The Wandering Tattler

Today was a sunny day! This morning I dropped Lynn off at Kahaluu Beach Park, about 4 miles north of our condo, and she spent several hours snorkeling and reading. She she had close encounters with several large green sea turtles and saw many dozens of species of colorful Hawaiian fish in the rich coral beds. This beach is protected by a crude stone breakwater about 100 yards offshore, so the water is calm and large schools of fish approach very close to the shore. Lynn was born to snorkel, and when I returned about 2 pm she was still excited by the quality of the snorkeling.

I had driven north about 20 miles along the coastal highway, through great stretches of nearly barren lava and past the Kona airport, to the spectacular Hualaila resort development, which includes the immense Four Seasons golf resort. Here all of the condos are single-story and spread out behind the golf course, facing the sea. Virtually all the plants and animals found at sea level in Hawaii are exotic (introduced) species, and most of the greenery that surrounds these water-front developments requires intense irrigation. Nonetheless, even in this area there were natural wetlands, some of them brackish pools supplied with seawater filtered through porous rock. After getting a pass for shoreline access, I parked and walked along a paved path just above surf, which was crashing against jumbled boulders of lava, eventually reaching one of those ponds, surrounded on most sides by golf course. Here I found 4 Hawaiian Black-necked Stilts, members of an endangered species whose total population is probably less than 2,000. Two of the birds seemed to be juveniles, so perhaps the two adults were a breeding pair. As I was taking pictures, an older couple approached and asked what I was looking at. My explanation seemed to intrigue them, and they wrote down the name of the bird to relay to their son, who was a biologist.

Here are some pictures of Kailua-Kona.