tip of what is has to offer its residents. Just awesome!
October 29th, 2007 at 3:02 am, martin Says:
These are beautiful photos.
Are the doves year round residents?
October 29th, 2007 at 6:14 am, jo Says:
Hey that Golden Plover has legs like me!
October 29th, 2007 at 11:57 am, Tina Kubala Says:
I can’t begin to tell you how many times I thought I was going to run over mynas on my bike when we lived in Hawaii. I never knew what they were called, but “those gray birds” is about what we called them. They always flew off before I hit them, thankfully, because unlike a car, I’d have been in rough shape, too.
October 29th, 2007 at 10:29 pm, skeet Says:
Mahalo, Charlotte. Mammals can’t get here naturally, but we have interested birds, fish and insect.
October 29th, 2007 at 10:30 pm, skeet Says:
I’m glad you enjoyed the birds, Whim. I’m not a birder and don’t have any expertise to offer, but I know pretty when I see it.
October 29th, 2007 at 10:33 pm, skeet Says:
I’m always happy to welcome another dog-lover, Misty Daen. Glad you enjoyed the birds.
October 29th, 2007 at 10:36 pm, skeet Says:
We have some very unusual birds that have evolved here, Imran, but don’t see mmost of those often. The indigenous birds dwell mostly in areas where we haven’t paved everything over. Still, the ones that we share space with are pretty special, too.
October 29th, 2007 at 10:39 pm, skeet Says:
Yes, Martin, the doves live here year-round. I have several nesting pair that lay four or five times a year, so the population is constantly population. There are several other doves on the island, but the ones in my yard seem to always be Zebra Doves.
October 29th, 2007 at 10:40 pm, skeet Says:
I wish I had golden plover legs too, Jo! Just call me old thunder thighs, siiiiiiiiigh!
October 29th, 2007 at 10:41 pm, skeet Says:
The mynas are really comical,Tina, and would be a lot of fun if they didn’t play in traffic,lol!
October 30th, 2007 at 4:48 pm, Omaha Kid Stuff Says:
We’ve just had a bunch of cranes flying into and around the Omaha area. It’s pretty impressive watching a few thousand cranes flapping in unison.
November 9th, 2007 at 7:44 pm, Charley Foster Says:
When I was a kid riding my bike around town in Oklahoma, there was a store I used to hang out in that sold model airplane and car kits, aquarium supplies and fish (they had a piranha for viewing only, not for sale) and craft supplies. They had a mynah bird in a big cage by the door that confused people all day long by saying “May I help you?!” whenever someone came in the store. It was great.